Below are the top five ways to position yourself I have used with clients to increase success personally or professional.
1. Mental and physically position yourself for success. Your personal views about yourself, abilities, and personal appearance alter the way you live your life. This also affects how others will see you as well. Think about it in terms of it being the difference between standing out in a sea of applicants and blending in. To mental prepare you need to have confidence in yourself and your abilities to do the best job while having an appearance to match.
2. Create goals and create an action plan with deadlines. By creating an action plan with deadline with you can ensure you remain focused and on track. It also allows you to narrow your focus or make changes to goals as need. (Check out The Problem and Solution to Goal Setting- http://www.conversationwithkay.com/2014/01/the-problem-and-solution-to-goal-setting.html)
3. Align you actions, focus, and personal presentation to match your plan and brand. By increase your participation in activities that will increase your visibility in your chosen field. It also can help you to improve your personal presentation (“elevator speech”) to others.
a. The goal is to focus on activities that increase your knowledge of the field, allows you to network, and give opportunities to growth. Use each group event is an opportunity to build on your personal presentation of your brand. The number of groups you join should be quality or quantity, so do not spread yourself thin.
b. Take classes, attend webinar, or other educational classes to ensure your knowledge of the field and methods used are in line with the current trends.
c. Increase you visibility using social networking sites like a personal blog, Facebook, and LinkedIn (Check out Improving Your LinkedIn Profile- http://www.conversationwithkay.com/2014/01/improving-your-linkedin-profile.html)
d. Take responsibility for the action plan and encourage others to help you maintain it by making your goals your first priority.
4. You never know where your next opportunity will arise, so do not be caught off guard. Be ready to present yourself at all times both verbally and in appearance. First impressions are the most important because we rarely get second chances. It is a good idea to work on transitions words, so you can incorporate pieces of your presentation instead of giving it all at once. Note: Be sure to pay attention to your audience and make adjustments to your presentation as needed.
5. Do not get discouraged. Positioning one’s self cannot be done overnight because it takes time to build relationships and cultivate them. Even if you do not see, changes continue on your path and celebrate the small wins.
By: Kay Lackey
Organizational Development & Practice Management Consultant
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