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Who Am I If I’m Not an Executive? – Preparing for the Transition Called Retirement

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Recently, I’ve been hearing a variety of stories regarding business owners and corporate executives who’ve been ready to sell their business or step down from their leadership role and retire, only to back out or panic at the last minute. The common theme among these stories is the concern they were experiencing about what their days would look like after they made the transition to retirement. Without preparation, it can feel like going from 120 miles per hour to zero in an instant.

Retirement, or what I prefer to call ReIgnitement™, requires planning. And, while many have focused attention on financial planning for retirement, few have considered the non-financial aspects of this life transition. Even in companies with strong succession planning processes, the vast majority do not focus any attention on preparing the executive for the next stage of their life. Transitions of any type can create stress in your life, even if the change is something that you have been looking forward to.  When that transition arrives, you can react to the changes that arise such as loss of identity, work relationships, and/or purpose. Or, by taking a planful approach, you can prepare yourself to respond effectively to the transition and ease the way.

This month, I’d like to share a simple tool to help you gauge your readiness for this transition. If you’re roughly 2 – 5 years from retirement, or know someone who is, please use this tool or share it with another to get a quick read on your readiness. If you’re already retired, you can use this tool to pinpoint those areas that might need some attention.

Click on the link for the Retirement Readiness Wheel. The 8 sections you’ll address take into consideration a holistic view of retirement. These sections include the following:

  • Clarity of Identity, Purpose
  • Health
  • Leisure/Travel
  • Home/Residence, Location
  • Marriage/Significant Other
  • Work/Business, Volunteering
  • Financial Resources
  • Optimism About Aging

As you review and rate each section, take a moment to determine what that section means to you. Then, to determine your readiness, circle your level of satisfaction with your preparedness for each of the 8 sections on a scale of 1 – 7 (1 = least satisfied, 7 – most satisfied). For example, for Home/Residence, Location – ask yourself “how satisfied am I with my preparedness on where I’m going to live?” Or, for Marriage/Significant Other, consider how prepared your relationship is for the transition. Go with the first response that comes to mind as you review each part of the wheel. That tends to be the one that is most indicative of the way you truly feel.

Once you’ve rated each section, draw a line connecting each of the numbers around the circle.  What kind of wheel do you have?  How smooth and balanced does it feel?  How bumpy might a ride on that wheel be?

If you discover that one or more areas of your ReIgnitement™ could use some tweaking and you’re not sure where to begin, a coach can help.  I invite you to explore my profile as well as those of my colleagues on the Retirement Coaches Association website to find a coach who is right for you. We help our clients think about and prepare for retirement like never before.  Take the time to plan so that you can hit the ground running when you step into the next phase of your life and career.

About the Author: Sherry Dutra is a Talent Development, Career and Retirement Coach and Facilitator who works with corporate leaders in small to mid-size businesses, across the span of their careers. She helps them to accelerate business growth and team performance, navigate their own career path, and transition to retirement with ease using proven methodologies and strategies that get results. If you would like to uncover and address hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your success, leverage your strengths, and accelerate your progress toward the results you desire, contact Sherry for a complimentary consultation.

Building Your Personal Brand – Part Three

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In this final segment on Personal Branding, we’ll cover steps 9 – 12 which are focused on messaging, image, consistency and visibility.

As a quick review, in Part One we looked at the importance of a personal brand and the initial steps to defining how you choose to be known in the world. In Part Two, we built on your initial foundation by exploring what makes you valuable, unique and impactful.

So, bring out the work you’ve done so far and let’s put on the finishing touches.

  1. What is your compelling message?
  • There are several key messages that you’ll want to create. If you look to the work you’ve completed up to this point, you’ll find that you already have a head start on this.
    • First, create a simple statement that quickly identifies who you are. The formula we used in step 5 serves this purpose, “I help X get Y.”
    • Second, if you own your own business, it’s important to have a tagline that, in one clear phrase or sentence, defines who you are. One way to come up with this is to reflect on why you do what you do. What is it that gets you up every day? Michael Port, the author of several books including, Book Yourself Solid (https://www.bookyourselfsolid.com/), has become known as “the guy to call when you’re tired of thinking small.” This tagline clearly demonstrates his desire to “help people think bigger about who they are and what they offer the world.” What’s your tagline?
    • A third component is to craft a brief story – no more than 30 seconds – that describes your greatest achievement. Start with a short description of the problem, then move on to the actions you took and finally speak to the results that were achieved. This demonstrates the value that you offer.
    • Finally, it’s important to craft an overall marketing message that allows you to talk about what you do in an interesting and compelling way. Keep in mind that, if you completed steps 1 – 8, you already have most of the components for this. Michael Port offers a 5-part formula for creating this message.
      1. Summarize your target market in one sentence. Who do you help?
      2. Summarize the three biggest and most critical problems that your target market faces.
      3. List how you solve these problems.
      4. Demonstrate the #1 most relevant result you help others achieve.
      5. Reveal the deeper core benefits that they experience (e.g., financial, emotional, physical, spiritual.
        Put this all together to develop your message. For a firm that provides tax services, it might sound something like this: “I’m a tax advisor. I help small to mid-size business owners protect their wealth. You know how business owners are looking to maximize their profit while minimizing their tax liability but often complain about how complicated the tax code has become? What I do is get to know my client and their financial goals and work closely with them to create a strategy to achieve those goals in a cost-efficient way that, at the same time, helps them to sleep at night knowing their tax return is submitted correctly.”

10. What image aligns with your message?

    • How do you actually embody the brand? Consider everything from how you personally present yourself to your logo and marketing collateral to the types of groups and associations that you will align yourself with.  How well do these various components align with who you are and what you do?
  1. Be consistent.
  • If you’ve ensured that you’ve created an authentic message throughout this process, then consistency should be easy. Be yourself, in alignment with your brand, wherever you go and with whomever you encounter. Be clear about how you want each person you interact with to experience you. What behaviors do you need to modify or adopt to create this consistency?
  1. Be visible.
  • You might have the best brand in the world yet, if it’s also a best kept secret, it won’t have its intended result. Determine how you want to gain that visibility.
    • Networking is a key strategy for building and expanding your connections.
    • Social media is another important strategy to keep in mind. Pay attention to the platforms where the people you want to meet hang out. For example, LinkedIn is critical for anyone in the business community. A strong profile along with being an active member through posting, participating in LinkedIn groups, etc. is a must.
    • Look for ways to participate. This could include a leadership or committee position in the community or with a professional association that allows you to meet those in decision-making roles.

Call to Action

So, as this series opened, I ask again. Who needs a personal brand?  Essentially everyone who has a career. Whether you own a business, serve others as an independent consultant, or work inside a company, personal branding is a powerful tool to help you further your career goals. I encourage you to set aside some time and work your way through this personal branding process. It’s your opportunity to establish how you want to be known in the world.

Adapted with permission by Center for Executive Coaching.

About the Author: Sherry Dutra is a Talent Development, Career and Retirement Coach and Facilitator who works with corporate leaders in small to mid-size businesses, across the span of their careers. She helps them to accelerate business growth and team performance, navigate their own career path, and transition to retirement with ease using proven methodologies and strategies that get results. If you would like to uncover and address hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your success, leverage your strengths, and accelerate your progress toward the results you desire, contact Sherry for a complimentary consultation.

 

Building Your Personal Brand – Part Two

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In Part One of this three-part series, we reviewed the importance of a personal brand and the first four steps to crafting your own. In this month’s segment, we’ll build on what you have done so far and work on steps 5 – 8. The steps we are covering in this segment are focused on honing in on your unique value and gifts and how you choose to express those meaningfully in the world.

To recap, steps 1 – 4 asked you to start with assessing your current brand. Then, you identified your talents and core values. And, lastly, you created your mission statement which focused on the contribution you want to make to the world.

It’s time to flesh out your personal brand a bit further. Let’s get started.

  1. Why are you valuable to others?
  • A good value statement can be as simple as, “I help X get Y.” Fill in X with a specific group of people that you serve. This could be a particular demographic (e.g. Baby Boomers), an industry (e.g. technology), a size of business, etc. Fill in Y with what you help your employer or your client to achieve.  Being as specific as possible is important. The more that your employer or client can identify with who you serve and how you serve them, the more likely they are to be interested. Here are some examples:
    • I help analytical leaders to become people leaders.
    • I help small to mid-size companies improve employee engagement, decrease attrition and improve productivity.
    • I help companies use marketing automation software to grow their businesses.
    • I help solo entrepreneurs in service-based industries build a six-figure business in 18 months or less.
  1. Identify what is unique about the value that you bring and what drives you.
  • If you have been in the working world for a while, bring to mind what stands out about you. If you are relatively new to the workforce and are still building your skills, what do you need to do to become unique? Some refer to this as the Unique Selling Proposition or USP. I prefer a term coined within the Transformational Presence community – Unique Soul Position. This refers to articulating how you are equipped to serve different people in your company, your business or your leadership that is in alignment with who you are at your core. What is unique about who you are and what inspires you to do what you do? To get in touch with that, consider the following questions:
    • What have you been good at your whole life?
    • What are the top three things that you get compliments on?
    • What are three things that others find memorable about you?
    • What do you simply love to talk about in regards to your personal life?
    • What do you simply love to talk about in regards to your work life?
  • If you’re having a little trouble with this step in the process, it can be helpful to gather a group of supportive friends, who know you well, and ask for their input. Because our unique talents come so naturally to us, they often don’t stand out to us as being special. Others can help to illuminate them.
  1. Your brand must have impact.
  • Without impact, no one will remember you. In this step, you want to consider what you’d like people to say about you after they’ve met or experienced working with you. What positive characteristics and attributes do you already demonstrate that you can leverage to make you more memorable? What characteristics and attributes might be important for you to develop in order to have greater impact?  Keep in mind to maintain alignment between the impact that you want to make and your personal values and mission. Below are a few examples of impact to get you started.
    • Compassionate / Collaborative / Energetic / Knowledgeable / Bold / Passionate / Meticulous / Risk-Taker / Innovative / Trustworthy / Assertive
  1. Be prepared with proof to back up your promise.
  • There are many ways in which to quickly improve your credibility such as volunteering on the board for a relevant professional association or non-profit; serving in a leadership capacity where your ideal clients tend to gather; or speaking at a professional association. Examples of proof include:
    • Case studies that document outcomes with previous clients
    • Credentials and on-going development
    • Testimonials or recommendations from past employers or clients
    • Published books or articles
    • Articles in which you’ve been interviewed and quoted

Call to Action

Set aside some time in the coming weeks to build on what you completed last month and take action on these next four steps. Please stay tuned for Part Three next month where I’ll discuss the final four steps in building your personal brand.

Adapted with permission by Center for Executive Coaching.

About the Author: Sherry Dutra is a Talent Development, Career and Retirement Coach and Facilitator who works with corporate leaders in small to mid-size businesses, across the span of their careers. She helps them to accelerate business growth and team performance, navigate their own career path, and transition to retirement with ease using proven methodologies and strategies that get results. If you would like to uncover and address hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your success, leverage your strengths, and accelerate your progress toward the results you desire, contact Sherry for a complimentary consultation.

 

Building Your Personal Brand – Part One

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Who needs a personal brand?  Essentially everyone who has a career. Whether you own a business, serve others as an independent consultant, or work inside a company, personal branding is a powerful tool to help you further your career goals.

In an increasingly complex world, we must develop our own personal brand where we clearly and consistently define, express and communicate who we are and what we uniquely offer the world. Gone are the days where we join a company after high school or college and stay there throughout our careers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has indicated that the average worker holds 10 jobs by the time they are forty and this number is expected to grow for younger generations in the workforce. Developing a personal brand allows you to stand out and increase your chances for success.

What makes these well-known people masters of personal brand?

  • What comes to mind when you think of Beyoncé, Lada Gaga, or Elton John?
  • How is it that Michael Jordan still gets amazing endorsement and business opportunities long after his basketball career has ended?
  • What makes comedians like Jim Carrey and Whoopi Goldberg stand out?
  • Why did Richard Branson, Walt Disney, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs, and Arianna Huffington become such business icons?
  • What makes Tiger Woods still so popular after more than one major misstep?

All of them have developed a personal brand containing key characteristics:

  • They are unique. They march to the beat of their own drum and are instantly recognizable.
  • They stay true to who they are. The experience we have of them is consistent.
  • They are memorable. Their personal brand creates a vivid picture of them that stays with us.
  • They have something valuable to offer. A truly powerful brand is built on a foundation of competence, value, and substance.
  • They are trustworthy. When you break trust, your personal brand will be damaged. In some cases, like Tiger Woods, you can rebuild that trust but it can take a long time. It’s better to ensure that you don’t break trust in the first place.

In order to have a successful brand, it’s critical to embrace the characteristics above. To help you begin the process, I’ll be sharing twelve steps to creating your personal brand. In Part One of this series, I will share the first four with some tips for each to get you started.

  1. What is my current brand?
    • Identify 10 – 15 people you work with who interact with you on a regular basis and ask questions that help you to understand how you are currently perceived. Make sure that you answer the questions for yourself first and see how much alignment there is or there isn’t in the responses. This can be eye-opening as we often don’t see ourselves in the same way that we are perceived. Some suggestions you might consider include:
      • What is most unique about me?
      • What are three strengths that stand out?
      • What is one thing I can do to have a stronger personal brand?
  1. What are my talents?
    • We talked earlier about having something valuable to offer. What are the things that you already do exceptionally well that you can leverage and continue to develop to mastery?
  2. What are my most important values?
    • A strong personal brand is established on a foundation of core values that you’re willing to stand up for. What are those values that are most meaningful to you?
  3. Create a mission.
    • This is focused on what brings meaning and purpose to your life. What is the contribution that you want to make to the world with your unique talents and gifts?

Call to Action

Set aside some time in the coming weeks to take action on these first four steps. This is your opportunity to begin defining how you choose to be known in the world. Why leave it up to chance?  Please stay tuned for Part Two next month where I’ll discuss steps 5 – 8 in building your personal brand.

Adapted with permission by Center for Executive Coaching.

About the Author: Sherry Dutra is a Talent Development, Career and Retirement Coach and Facilitator who works with corporate leaders in small to mid-size businesses, across the span of their careers. She helps them to accelerate business growth and team performance, navigate their own career path, and transition to retirement with ease using proven methodologies and strategies that get results. If you would like to uncover and address hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your success, leverage your strengths, and accelerate your progress toward the results you desire, contact Sherry for a complimentary consultation.