Image Factor

The Image Factor A Guide to Effective Self-Presentation for Career Enhancement By: Rizwan Pir Muhammad (0411218) Excerpts from: „The Image‟ by Eleri Sampson The worst bankrupt in the world is the person who has lost his enthusiasm. -H.W. Arnold Image Factor -Introduction • The extent to which personal image and interpersonal style influence career prospects • Advising people about their image is not new! • Critical Audience • Everyone is Advising Fools look to tomorrow, wise men use tonight. Who uses the image advisers? • Personal, professional or social reasons. • Rejuvenation in looks • Business Starters • Mid-Life Crises Ask yourself if what you are doing today is getting you closer to what you want to be tomorrow. Image Factor-The Disappearing ladder • Working life firmly devolved to the worker • Job for life? • Job hoppers! • Corporate ladder has disappeared? • Do a SWOT • Develop a relevant and recognizable corporate image • Market Yourself Good, Better, Best, Never let it rest… Until your good is better… And your better is best! Image Factor - Insecurities • Compose ourselves • Polarities and Segmentation • Sense of stability • Skills • Inner person and outward appearance A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. -John A. Shedd Image Consultant • Image Consultant‟s job centres on people • Remove uncertainties • Narrow down choices • Blend of psychology, common sense, tact, technical expertise and aesthetics What may be done at anytime. Will be done at no time. -Scottish Proverb Personal Image and Organizational Culture • Audience • Potential audience • Varying response • Sophisticated mix It is by act and not by ideas that people live -Anatole France Nature of business Conservative • • • • • • Creative Innovative Change Free structure „new‟ Fast Democratic Doing things traditional way • In favour of the status quo • Rule bound • „old‟ • Slow • Autocratic • All children are born genius; 9,999 out of every 10,000 are swiftly, inadvertently degeniuisized by grownups -Buckminister Fuller Business Orientation • Organizations can be „People‟, „Process‟ and „Idea‟ oriented • Large Organizations • Happiest Individuals tend to work within organizations they prefer • „Perfect Match‟ Those who undervalues himself is justly undervalued by others -William Hazlitt What is an Image? • An image is a picture • Your business image is your advertisement • A promise! • External image will deliver the skills, competences and value it advertises. • Personal style The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams - Oprah Winfrey Self-Image • Past experience and is a reflection of our current level of self-esteem • Looking back retrospectively • Attractive, Healthy, Hardworking? Success or failure? Introvert or Extrovert? What do you stand for? Annoys you? The significance of a man is that he is insignificant and is aware of it -Carl Becker Meeting Myself –Improvisation Workout • Write Name in Large Letters • Jot down any word or phrase typical of you • Stop and Read • Give yourself another 2 minutes to refine or add to the list • Aim is to Get to Know Yourself Advice is seldom welcome and those who need it the most like it the least -Lord Chesterfield Perceived Image • How other see you • How do you know how you come across? • Feedback • Criticism & Compliments • Received Image We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing while others judge us by what we have already done. - Henry Worth Long Fellow How others Perceive Me –Improvisation Workout • Friend, Colleague and Family Member • Write anything that comes to mind when they think of you • Multiple opinions • The way you see yourself and other see you! The more passion and desires one has, the more ways one has of being happy. - Charlotte Cathering Required Image • Certain jobs dictate the images of the people who do them • Image expectation within the profession or your organization • Image expectations of the people outside the profession Management is doing thins right; Leadership is doing the right things -Peter Drucker Why is the Image Factor Important? 1. Influences the decision-makers 2. We believe what we see 3. We are all busy people 4. Today everyone is in sales 5. Spotting star in the field of equal? 6. Looking good is good for you It is useless to tell a river to stop running; the best thing is to learn how to swim in the direction it is flowing - Anonymous Elements of Personal Image • Personal Advertisement • What you are able to deliver? • Image and visibility • „Tissue rejection‟ Find a job you enjoy doing and you will not have to work a day in your life -Chinese Proverb Communication • Clear concise and accurate • First Impression • Other‟s people judgment say as much about them as they do about us • Decisions – Trust them – Like them – Do business with them You have to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was - Irish Proverb Interceptors • Past experience • Age • Prejudice • Social factors • Cultural differences He who cannot change the very fabric of his thought will never be able to change reality, and will never, therefore make any progress - Anwar Sadat The Language of Clothes • Body and Clothes speak before you do • Person‟s ability to understand the language of clothes • Resemblance • Character Cues A wise man recognizes the convenience of a general statement, but he bows to the authority of a particular fact - Oliver Wendell Humes Jr. Body Language and Presence • Eyes • Face • Eyebrow flash • Looking down your nose • Posture • Gesture • Territory and Positioning Anyone who uses the phrase „easy as taking candy from a baby‟ has never tried taking candy from a baby Business handshake The non-verbal business card • Eye contact • Appropriate smile • Leaning forward • Dry palm, soft skin • Firm grip • Thumbs web-to-web • Straight elbow You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist. -Indira Gandhi Body language Positive Signals      Stillness Sustained eye-contact Open palms Easy stance Using “Your space” Negative Signals X X X X X Touching the face Nervous mannerisms Handling objects Pointing Not using “Your space” Intuition will tell the thinking mind where to look next. -Dr. Jonas Salk( Discoverer of Polio Vaccine) Reputation and Visibility 1. Dong the job – 10% 2. Image and personal style – 30% 3. Exposure and visibility – 60% One can survive everything, nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a good reputation - Oscar Wilde 10 Ways to Promote Yourself and increase visibility 1. Be well presented 2. Be well informed 3. Volunteer 4. Get into print 5. Effective networking 6. Business cards 7. Photographs 8. Make a good presentation 9. Approach the recruiters 10.Know the rules While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior -Henry C. Link Self-Marketing • • • • Product Price Place Packaging • Perceptions • Promotion • Unique Selling Point (USP) You could pretty well summarize the history of society and institution in four words “Nothing Fails like Success” - Arnold Toynbee (Great Historian) How to avoid a decline 1. Uncontrollable ego 2. Unplanned obsolescence 3. Uncoupling 4. Age 4. Poor or inconsistent performance 5. Self-destruction 6. Scandal Ability can take you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there Projecting a Professional Image Three A‟s 1. Approachable 2. Accountable 3. Accessible • People Skills • Everyone is in Sales – Gmail Lab – Media Intervention – From „Cost Incurring‟ to „Revenue Generating‟ There is no security on this Earth. There is only opportunity. -George Douglas Mac Arthur Professional Impact 1. Competence 2. Confidence 3. Credibility 4. Consistency 5. Control Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference - Robert Forest Image Stealers 1. Competence robbers 2. Credibility robbers 3. Control robbers 4. Confidence robbers 5. Consistency robbers 6. Image breakers 7. The power of grooming Of every ten persons who talks about you, nine will say something bad, and tenth will say something good in a bad way - Antonie Rivarol Thank You! All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing - Edmund Burke