Speaking at Princeton University
Exciting news! Off to the Big Apple today for some important meetings, followed by an incredible speaking engagement at none other than Princeton University! Feeling grateful for this amazing opportunity to share my insights and connect with new people. Stay tuned for updates and behind-the-scenes peeks! #NewYork #PrincetonUniversity #speakerlife #grateful #opportunities #networking
Leadership Talks: Women in Venture Capital – Insights from Leading Women Veterans
I’m excited to share with you all about the fantastic webinar event that I hosted on April 19th. As the moderator, I had the pleasure of leading a panel of four leading women veterans of the C-suite leadership ecosystem, where we discussed a range of governance topics with a focus on enhancing balance, expertise, and composition in the critical board environment of private and public companies.
During the webinar, we covered three insightful segments that focused on the historical perspective of women in the VC industry, building diverse teams, and nurturing the next generation of female founders and board members. One of the highlights of the event was hearing from the panelists about the people they admire in the VC industry and the valuable lessons they have learned from them.
A Short Preview of the Webinar: https://boardsi.com/short-preview-leadership-talks-women-in-venture-capital-webinar/
Full Webinar: https://boardsi.com/leadership-talks-women-in-venture-capital-webinar/
At Boardsi, we’re committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in the VC industry, and we believe that nurturing the next generation of female founders and board members is essential for driving real impact. We’re grateful to all our panelists and attendees who joined us for this fantastic event.
If you missed out on the webinar, you can catch a short preview of it on our website, and the full webinar is available for viewing as well. This webinar marks the beginning of an exciting journey for us at Boardsi as we enter the VC community and launch a new initiative to promote diversity within the board sector and beyond.
Stay tuned for more updates on our upcoming events, and thank you for your time!
8 Strategies for Developing a Strong Personal Brand
Creating a strong personal brand can help you stand out, establish credibility and advance your career.
As an entrepreneur, you can use your personal brand to your advantage in several ways. It’s an expression of your values, personality and unique selling proposition (USP) that can help you stand out from the competition. In the digital age we live in now, it’s important to have a strong personal brand if you want to be successful in business and stay relevant in a crowded market.
According to studies, a person’s personal brand can significantly impact both the reputation of their employer and their career success. For example:
- A study by LinkedIn found that professionals with a strong personal brand are more likely to be hired and promoted. The study found that “50% of professionals with a strong personal brand received interest from new employers compared to only 14% of those with a weak personal brand.”
- A survey conducted by CareerBuilder found that “57% of employers are less likely to interview a candidate they can’t find online.” This highlights the importance of having a strong online presence and personal brand.
- A study by Weber Shandwick found that “49% of executives believe a strong CEO personal brand is critical to their company’s overall reputation.” This highlights the importance of personal branding not only for individuals but also for the companies they represent.
- A study by HubSpot found that “companies with a strong CEO personal brand generate 11% more shareholder return than their competitors.”
These studies show how personal branding can affect professional success and a company’s reputation. By building a strong personal brand, entrepreneurs can set themselves apart from their competitors, gain credibility and help their businesses succeed.
Strategies for developing your personal brand
To build a strong personal brand, you should spend time and energy building your brand identity, establishing your online presence, creating compelling content, networking and collaborating, being genuine and consistent, developing your leadership skills, embracing your unique point of view and asking for feedback.
1. Define your brand identity
The basis of your personal brand is your brand identity. Your unique selling proposition (USP), personality and values are all included. Asking yourself questions like, “What do I stand for?” will help you define your brand identity. What values do I hold? What distinguishes me from my rivals?
2. Establish your online presence
In today’s digital age, building your brand online is crucial. Convey your expertise and add value to your readers’ lives by creating a website or blog. You can reach your target audience and spread your message by using social media like Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
3. Create compelling content
With the help of content marketing, you can establish your brand and yourself as a leader in your field. Make blog posts, videos or podcasts that are interesting to your audience and showcase your expertise.
4. Network and collaborate
Networking and working with other people can help you build your reputation and connect with other leaders in your field. By attending conferences, joining professional groups, or participating in online communities, you can meet other business owners and grow your network.
5. Be authentic and consistent
Being honest and reliable is crucial to winning over your audience. Don’t stray too far from your brand’s identity and values in your content and messaging. Your listeners will value your sincerity and credibility highly.
6. Develop your leadership skills
Leadership skills are highly correlated with the reputation you’ve built for yourself as an entrepreneur. You can become an industry leader by inspiring and motivating your team, sharing your vision with them and making strategic decisions. Finding a mentor or coach, participating in a leadership development program, or reading material on the topic can all help you grow as a leader. Focus on improving your emotional intelligence, strategic thinking and communication skills to become a better leader and build your personal brand.
7. Embrace your unique perspective
Your original perspective sets you apart from other professionals in your field. Recognize the value of your unique perspective and employ it to set yourself apart. Communicate your point of view through your messages and articles.
8. Seek feedback
If you want to fix any flaws in your message, you need to hear what people think. Your target audience, coworkers and mentors can give you feedback that can help you build and keep your personal brand.
If they want to succeed in business, entrepreneurs must build a solid personal brand. The time and effort you put into developing your brand identity, online presence, content creation, networking and collaboration skills, authenticity and consistency, leadership skills, a unique perspective and feedback will pay off in the form of a strong personal brand that sets you apart in your industry.
Building a name for yourself in the business world can only help you in the long run. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it in the end. Building a solid personal brand can lead to increased professional credibility, trust and success. Using the aforementioned methods, you can establish a solid personal brand that will set you apart in your field and aid you in reaching your objectives.
Read on Entrepreneur: https://www.entrepreneur.com/starting-a-business/why-personal-branding-matters-for-entrepreneurs/449028
Don’t Let Your Organization Become Stagnant — Learn How to Innovate with These 5 Tips
Reinvent or risk stagnation — why leaders need to keep their people innovating, and how.
What do you think of when you hear the word “stagnation?” I always imagine stagnant water, not moving or flowing, but simply sitting there, rotting and attracting bacteria and flies. Stagnation is a dangerous state for water because water is meant to keep moving for life to flourish.
The same could be said for any individual or organization. What happens to a person when they stop moving, growing to their full potential and innovating for the betterment of themselves and society? The same thing happens when a company stops growing and innovating — they become vulnerable to being left behind while others keep moving. Competitors step in to do better, while stagnant companies struggle to remain relevant and successful. For a company to flourish, leaders need to keep their people innovating.
The dangers of stagnation
The business world is constantly evolving and growing increasingly competitive. In today’s business climate, stagnation has serious consequences for companies and the people responsible for keeping them running. Stop innovating, and we risk falling behind our competitors. In their search to gain more of the market, they are constantly trying to figure out how to offer better products or services or find more efficient or cost-effective ways of doing business. Constant innovation is how we stay ahead and remain a leader in the field. If our competitors provide what we do but better, we lose customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Stagnation can also lead to a lack of excitement and motivation among employees. Without new challenges or opportunities for growth, employees may become disengaged. Stop innovating, and they may look for opportunities elsewhere to develop their talents and advance their career.
Without innovation, we risk becoming obsolete. Our products or services no longer meet the needs of our customers, or new technologies render them outdated. Only by constantly innovating can we stay relevant and ensure our products or services continue to meet the needs of our customers.
How to inspire creativity in yourself and your team
Innovation is also how companies stay competitive, meet the needs and expectations of customers, engage and motivate employees, and remain relevant in an ever-changing world. Leaders can avoid the dangers of stagnation by encouraging creative thinking among themselves and their people. Here are five ways to start:
1. Set aside dedicated time for disruption. This can be a specific time of day or a set number of hours per week, but make sure to schedule this time specifically for coming up with new ideas
2. Encourage a growth mindset. When we believe our intelligence, abilities, talents and even interests to be learnable, and ourselves capable of learning through effort and improvement, we are more likely to succeed. With a growth mindset, we see every challenge as a learning opportunity. We become more adaptable, resilient and constantly looking for ways to improve. Embrace and encourage ongoing learning and growth to help stay open to new ideas and approaches.
3. Seek out new experiences and perspectives. Travel. Try new hobbies. Engage with people from different backgrounds and cultures. By exposing ourselves and our teams to new experiences and perspectives, we expand our ways of understanding the world, which will spark new ideas and approaches.
4. Set specific, achievable goals. Setting clear, achievable goals helps us stay focused and motivated, giving us a sense of purpose and accomplishment as we progress. We can also set goals to help meet targets for creativity and innovation efforts.
5. Surround yourself with like-minded individuals. Not to say everyone should be the same, and diversity plays a critical role in innovation, but we should aim to surround ourselves with people genuinely interested in creativity and innovation. Their inspiration and motivation will echo between us both and those around us. Join or start a creative group or look to network with like-minded individuals.
Diversity sustains innovation
A well-rounded, diverse team with a broad range of perspectives, experiences and backgrounds breaks up patterns of stagnation before they start, resulting in more innovative and creative solutions and sustaining a more innovative and dynamic team. Greater diversity of thought brings a greater variety of ideas and approaches to problem-solving. Teams of employees with a wide range of backgrounds and expertise have solved a wider range of problems, which translates to new approaches to tackle opportunities from multiple angles, identify new opportunities and craft more effective solutions.
Their range of life experiences, cultural backgrounds and personal interests can all contribute to a more creative and innovative team. Even their communication styles and approaches may be different, which can foster more open and inclusive communication. A 2021 study found that effectively learning to communicate and manage culturally diverse environments positively impacts an employee’s sustainable innovation behavior and performance. This higher cultural intelligence also fosters better collaboration and teamwork, helping to break down any barriers that might stand in the way of creative thought.
In today’s competitive world, the ability to stay adaptable is critical. Pivoting can save a business — especially when it’s stale. Leaders should strive to inspire themselves and others to remain creative and innovative, encouraging new ideas and approaches with a well-rounded team of diverse perspectives, expertise, communication styles, and life experiences for more creative and effective solutions. Eliminating stagnation and fostering sustained innovation keeps an organization stay dynamic, forward-thinking, and thriving.
Read on Entrepreneur: https://www.entrepreneur.com/leadership/5-ways-to-invigorate-innovation-in-a-stagnant-organization/447998
