JMcLoughlin

by Diane Baranello, President, Coaching for Distinction

We’re all familiar with corporate branding and most of us have a pretty good understanding of why a great branding campaign that rocks becomes memorable. Apple is probably one of the most outstanding brands. And there’s Google, Starbucks, McDonalds, Ritz Carlton, Disney, Nike, Tiffany’s and the list goes on. But what about personal brands?

Well, some names quickly come to mind – Steve Jobs, Oprah, Donald Trump, Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney – they all mean something different to fans, promoters, supporters. But what about Joe or Jane Average? Is it possible their names might also have brand recognition? Who will remember them once they leave the room?

A personal brand is built on distinction, reputation, perception. It includes all the good stuff, bad stuff, smart stuff, quirkiness, values, strengths, images we leave behind. In the end, we each have a personal brand whether we know it or not. Our brand is like our fingerprint. It is totally unique. No other person in the entire world has the same brand.

Everything we say and do becomes part of our brand. How we dress is part of our brand. How we speak is part of our brand. Our body language is part of our brand. Our tone of voice is part of our brand. How we handle responsibility, communicate with others, our values, core strengths, reputation, online messages and offline behavior… are all part of our personal brand.

The mistake many of us make is we don’t realize we have a brand in the first place. Every moment of every day we are either enhancing or hurting our brand. It’s a living, breathing force. We build it. We market it. We sell ourselves on our promise of value.

So, where do we begin? Awareness. Become aware of who you truly are, what you believe in, the values you stand for, and what it is you deliver that is truly a part of your uniqueness. There’s no formula for fashioning a brand. It has to come from within. Ask yourself what is it I do best? What am I so passionate about doing that it consumes me, energizes me, feeds my spirit? When I speak about it, my face, my body language, my voice all resonate with a singular message. You’ve just begun to build the foundation for your personal brand.

Every brand has a tone of voice that defines it. Think of it like music that connects you with everyone else in the audience, whether that music is big band, jazz, classical or contemporary. If your message has consistency, if your statement of value has clarity, if your story is memorable, and if you can connect with people in a way in which they can believe in you and what you can do for them, your brand notes will carry from the stage to the last row of the balcony.

Finally, just be authentic; get to know yourself from the inside out. Remember, there is no one in the world who can speak, say, do exactly what you do. Take a look at your fingerprint. You are unique. You are a brand.

Diane Baranello, President of Coaching for Distinction, is former global Training Director for The Citigroup Private Bank. She is an experienced career coach and corporate trainer with more than 30 years in financial services, an active member of Baruch’s Executives on Campus Program, was keynote speaker at the recent FWA/Baruch Mentoring Program, and will speak at the April 5th EOC Job$mart Career Hour. She’s trained business professionals around the globe and coaches seasoned executives, emerging leaders and career changers to develop new career strategies, build a unique brand and a memorable pitch, and communicate with confidence. Diane’s philosophy is simple … be confident about who you are and what you offer, distinguish yourself by building an authentic personal brand, and communicate with energy and enthusiasm! [email protected]

Executive on Campus’ Job$mart Career Hour covers various topics of interest and allows the students to listen to executives speak about their careers but more importantly it gives the students a small group setting to ask questions to the executives. The panel usually consists of two or three executives who provide the students with current trends in their specific industry and career advice for entry and success. KPMG Partners, Gene Ozgar and David Lewis (pictured top right ) kicked off the semester discussing the topic of Career Evolution: Managing and Planning your Career Trajectory. Ching Rose, Managing Partner, CMIT Solutions and Dan Choi, Managing Director, Credit Suisse (TIS), (pictured bottom left) spoke about Technology Industry Trends.

by Marianne Hovivian

A new outreach program, The Mentee Alumni Program (MAP), is being developed by EOC under the guidance of J. McLoughlin, the EOC Director and members of the mentor program and recent mentee graduates. The committee consists of Marianne Hovivian, mentor, and Baruch graduates Terresa Ling, Jason Wang and Ryan Meltzer.

The outstanding success of the Mentor Program at Baruch drives the need for a Mentee Alumni Program. Both the EOC community of mentors and mentees see the need for graduates to stay connected to the program and also for the graduates to support each other once they are in the workplace. The group will have multiple goals. One goal will be to bridge the gap between new graduates who still seek the support and encouragement of the Baruch community and the EOC resources. Mentees report that they benefited from the relationships developed in the Mentor Program, but they no longer have the direct connection to the EOC after graduation. This group will be poised to assist students with in the transition.

MAP will also tap those graduates who are now gaining experience in the workplace and would like to communicate with other new graduates and share their experiences and resources. Networking possibilities for these people can be vast and will be addressed as the program evolves. Furthermore the graduates can become liaisons with current mentees who would like support with their current mentors. Finally the pool of graduates who participate can become the seed mentors for the future.

MAP will be launched at the May EOC Cocktail party. The potential membership for the program is large since over 2500 Baruch students have passed through one of the EOC programs. A letter from the committee was sent to the graduates to launch the program. The committee is also establishing a LinkedIn group to facilitate communication amongst the graduates. Any interested parties should contact J. at 646-660-6098 or email: J. McLoughlin. Please share this information with your former mentees!

by Michael Lissauer

Park Bench Marketing Group. An interesting name. It commemorates the fact that Bernard Baruch did his best thinking in Washington D.C’s Lafayette Park and in New York City’s Central Park where it was not uncommon to see him discussing government affairs with such world leaders as Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt, while sitting on a park bench. The park bench became his trademark.

I created Park Bench in the fall of 2008 as a fully integrated and multidisciplinary in-house marketing group to allow students to work with business professionals on pro bono projects.

These assignments have been undertaken for Executives on Campus (EOC), Timex, Baruch Sustainability Task Force, Business Wire, Ten Second World, Global Kids, La Scuola d’Italia, Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, American Cancer Society, Raich Ende Malter, and the Mayor’s Office of the City of New York. Park Bench also has organized and promoted three conferences: “The Changing Dynamics of Public Relations”, “Yes We Can: Going Viral in a Social Marketing World” and “The New Marketing Revolution: The impact of social media and viral marketing on branding and political advertising.”

The group’s capabilities include marketing, social media, advertising, branding, graphic and web design and public relations. Park Bench is built upon the principal that the greater the opportunity for engagement and critical, creative and collaborative learning with faculty, peers and community, the more likely the chance for future success.

And the success of its students is the true benchmark of Park Bench.

George Gutierrez summed up his experience with Park Bench by saying “Working for Park Bench taught me to interact with clients in a professional setting and work in accordance with their objectives. It also showed me the intricacies and development process of putting together an effective marketing campaign and it taught me to work creatively as a team. It definitely served as my initiation into “real-world” marketing projects.”

“The degree of freedom one receives at Park Bench is a bit overwhelming at first,” said Jeffrey DeJesus. “It’s easy to get sidetracked but it’s great experience because that’s how it is in the real-world.”

Ricky Dalal “liked that we had to work almost always in a group dynamic. Marketing,” he said, “is best learned when in a focused team environment in which there is a sharing of diverse ideas, and it helps enormously with motivation.”

HAPPY SPRING!!
The spring semester and Executives on Campus’ programs are in full swing. Our Job$mart Career Hour Program has kicked off and our Mentor for a Morning program on March 15th welcomed over 55 Mentors from the business community. As you are marking your calendar, don’t forget to save the date for our 10th Anniversary Celebration on May 5th. Thank you to all those that contributed to this edition of the EOC Newsletter. If you would like to contribute a news item or article to the EOC Newsletter, please email J. McLoughlin.

J. McLoughlin, Director, Executives on Campus