Dear Friends,

With the Thanksgiving holidays less than a week away, we want to begin this letter by expressing our personal "thank you" to all of EC's connections--clients, friends, business colleagues and staff, and our newer business and personal acquaintances. We appreciate the opportunities you have provided for us to work on important executive search, consulting and connections projects, as well as the executive coaching assignments. The support and encouragement you have provided in relation to the positioning and development of our EC brand has been invaluable to us in our continuing growth and development. For this we are truly thankful!

As these uncertain and highly charged times continue to grow deeper everyday, our thankfulness for what we do have must also grow deeper everyday.

In this age of increasing one-to-one marketing--in which customers are in control and smart marketers are available to customers at whatever time and through whatever channel customers prefer--we believe in the power of giving thanks, and we encourage you to do the same.

As you approach the end of 2008, take a personal inventory of the people, the clients, the projects you are most grateful for during this past year. Then reach out to all of these people, before the end of the year, and personally thank them and let them know the impact their friendship or business has meant to you and to your company.

In CRM and customer loyalty programs, one of the most powerful communication devices is the "thank you" program, in which you receive an unexpected gift in the mail (i.e., a basket of fruit or chocolates), acknowledging you for the business you provided. Use this power of "thank you" during the balance of this year to nourish your important business relationships and set a strong foundation for continued growth in 2009.

This month's ezine includes the second of our three-part planning series: "Managing and Developing Your Personal Brand—Refine the Plan." Now, more than ever, is a great time to take account of the areas in which you have personally grown and developed in 2008, acknowledge areas you did not accomplish but intended to, and set personal growth targets for 2009.

Remember, if you are not pro-actively managing your personal brand, who is?

Use the templates we have provided and explore augmenting this by partnering with an executive coach. Ask your company to provide or pay for an executive coach as an important personal benefit in 2009; you might be surprised to hear them say "yes." It's a great way for your company to acknowledge how grateful they are to you for working with them!

Although the world is in a state of uncertainty, there is still much to be thankful for.

Best regards,

Jeff Gundersen, CEO
Executive Connections, LLC
jgundersen@executiveconnects.com
Direct: 941-323-8300
Executive Search, Coaching & Consulting
http://www.executiveconnects.com

Managing & Developing Your Personal Brand:
Refine the Plan
NOVEMBER - Part 2 of a 3-part Series

Don't forget to download the WORKSHEETS
The last three Executive Connections ezines of 2008 (October, November and December) are focusing on the process of reflecting on and planning for your personal brand development in 2009. We're including exercises in each ezine to help you navigate this process. THE GOAL is to create by the end of the year an actionable PERSONAL BRAND PLAN that you can begin working as soon as the new year begins, so that you can jumpstart the process.

Last month in October, you drafted a personal brand plan for 2009 by creating a vision and theme, listing your accomplishments and creating a list of three (3) major goals for 2009. This month you'll continue your look back at 2008, choosing to leave behind the pains and take forward the gains.

Click here to download the November PERSONAL BRAND PLAN worksheet.

We are pleased to announce the placement of Paul Bedell in a new role as Regional Director, Retirement, with our client Prudential Corporation Asia, located in Hong Kong.

This placement was not a retained search. Rather, it was a result of pro-active thinking on the part of EC, which brought Paul's credentials to Prudential's attention and matched his abilities with EC's understanding of the need Prudential had to find someone to head up this important strategic area.

Prior to this role, Paul was Chief Operating Officer with Land America Financial, where he led their Sales & Marketing areas to high performance levels. Earlier in his career, Paul served in senior leadership roles with Citigroup, AIG, GE Capital and Household Finance, so he brings considerable global marketing and general management experience to Prudential Corporation Asia.

We are confident that Paul will excel in his new role, and we are supporting his career transition by providing EC's unique transition support coaching during the first six months of this new assignment.

It is important, in times like the current global economic recession, to pursue opportunities to "top-grade" your senior-level executive talent. At EC, we initiate transactions like these for our top clients and the top executive talent we represent.

The EC Talent Alert! service offers our select executive coaching clients in career transition the vast resources of the Executive Connections team to explore a range of new opportunities.

Every year, the Talent Alert Division of Executive Connections LLC selects and coaches--pro-bono--one or two "Rising Young Stars" and then presents them to you, our connections, for your consideration--at no cost to you!

These are talented, motivated, entry-level future leaders you will be eager to consider. Working with them is part of our ongoing commitment to coaching individuals who will make a difference and to providing you with the opportunity to have these young leaders "pre-screened and buffed."

Today, we are pleased to introduce you to Caitrin Fee, one of this year's "Rising Young Stars."

Caitrin is seeking a full-time creative position where her fine art, entreprenurial and leadership skills will be fully maximized. We are confident Caitrin will make a strong, positive contribution to your organization, should you choose to employ her.

To learn more about Caitrin, click here.

December 1, 2008
ReInventing Loyalty Conference
DMA08 is the six-day multi-channel marketing event of the year!

December 8, 2008
NCDM 2008 - Orlando, FL
Set yourself APART from the competition!