CREATING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND:The Mentoring Perspective

Chris Boydpartner@simplybestpractice.com

“The only real voyage consists not of seeking new

landscapes, but in having new eyes;

in seeing the universe throughthe eyes of another,

one hundred others—in seeing the hundred universes that

each of them sees."

—Marcel Proust

Networking = Connecting

• Listen! It’s ALWAYS about the other person.

• How can I help you? Be specific.

• I’m interested. Tell me more…

• What have I not asked, that I should know?

Mentoring: Connecting The Dots

• Who Are You?

– Have we met before? Can I trust you?

• How Can I Help You?

– Why involve me? Will it be too much trouble?

• Why YOU?

– What makes this interesting? Mutual benefit?

Mentoring

• It could be the Next Big Thing.

• It could be the last little thing.

• YOU choose…it is what YOU want it to be.

Mentoring Is Changing…

• Literally!

• Career phases Learning, Earning, Returning

• Face-to-face being supplemented by virtual

– Huge plus as overcomes inherent misuse issues

– Today can strike up a conversation in real time

The Virtual Business World

“Real World”

• Show of hands please: Minecraft? MOOC?

• Shopping – Amazon? AppStore?

• Vacations – TripAdvisor? EpicMix?

“Real Work”

• Investor Relations– Quarterly Earnings Calls?

• Meetings – GoToMeeting? Webinars?

• Conferences TEDtalks? Dreamforce, BIF, CGI

The Dialogue: ‘Let Me Illustrate’

• Preempts ‘Show Me’!

– Preemptive is disarming (forgive me for asking…)

• You Don’t Need To Be A Great Artist

– Cartoonish, back of napkin, etch-a-sketch, PostIt

• Get Over It / Get It Over

• Invite Feedback

– What do you think? Am I missing something?

• CONGRATS! Now you are conversing*

The Mentor As A Catalyst

• Collaborate = bootstrap/closing the gap

• Convene = initiating/bringing together

• Co-create = content/products/services

• Critique = feedback/benchmarking

• Crowdsourcing = curating / community

What Is Your Next Chapter?

• Frustrated that the future is slow to arrive?

• Looking for common ground?

• Shared purpose – ‘get in the game’?

• Are you a connector?

• See yourself as a curator?

• Enjoy being a people developer?

• Need some ‘space’ to find yourself?

Introducing ‘The Studio’…

Thank YOU!