Career management has changed remarkably over the years.  Long gone are the days when we are tied to a single company that takes care of us until retirement.  Projects, tasks and contracts are replacing the traditional “job”.  As employers become leaner and carve their own areas of expertise to edge out the competition, they are looking for people who can readily help them meet their business goals.  A person who can confidently articulate their unique promise of value, provide evidence of successful past behaviour and deliver on that will have a competitive edge.  Survival in today’s labour market requires us to become an active force in our own career development and management. 

This reality is even more important for career women with families who are notorious for putting other people’s needs ahead of their own.  To see your career-self flourish, it is absolutely necessary to make a paradigm shift in the way you think about your career development and to give yourself control over how your career is realized.

Making a career impact is, in a nutshell, applying yourself in a powerful and authentic way to give you a competitive edge and make a difference in the workplace. In order for this to happen, there are three things that need to take place. You need to:

• Know Yourself
• Grow Yourself
• Connect Yourself

Because the process is authentic and true to the individual, it is easy to apply long-term. It gives a person much needed bargaining power to create a career that is right for them, and enables greater work-life harmony because of heightened work satisfaction.

Personal branding is a process that enables you to reach your career goals by shaping your public perception.  Everyone has a personal brand, otherwise known as your reputation.  Once reserved only for celebrities and professional athletes, personal branding has become the most effective way for any career-minded individual to catapult their career to the next level.  Whether you are seeking a leadership role, want to specialize in a certain area, are searching for greater career purpose and fulfillment, or want to move into the entrepreneurial arena, personal branding is a must in developing and managing your career.  William Arruda, the guru of personal branding, defines it the following way:

“Personal Branding is a revolution in the way we manage our professions. It means identifying and communicating what makes you unique, relevant and compelling so that you can advance your career or business.

Personal branding is about differentiation. It's about using what makes you outstanding to stand out from the myriad others who offer seemingly similar services. Many professionals compete for the same jobs and clients, and personal branding helps you stand head and shoulders above the competition by highlighting your unique promise of value.

Richard Branson, Madonna, Donald Trump and Oprah are just a few of the incredibly successful people who have used personal branding to achieve great things. They recognize that to reach your goals, you must steadfastly exude something genuine, distinctive and valuable.

In a sentence, personal branding means using who you are to get what you want from life.”

William Arruda, Founding Partner & President,
Reach Branding Club

Personal branding is the core process in MotivMode’s Career Impact Strategy programs.  We believe that unearthing and leveraging your authentic “self” is both the starting point and the key to realizing your professional goals.  Our personal branding process is led by Certified Personal Branding Strategists.  We apply a very specific methodology developed by Reach Communications, the leader in personal branding.  This process has been used very successfully with career-driven employees at major corporations such as JPMorgan, IBM, Microsoft, Disney, Warner Bros., and American Express.

At MotivMode, our philosophy is deeply rooted in continuous learning.  Our programs reflect some of the best learning methods found in our assessment tools, client exercises and coaching sessions.  In addition we want to provide other learning sources that are affordable, and many of our resources found on this website are either free or at a reasonable rate. 

Visit our Learn section to see some of the additional ways we provide opportunities to engage in continuous learning.

Professional success cannot happen without the help, guidance and cooperation of others.  We connect with other people on a daily basis at work and in our community, and the quality of our interactions can have a significant impact on our ability to achieve our professional and personal goals.

Everyone behaves differently – or has a different behavioural style.  Problems occur when we lack understanding of these behavioural differences which creates tension, frustration, misunderstanding and stagnation.  Sometimes we may try, and fail, to change other people to behave more like us.  Other times we may simply throw our hands up in the air and give up.  Although we cannot change other people, we can better understand our own interaction style and make adaptations in how we interact with others to achieve our goals. 

Interpersonal effectiveness is important for:

• Working in teams
• Conflict resolution
• Negotiating
• Professional networking

By communicating and connecting better with others, you can indirectly create an informal “Personal PR Committee” that will unconsciously act as ongoing endorsements for you.  Having people on your side enables you to better achieve your workplace and personal career goals.