Executive branding: LinkedIn Profile, how is yours?
LinkedIn is a great way for professionals to show potential employers, clients, and peers their skills, experience, and accomplishments.
When companies are looking to fill a Board of Directors or Board of Advisors position, they often turn to LinkedIn as a research tool to identify potential candidates. Because of this, it’s important for professionals to have a polished, up-to-date LinkedIn profile that shows off their skills and accomplishments.
One of the first things that companies may look for when researching a candidate is their profile picture. A professional headshot can help you make a good first impression and show that you are professional and pay attention to details. It’s also important to make sure that your profile is complete, with a detailed work history and a summary that shows off your skills and experience.
In addition to having a well-crafted profile, it’s important to use LinkedIn as a platform to brand yourself as an expert in your industry. This could include sharing thought leadership content, participating in industry discussions, and engaging with others in your network. By showing off your skills and knowledge, you can make yourself more visible and more credible as a possible candidate for a board position.
When companies are researching candidates for board positions, they may also look for evidence of a candidate’s ability to work collaboratively and constructively with others. This could involve looking at endorsements or recommendations from other people in the industry or looking at the candidate’s activity on the platform to see how they interact with people in their network.
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How Growing Up in a Communist Country Made Me the Leader I Am
Formative years in 1970s Poland impacted every aspect of my life, and taught me lifelong lessons that continue to enrich and empower.
I was born in Poland in 1971. Shortly after World War II, the USSR forced communism upon the nation, and it was basically under Soviet control. Essentially, anything extra that Poland produced was sent to Soviet Russia to line the pockets of or otherwise empower the elites. Meanwhile, the common people often hovered on the edge of starvation. This existence marked the first ten years of my life, and being raised under communism is something I’ll never forget. In part, the experience drove me to become an entrepreneur and a leader.
Lessons I learned from those formative days:
When life gets hard, work harder
By the time I was 10, I’d witnessed five years of my parents struggling under that oppressive system. Times were always tense, and for many, quite unhappy. We worried about having enough to eat, and there were no gifts at birthdays or on Christmas. When I was about 7, I had to go to the store in the early morning to stand in line, and there were frequently adults fighting around me. At times, it was terrifying.
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Growing Pains: How to Turn Hard Times Into Periods of Immense Personal Growth
Difficult times are often par for the course in business, but your response and approach to these hard times will determine whether they result in hardships or growth.
Almost every entrepreneur will identify with the term “growing pains,” especially in reference to a business’s early months and years. There are periods of time when almost every day presents a struggle to work through or a knot to untangle — I’ve certainly been there myself! If you’re not experiencing any growing pains, you’re probably not growing.
But the good news is that last week’s setback does not define you. In a year’s time, you probably won’t remember whatever problem kept you awake last night. It can be difficult to step back when you’re knee-deep in the latest challenge, but my advice is always to “take the long view.” Today’s trials will eventually fade into memory, as long as you put in the work to conquer them and avoid getting pulled off your path to success. Instead of seeing problems as obstacles cluttering the road ahead, try to view them as steps to climb. Put one foot in front of the other and you will ascend higher toward your goals.
Look outside yourself for inspiration
Many entrepreneurs default to looking inwards for inspiration, ideas and answers to problems. Under the right circumstances, that practice can serve you well. However, don’t forget that opening up to your partners, advisors, line managers and other members of your extended team can make all the difference. Sometimes, turning outwards leads to solutions you never would have considered.
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Stop Moving the Goalposts: Do You Recognize Your Own Success?
Here’s what you can learn from author Og Mandino’s self-help books.
I am a firm believer in personal development. Regardless of the cards that life deals you, it’s really how you play them that determines your level of success. In my journey, I have found many personal development books to be really helpful, but none more so than those written by author and speaker Og Mandino.
As someone who pulled himself back from the brink of suicide and alcoholism, Mandino is not your average self-help guru, and the lessons I have taken from his work are sometimes surprising.
Learning through stories
One of the things that draws me to Mandino’s work is that he doesn’t write like other self-help authors. For the most part, he writes stories, and within those tales lie the lessons. His work comes from a standpoint of sharing what he has learned and not necessarily teaching theory.
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