Category Archives: Your professional reputation

History – or let’s go out and make history

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file5511311905470After one of my lectures, a couple of years ago an American came up to me and said: ”There is a huge difference between the US and Sweden. When you think of the word history, you think of the past – in the US we say – let’s go out and make history”.

This episode came back to me just recently when I have been writing about Your professional reputation and potential. Because this is relevant when we promote ourselves as consultants, entrepreneurs or leaders – we present only our history. At the same time, all research points to the fact that the important thing is what we can accomplish in the future. Potential is more effective than experience. Your Next Big Thing in more important than all your big things in the past, however big they are.

Let us start to focus on what we can accomplish – our potential, not what we have done. Besides it is more exciting for everyone, including yourself. So let’s go out and make history.

Three threats to your professional reputation

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file0002062790027It takes years to build your reputation as an individual, but never before can it be ruined so fast. So let us look at some of the threats.

The stagnation trap. Gary Vaynerchuck, wine entrepreneur, author and Internet icon stated in a workshop: “Stop doing stuff you hate, there is no reason today to do things you hate just because you call it work”

If you start to feel an ongoing stagnation in your job and you don’t get what you want from your talents, passion and ambition, your professional reputation will be affected, and you will eventually lose in  credibility.

The important question will be – are you where you have to be or where you want to be? If you are not where you want to be, you could do something about it - or rather,  you should do something about it! Your professional reputation is at stake here, and it’s constantly valued.

Not knowing your strengths. Erik Schmidt – Chairman of Google – says that what we are really bad at is seeing ourselves and our strengths as others perceive them. It is not until you know your strengths and professional reputation that you can add real value – otherwise they will be undervalued. We are very focused on our weaknesses, but so far I have not met a single person who has become successful on her weaknesses.

Not being aware of your professional reputation. Of course – this is crucial. You will always arrive second, your professional reputation will be there first. Most decisions are made when you are not present. The only thing that is present is your professional reputation. Do you want to take your chances or take control?

My new service as a Reputation Advisor

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe last seven years my business has been focused on analyzing, developing and assisting you in the process of marketing your professional reputation as an individual. It has been exiting years and it goes on with new ideas and new experiences. Without any doubt, your reputation as a leader, consultant or entrepreneur is your greatest asset – yet surprisingly few are aware of the potential they possess.

Today your reputation is the cornerstone in every aspect of your professional life, and it is crucial to your success. I feel very privileged to be able to work in an area that means so much to so many, and it’s natural, easy and effective.

Now I also launch a new service as a Reputation Advisor, also on an individual level. The service will be tailormade after your needs, and we will work through individual meetings. This is another way to fulfill the ambition that I have in my tagline: “Considered a pioneer in his field Per takes your professional reputation to a new dimension and challenges you to stand out as unique”.  So, let’s meet and look at your new exciting opportunities.

The four p’s of your professional reputation and the 15 seconds challenge

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PerIf I was invited to introduce Your Professional Reputation in one sentence, I would say that it’s about four p’s – person, performance and potential as perceived by colleagues and customers. Add to this your ambition – what is your next big thing towards your clients future and you will have a first class marketing tool.

Today it’s all about simplicity, time and effectiveness. In many articles that I have read in the last few weeks, it is indicated that you have 15 – 20 seconds to catch your customers interest, and curiosity – and that represent half a page of text. Would it be possible to put down one hundred percent of your attractive competence in half a page?

I would say YES if you combine a description of your professional reputation, as indicated above, with your next big thing – what you want to accomplish for your client within the next six months. In this presentation, you should also include your tagline – your professional reputation in one sentence and a picture taken that reflects your professional reputation. To this – add your track record in the form of Your Linked In profile

Expert advice on Reputation.com – global leaders on reputation management

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI´m actually proud that I was asked to give expert advice on Reputation.com who is the global leader in online reputation management. The subject was the importace of a brand name. You will find the interview here.

The powerful story of your professional reputation

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file000758102380Seth Godin, the marketing guru often writes that we need to be remarkable, and we need stories that spread. A couple of weeks ago I listened to a scientist specialised in how the brain functions, and she said that all decisions are based on feelings. After that are we looking for the logical confirmation. That’s why stories is such a vital business strategy and so crucial to you.

Your professional reputation is your story that you bring to the world. It is your professional DNA. After analyzing a persons professional reputation, and presenting it to her I am always impressed of the power of that story in every aspect.

This is the story you should spread on your website, in LinkedIn, Twitter or Google+. Unfortunately, as consultants or entrepreneurs we often just introduce historical facts, logical arguments and the things that the customer assumes that we already have. And we are forced to put our money in expensive marketing campaigns or compete with the prize in order to be noticed. Instead, YOU and your story should be remarkable.

I want to challenge you to stand out as unique

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PerPeter Stordalen, the owner of Choice Hotels said in an interview: “Worklife is about what you can do in the future, not what you have done in the past”. It is all about potential – I want to meet that guy.

Potential is when your talents, ambition, passion, personal strengths and unique qualities join force to do great stuff. These are also the skills we have such a hard time presenting when it comes to ourselves. One of the advantages when you know your professional reputation is that you can market it in a trustworthy way.

This is also one of my aspirations when I work with Your Professional Reputation – to challenge my clients to stand out as unique. My tagline is:

”Considered a pioneer in his field, Per takes your professional reputation to a new dimension and challenges you to stand out as unique”

This tagline is not what I say about myself, it’s what my professional surroundings say about me compressed into one sentence. I am very proud of mine and every morning when I wake up it’s what I want to accomplish. It’s also a big part of my potential – and it’s great fun.

A hijacked tagline

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file000303732When we analyze a persons professional reputation, we also compress it into a tagline, your professional reputation in one sentence. It is not what you say about yourself, it is what professional surroundings say about you – your perceived expertise, personal strengths and unique qualities. The tagline should also point towards your potential – what you want to achieve for your customers in the near future. Together with a good picture it will be an exciting marketing tool.

A couple of weeks ago a person found one of our taglines that we made for a consultant on LinkedIn, and she was attracted by it, hijacked it and put it on her own profile. But – that never works out, when you meet her you can immediately feel that it is false. Every tagline is unique.

Can you write your own tagline? Of course, but it will never get the same strength and credibility as when it’s made by experts building on your professional reputation. Wall Street Journal had the other day a fascinating headline ”Your resume in 140 characters”. Of course, they were talking about the possibilities with Twitter but your tagline is a very interesting alternative. It is the exclamation point to your story, and the best way to connect your clients to your professional reputation.

More from Richard Branson on reputation

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imgresI have rewritten yesterdays blog with a longer quote from Richard Branson and the article in Young Entrepreneurs. He very often comes back to the priceless value of his professional reputation.

“This is part of a larger question: What’s your most valuable possession? When people ask me that, they often expect me to name some expensive artifact. However, my most valuable possession is also my most valued possession. It costs nothing, and everyone has one: my reputation. 

For entrepreneurs, a bad personal reputation will extend to your brand’s reputation as well. If you do anything to damage either your own reputation or your company’s, you could destroy your business. When you make a promise to your customers, you need to walk the walk. While a good reputation precedes you, a bad reputation will follow you for a long time — it takes years to build a strong rapport with people and just seconds to lose it. Those in your industry, from potential investors to suppliers to prospective employees, will take note.”

Our ambition when we analyze your professional reputation is to make one hundred percent trustworthy description of your greatest asset. This is a crucial starting point in our program to develop it further. If you are not aware of how you are perceived in the first place, you will be more or less blindfolded.

Your professional reputation – my challenge

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bildFor the last eight years, my focus has been on the vast possibilities I saw back then to work with a persons professional reputation. What really surprised me was that everyone I met agreed upon the crucial value of their reputation, yet nobody had a clue what it looked like. I had never before seen greater possibilities.

I made a loop around the popular concept of personal branding, but I didn’t feel very comfortable with it. I met many people who said – “I am not a brand, I am a person”. I could always reply – yes I absolutely agree, but you have a professional reputation. Since then it has been a truly great adventure, working with more than 800 persons, analyzing and developing their reputation and experiencing the results.

So where do I go from here? My decision is crystal clear to focus further on this exciting and specific area since there is nothing  more important than your professional reputation. This is the best way that I can assist consultants to get new and more attractive clients and be even better paid. This is the best way that I can assist entrepreneurs to market the things that customers are actually buying. And this is the best way that I can assist leaders to develop their strongest leadership skills – not their weaknesses. So far I have not met a single person who has become successful on her weaknesses.

Together with my colleague Karin Sandin and partners in Scandinavia we are set out to achieve great things.

As consultants, go for what the clients are actually buying

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file000356700136As consultants, we often put in our presentations and on our website the things the clients actually take for granted that we have, but we tend to forget what she is actually buying.

We often present historical and logical arguments circling around our track-record. What the client is actually interested in is YOU, your professional reputation and your potential to solve her problems and challenges in the future.

This is partly based on your track-record, but it is not nearly enough. Your ambition, personal strengths, unique qualities and credibility are among the things that put your expertise into action with a successful result.

So you should actually introduce yourself in presentations and on the web in this order:

Your professional reputation – your greatest asset

Your potential – what results do you want to create for your clients

Your track-record or LinkedIn-profile

News – Your resume in 140 characters

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWall Street Journal had the fascinating headline “Your resume in 140 characters“. Of course, they were talking about Twitter and the possibility to market yourself in this extremely limited space.

When we work with analyzing and developing your professional reputation we also include a tagline – your professional reputation (as perceived by others) in one sentence. This tagline will indicate your potential for the future and will be a valuable tool. (Länk)

Also, Forbes Magazine is challenging the traditional resume when writing: “In 2013, the traditional resume will be replaced by the breadth and depth of your professional reputation.” Something truly interesting is happening

We need stories that spread

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file3041261323077Stories are immensely valuable, and the art of telling stories is probably one of the most underestimated business strategies today. Your professional reputation as an individual is your story. What story is your professional reputation bringing to the world?

It is not enough to tell a good story, you have to be one. Today it is not enough to be a good story, you have to be able to tell it in many different ways.

How do you tell your story as a consultant, entrepreneur or as a leader? To me, there is no doubt in my mind. When you combine your professional reputation with a description of your potential to solve your customers challenges, you have a highly attractive marketing tool. Combined with a picture that reflects your professional reputation the mission is complete.

What is the real value of your professional reputation?

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file000324397628I often say that there is no way to put a price on your professional reputation, its value to you is priceless. Sometimes we get the question if someone has actually estimated the real value and two things come to my mind.

The Carnegie Institute of Technology has done research on what creates financial success among technical consultants. The result shows that 85% were depending on their personal strengths and unique qualities and only 15% on their technical background. When you know your professional reputation you get hold of and can develop both. Of course this is the situation for all consultants.

Economists in the US estimate that 75% of the value of a company lies in its reputation. To me, reputation is created by individuals in that company. This is the reason why global PR-agencies are stating that individual reputation will be a dominant factor in the future.

Reputation is the number one when leaders in Europe are asked what is most important today. This is the value at stake – and  as Rachel Botsman states ”Reputation is your greatest asset – it will be the cornerstone of the 21st century economy.”

Potential for greatness

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IMAG0146Seth Godin writes in the introduction to one of his books: ”To be the best in the world is greatly underrated”. This may seem a bit strange, but to me it´s about having an ambition that constantly affects what I am doing every day. Of course to be the best in the world  can´t  be measured, besides I will probably never reach it, but it is hell of an ambition to have when you wake up every morning. It is FUN and it makes me challenge the average and focus on one distinct and small area where I have the potential to be the best. It is where my talents, passion and ambition join forces – to me it is with our concept Your professional reputation.

Obviously it is very good to have talents, but unfortunately this is not enough because it´s your ambition that will take you all the way. Everybody wants to be good at something, but how many are willing to sacrifice time and money to be really, really good?

Of course this is a vital part of your professional reputation – it´s your potential – what you can and want to accomplish this year.

Your Professional Reputation Scandinavia

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KatyOn Monday, the 8th we will launch another website Your Professional Reputation Scandinavia. We have the ambition to also go international with our thoughts and method. We start of with the Scandinavian countries where Katy Caroan will be working in Norway and Peter Vikström in Denmark. This means that, besides in Swedish, we will also be able to work in English, Norwegian and Danish with our program to develop your professional reputation.

Our ambition when we analyze your professional reputation is to make it as accurate as possible so it will be a totally trustworthy description of your greatest asset. This is an absolutely crucial starting point in our program. If you do not know how you are perceived in the first place, you will be more or less blindfolded in this process.

So far I have not met a single person who has become successful on her weaknesses. For that reason, we put a lot of attention on your strengths and potential and how you can expand them further. For some strange reason we are often unaware of our actual strengths and this opens up exciting possibilities.

Our program also deals with how you can put your professional reputation, and your potential out to the market to attract the right customers. As a consultant, this is of course a more attractive way then to keep competing with the price as many do now.

The unbeatable combination to be Top of Mind

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AHTwo decisive key factors today for success as a consultant, entrepreneur or leader are your professional reputation and your potential. What would happen if those two joined forces when you look for new clients and projects? You will get an unbeatable combination.

Your professional reputation is your perceived expertise, your talents and unique qualities. When preparing the report to the individuals we engage with, we also include a summary presentation of their professional reputation in 10 lines as well as a tagline. The tagline is your professional reputation in one sentence and, at the same time, your ”pitch for the future” – your Next Big Thing.

We worked with the consultants and management team for Qeep Inc. and Aqilles Invest. One of the founders, Anders Holm, got the following tagline, put together from his professional reputation: ”Anders is a genuine and inspiring leader who creates the result breakthroughs that seem impossible to others”

This is his ”pitch for the future” – his Next Big Thing. The important thing is that it is nothing that he says about himself – it is how he is perceived by his professional surroundings – it is genuine, credible and attractive. Who would not like to hire him?

Politicians – your professional reputation brings out the genuine, inspires and attracts voters.

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMany politicians hire PR-consultants to build their personal brand when it comes to an election campaign. How often doesn’t a cosmetic surface crackle, we see it happen time after time and we never seem to learn the lesson? As a politician – you are not a brand – you are a person with a professional reputation. You will arrive second, your professional reputation always precedes you. If you do not know what it looks like, you will act more or less blindfolded.

When you analyze and develop your professional reputation you will bring out the genuine, the things that will inspire and attract voters and create success for you in an election. In this way you will show the credibility that is so crucial today.

Which is your Next Big Thing as a politician – the things that you deep inside feel that you want to accomplish. Combined with your professional reputation, it is what customers, clients – and in your case voters will go crazy about. Unanimous research confirms this fact.

Who is blowing your horn?

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file0001719225336Today Paul Holmstrom, management consultant and chairman of Bioss Sweden sent us a very interesting article from the magazine Fast Company. In this article, Jonathan Rick says that the problem with your bio isn’t the boasting – it is who’s doing the boasting.

Here, he catches the real strength of Your Professional Reputation – it is not what you are saying about yourself – it is what others are saying about you. In this way, it will be a very trustworthy description of your perceived expertise, real strengths and unique qualities. It will also put words to your potential for the future.

When we work with Your Professional Reputation, we present in a compressed form what 10-15 clients, managers and colleagues are saying about you when it comes to those key factors that form your reputation.

Your professional reputation as a leader

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People attending a CongressAs a leader, you are completely dependent on your professional reputation. In an inspiring way, you should attract attention from not only employees and customers but also from investors. Your professional reputation will walk ahead of you in all of those situations.

In spite of all the tests and leadership programs that leaders take part in, they are in my opinion surprisingly unaware of their professional reputation. One reason could be that many leadership programs focus on the weaknesses of leadership and not on what is already working. No one will be an inspiring and successful leader if you focus on your weaknesses.

Over and over again I repeat the words of one of our most successful CEOs, Richard Branson: ”Your brand or your name is simply your reputation, you have to fight in life to protect that as it means everything. Nothing is more important.”

As a leader, are you aware of how your leadership skills are perceived? Your ability to inspire, your next big thing that you want to accomplish, your will to create results or your humility when the results are there? Of course, it is also interesting to see what results you are proud of having accomplished and what your professional surroundings are noticing. It might be an interesting question of marketing.

Secure your career in times of recession

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file0001970657256Right now I am working in Barcelona and everywhere you can read the headlines of the crises of the Spanish economy. According to economists today, all signs are pointing towards a pervasive recession of the economy i Europe

If you are in the middle of your career or working as consultant, entrepreneur or leader – the best way to act is to get hold of the most effective tools available to be prepared to take new steps. You should think and act in new ways and above all do it before it is necessary. These tools are your new security since this is no longer attached to your present job or assignment.

I assure you that if you can combine a trustworthy description of your professional reputation (this is not what you say about yourself) and your potential for the future – you will get an almost magical way of marketing yourself.

Very few of us use this possibility – instead we go on in the same traditional way that so seldom works. Still -  the best strategy if you are sitting on a dead horse is to dismount.

90% of the decisions about you are made when you are not present

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styrerom90 percent of the decisions about you are made when you are not present – the only thing present is your professional reputation.

These are the moments when your customers discuss if they will offer you that exciting project or job, or when they consider you for new possibilities within the company. These are the moments when you are valued – all these decisive moments in your career and in your business life.

The important question is: Do you want to take control or take your chances – do you know every part of your professional reputation – the things that decide?

Our program for developing your professional reputation

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOur ambition when we analyze a persons professional reputation is to make it as accurate as possible so it will be a totally trustworthy description of your greatest asset. This is an absolutely crucial starting point in our program to develop your professional reputation. If you do not know how you are perceived, you will be blindfolded.

Since I so far have not met a single person yet who has become successful on their weaknesses, we put a lot of attention on your strengths and how you can strengthen them further. For some strange reason we are often unaware of our actual strengths and this opens up great possibilities.

Our program also deals with how you can put your professional reputation, and your potential out to the market to attract the right customers, stand out and charge more for your services. As a consultant, this is of course a more attractive way then to keep competing with the price.

The power of inspiration

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musicians_in_prague-1What clients care the most about the things that touch, move and inspire them. They make their decisions based on emotions and after that they look for the logical facts that support these decisions.

Inspiration is magically effective and companies that grow more than 15 percent per year do it by inspiring their customers. The question is what creates inspiration since you can’t be trained into being inspirational? It’s hardly the logical arguments that we so often put forward. Instead, it grows out of the magic combination between your talents, passion and ambition. When you know your professional reputation, you also know how to develop these key skills.

Customers crave for inspiration, and they look for people who can inspire them. Do what you love and make the customers love what you do, is probably the best marketing strategy ever. Have a passion of delivering something really good. Stop marketing the things that the customers already assume that you have and market what they are really buying.

Track record or potential for greatness?

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file000789363754Very often we get advice how to land a project, an assignment or a job. Most of the time it is pointed out that your track record is your most valuable asset. At the same time, we see that it is your potential for greatness – the brilliant results that you can create for your client that is decisive. This is also confirmed by recent research (Stanford University and Harvard Business School).

Experience is important, but by itself it guaranties nothing – there is something else at stake here. Your potential is built upon your experiences, your personal strengths and unique qualities.

It all comes together in one place, in your professional reputation. Here, you get the whole picture in a trustworthy way. Please remember that your professional reputation is not what you say about yourself – it is what your professional surroundings say about you. It is without any doubt your greatest asset, considering that you will get hold of “the whole package”.

Are we constantly missing what our clients are buying?

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file0002062790027In most of the presentations that I see we put in the facts that our clients take for granted that we have and we forget what she is actually buying. We focus on historical facts circling around our experience and previous assignments. We keep doing this over and over again.

What the client is really buying is YOU, your professional REPUTATION and your POTENTIAL to solve her problems and challenges in the future. This triggers the curiosity and the decision and after that she goes back to verify that decision by looking at your background. Please – never forget that it is your potential that makes the greatest impact on your client.

How important is a picture to show your professional reputation?

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IMG_9393When we analyze and develop the professional reputation of individuals, we also suggest the possibility of taking a picture that actually reflects their professional reputation. We want to use photographers that sees things in new ways and who also have analyzed their own professional reputation in order to get the feeling of the possibilities. This is of course a new opportunity for gifted photographers.

We have initiated a co-operation with Magdalena Bibik a most gifted photographer (among many other things) and the results have been exciting. The combination of this kind of picture, a short description of your professional reputation, your tagline and your next big thing will be the most effective marketing tool.

The effectiveness of this builds on research that shows that the clients first and crucial decision will be based on your potential and after that she turns to your experience to get her decision logically confirmed. It is done in that order, even if we today often only display our historical facts to the market.

The picture above is one of the pictures of Tommie Cau´s professional reputation taken by Magdalena Bibik

NEWS: Your Professional Reputation goes Scandinavian

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIn order to spread Your Professional Reputation to different countries, we have decided that the company now will have a more solid base in Scandinavia. For this reason, we have started a co-operation with Katy Caroan who will represent us in Norway and can do the analyses in Norwegian. The same goes for Denmark where Peter Wikström who is based in Copenhagen will represent us and will do the analyses in Danish.

I want to turn my clients into heroes

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LeAh4rsQ6ymFf_d2e5n0kMDSondGsn-iCU1gm3L_ym8,ydQV7f_fZZ2rHFsqklexsdQq_7TkWZJwv2TBIb5SRTI,5QuIStumdShP08x4lYwu99uaUwaQtZrufet-vy5P5kw,GJ0-e8ljG9-srSnBDi6FCSmKlIlRlqbvvArXA5b6Bvo,xCz29UQ-r6XBnrQccuTBgPKHqhAPKK0Gqi-FpApvaaYTo me it is important to reflect upon why I spend all this time working with our concept Your professional reputation and I always come back with the same answer. Whether you are a leader, consultant or entrepreneur, I want to turn you into a hero in your field.

If you start to feel an ongoing stagnation in your job or as an entrepreneur and you don’t get what you want from your talents, passion and ambition, your professional reputation will be affected. Are you where you have to be or where you want to be? If you are not where you want to be, you should do something about it! Your professional reputation is at stake here, it’s constantly valued and your greatest asset.

Today it is all about potential. It is crucial that you should not promote yourself by just historical facts. Your potential makes a greater impact than your experience when you are chosen for a project, an assignment or a job. When you know your professional reputation you will also be aware of your perceived potential. This makes the whole world of difference.

After working with more than 800 individuals, analyzing and developing their professional reputation I see what a great impact it makes. It is simple, natural and it’s effective.

Simplicity and the magic of stop doing

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhat could be more simple, effective and natural than working with your professional reputation? Everybody has a professional reputation, every one that we meet recognize the importance of it and very few are aware what it looks like. Simplicity opens up so many possibilities in many ways.

Three great management thinkers, Seth Godin, Tom Peters and Jim Collins have, according to Daniel Pink, one thing in common – they state that: ”The secret of high performance for individuals is deciding what not to do”. 

The magic of stop doing is about letting go of things that doesn’t work so well and focus on the things where you can combine your talents, passion and ambition. Then you will automatically be set on an exciting journey towards an area where you will be remarkable and have the ambition to be the best in your world.

The problem we see today is that so many are not aware of their real talents, perceived strengths and where their passion is. When you are distinctly aware of your professional reputation much of that is solved, and your “stop doing list” will have real power.