Me – in one sentence
Posted: January 26, 2010 Filed under: First Person thoughts . . ., What makes me tick | Tags: Alignment, Challenge, Change Agent, Different, Global, Insight, Sustainable, Value Creation Leave a commentOne of the exercises I’ve done in work to explore my personal brand was to capture my unique promise of value in a single sentence. This relates primarily to my professional life but as discussed in other posts here – personal and work lives seem to merge as I get older.
It was hard to do. And my sentence is probably too long. It’s still a work in progress, but here the current draft:
I embrace the global challenge of sustainable value creation through differentiated alignment insights.
It’s long, like many mission statements for organizations, because I want to pack it with a bunch of things that are important to me. Here are some of the chunks of stuff that found their way into that mouthful. Read the rest of this entry »
I am driven to make a difference
Posted: January 26, 2009 Filed under: First Person thoughts . . ., What makes me tick | Tags: Make a Difference, Presence, Presence Yourself, Work Different Leave a commentThroughout my life I’ve been drawn to heroic books and movies.
While maturity has brought greater appreciation for the more subtle heroism of a well lived life, I have a fire in my belly to make a difference.
What I am and am not
Posted: January 26, 2009 Filed under: First Person thoughts . . ., What makes me tick | Tags: Challenge, Change Agent, Clarity, Leader Leave a commentI’ve long believed that to have clarity about what you are as an individual or organization you must be clear about what you are NOT. We can’t really say “yes” to anything without saying “no” to something.
Here are a few thoughts about what I am and what I am not:
LinkedIn Feedback from Colleagues
Posted: January 26, 2009 Filed under: LinkedIn, Other's feedback | Tags: Insight, Leader, Vision Leave a commentCurrent and former colleagues have endorsed me at LinkedIn with comments such as:
. . . incredibly intelligent and has a tremendous ability to steer through difficult circumstances while staying cool under fire.
. . . a true “outside of the box” thinker and leader. He possesses a unique intellect that stands out in any situation.
. . . an energetic and creative sales leader with deep business acumen and insightful knack for creating high value solution offerings to meet sophisticated customer needs
. . . he was the best manager I’ve had. He is honest, credible, and intelligent. Our customers adored him and so did the team.
. . . stood toe-to-toe with the best and brightest minds at Oracle, able to quickly grasp complex technologies and leverage that expertise across the spectrum of selling, engaging, delivering, managing, and supporting.
. . . widely recognized as one of the thought leaders in the organization and was frequently called upon to help paint the picture for the clients on how revolutionary technology applied to their specific situation.
How others perceive my brand
Posted: January 10, 2009 Filed under: 360 Reach Personal Brand Assessment, Other's feedback | Tags: Creative, Integrity, Vision Leave a commentIn the last two months I’ve done some personal branding work with Reach Communications Consulting. Part of my work with them included a tool (360 Personal Brand Assessment) which gathered input on how others perceive my brand. I submitted a list of 35 people who know me pretty well. Reach surveyed them directly so that their responses were completely anonymous. 20 people responded with great feedback which has been really helpful.
Here are the brand personas that their feedback identified as most closely matching their experience of knowing me. Below the ranking are the descriptions provided by Reach for each persona.
Rank Brand Persona (Number of Combined Responses)
1 Visionary (13)
2 Expert (11)
3 Judge (10)
4 Connector (9)
5 Creator (9)
6 Truth-teller (9)
7 Entrepreneur (7)
8 Calmer (6)
9 Wonderer (5)
10 Achiever, Confidence Emitter, Rock and Self Starter (all with 4 responses)
Rick Gage 