DigIn! Media

Identity in 2009

from Limor Schafman, President of KeystoneTech Group

 

The New Year is a time of reflection and goal setting.  Now is the time that we set our personal and professional objectives for 2009.  As I remarked in our end of year December newsletter, we are in a time of change and challenge.  This brings opportunity.  As I determine what I want to accomplish in this coming year, I reflect on where I am now and what I have learned. I recognize  now one inevitable conclusion:  We must...Be Who We Are. Recognize it. Appreciate it. Be it. 

 

Now the question becomes, who are we - as individuals? As corporations? As executives living and defining the corporate body?  What is our Identity?  Does our internal identity match our external identity, and will it enable us to accomplish our bodacious goals of 2009? Or do we each need to step in to a bigger Identity? A more expansive and unhampered Me?
 
As individuals, we have lived long enough by now that we know, if we are honest with ourselves, what personally we love to do, and why we procrastinate.  Where our strengths lie, and our weaknesses.  What type of life we want to lead and what we want to make different.  
 
As corporate entities, we know what we can do as a team, what truly differentiates us and where we disappear in the market mix.  We know our values, and our value to our customers.  We know what is "true" about our marketing statements, and what is unimportant.  We know where our corporate mission hits the rubber on the performance road, and where it skids.
 
As executives in our businesses, we clearly see our individual roles in that team whole - what we do well and what we need to improve.  We know when our team works well together and when it does not.  If we allow ourselves, we will "see" if we have a unified corporate and team Identity, and how our personal identities play into that corporate unity.
 
For an of-the-moment example - imagine what it feels like for President Elect Obama to be kicking off his new life today in Washington DC.  How is he envisioning his presidency, and the goals he plans to achieve during the next four years (and perhaps eight)?  How is he picturing his role on the governmental, national and international stages?  What is his picture of Identity as a President of the United States?  What steps has he and is he taking to embody that new Identity fully and unassailably?  For he must do this to fulfill his persona l goals, and professional mission to the country.
 
I invite you to join me in starting the year with honest assessment and directed goal setting by answering some questions.  Reflect on each of these with regard to yourself, to your company and to the role you play within your company and community:
  1.  What Identity do I have now? 
  2.  What specific goals am I setting for 2009?
  3.  What Identity do I need to own in order to achieve those goals?
  4.  If that Identity is different, what do I need to let go of in order to attain it?
  5.  Am I ready to step into that new Identity?
  6.  When?
  7.  What is my first action as this new Identity?  What will I do now to establish and anchor it?
 
Since we at KeystoneTech Group work with companies to properly message and market their technologies and to make best use of interactive technologies to communicate their brand, I will add these questions:
  1.  Is your brand communications properly reflecting your corporate Identity?
  2.  What new media tools can you add to your marketing arsenal to define your Identity to your target customers?
  3.  Will you invite customers to interact with your brand?  What will maximize their experience of your corporate Identity?  What will lead them to answer your call to action?
 
Let us help you find the answers to these questions and step into those larger visions and objectives defined for this year.  We look forward to working with you in 2009.

Yes You Can!...Find a Job in A Down Economy

by Limor Schafman

Or start your own business.  That's what we learned from our conversation this week on the DigIn! Radio Show with Lorne Epstein,  HR expert and author of You're Hired! Interview Skills to Get You Hired.

Economic downturns are the time for innovation and entrepreneurship.  History has shown that it is particularly in difficult times, when people are pushed to be resourceful, that they step up to the plate and deliver innovative solutions that make money.  So if you have just been let go, take a moment to meditate and think on what you would really like to do, where market opportunity can be found with new needs created by this marketplace, and how you can address those needs. 

Whether you are looking for a team to help start your new business or are looking for your next job, use your network.  Friends, family, colleagues and absolute strangers you may be linked to on social networks will help you.  All you have to do is ask.  You'll be surprised.  Make the most of LinkedIn.  Join Groups of interest - they are always posting jobs.  Target companies and see who works there.  You may know someone who knows someone, and use it to make a direct call to a person listed at the company.  People are pretty responsive when you tell them you found them on LinkedIn and want to talk with them.  Network out there in the real world too.  Craig's List, Meetup.com, any many other listings localized to where you live or where you want to work have extensive lists of daily networking events.  Get out there and go!

Meanwhile get your resume updated.  Make it clean and easy to read, have good empirical and numerical stats on there if possible. Review it for grammar and spelling, and use the terms of art of the industry you are targeting.  Remember that it is 30 seconds to review whether you get a second look.  And then you may get the interview.

In the interview, be direct, honest and prepared.  Anticipate and practice the questions they will ask, and have 5-6 ready yourself.  They want to know that you can speak and think.  Dress for the part - one level above what they usually wear in that office.  And walk in there with the knowledge that they in fact do want to hire you.  They can't wait to stop interviewing so give them every reason to say "Yes!" to you.

To hear Lorne in his own words, visit the DigIn! Radio Show, find us on iTunes under Limor Schafman and DigIn!