Professionally I fill roles as either a consultant or a mentor (some call it coaching), depending on the professional, company and situation. In my old line of work (enterprise technology) a consultant was usually a semi-temporary non-employee team member that was brought in to fill a specific gap in talent – and come off a different line item for payment in the books (no health insurance or taxes to pay either). Consultants felt a bit more expendable than employees, made more money, and were the first to get cut when budgets got tight.

In the true meaning of consulting (such as what my business partnership with +Faucet Group behaves as), the practice revolves more around generating new ideas and facilitating progress. Bringing in 'temp' help at an advanced level to get your company over a hurdle or growth jag – as well as infusing a shot of outside (and impartial) expertise can be a sound strategy.

Mentoring in its true form isn't usually a paid position, but professional coaching is. Imagine having an industry or topic expert to call to work through ideas or issues and help realign your progress. Imagine being able to sustain and grow this progress even after the coach is 'gone'. Much different outcome than a consultant, even if subtile.

It's good to know the difference between consultant and coach, and know the difference when looking for help. In my experience, and in my line of services this is what a consultant vs. a mentor / coach looks like:

Consultant = Figures out a plan of action based on their experience and your needs and then executes those plans. Progress may continue after consultant is disengaged, but only if team has championed the process themselves.

Mentor / Coach = Works with you or your team to help you figure out your own path to success and guides you to produce results yourself. Processes put in place by the coach will continue to be in use after coach is disengaged.

This +The New York Times article gives some great real-world examples of how choosing a consultant or coach can improve your business. What do you think? Have you ever hired a consultant or a coach? What do you think about the process or outcome?

#blog  

Embedded Link

Fighting the Consultant Temptation
Is there ever a good reason for a fast-growth company to hire a consultant?

Google+: Reshared 4 times
Google+: View post on Google+

Building a 'brand' around yourself – not your company – is a topic I speak about quite often. I will be chatting it up again tomorrow at the MSPC's Executive Women's Networking Group in North New Jersey with some of the area's most successful women professionals. So, while I'm freshening up my thoughts on the topic, I wanted to have the same conversation with YOU.

The first point of contention is that a 'brand' is something that in today's aggressive business environment seems to be a volatile commodity. Brands can quickly become hot or cold in the eyes of consumers both because of actions from the 'brand' or external factors unrelated – or uncontrolled – by the brand. For example, Apple is a global company that sells electronics and operates a digital merchandise store. Above and beyond the company structure and product line, Apple is undeniably a brand who's name alone conjures strong thoughts and opinions with consumers. Some consumers love the brand unquestionably, some consumers are vehemently against 'all the brand stands for' and some consumers flip flop back and forth depending on their personal experience with the products or any big 'news' that goes public (such as the stories on the sweatshop factory environment in China).

A 'brand' really isn't dictated by the company itself, but only acts as a guide to shape the public's perception of it. A brand is birthed and lives in the mind of each customer or potential customer. Is that something a person can risk? 

Next, since a company can be sold, doesn't that mean a brand can be sold as well? Years ago +Chris Brogan had mentioned that he can't ever sell his blog because, well, it's his name (and therefore the brand he's build around his name). That one idea has stuck with me all this time and to be honest, scared me a bit. Yes the content of the blog – or a company – can be sold, but it is extremely difficult to transfer the perception of a personal brand. What happens when that personal brand you've no longer reflects where your future is heading? Chris is bigger than the ideas and experience that build his brand ten years ago, but the public might not evolve in their perception on the same timetable. This above all else is what I think about as a solopreneur  – the fact that how others perceive me (my 'brand') does not always or accurately reflect my quickly changing professional goals. Is a personal brand transferrable?

Lastly, if building a personal / professional brand around a person is strongly successful, what happens to the work or the company that the person is employed at or represents? Most people know me as +Lynette Young (or my Twitter and social identity of "Lynette Radio") – not my company of +Purple Stripe Productions or my partnership with +Faucet Group.

+Scott Monty comes to mind with dilemma specifically. I had known of Scott before he started working at +Ford Motor Company (technically he and I worked at the same boutique marketing startup but at different times) but right now in a lot of people's minds, Scott = Ford. I happen to know he's a huge Sherlock fan and runs a great blog on the topic, but most people don't bother 'digging' that far. Now, while I'm pretty sure he's not leaving Ford anytime this century, what happens if he did leave and work for another 'brand'? The person has a much easier time recovering from the switch (Ford would be just fine…Scott's build an amazing team there) than the company does in my opinion. Sadly, I don't feel the new company will benefit as much as they might think they will by snagging themselves a strongly personally-branded 'superstar'.

When a company sees a superstar 'brand' rising in their ranks I've seen it swashed – or even fired. What happens when the 'me' is more influential than the 'we'? Are jobs at risk?

These are all discussion points and not necessarily answers – every person and every business situation is different. Even the definition of a brand is up for debate. So, how do you feel about building a brand around YOU?

#blog  

Google+: Reshared 16 times
Google+: View post on Google+

Have you heard of them? Have you seen them? Google+ Interactive Posts allow you to code content so that you get a direct CTA (call to action) button right in the Google+ content stream. Want signups for email lists? Ask them to subscribe. One click button to go to your list building page. Promoting an event and want one-button signup ease straight from Google+? Yep, Interactive Posts has that covered as well. 

The tools shared in +Mike Arnesen's post are really great – but still require a bit of programming know-how.

Of couse the millisecond the ability to craft Interactive Posts was available in Google+ my company incorporated them for our clients. <grin> It's been working like gangbusters so far!

#blog  

Reshared post from +Mike Arnesen

In my latest blog post at +SwellPath, I not only got to break down a super cool new functionality for Google+, but I released a free tool for composing and pushing out Google+ Interactive Posts on the fly!

Download the +Google+ Interactive Posts Command Center and let me know what you think.

Google+: Reshared 49 times
Google+: View post on Google+

It seems strange that moving my office 20 minutes south of where I was before could open up a whole new set of business opportunities. While I haven't found them yet, I'm sure there are a whole new batch of business networking groups (yes, I've already looked in Meetup.com) and companies that I could get to know. Heck even the lunch spots are all different than what I had before (which was none).

So, where do I start?!

#blog  

New Office New Opportunities It seems strange that moving my office 20 minutes south of where I was before could open up a whole new set of business opportunities. While I haven’t found them yet, I’m sure there are a whole new batch of business networking groups (yes, I’ve already looked in Meetup.com) and companies that I could get to know. Heck even the lunch spots are all different than what I had before (which was none). So, where do I start?! #blog

Google+: Reshared 2 times
Google+: View post on Google+

We are a solid four months into the calendar year… do you remember what your '3 Words' (http://www.lynetteradio.com/2013/my-three-words-for-2013) were? This exercise is a sort of life prompt to help you simply keep to goals over the course of the year.

I've strayed, really I have! My inbox went haywire again and I'm just finding probably _100s_ of emails lost in limbo. My eating habits look horrible from traveling and grabbing 'whatever' in an airport rather than eating mindfully. And results… well, right now I feel like a hamster on a wheel.

I'm going to be working this week to redefine and strengthen my processes to reach wellness, obtain focus, and achieve results.

How are you doing so far?

#blog  

Google+: Reshared 5 times
Google+: View post on Google+