Make Your Contacts Count

Fireproof Your Career

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Anne Baber, of “Make Your Contacts Count” fame, joined us in the CFO–Career–Forum on Tuesday to discuss strategies for creating a personal protection plan for your career … i.e., a strategic business plan for your career.

She had so much great information I actually took five pages of notes!

Her basic premise is, “be eager to stay and prepared to go.” The bottom line is that each individual is responsible for his or her own career. Anne refers to this as being “the champion of your own career.” I love that visual. It is not the responsibility of your boss, your company, or anyone else … the responsibility for your career lies with you. As a side note, Cliff Hakim authored a great book around this very topic called, “We Are All Self–Employed.” It’s a great read for anyone who is in the workforce.

One of the key strategies she mentioned was “liberate your mind.” In other words, be open to who you are outside of what you do. She noted an interesting statistic … the degree to which you identify with your company (i.e., introduce yourself as the CFO of ABC Company) is a strong indicator of the joy you get from your association with the company.

For example, when you introduce yourself is it as, Joe Smith, CFO of ABC Company? Or, do you lead with one unique and interesting statement about you that is memorable and promotes a continuing dialogue?

Do you have your own identity or is your identity woven into the company who provides your paycheck? If it is the latter, how long are you hoping that identity will last?

Fireproof Your Career

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Fireproof is a verb … to be eager to stay and prepared to go in volatile times. It is critical that you create your personal career security protection plan so turbulence in the corporate world doesn’t lay you low.

Join us on Tuesday, August 21 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern as Anne Baber, co–author of the just released Fireproof Your Career Toolkit, shares five strategies for executives to fireproof his or her career. You can jumpstart your participation in this guest expert call by listening to the audio previews at FireProofYourCareer.com.

If you are a member of the CFO–Career–Forum, log in and register. If you are not a member of the CFO–Career–Forum but want to join the call … Register here!

If you are not available Tuesday at 4:00 Eastern time, the call will be recorded and available on Wednesday, but only if you have registered for the telecall.

Sign up TODAY!

Make Your Contacts Count

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Lynne Waymon was a fabulous guest expert in the CFO–Career–Forum last Tuesday. I know that the attendees all walked away with at least one fabulous networking tip.

A few things resonated with me, and hopefully will with you as well.

Lynne mentioned that there are two things others look for in the people they bring into their network … character and competence. Here’s the “aha” moment of that fact. It takes six contacts with someone in order to build character and competence.

What’s important about that statement is that too many people only network when they “need” something, ahem, like a new job. It’s pretty clear that if it takes six encounters to build the trust you need to ask for help, then networking really needs to become a lifelong habit. A mere five minutes a day can significantly strengthen your character and your competence with people who are in a position to help you.

The second thing Lynne talked about, of which I am a huge proponent, is having your own personal Board of Directors. This is akin to a Master Mind group, a close group of networking colleagues who can hold you accountable to reach your goals while encouraging and motivating you along the way.

She says a good network produces, among other things, power and influence. This group of people can be the difference between having trusted colleagues open doors for you, or forever being forced to cold call your way in closed doors. Which do you think would be more effective?

LYNNE WAYMON, Co-Author of Make Your Contacts Count

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Would you like to become the natural and only choice when opportunity arises?  Networking is the career tool that will help you do just that.  Learn how to create, cultivate, and capitalize on relationships that will ensure you give the most value to your employer and the greatest boost to your career.

Lynne Waymon, author of “Make Your Contacts Count,” will show you how to make great connections – even if you’ve always said, "I hate networking!" Lynne will show you the 6 stages of relationship building and what to do and say at each stage to build a more trusting relationship.  She’ll show how to network strategically without wasting your time and your money.  She’ll show you the three key moments in networking and how to use conversation to teach people what you’re good at, what to come to your for, what to count on you for – – without bragging!   

Whether you’re looking for a new job or just want to excel in the one you’ve got, join us for an hour on June 19 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern and gain the tools to make networking an art … not an accident!

If you are a member of the CFO–Career–Forum, log in and register. If you are not a member of the CFO–Career–Forum but want to join the call? Register here! The call will be recorded so you can listen at your convenience, but you must register in advance.