Feeling stuck, helpless or too busy when it comes to your career?

You are not alone. A 2016 Deloitte global survey of millennials shows 48% of female respondents say they are “being overlooked for potential leadership positions.” What is of particular interest is that many of these women feel they have no control over their careers. In fact, only 29% feel they have total control.

The punchline is that most women (71%) do not feel that they are in control of their career. That sentiment, sadly, is confirmed in the many conversations I’ve had with talented women entering senior roles.

How can you gain “control” of your career?

It starts with your brand, according to Executive and Career Coach, Maxine Dotseth.

With over 25 years of in diverse corporate, sales, leadership and coaching roles in financial services and technology, Executive and Career Coach and founder of Step Up Growth, Dotseth has great perspective and advice.

“Too often we put our heads down and just work. Many of us are so work focused that it’s hard to lift our heads up and do both – work and manage our careers. Yet, the greatest outcomes come from managing your most impactful project – yourself,” shares Dotseth.   

We’ve all heard about the importance of our personal brand. But what does that really mean?

Dotseth explains that there are two key components to your brand: how you show up intrinsically and extrinsically. Internally, it’s your mindset, your presence (read Own Your Presence, Own Your Professional Success) and your openness to growth. Externally, it’s the value you deliver – how and who you deliver it to.

Both are important to building a strong personal brand.

When it comes to your mindset, manage the stories you tell yourself. As a woman in an institutional finance role, Dotseth was often the only woman at the table. She recalls not thinking of herself as a female – “I thought of myself as a well-prepared professional.” She clarifies, “mindset can get you far but it’s only one of many components necessary, when you are looking to advance your career.” Research confirms that for many women and people of color, the ascent to the top gets increasingly harder as they move to more senior levels. In addition to mindset,mentors, sponsors and professional development opportunities become critical to continued progress.

Using a coach like Dotseth can be a helpful way to reframe a situation and make progress where you otherwise feel stuck.

Your external brand can be enhanced by thinking about where you can contribute in a bigger way in your company or industry. Consider being a mentor. No matter your level or role, giving back is always valued.

How do you develop your brand?

Use these three steps to develop (or refine) your personal brand:

1. Know your strengths
2. Understand your gaps
3. Showcase your strengths in ways that are relatable (and searchable)

Know your strengths

Dotseth recommends starting with your strengths. Understand the value you bring to certain audiences and the attributes that make you unique.

“It’s often hard to be accurately introspective” explains Dotseth. Using assessments such as StrengthsFinder helps her provide her clients with unbiased and science-backed clarity on their strengths.

Another way to uncover your strengths is to ask peers and friends — look to your trusted advisors. Ask them, “What do people say when I’m not in the room?” or “What sort of problems or situations would you come to me for?”

Dotseth learned that one of her strengths is relatability. She always thought about it as curious until a peer pointed out that the real benefit of her curiosity was her ability to connect with people.

We are often too close to ourselves to have a clear understanding of our gifts. Using tools such as StrengthsFinder and having an advisory group or career development buddy are invaluable.

We need to start with and draw from our strengths, especially given the challenging time. 

Understand your gaps  

Being “promotable” requires more than results it demands belief in your potential.

No one has it all; we are all in a state of development. Dotseth recommends we get to know our weaknesses by being open to feedback. The way to not get overwhelmed and continue to develop is to focus on one thing. Your job is to get and manage the feedback. She recommends to keep it simple and focus on one thing at a time.

She also reminds us that it’s also ok to network your way out of an unhealthy situation – you have permission to be honest and act if something isn’t working for you.

Showcase your strengths in a way that is relatable (and searchable)

You can’t just know your strengths- you have to communicate them in the right ways and to the right people to use your brand to influence your career.

This is the area where I see a lot of people get tripped up. They work hard, know and use their strengths but either aren’t showcasing them effectively or don’t know how to highlight themselves in the right ways.

According to Dotseth, effectively packaging yourself starts by knowing your audience and positioning your strengths in a way that is relatable to them.

Whether it’s in a meeting, performance review or on LinkedIn, communicating in a way that addresses your audiences’ needs is key. Make it about them and highlight how you can (or did) help.

Be “found” by your value. If you do this well, people will start to listen and come to you because of your reputation. If you become the “go to person” in your area of strength, you know you’re doing the right things.

Regardless of your career status or internal position, Dotseth reinforces that it is important  to manage your external brand via your LinkedIn profile.

“If there’s one piece of advice I can give it’s to update your profile (brand),” she shares. Dotseth specializes in helping her clients develop a strong brand that’s reflected in their resume and LinkedIn profile (including optimizing it for AI recruiting). She reminds us that LinkedIn is a powerful, 24/7 professional learning and networking platform, and is not just for job seekers.

Dotseth’s LinkedIn best practices recommendations:

• Update your profile with the key words and phrases that your key audience values and that defines your brand
• Follow thought leaders and companies that are of interest to you – your competition, trends and the thought leaders that deliver curated inspiration (Adam Grant and Simon Sinek are a couple of Dotseth’s favorites. JT O’Donnell from workitdaily.com is someone to follow if you are specifically interested in career management and job search advice.)
• Engage or contribute once a week (social media is built for engagement, even if you don’t post — like, comment and share content you admire)
• LinkedIn is a great platform for learning and development. Recognize your colleagues accomplishments, make new connections both within your industry and beyond, contribute, and endorse others, but bottom line have an updated relevant profile and brand.

Don’t be caught off guard

The best defense is a good offense. Part of your job (the part that isn’t in your job description) is to manage your career. Dotseth shares she’s always surprised how often people are caught off guard.

Proactively managing and developing your brand by knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and intentionally packaging yourself in the right way to the right people can go a long way to helping you gain control over your career.

There is a lot you cannot control in life (especially this year) but your brand is within your influence.

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I partner with financial professionals, asset managers and small businesses looking to unlock potential by getting intentional and comfortable with business strategy and sales. Growth strategist and coach, accountability partner, change maker – those are some of the names I’ve been called over the past 15 years. Access business best practices and learn more at www.shaunamace.com or contact me at [email protected].

Maxine Dotseth, an executive and career coach, is the founder of Step Up Growth. She has over 25 years of experience in the financial services and technology industries in corporate, sales and leadership roles. In her institutional sales career, she helped raise over $500B in new assets. Her professional experience and training give her a unique perspective and skillset to help her clients achieve their goals. Giving back and supporting community members is important to Maxine. She serves as a board member for Women in Investing (WIN) of Philadelphia, as a contributor to the Advisory Council for the PA Conference for Women and on Penn Medicine’s Mind Your Brain Foundation. Learn more about Maxine and her coaching services at www.stepupgrowth.com or by contacting her at [email protected].

   

Many of us would like to believe that our professional outcomes are a direct result of skill and effort. Work hard, deliver results and you will be rewarded. Yet, we all know that’s not how it works. There are many dynamics that contribute to success beyond skill and effort, and presence is an important one (and one within your control).

Turns out we have seconds to make a first impression. Although studies vary from “less than one second” to “almost 30 seconds,” impressions happen quickly and often before you even have a chance to speak.

According to experts, 55% of first impressions are made by what we see, 38% are tone and 7% percent are the actual words you say.

Like it or not, presence plays a critical role in our success and it’s often not what you say but how you show up and communicate.

On August 6, WIN hosted an event, Dimensions of Presence, featuring experienced executive coach Terry Charlton. After the event I had a chance to talk to Terry and learned about her impressive and fascinating background.

Terry has been focused on executive development since the 1970s. Over the past 40 years, she’s worked as a consultant, coach and leader for prestigious financial institutions such as Citi Bank, JP Morgan Chase and Vanguard to name a few. Often the lone female and often in roles she wasn’t “ready” for, she attributes her success to a willingness to “take the ball and run with it” and strong interpersonal, and intuitive skills.

Presence has always been at the core of her success and the success of her clients. As she shared with the WIN group, she’s learned that developing your presence and “the ability to work with grace and ease is a never-ending process.” Looking back over the years she’s discovered that authenticity is key.

As a coach and consultant, Charlton has established a three-dimensional framework for developing presence:

1. Mechanics/physical
2. Mindset
3. Mindfulness

She suggests starting by being intentional. Before an important event (an interview, important meeting or presentation), prepare by clarifying how you want to show up. Asking yourself, “I intend to demonstrate…” List how you want to show up and use the three dimensions to support you.

Ground into your body

Mechanics, your physical presence is how we traditionally think about presence. It’s our appearance, body language, tone and energy.

Looking the part is a given – dress professionally and be well-groomed (even on Zoom). Our newly digital world has further raised the bar. When showing up digitally do a test run using a free Zoom account to make sure your lighting, audio and environment (background) support your professional appearance.

Charlton suggestions strengthening your physical presence by:

1. Grounding into your body by feeling your feet on the ground and your butt in the chair. Have your arms on the table, sit up and lean forward to be physically engaged.
2. Sound deliberate by projecting your voice with intention, which means be a bit louder while keeping the tone warn and conversational. Also, be aware of your pace, clarity and inflection. You should hear the last letter of every word. Although it may sound unnatural to you it won’t to your audience. Don’t be afraid to slow down and use pauses strategically (and of course breathe).

Ground into your mind

If mechanics are concerned with the external, mindset is all about the internal – what you believe about yourself and the situation. Your attitudes, expectations, assumptions, opinions and judgments can influence your energy and confidence.

As a professional, manager or leader it’s your job to own and manage your beliefs and stories. Charlton learned through her career that she couldn’t wait until she was ready. She was “petrified along the way” but she had to have faith that she’d figure it out. She managed her mindset.

Change and growth are uncomfortable.

As the founder of a growth consulting and coaching business, I’m often in situations that are new or are uncomfortable. When I start to get in my head I pause and ask myself, “why am I doing this?”

I’m clear on my purpose – to inspire growth and unlock potential – and I don’t take on a project unless I believe I can deliver. So, when I have an intimidating project, client or problem I go back to my purpose and reset by reminding myself that no matter what, I will fulfill my commitment. I always have and always will. It may require more effort and resources than I expected, but I will do right by my client.

Commitment to a clear purpose and to do right by my clients helps to quiet the voices and keep me focused on the work and people, not on the fear.

If you’ve being given an opportunity or are in a position where you need to find opportunity, especially when you don’t feel ready, let history by your guide. Look back at your experiences and outcomes, and take comfort in the fact that you have everything you need to succeed and you can figure it out.

Engage in the moment

The last and one of the hardest (in my opinion) dimensions of presence is mindfulness – engaging in the now.

One of the most important skills coaches learn and develop is the ability to listen. I don’t mean “listen” while also mentally reviewing their to do list, multitasking on a project or planning dinner. I mean deep listening, turning all of your attention to your audience. It’s more than hearing what they are saying. It’s using all of your senses (including your intuition) to be fully present and engaged. Being in a state of full presence and deep listening is uncommon in today’s fast-paced, impatient, digital world.

Yet, if a situation or conversation isn’t worth your full attention, I’d ask you to consider why you are giving it any attention.

After Charlton was unexpectedly laid off from Citi, she found her days full of networking and interviews. She learned that to “show up” she could only do one interview each day. More than one interview and she didn’t have the energy to be full present.

The lesson is to pick your times to truly show up. Like a professional athlete, you can’t always be on or you will burn out. You can strategically plan when to show up and prepare for the event. Prepare for your week and day by reviewing your calendar. Choose the one or two most important events daily and show up.

Owning your presence

Charlton urges us to recognize that strengthening your presence is a journey. Self-coaching is critical along the way and being ones’ own cheerleader is necessary. Give yourself messages such as, “I’ll figure this out,” “What can I learn from this” or “Where is the silver lining in this situation?” 

Skill and experience can take you so far. Presence, a combination of physical, mindset and mindfulness skills, requires time and effort to develop. It’s more than looking the part, or having a powerful title or network.

As you invest in developing your presence, don’t forget to have self-compassion. Growth is an incremental process. As Charlton recommends, “take one step at a time” and never miss an opportunity to show up when it matters.

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I partner with financial professionals looking to unlock their potential by getting intentional and comfortable with sales. Growth strategist and coach, accountability partner, change maker – those are some of the names I’ve been called over the past 15 years. What happens after you get a lead? If you looking to move more prospects to clients and clients to advocates, I’d love to help. Learn more resources at www.shaunamace.com or contact me at [email protected].

Terry Charlton is the founder of Once Source Solutions. She is a certified executive coach with over 40 years of experience across industries but focused on financial services. If you’re interested in coaching you can connect with Terry via LinkedIn or at [email protected].

If I had to give one piece of advice to quickly expand and enhance both your career and professional relationships it’s this: be others-focused.

I recently wrote about being others focused on my blog – for which my target audience is financial advisors and professionals, most of whom are male. I thought I could reuse a lot of the content. I was wrong. As I reread it with WIN in mind, it didn’t sit right because we (women) tend to be naturally others-focused, sometimes to a fault.

When I suggest being others-focused, I am not recommending you take more on or make it only about everyone else (you likely are already doing this). I’m proposing you strategically identify what others need and want so you can help them and yourself.    

Think about the people who sustain and drive your success: your manager, clients, prospects, friends and family. What fears, challenges and needs do they have that you can solve? Or even if you can’t solve, can you acknowledge and support them as an empathetic partner?

How does this play out in your career?

Understand what’s in it for you

Being others focused strategically requires you to be clear about what you want and need. When you are clear about your needs, the role someone may play in your career and life (and the role you can play in theirs) becomes obvious.

Who in your life can you help? Who do you need help from? We all need connectors, mentors and advocates.

Connectors are the people who help you get you from point A to Z. This could be through introductions, recommendations, or some other form of external support. They may open a door or idea that leads you down a path you’d never have found on your own but is important in your growth. Often, when you look back, you’ll be surprised that  someone you didn’t expect to have such an incredible impact did.

Mentors provide support; they are critical in helping you grow as a champion and trusted partner. Traditionally we think about mentors as formal relationships, often within your company or industry. However, mentors can also be people you’ve had a single conversation with or learned lessons learned through their story.

If you feel like you don’t have the bench of mentors you need, look beyond your company and network. Learn about people you admire, read their books, podcasts and follow them on social. Some of the most powerful mentors I have never met (but hope to one day!).  

An advocate is someone in a position of influence who can speak on your behalf as a sponsor when you’re not there (especially when you’re not there). These are the people that make or break your career in ways you can’t on your own. They may push you into a role or project that is outside of your comfort zone. While you may be inclined to resist, trust they see something in you that you may not be able to see just yet.   

Give and receive

Being others-focused is a dance. You give, they give, you give, they give. In order to receive the benefits, you must be open to receiving as much as giving.

No one wants to dance with someone who resists.  

Don’t be surprised when you start to give that others will want to give back. Let them give but help them by being explicit in what need, fear, want and desire. Sometimes the people who we expect will help don’t. More often, individuals we don’t expect much from will have a meaningful impact

How to be others-focused

It starts by getting to know your audience. Understand their needs, fears, wants and desires. Instead of “what can you do for me?” refocus on “what matters to you?”

Whether it’s your boss, co-worker or a stranger you’re meeting at a networking event, ask open-ended questions to uncover what matters to them. Keep them going with more open-ended follow-up questions. Clarify and synthesize what you’ve heard so they know you’re engaged and to confirm you’ve hit on gold – a need, fear, want or desire.

You may find that there’s nothing obvious you can help with, and that’s ok. Or you may need to flip the script, get vulnerable and share one of your needs by asking for help yourself.

Remember, the world revolves around them

Being other- focused is one of the best ways to improve relationships, drive your career and quickly grow professionally and personally. Practice putting yourself in others’ shoes to build and deepen trust, rapport and to get what you need.

At the upcoming WIN networking event, the Summer Social on August 19^th, and any other networking opportunities you have, I challenge you to practice being others focused, uncover a need you can help with and act on it, and when the situation is right, ask for help. I’d love to hear about the outcomes.  

I partner with RIAs and financial professionals looking to unlock their potential by getting intentional and comfortable with selling. Growth strategist and coach, accountability partner, change maker – those are some of the names I’ve been called over the past 15 years. If you’d like to move more prospects to clients and clients to advocates, I’d love to help. Learn more resources at www.shaunamace.com or contact me at [email protected].