Strengths

Will Today be Trump or Clinton’s Best Day at Work?

by paulcopcutt
November 8, 2016November 16, 2016

By the end of the day, one of the candidates may well be looking back to today as one of their best days at work, at least so far. Of course, the work for the successful President of the United States is only just beginning, some future days maybe best days and some may be the worst, it’s not an easy job for sure. The best and worst seems to be how many of you look at your own jobs and careers.

Presenteeism, time spent at the workplace while not productively engaged in work, is the new absenteeism

The conclusion of a 2015 Canadian study, The True Picture of Workplace Absenteeism, with 1,300 people including just over 1,000 employees, found that 80 percent of respondents self-reported experience with presenteeism. 81 percent indicated that they had gone into work while they could not perform as well as they would have liked.

The reasons for doing so included physical sickness (47 percent), stress or anxiety (40 percent) and workplace issues and/or problems with co-workers or managers (22 percent). Depression was specified as the cause by 15 percent of respondents.

A quick Google search of #BestWorkDay uncovers plenty of top 10 lists on ways to ensure you have your best days at work. The common advice to these problems seems to fall into two camps.

Can LinkedIn Tell You What Your Salary Should Be?

by paulcopcutt
November 4, 2016November 4, 2016

There are a lot of changes happening with LinkedIn right now, and more to come, so watch this space! The latest new feature to roll out in the US, Canada, and the UK is a salary calculator called LinkedIn Salary. “Earlier this year, LinkedIn emailed members asking them to anonymously disclose their salaries”, said Ryan Sandler, a product manager. “In exchange, they were given insight into what peers in their fields are… Read More »Can LinkedIn Tell You What Your Salary Should Be?

Are Skills Endorsements on LinkedIn Really Worth Anything?

by paulcopcutt
October 28, 2016

Many believe that the endorsements, given by others, of your skills on your profile, are next to worthless. Following several acquisitions of companies in the artificial intelligence (A.I.) space, LinkedIn has been incorporating some of the technology into upgrades of its platform. This includes looking to make the endorsements of skills more relevant to those viewing your profile. We all appreciate the value of a solid recommendation from a colleague or client.… Read More »Are Skills Endorsements on LinkedIn Really Worth Anything?

10 Ways LinkedIn Can Help Build Your Local Business

by paulcopcutt
October 7, 2016October 7, 2016

Imagine standing at a local networking event and every second that passes, two more new people walked in the door. It would soon get packed!

This is exactly what is happening 24 hours a day on LinkedIn as 7,200 new members join ever hour. As the world’s largest professional network, with over 450 million members, LinkedIn offers a huge global business opportunity.

But can it be useful on a local level and can it help you build new relationships and grow your business or career? Yes!

LinkedIn is business focused unlike Facebook or Twitter where the lines are blurred. On LinkedIn it is understood that you are connecting for business purposes. Around 40% of LinkedIn’s 12 million Canadian members live in Ontario. A simple postcode ‘Advanced Search’ can connect you with people as close as a 15 km radius to your location or target area.

You can also search by industry, company, job title and specific keywords to accurately pinpoint the connections your business needs. It is important for you to be very clear about who you want to connect with and why.

With that in mind, here are my TOP TEN ways to use LinkedIn effectively;

Don’t Leave Your Personal Brand to Chance – 5 Tips for Success

by paulcopcutt
September 28, 2016September 28, 2016

“A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.” – Bob Dylan

The Fall is a busy time for everyone. Many companies view the last 4 months of the year as an opportunity to spend the years budgets, or individuals look to make that all important career move, ready to start the new year in a new opportunity.

Recruiters are also very active, between now and the end of the year can make or break their commissions or bonus, and for some those payments can be significant. Unfortunately that can sometimes mean they lose sight of what is best for the candidate.

A word to the wise when you get that next headhunters call!!

I am reminded about a certain recruiter who I think only ever worked for one client and therefore when he was contacting people to talk about a great new opportunity he could really only have one ‘sales pitch’.

One September he called a friend of mine who had, to that point, a successful career in sales in consumer goods and proceeded to tell him that industry was dying, no future, consolidation was happening everywhere – to an extent it was true. He went on to say Now if you want to get in to a growth industry do I have the opportunity for you – I’m thinking of you and I’m thinking – aluminum extrusions, was how he described it – we knew it was double glazing!

Three years later, again in September, my friend, who had by then switched to the medical industry, had a call one evening from the same recruiter – his opening line after finding out what my friend was doing was “That’s a dying industry, lots of consolidation – now if you want to get in to a growth industry do I have the opportunity for you – I’m thinking of you and I’m thinking – aluminum extrusions……..!!!!!!”

You should not be leaving your next career move to the whims of anyone else, it’s up to you to own the definition of who you are.

Here are 5 ways to ensure you have better control of your career;

Is Your Personal Brand Like the iPhone 7 or More Like the Galaxy Note 7 ?

by paulcopcutt
September 20, 2016September 26, 2016

In recent weeks we have seen two very different brand stories when it comes to the latest smartphones.

The launch of the iPhone 7 has been accompanied by all the pre-launch build up that Apple does so well and that leads to increased demand. We have seen images of the ‘Apple Junkies’, who have already secured their new phone by pre-order, but still queue up overnight to be one of the first to physically have their phone.

Contrast this with the total product recall of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7. There have been reports of a risk of it exploding and airlines have even advised passengers not to get on the plane in possession of one.

These events are accompanied by Apple dropping the price of its ‘older’ models, Samsung having to dispose of whole technology divisions to pay the expected $1 billion+ in compensation, and of course Apple’s share price rising.

Until the next launch or product recall.

After all, it seems like never a week goes by without another new phone hitting the market. Apparently the lifespan for a smartphone, before it becomes ‘obsolete’ and overtaken by a faster, sleeker, more buttons and gadgets phone from someone else, is between 3 and 6 months.

Is this same risk of obsolescence happening for you in your career?

Achieve Personal Brand Victory with These Olympics Lessons

by paulcopcutt
August 30, 2016September 1, 2016

With the Olympics, the great thing about living in one country and coming from another is I get to cheer for both, because I have double the chance of celebration. Go Canada, Go Great Britain!

Having worked with a number of former athletes, the Olympics give me the opportunity to witness great triumphs and disappointments that are accompanied by wonderful stories. I appreciate and admire an athlete’s struggles and sacrifices. I am also struck by examples of this year’s younger winners being inspired, even mentored by some of the more established and successful athletes.

Joseph Schooling first met Michael Phelps when he was 13, during the Beijing Olympics when Phelps visited his local swimming club. Eight years later, he beat Phelps in the 100 metre butterfly to win the first ever gold medal for Singapore.

Over the years, the Olympics has become much more of a commercial venture, at least in some aspects. Although host nations seem to be almost guaranteed to lose money, brands like Nike and Under Armour and top athletes usually win. Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt have become huge personal brands, with significant endorsement deals and rewards for winning. Even Joseph Schooling earned $750,000 for his medal.

However, I am sure that most Olympic athletes do not ‘do it’ for the money. The investment in supporting them to get to world-class levels can cost a country’s association way more than the bonus for medaling.

For me, one of the best examples of the win being everything was the sheer surprise and joy on the face of 16 year old Canadian Penny Oleksiak when winning a gold medal. Money was not in that picture.

The Olympic brand and logo does have huge monetary and recognition value and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is almost manic about its control. This is in part to help protect the sponsors and the huge investments they make in wanting to be recognised and associated with the event.

So what are the Olympics showing us that you can apply to your personal brand?

Lessons From Discover Your Personal Brand Conference – The All Star Panel

by paulcopcutt
August 15, 2016August 15, 2016

This past weekend I had the opportunity to speak again at the Discover Your Personal Brand Conference. DYPB 2016 was different from 2014 in a number of ways.

The focus was more toward small business and the caliber of speaker, panels and attendees was awesome. There were many inspiring young Canadians in attendance that really gave me a lift about the future of our country. All held within the back drop of Telus’ state of the art office in downtown Toronto, an environmental LEED building, bursting with technology and balanced with space and light.

The opportunity to attend conferences is always a big investment, even if its local so it was great to get such a rich experience.

After introductions from the motivating conference organizer and founder Bobby Umar and keynotes from the always excellent Mark Bowden and inspiring Real Food for Real Kids founder Lulu Cohen-Farnell the highlight of the first evening for me was the Personal Brand Leadership All Star Panel. They were;

Cameron Gordon, Head of Communications, Twitter – Moderator
Erin Bury, Managing Director at 88 Creative
Jennifer Ettinger, Founder & President at Fit Your Style
Jagmeet Singh, MPP, ONDP Deputy Leader
Bobby Umar, Founder, Raeallan & DYPB

Full bios and more details on the schedule http://www.dypb.ca/schedule/ and other speakers can be found here http://www.dypb.ca/speakers/

Here is a Summary of the questions and panel answers;

Discover Your Personal Brand 2016 #DYPB16

by paulcopcutt
August 11, 2016

Last chance to book tickets for #DYPB16 – dypb.ca TODAY only! Half Price Tickets to #DYPB16 #Toronto Aug 12-13. Buy One Get One Free! picatic.com/DYPB16 #BOGO over 50 experts & speakers on personal branding [youtube id=”mEFm7l3DLFY”]

Get Noticed And Appreciated By Your Boss With These 7 Personal Brand Exercises

by paulcopcutt
July 20, 2016August 15, 2016

It is critical to your success that others know about your personal brand and what it stands for, here are 7 ways to help you do that.

Jane was a Senior VP at one of the banks. She had been there for 15 years with regular career moves and promotions. Now she was frustrated because her last performance review made her realize that her desired promotion to the C-suite was blocked.

She came to me for coaching and we soon determined the reason why she was not being considered for this key move. She was invisible. Not to her colleagues or boss in the local office but to the people making the C-level decisions in New York. The solution was clear. We had to raise her profile in New York even though she was not based there.

We put in place an action plan to raise her credibility and visibility with the decision makers. Within 9 months she was promoted to the CFO role.

This was a classic case of the right people not knowing about Jane and her personal brand. This may be the very reason that you too are not progressing in your career or getting invited to join the latest project or team. More of the ‘right’ people need to know about your personal brand.

Here are 7 key things about your personal brand that you need to ensure everyone (who matters) knows about you;

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