Dear Friends,

We appreciate hearing from you, especially the positive feedback and comments on last month's article on "Working Smarter." Our Top 10 list of recommendations for achieving a better work/life blend resonated with many of you.

I am pleased to report that we are seeing activity perking up on the hiring front, minus certain sectors (e.g., financial services), which are still displacing executives in record numbers.

Given the ups and downs of the economy, which are expected to continue through 2008 and into Q1 of 2009, we expect many of you are, or will be, facing the question, "What is the best decision(s) to make as it relates to my personal brand?"

If you have recently been merged out or laid off, the objective of your career/job search process must be to accelerate your actions and invest the time in a personal brand marketing campaign. Your goal is to obtain two or three job offers to choose between. You want to make a quality personal brand decision based on quality choices. In other words, a smart decision, not a knee-jerk reaction.

Most executives make the mistake of under-targeting, and this ultimately compromises their chances of finding the right next career opportunity. There is a real difference between finding a job and making a positive career move. Our counsel is for you to focus on the latter, not the former.

What are the criteria you can utilize to make the best personal brand choice? We have this conversation almost daily with the executive coaching clients we counsel in the area of career transition. We recently created a new service, talent alert, to team up with executives to broaden their brand awareness as part of their search campaigns.

This month's brief article is a list of 10 important questions to ask yourself before you make a career or leadership change. We trust that the guidelines it provides will be helpful to those of you in career transition, as well as you who are considering new opportunities or roles within your present organization.

As always, we value your insights and feedback on our newsletter. Please e-mail us your personal challenges/experiences in relation to this month's topic, and don't forget to "Ask our Coach" regarding other career and personal brand questions.

All the best,

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

Ten Questions To Ask Yourself Before Making A Leadership (Career) Change

Motivational speaker Tony Robbins says, "When we make choices, we need to constantly keep asking ourselves the questions that help us make the best choices." That's because quality questions create a quality life...and a quality career.

Whether you are an executive in career transition, or one considering a new opportunity or role within your organization, it is important to ask yourself some key questions before you make a move. Doing so is part of your personal brand evaluation process, and it will greatly inform your next moves and make a difference in how you proceed.

Here's our pick for questions to ask yourself when considering your next career move:

1. What are the future expectations of the industry sector I am considering?
You have to feel confident that the industry vertical you are joining or staying in will have significant growth opportunities over the next 5-10 years. Why would you make a strategic career move or change into a declining industry sector, such as the newspaper business?

2. What is my assessment of the senior leadership team I will be joining?
The quality of the senior leadership team needs to match your personal values, and their vision for the business must be compelling for you. If you have questions about the quality or commitment of the senior leaders, pass on the opportunity. Remember, it starts at the top. Read full article.

TALENT ALERT!

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.

Look for updates in next month's issue on our successful placements.

Please contact Jeff Gundersen at 941-323-8300 to learn more about how EC can support you in building and promoting your personal brand!

ASK OUR COACH

As part of our commitment to provide assistance and support to executives wanting to further their professional and personal brand, we have created the ASK OUR COACH email service where you can get confidential answers to your career questions. What's on your mind? Don't hesitate to ASK OUR COACH.

Here is our answer to a question we received last month:

Q: My current employer eliminated my position less than a year after recruiting me away from a competitor. With so many layoffs in my industry sector, I feel I will have to accept a significantly lower compensation package in order to find work before my severance runs out. In fact, I already interviewed for a position one level below my current executive rank, and I was offered the position at a compensation level significantly below my current compensation. Finally, my current employer has offered to try and find a similar executive position for me, but I am so angry about being laid off I am not sure I want to stay here. What should I do?
~Helpless in the Financial Meltdown

A: Dear "Helpless in The Financial Meltdown,"

Our first suggestion is not to let the current economy disempower you, or make you feel or decide your personal brand is "worth less." Jumping to the conclusion that you will never find a similar (paying) level opportunity is only setting you up to live into this reality. It will cause you to dupe yourself into jumping into the first opportunity that presents itself, even if this opportunity is one to two notches below your current executive level.

Despite the slowdown in the global economy, the cream still always rises to the top. Your personal brand was desirable enough for your current employer to headhunt you from a direct competitor less than a year ago.

In this short time period, ask yourself instead, what has changed to make your personal brand worth less? We suggest nothing material has changed, and we are bullish that (with the right career transition plan) you will find a similar or better career opportunity (versus a job) within a six- to nine-month period, assuming you put the right marketing plan in motion now.

You have spent your career up to this point building the value of your personal brand. Do not allow the meltdown/fallout from the sub-prime lending mess have you decide that it's time to sell your personal brand at a "fire sale" valuation. Be patient, persistent and strategic, and explore all internal and external opportunities, at the same or higher executive level only, and we project you will be rewarded for your efforts.

You earned the right to have a high regard for your personal brand...do not water it down!

Conference Highlights

October 11, 2008
DMA08 Conference & Exhibition
DMA08 is the six-day multi-channel marketing event of the year!

October 19, 2008
6th Annual Financial Services Marketing Symposium
Set yourself APART from the competition!