New Year Tips for Building Your Value in 2012

At this time of year, professionals are looking forward to making changes in the New Year. Finding a job, securing a better job, or feeling more satisfied in their work. Individuals at all levels are struggling with: How do I get more control over the opportunities that come my way?

Here are some tips for looking back and reaching forward to make changes in 2012:

1.    Assess

Take inventory of the opportunities that you missed and the ones you gained this year:

• Did a flaw in your reputation prevent you from being considered for a promotion? Did your behavior cause others to perceive you less favorably?
• Did you receive referrals this year? How did they find you – your network? LinkedIn? Could your personal brand and reputation be leading prospects to your door?
• Did you receive consistent praise for your value, behavior or talents? What key phrases did you hear from employers, contacts and prospects?
• How is your social networking working? Are you gaining visibility and credibility online through your profile, content and connections?

2.    Set goals

Write down your goals for 2012. How do you see your life and work changing next year? For instance, are you looking to:

• Find a new job?
• Keep your job?
• Graduate from school and find a job?
• Return to work after a gap?
• Increase your contribution to the community?
• Grow your contacts and network?
• Become visible as an expert?

3.    Create a plan 

Create a plan to build and promote a more powerful personal brand. Ask yourself:

• Do I know how I am perceived by people I work with?
• Are employers finding me?
• Have I been reckless online (creating a negative impression of my values?)
• Do I know the people who will connect me to opportunities?

Then, create a plan that puts you in the best possible light.

• Put yourself in the right situations in the right way.
• Update your online materials to be consistent with your values.
• Evaluate your image/wardrobe to ensure you’re projecting professionalism.
• Dissolve relationships with people who detract from your values.
• Increase relationships with professionals who can get you opportunities.
• Pay attention to the consistency of your actions: Ensure that the way you act, look, speak, and write support the reputation you want to achieve.

This is a great time to assess, reflect and get a plan in place to increase your value in the new year. What changes are you going to make in how you market yourself for better opportunities?

 

ABOUT LIDA

As counsel and reputation management expert to international corporations, senior executives, CEOs and business leaders, Lida Citroën launched LIDA360, a reputation management firm, to devise corporate marketing strategies and personal branding processes that drive results. Her programs continuously and intuitively revolve — and evolve — around client business objectives while positioning companies and executives to outshine their competitors.

As an accomplished professional speaker on personal branding and reputation management, her programs, “Stand Out from the Crowd: Leveraging Your Personal Brand” and “Personal Branding & Reputation Management Online” generate rave reviews.

The author of the best-selling guide to reputation management, “Reputation 360: Creating power through personal branding,” (Palisades Publishing, 2011) Lida delivers speaking programs, consulting and coaching on:
– Reputation Management for Executives
– Reputation Management for Professionals
– Reputation Management for Non-Profits
– Personal Branding for Today’s Executives
– Personal Branding & Reputation Management with Social Media

For more information visit www.LIDA360.com or call 800.314.5060.