It's Not So Much The What As It Is The How

217,000,000 was the approximate number of "hits" that I got when I typed in "online profiles." When I "refined" the search to "online user profiles" it went up to about 461,000,000. So much for narrowing things down.

The whole thing kind of made we wonder if "profiles" would be in the running for one of the most used words these days. If not in the world, then certainly in the U.S.

I don't know about you, but to me it feels like every time you turn on anything electronic, someone wants your profile and given the hype around segmented and "personal" marketing efforts, it's little wonder.  It would not surprise me that as the technology continues to advance, pretty soon they'll want DNA samples!

Given the degree to which ExecuNet is part of the business and career networking space, we are certainly interested in profiles as well and talk about this with our members frequently as the member email below demonstrates: :

Dave,

How do you "truly distinguish" yourself from the thousands of other executives competing for the same VP or C level position? All of which have strong LinkedIn and ExecuNet profiles\networks.

When all is said and done, doesn't it come down to a personal recommendation from a contact\friend\colleague who's in a position to stick their neck out for you?

As I thought about his question I also thought I was hearing that there was a fair amount of frustration built into it, meaning that while he recognized that "profile" was the buzz word of the week, he was really wondering why really put the effort into it if as he said "...when all is said and done" it almost always comes down to a personal referral.

Well, for sure that's true, at least in my experience both on a personal level as well as the data we have gathered in survey after survey. Upwards of 70% of the time, the change comes about as the result of networking aka referrals.

In trying to formulate a response that I hoped would make some sense and be helpful, what I tried to do was separate things into two separate but very much related issues.

What follows was my response:

It isn’t so much the “what” you can do that makes you stand out as much as “how” you make people aware of what you do and “how” it is going to help them solve problems that they need fixed. Most of which comes down to research that is focused on organizations you have targeted because you have a genuine interest in what they make and/or the services they provide.

Your research (much of which can and will be helped by expanding your personal and professional network) will help you to be really well informed as to what the key business issues are that they face. Once known, you can then market the “what” that you will bring to them as you network your way into decision makers in the company.

When it comes to the "what", a profile is certainly one example of a what. Other "whats" can be things like: a resume, a blog you’ve written, an online portfolio, your active participation in events and organizations, etc. They are simply a framework.

The "how" is the style and tone (visual and written) that helps someone to get a more complete picture of you as not just someone with technical expertise, but as a person as well.

To answer the obvious question of why this is so important, it's because when someone is hired and something goes south, 9 times out of 10 (maybe more) it isn't because the technical skills weren't there, it was because the "chemistry" wasn't what both parties thought it was going in, and "chemistry" is about the person! (As if we didn't know!)

Another way to think about this is to think back at how you have made changes in the past. Organizations hired you because you “stood out” from other candidates. Whatever those traits/skill sets that attracted them to you are still there. You need to find vehicles that will put those on display.

Your challenge in today's world is to utilize the "framework" alternatives available to you to so others can see who's really there, and when it comes to profiles, you can do that by going beyond the name, rank and serial number approach of here's where I worked, for how long and for what I was "responsible."

What they want to know is "how" you made things happen!

If someone had asked this question of you, how would you have explained it to them?

New Rules - Old Rules - Our Rules

It is always nice to get a call from a major news network asking you to appear on one of their programs and to comment on a subject about which they apprently think you have some level of expertise. The one this past week however, turned into an unexpected and very interesting experience.

I should quickly add however that having to get there for a live interview at 7:00 in the morning which translated into getting up at 4:00 added nothing to enhance the experience, although it does give one much more respect for those folks like Matt, Merideth, et al who do it every day. Not something I would look forward to for sure.

Anyway, the program is called Money for Breakfast and the segment is what Fox calls The C-Suite Sit Down which is a regular feature on the show.

The unexpected experience came about when I discovered they have a particular question that they always use to close these interviews. They call it Three Rules. I had never heard of it before, but once they told me about it, it reminded me of the monologue that Bill Maher does at the end of his show each week and calls "New Rules as well what they do to close James Lipton's wonderful show Inside the Actors Studio when they ask each guest the same set of questions at the end like "what's your favorite word" etc.

Fox's variation on this theme is to ask the guest to share what they feel are three things that are really important to them when it comes to their business. I have to say, it gives you a funny feeling in your stomach when someone asks you something that important and you are limited in both time and number in terms of responding. The fact that it is on national television doesn't add much to your comfort level either.

Since all of this came up late in the day before the show, it gave me essentially the night before the interview to think about it, something which I can tell you is definitely not conducive to a good night's sleep, especially when you have to get up at 4:00 in the bargain.

The point of the exercise, of course, is to get their guests to share with the audience what at ExecuNet we sometimes characterize as "key learnings" in the hope that they might be of some help or interest to others.

I have no idea if what follows will or won't be of some help or interest to others, but I offer it in spirit of sharing; not the sharing of advice, but of one person's perspective. What I came up were not "rules" so much as they are beliefs:

1. Any relationship that we have, either inside or outside of our business, is based on TRUST.

2. An organization's culture should be about a feeling of working "WITH" not "FOR."

3. Everything that we say or do reflects on us all both individually and collectively.

If others have "three rules" of their own, I would love to see them and others probably would too.

If you wanted to see the entire interview you can click here. It runs around five minutes.

Things To Think About On The Way Home

It is with some trepidation that I go forward with this post thinking that it might subject me to a series of comments or emails from those who would be saying things like "C'mon Dave, get off the Power of Positive Thinking bit and get back in the real world with the rest of us."

For someone like me whose sense of humor has been described on occasion as more like Don Rickles than Mary Poppins there are those who when they see this will wonder if I have stopped taking my meds. Well, I haven't I just stumbled across this one day and liked it a lot and couldn't get it out of my head.

We all have come across or read affirmations like this all the time. What struck me about this, however, was the vast amount that has been written over time about the subject matter that is covered in a mere 40 words! Indeed, when I first read it, and realized just how much ground it covered in so few words, it reminded me of the old Mark Twain (?) quote that went something like "If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter"

Taken in that context, at least to me, it makes the thoughts expressed by Cooper even more impressive.

The Seven Deadly Sins

Truth, if it becomes a weapon against persons.
Beauty, if it becomes vanity.
Love, if it becomes possessive.
Loyalty, if it becomes blind, careless trust.
Tolerance, if it becomes indifference.
Self-confidence, if it becomes arrogance.
Faith, if it becomes self-righteous.

Ashley Cooper, American columnist

Anybody have some "thoughts" that they particularly like?