Is there a college grad in your life? If so, the greatest gift you can give him or her for graduation is the best chance at landing a job they’ll love, right out of school.
Recent headlines say it all: “College Grads Struggle to Find Jobs,” “College Grads Urged to Be Aggressive In Seeking Jobs,” “College Grads Worry About Finding Jobs,” and on and on. But college grads shouldn’t let a lack of work experience get in the way of landing a position they’ll love, no matter what the economy.
That’s why I wrote How YOU™ Are Like Shampoo for College Graduates. It’s the only Personal Branding System designed specifically to help college students build a powerful brand for themselves.
Just launched last year, it’s filled with hundreds of eye-opening tips I gleaned from interviewing more than 50 top companies and schools about what it takes for college grads to stand out in a crowd of older, more experienced candidates. HR experts from companies such as Google, Disney, IBM, AT&T, Procter & Gamble, Motorola, Hilton, Nestle, and Goldman Sachs “spilled the beans” with me, and I share it all in this book.
People tell me it makes a great gift for a graduating senior! And, if you buy the paperback or e-book from my website, you will automatically receive a Free Accompanying Manual of Exercises – 60 pages of step-by-step personal branding exercises – worth an extra $12.95. The manual is full of exercises that I developed and customized so that your grad will feel like I’m right there, running alongside, coaching them through the system.
Click to read an excerpt of the book here.
Here’s what a few folks have said about How YOU™ Are Like Shampoo for College Graduates.
“Taking in all of the tips I learned from How YOU™ Are Like Shampoo for College Graduates, I was able to have multiple offers and to pick a job that I loved. The job and environment I’m in now are perfect for me! I wanted to express my gratitude to you for assisting me in my journey to find my passion.” — Kelsey Steinmeyer, Meeting & Incentive Planner, Travel Faire/American Express.
“I was just too excited about your book not to drop you a note! I just finished reading How YOU™ Are Like Shampoo for College Graduates. It’s simply one of the best books on personal branding, for students or others, that I’ve ever read! You’ve almost single-handedly restored my faith in personal branding. … I believe colleage seniors need Shampoo fed to them intravenously!” — Dave Rothacker, Book Reviewer.
“I really enjoy the ‘no nonsense’ nature of the writing, and of the advice. The book isn’t written from an ivory tower or pompous perspective, but is, instead, delivered in a form easily understood by everyone from undergrads, to graduates, and people currently looking to change their personal, respective brands.” — Gregory Stoller, Professor – Boston College.
Click
here to buy
How YOU™Are Like Shampoo for College Graduates and to get your free Accompanying Manual of Exercises.
April 14th, 2011
Let’s face it: As a leader, you want to be liked, but you also want to be respected. And it really is important to have both if you’re going to be effective on the job. But accomplishing both can be difficult, and maintaining a balance between the two can be even more challenging.
If you spend too much time trying to be liked, chances are you aren’t leading effectively – you’re not making the truly tough decisions (that may not always be popular) and assuring that everyone is doing their job well. Maybe you avoid confrontation and cower at the thought of having to deal directly with workplace issues and problem team members. Or, perhaps in your efforts to be liked, you stick with the status quo, not wanting to “rock the boat.” Outcome? Your team members don’t grow, and you end up with mediocre business results.
On the other hand, if you spend too much time trying to be respected without caring enough about being liked, you may struggle to get your team to support you. Leaders who don’t care at all about being liked may cause their employees to feel like victims. Issues aren’t raised up to you until they have turned into crises because people are afraid of your reaction. Or maybe team members don’t come to you with any new ideas, anticipating that you’ll just put them down anyway. Outcome: Horrible morale and escalating employee turnover.
As tough as it may be, leaders with great Leadership Personal Brands work hard at maintaining a balance between the two poles. It requires weighing every situation carefully and thinking about how your actions and reactions will likely be perceived.
So, what to do? Here’s an exercise:
1. On a piece of paper, draw a horizontal line with a “1” at the left end and a “10” at the right end. Now, think about how you operate as a leader. If “1” represents a 100% focus on being respected, and “10” represents 100% focus on being liked, where would you fall in that continuum? Do you worry too much about how much YOU™ are liked? Or do you try to earn respect without worrying at all if your team likes you? Be honest with yourself: How balanced is your leadership style between these two poles?
2. Based on your schedule for the upcoming week, write down a plan that concentrates on creating a balance between being liked and respected. What actions can you take that will promote this balance? What opportunities might arise that will help you maintain the kind of like-vs-respected balance you want? Think about your options, and weigh the consequences of each. Consider which choices will be most likely to bring you this important balance, strengthening your Leadership Personal Brand in the process.
April 14th, 2011
CHICAGO – April 2011: Internationally-recognized branding expert and award-winning author, Brenda Bence, has been ranked #7 among the World’s Top 10 Most Influential Brand Gurus for 2010. Bence was chosen by Brand Gurus International based on her works, her contribution to the global community, and the votes of her peers in industry.
In order to choose the most influential brand gurus, emails were sent to 22,000 business people, consultants, academics, and MBA’s around the world for nominations and a public opinion poll. A top 30 list was compiled from this research, and a top 10 list was compiled based on the number of votes each individual received. According to Brand Gurus International, the criteria for judging focused on “originality of ideas, practicality of ideas, presentation style, international outlook, impact of ideas, quality of publications and writings, dispersion of publications, and writings, public opinion, [and] guru factor.”
“This distinction means a great deal to me,” says Bence. “Anyone who knows me knows I’m passionate about the power of branding – both personal and corporate – so to be recognized as #7 in the world is a great honor.”
With an MBA from Harvard Business School, Bence began her 25-year career developing mega brands for Procter & Gamble and Bristol-Myers Squibb across four continents and 50 countries.
Today, Bence is President of Brand Development Associates International, and she travels the world speaking, training, and coaching individuals and corporations to greater success through creative, yet practice brand development. She has appeared on numerous television and radio programs and has written dozens of articles on the subject of branding. As a certified executive coach, she works individually with some of the world’s top CEOs to help them rise to the top of their careers by building their leadership personal brands.
Bence’s three books in her How YOU™ are like Shampoo personal branding series have won a total of ten national book awards, including the Best Beach Books Festival National Grand Prize. All three of the books walk readers through Bence’s unique personal branding approach, the world’s only step-by-step, start-to-finish system for defining, communicating, and taking control of a personal brand. The first book is targeted to helping people succeed within the corporate world, the second book, How YOU™ are like Shampoo for Job Seekers, adapts the system to help make a job search faster and easier through personal branding. In the third book of the series, How YOU™ are like Shampoo for College Graduates, Bence revised her groundbreaking system to help college grads through the process of creating a personal brand to succeed in job interviews – even though they have little practical work experience.
Click here for the full list of brand gurus.
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