Stevie Puckett

Tag: personal power

  • Advance Your Image

    I received a complimentary copy of Advance Your Image: Putting your best foot forward never goes out of style. 2nd Edition by Lori Bumgarner for review and wanted to share it with you because it is a good find and a timely topic. I received no other compensation for this review.

    Lori is on a mission to help people by building poise and self-confidence. She strives to bring the beauty within each person out in the best possible light. As a career advisor to college students turned image consultant to musicians, Lori has an excellent take on the big picture for how personal image plays into career development planning.

    In this book, she points out the nuances of why and how to strategically manage your image for the desired result of connecting with the audience, be it a potential employer or your network of supporters. Lori has advice for what you can do to improve your image. She sees image improvement as a fast-track to healthy self-confidence, which then leads to making better first impressions and being received better by others…a win-win!

    Lori also weaves together your in-person appearance with your job search marketing materials and online presence in a practical and easy to understand way. She outlines a helpful rule that I had never heard before called the Rule of 12 within her powerful strategies for making an excellent first impression.

    Learn more about Lori on her website, paNASHstyle.com.

  • Tips to Nourish Your Career – Interview 1


    SHOW NOTES
    Listen in as Stevie is interviewed by Shahrzad Arasteh, a holistic career counselor out of Baltimore, Maryland. Shahrzad brought many career development experts together in a unique project to create the book Nourish Your Career*. Check out her website at NourishYourCareer.com to hear top tips from other featured contributors to the book as well.

    Shahrzad asks me to give my top tips for job search and career development.

    We venture into topics like:

    • personal career development as an inherently selfish process
    • the benefits of keeping a career portfolio and tips on how to do it
    • how to better endure the job search process which often runs longer than expected.

    If you enjoyed this interview (Shahrzad is a great interviewer!), listen to our second interview about using intuition in your career.

  • On Interviewing, Part 4

    Of course, you will have done your research when you go into an interview for a position. You looked into what’s going on with the company. You checked out their website. You prepared for potential questions. You have questions of your own. You reviewed your power stories.

    Now realize that the people who are hiring have a problem. And they need to find someone who can solve that problem. So be sure you are aware of why they are hiring right now. Make that a part of your research. Begin to think in terms of how you can be a solution to that problem. That’s what they want to hear, and that’s what will make you stand out. They’re looking for a solution, and you can be that solution. Position yourself to show that you’re aware of what they intend to accomplish by hiring someone. 

    Check-in with them. When you go into your interview, say, “I imagine that blah blah blah is a problem, and I think that I could contribute by blah.” Doing so will help you demonstrate how you want to be a solution to their problem. They’ll like that.

    Much of what goes on in an interview is the interviewer seeking to understand your personal brand. It’s often an awkward situation because each question is basically, “What makes you the best choice for us?” And, that is such a mind trick of a question. You can get into this idea of, “Oh my gosh, is it okay to say that I’m special…that I’m the best one?” You know what, it’s okay. You have a personal brand, and they want to know about that to determine if you will fit into the company culture. Be okay with saying, “This is who I am. This is what I do especially well. This is how I contribute.” Take pride in that.

    Prepare yourself by losing that awkwardness about how they’re going to ask you what makes you unique. What makes you better than the other applicants? Understand that it is your invitation to tell them about your brand what you embody. Go ahead and be yourself and stand for something. Know in advance who you are and what you are looking for, and say it with calmness and pride. Question them too. It’s the only way to find out if the match is a good fit for you both.

    On Interviewing: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5

  • On Interviewing, Part 3

    You may likely be fired at some point in the course of your career. This, of course, can come as a total shock, but it is imperative to come to terms with such an experience so that you can recover quickly and be able to represent yourself well in upcoming job interviews.

    Spend some time processing what happened and practice verbalizing the lessons learned in a non-emotional way. Keep a positive attitude that you are preparing to go on to bigger and better things. The reality is that to many employers these days, even being fired isn’t necessarily a mark against you, depending on how you recover.

    Many successful people have been fired at some point in their career before becoming a superstar.

    On Interviewing: Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5

  • Tap Into Your Power

    Inspirational video inspired by the poem “Power” by Barbara Zarrella which follows.

    Power

    Just saying the word emits force. The emphasis on the first syllable, the way your mouth has to round out to form the word, the way the air pushes the word out into sound.

    Power is everywhere. Consider the commercial airliner. Remember the thrust that pushes you into your seat on take-off. Think of how many people are riding with you. This huge craft can be lifted into the air by a single person! That’s power.

    Power

    Coveted since the beginning of time. Two generals standing in a battlefield posturing. One points to one of his men and requests that he fight and defend though it may mean certain death. That soldier runs brave and mighty to fulfill that task. The other general retreats. That’s power.

    Power

    Nature at her best. See the dark clouds, smell the cool dampness in the breeze. Take mental inventory of loved ones. Are they home? Safe? Check around the estate. Pick up, put away, tie down, close up. The soft dance of raindrops begin followed by battering hail, then the sound of a train. All of a sudden it is quiet and sunny as if nothing happened. The splinters and broken glass prove the devastation. That’s power.

    Power

    The miracle of new life. The anticipation of a new human being forming in the womb. Old life is changing forever. So many goals, so many plans, so many decisions, so many surprises. How could such a tiny creature hold our entire soul in its grasp? Nothing can match the power of a child standing with open arms looking at you. A tiny voice says “up.” That’s power.