Category: Personal Branding (page 1 of 3)

My thoughts and advice on building a strong personal brands.

Lucky Break: Once in A Lifetime Opportunities are Overrated

What does it mean to have a lucky break?

On 29th May 2024, football fans were shocked when Bayern Munich the biggest club in Germany announced their newest club manager. A popular sports media agency carried the announcement with an headline saying “the World has officially gone mad.”

Apparently, this manager is inexperienced. Just four years of coaching experience. And one of those years was spent in the English second division.

His only European campaign ended in a Conference League qualifying loss. He has never coached in a Champions League game.

In corporate terms, it’s like a multibillion international company hiring for the role of their managing director. A position that demands decades of experience and influence.

Then this company gives this position to a young man who has only managed a small startup in a local city.

This man does not appear to have the capability or achievements to get the coaching role.

But this is what the available data indicates.

Stay with me. There are important lessons to be learned from this appointment.

Vincent Kompany. That’s the name of Bayern’s newest manager. He is not at fault here, even if it feels like a massive jump.

At 38 years old, Kompany is still a promising manager with the potential to become a great one. After a few seasons at mid-level clubs, he should be able to refine and expand on his ideas, and then he could be prepared for a position as important as that of Bayern Munich. However, it all seems to be happening much too soon.

From a wider angle, it highlights the mess Bayern were in. This ‘multibillion dollar organization’ blew through their managerial targets after asking their current manager to leave the club.

They were left with a manager who appears underqualified and unprepared for a job of this magnitude. Months of searching Europe for possible targets. Pursuing big names, and repeatedly failing. All efforts were in vain.

Getting a Lucky Break

Getting a Lucky Break

When Preparation Meets Opportunity

“If you are very skilled in a field, you will notice when a lucky break happens in that field.” – Naval Ravikant

A “lucky break” is often seen as a stroke of good fortune. However, those who are skilled recognize these breaks because they understand the context and the implications of the opportunities presented.

When a prepared individual encounters an opportunity, they can take immediate and effective action. This ability to act quickly and appropriately can create what seems like “luck.”

It looks like Vincent Kompany already knew about this one.

His managerial credentials don’t jump off the page.  Kompany first became player-manager at his boyhood club, Anderlecht, in 2020. The club legend was tasked with bringing the sleepy giant back to the top by the Belgian team, who offered him a four-year contract.

Anderlecht finished fourth in his first season in charge. He also finished third in his second season while making the Belgian Cup final. Kompany then accepted a coaching job at Burnley.

His first season was historic as the team played delightful playing football. Burnley topped the Championship, winning the league with 101 points – becoming the first team to hit triple digits in nine years.

To be frank though, it felt Kompany was doing something great with Burnley.

Small club or not, the quote of “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity”

I understand that his next season with Burney was disastrous, that saw them finish 19th in the Premier League, being relegated back to the Championship.

But his “lucky break” came at the right time.

LESSON 1: THERE’S ALWAYS A COMEBACK

Life is in cycles and seasons will always come back and go.

Therefore, everyone in life would experience significant life changing opportunities.

You will have several opportunities in life to experience breakthroughs.

Before these breakthroughs arrive, have a combination of hard work and the ability to recognize and act on opportunities.

Like Kompany, this combination is essential in becoming the best option for successful breakthroughs

Will you be prepared when your own lucky break comes?

When Opportunities are already missed

At the start of 2024, Bayern Munich decided to rid their previous manager before the season ends. With this strategy, they believed they could get a head-start on finding the best candidate to take over.

Their primary target was the manager of their domestic rival club. It was Bayern’s tradition to bring anyone who threatens their dominance in their league to their club and it was believed that their primary target would carry on that tradition.

After all, they were the biggest club in their country.  It was not to be, though. In retrospect, this was a messy strategy.

Because of this rejection, Bayern were then left scrambling for other options. They turned to the man they had sacked only 12 months previously in controversial circumstances. This man rejected them too.

The German giant began a second wave of search. Rejection. Upon. Rejection. All potential candidates turned down the role. Because they had signed new contracts with other clubs. Or personal reasons.

And this is how the biggest club in Germany ended up with a manager of a relegated club in England.

LESSON 2:  DON’T BE ANGRY IN THE FACE OF REJECTION

“Even the migratory birds are punctual to their seasons.] Yes, the stork [excelling in the great height of her flight] in the heavens knows her appointed times [of migration], and the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane observe the time of their return.” – Jeremiah 8:7 AMPC

You might have missed some opportunities in the past. Or gotten rejected.

This does not mean you get angry or bitter in those times. Rather look at them as learning opportunities

It is like what an old king once said, “The stone which the builders rejected eventually becomes the chief cornerstone.”

Rejection might just be a step in fulfilling your destiny. So don’t be careless in the times of abundance. Don’t be afraid in the times of leanness too.

This is all for my end.

Will Kompany be successful at Bayern Munich? We don’t know yet.

That’s your homework to find out as the year goes on 😉.

Productize Yourself: Become The Best at What You Do

“PRODUCTIZE YOURSELF: Productize has specific knowledge and leverage. Yourself has uniqueness and accountability. Yourself also has specific knowledge. So you can combine all of these pieces into these two words.”

This term Productize Yourself is popularized by the Angel Investor – Naval Ravikant. Naval is an investor, who invested early in companies like Uber or Notion. He is also an entrepreneur, co-founding AngelList.

As a product manager, I’ve always been fascinated by this concept and in recent times, I decided to take a deeper look at this notion of productizing yourself.

What does it Mean to Productize Yourself

Productizing yourself means that you must figure out what you’re uniquely good at and apply as much leverage as possible. It’s like taking the best of what you are and packaging it in a way that creates value for others. This concept is common in entrepreneurship, freelancing, consulting, and personal branding.

And you can apply this concept to yourself today.

Productize Yourself

Productize Yourself

Start with Leverage

Making impact and building influence requires leverage.

To Leverage is to use ‘something’ to its maximum advantage. In this context, that ‘something’ is yourself. How can you fully optimize your skills, knowledge, and experience?

And there are many ways to build leverage.

Leverage can be built through labor or capital. However, these kinds of leverage are gifts from other people. For labor, somebody must follow you. To obtain capital, someone must give you money, assets to oversee or equipment.

Yet, there is a new form of leverage.

Leverage with Code and Media to fully productize yourself

These include books, media, movies, and codes. With this new form of leverage, you can easily package your knowledge with the intention of making it simple to duplicate and distributing them to everybody without having to pay significant additional expenses. Naval called them ‘products of no marginal cost of replication’.

This is the perfect strategy for productizing yourself.

You can locate your audience by searching the internet and social media platforms. And you can use the internet to express yourself uniquely, grow a business, provide value, and make people happy. Any specialized interest can be pursued online, provided you’re the best at it.

All you need is your phone (or a computer) —you don’t need anyone’s permission.

If you can’t code, write books and blogs, record videos and podcasts – Naval Ravikant

Be Credible and Accountable

Intentions don’t matter. Actions do – Naval Ravikant

To get the best of your leverage, you must establish credibility and accountability.

Credibility is risky because you have to do everything in your own name. On the other end, accountability has two drawbacks. It enables you to accept responsibility for successes and bear the consequences when things go wrong.

But imagine this…

You’re waiting for the chance to shine when something new comes along that requires your set of skills. Meanwhile, you have built your brand on LinkedIn, on X and by constantly sharing your knowledge. You took some risks to establish your reputation. When it’s time to seize the opportunity, you can do so by applying as much leverage as you possibly can.

That’s what being accountable will help you.

You have to enjoy it and keep doing it, keep doing it, and keep doing it. Don’t keep track, and don’t keep count because if you do, you will run out of time. – Naval Ravikant

And here is the last step.

Be Authentic to truly Productize Yourself

No one can compete with you on being you. Most of life is a search for who and what needs you the most. – Naval Ravikant

There will always be competition out there.

Finding your unique skill set and being authentic are the keys to breaking free from the competition trap. No one will be able to compete with you because you love what you do, so you know how to do it better.

The good news is that, despite our individual differences, everyone excels at being themselves.

Remember this as well…

Make your most important decisions when you are determining what is right to do and who is best to collaborate with. The real secret to making major improvements in both your financial and personal relationships is staying committed and positive in the long term.

Become the best in the world at what you do. Keep redefining what you do until this is true. – Naval Ravikant

People Magnet: Four Quick Ways to be Liked by Others

To be a people magnet is to acknowledge that your happiness and success at work can be strongly influenced by how well-liked you are by others.

People that are likable are regularly better at influencing others—whether it’s convincing coworkers, winning over ideas, or boosting team spirit. Stronger, deeper connections with others can also be nurtured by your likability, and this results in sustaining friendships and partnerships.

Be a People Magnet

Be a People Magnet

Here are the four quick ways to make people like you:

1. Smile to make a great first impression

First impression matters.

And the quickest way to make a great first impression is to give a wide smile. Smiling makes you look friendly and approachable.

A smile says to the other person, ‘I am glad to see you. You make me happy. I always enjoy your company.”

The clothes you wear is not nearly as important as the expression on your face.

WHAT ABOUT THE DAYS YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE SMILING?

Force yourself to smile when you are first alone. Act as if you are already happy, and this will make you happy as well. You are only happy when you choose to be happy.

Then smile afterwards. Your smile is a way of expressing your kindness. Everyone who sees your smile will feel happier around you too.

2. Remember people’s names to make them feel important.

Do you know the average person is more interested in his or her own name than all other names combined?

Former U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt confirms that remembering names is one of the easiest, most evident, and most significant ways to win people over. When you remember that name and call it easily, you have paid a subtle and impactful compliment to that person.

The ability to recall names is nearly as crucial in social and professional interactions as it is in politics.

HOW TO REMEMBER THE NAMES OF PEOPLE

If you are hearing a person’s name clearly for the first time, ask – “I am sorry, I did not hear your name clearly, can you say it again?”  If the name is not common, ask the person to spell it out. Then write the name on your phone or a piece of paper.

Make the effort to repeat the name multiple times during the conversation and try to mentally connect it to the person’s features, expression, and overall look. This technique was successfully used by Napoleon the Third.

And it works till now!

 SAYING THEIR NAME MAKES YOU A BETTER PEOPLE MAGNET

The person’s name distinguishes them from others and makes them special.

This means that when we address situations with the person’s name, the information we are providing or the request we are making assumes a special significance. It puts you at a sharp advantage for them to like you. This is what makes you a people magnet.

Recognize the power of a name and understand that the only owner of this particular asset is the person we are interacting with. No one else.

3. Listen deeply and encourage people to talk about themselves.

This is a simple method to improve your conversation skills.

Many people don’t listen deeply, which prevents them from leaving a positive impression. They don’t keep their ears open because they are too worried about what they will say next. Studies show that the most influential people value attentive listeners more than talkers. However, listening skills appear to be more uncommon than nearly any other positive quality.

It is essential that you give the person speaking to you your whole attention. Nothing else is so pleasing as that.

A person’s toothache means more to that person than a famine in China which kills a million people. A boil on one’s neck interests one more than forty earthquakes in Africa. Think of that the next time you start a conversation – Dale Carnegie

HOW TO BE A GOOD CONVERSATIONALIST

Be a focused listener if you want to be a good conversationalist. Be interested to be interesting.

Ask questions that other persons will enjoy answering. Invite them to share about their experiences and achievements.

Even the most violent critic will often become gentler and quiet when they are around a patient, understanding listener.

4. Develop a sincere interest in other people.

By showing genuine interest in other people, you can make more friends in one month than you can by trying to pique their interest in you over the course of a year.

If you want to make friends, you must put yourself out there to do things for other people – things that require time: energy, unselfishness, and thoughtfulness. Being genuinely interested in other people not only makes you friends but also fosters a sense of loyalty if you run a business or building a professional career.

This is also the only means for the other ways to work fine for you in the long run.

HOW TO DEVELOP SINCERE INTEREST IN OTHER PEOPLE

Speaking with someone about the things they value most is the best way to winning their heart.

Mention the interests of the other person when you speak. Look for things you both have in common, like hobbies or life experiences.  Ask follow-up questions, nod in agreement, and express enthusiasm in the topics they are talking about.

Always bring the focus of the conversation back to the other person.

Talk to people about themselves and they will listen for hours.” – Benjamin Disraeli.

Greet people with enthusiasm and energy as well.

Also use the same mentality when someone calls you on the phone. Say “Hello” in a tone that conveys your happiness that they have called.

This is a fantastic way to build rapport, make them feel valued, and create a more engaging conversation.

READ PREVIOUS ARTICLE – PROSOCIAL: HOW EVERYONE SHOULD OPTIMIZE THEIR RELATIONSHIPS