Rita Perea Consulting

Reaping the Rewards of Living Your Brand

The old adage is so true... you never know who you will run into.  I remind my clients of this all of the time.  It is important to live your brand every single day.

The scene was a bustling suburban bistro where I was meeting a client for lunch.  Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a tall gentleman walking over to our table.  A huge smile formed on my face as I recognized the stranger, Oh my gosh, it was J.D.  J,D. was a C-level that I worked for about 12 years ago.  He was nearing retirement age at the time and was a great mentor to me as I was an aspiring executive.  Since I left the organization we tried to stay in contact. We exchanged the perfunctory holiday card each year, but I had not seen him in a long time. 

We exchanged pleasantries at the table and he mentioned that his new office was just next door (he hadn't retired but had moved to a new part-time -but- really- full -time job that he loved).  He invited me to stop by and visit when I finished lunch. 

At the office, sweet memories of working for J.D. surfaced. Those were some of my happiest career years. He was (and still is) a master at building social capital in his organizations.  I always felt fortunate to have learned from the best.  His easy, no-nonsense, warm and honest way of dealing with people gained him tremendous respect with all of his employees.  I was delighted to be in his presence again.

We spent about an hour reminiscing and sharing "Back in the day..." stories.  J.D. said that he had been following my business career and was reading my blog <grin>.  He said that he always knew that I was talented and he really enjoyed watching my business soar during these past few years.  From God's lips to my ears, I was not only flattered but honored.

And then he did something so totally unexpected, I was blown away.  He asked me if I wanted to work for him on a part-time basis.  To have his organization as an anchor client.  Wow!  Was this a little slice of heaven or what?  Isn't this something that you see only in the movies?  We hastily worked out some details.  He gave me some things to read.  He introduced me to one of his Directors and my "on-boarding" began. 

The moral of this story is "live your brand everyday."  You never know who you will run into where and when you do, you want to be ready!

Photo: Flickr

Trust- Do You Have It?

  Talk about transformational leadership!  I am attending the 9th International Business and Consciousness Conference this week in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  I was so impressed with the message delivered by Stephen M.R. Covey discussing his book and philosophy, The Speed of Trust. I read the book when it was first published. Its message was highly evocative. I loved it then.  But hearing Stephen explain the nuances really made it come alive.  I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat silently screaming, "Yes, this is what we are missing!"  My inner fire to help people in all types of organizations was rekindled.  What a life changing experience.

One of my biggest takeaways from the sessions that I attended with Stephen is that organizations and institutions today are facing a growing crisis. From the work I do within teams, and in working with individuals, I see and hear the stories of non-trust all of the time.  Consider these statistics:

• Only 51% of employees have trust and confidence in senior management
• Only 36% of employees believe their leaders act with honesty and integrity
• Over the past 12 months, 76% of employees have observed illegal or unethical conduct on the job—conduct which, if exposed, would seriously violate the public trust
• The number one reason employees leave their jobs is a negative relationship with their boss

Startling, isn't it?

This begs the question, what do we do to turn this around? The answer is simple but not easy- we need to be trustworthy in everything that we do.  And , Covey advises, in all of our interactions we need to practice not a blind, gullible trust, but a smart trust. 

Stephen ended his life-transforming presentation by showing the audience the positive economic impact that operating with trust has.  And, here is the biggie, competency in trust behaviors can be taught and learned by everyone.  There is hope that our corporate consciousness, and our society, can be turned around! 

This is incredible stuff.  Challenge yourself to operate in a trustworthy, truthful way today in all situations. You will be glad that you did.  Being credible and trustworthy will help you lead well, live well and do well.

Everyone Loves a Winner

Wow- talk about a humbling experience.  My business, Rita Perea Consulting, has recently been nominated for two awards.  One is the "Best Kept Secret" award and the other is the "Community Champion" award.  Both are through the Greater Des Moines  Business Partnership. 

I could have my ego all wrapped up in this process.   My ego could easily be saying "You gotta win this or your name will be toast!  Second place is not an option!"  My strong competitive side could be unleashed in full force.  But where will that get me?  Probably only to the land of high blood pressure, which is not a good place to be.

Call it the school of hard knocks, but in my last Executive position I learned to identify when my ego was involved in a particular project or decision.  I learned to pay attention to the little (alright- huge) rush of adrenaline that would start at the tips of my toes and then shoot, like a mighty river, all the way to the top of my head.  I learned that I could get such a surge of that unstoppable, unbeatable, ego-leading-the-charge, incredible feeling, that I could (and please don't fire me for saying this) be found  to make decisions that weren't necessarily in everyone's best interest.  I learned, the hard way, that when my ego is involved, my thinking might be clouded.  The book, A Course in Miracles, warns that our egos create an illusion and that we may not act for the "highest good of all" when our egos are engaged.  Isn't that the truth?  I learned my lessons well.

But, I digress...

Back to the awards- My mission statement says it best: "Lead well. Live well. Do well."  One of the values that my business was founded on is "Philanthropy is just as important as Profitability".  For my business that means that I give back to the community a high percentage of my time, talents and profits.  While it would be awesome to be recognized this, whether I receive an award or not I will still continue to do what I do for the right reasons.  And, with my ego out of the way.

Photo: Flickr by Kershnerstudios

Tarnish on Your Personal Branding Silver

Do you ever oversell a service or product? You know- promise more than can really be delivered.  Or promise it can be done or accomplished in an unrealistic time just to get the sale or client. Some people have a destructive habit of doing just that.

In our capitalistic society we see and hear it happening all of the time.  New.  Improved. Good for you.  Enriched.  You gotta have this to be cool.  Organic.  Green.  It can be delivered/ installed/ renovated by the end of next week.  I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die... Oh, but I forgot to tell you that my fingers are crossed too.... so what I just oversold and said doesn't really count.

And what's the harm?  Doesn't everyone oversell?

From a personal branding perspective, overselling can be the nail in your coffin.  If you constantly oversell your goods, services, or yourself and make promises that you cannot deliver on, then you are creating a string of negative interactions that will eventually bite you.  People will hear, word of mouth, that you do not operate with integrity.  And who wants to hire a service professional, a contractor, a CPA, an attorney, a financial planner or have an employee on board who does not keep their word.  The answer is no one.

One of my executive consulting clients is in the middle of releasing her formerly trusted financial planner for overselling.  More accurately, he overstated (actually he lied) about the performance of investments, the cost of products that she purchased, and the cost of his services.  We all know what his motivation was for doing it.  He wanted to land a few big fish to showcase as he oversold to the next poor sucker he was prospecting.  The tough thing to understand about this situation, and others who oversell or overstate, is how they would think that it would not catch up with them? And, now in the wake of a complaint with the state insurance commissioner, how this financial planner thinks that his breech of trust and lack of integrity won't tarnish the silver of his personal brand. 

The good news is that we can all learn from the mistakes of others. Before you promise anything to anyone, be sure that you can make it happen.  Most people would like to hear a really honest "I am sorry but I cannot guarantee that" instead of "Sure we can!" only to find out that surely they can't. Being a coveted employee, member of an organization or a successful business person that others will make referrals to depends on your follow up, follow through, right action, right intention and integrity. 

Protect your personal brand and reputation at all costs.  It will pay huge dividends in a lot of ways. 

Photo on Flickr by Objects