The Root of Creativity within Us

It’s countdown to the second TEDxSMU event — sure to be an even more impressive and inspiring session than the highly-noted inaugural last fall.  The multiple, related events are already underway. 

The organizers, Dean Geoff Orsak and the amazingly capable Sharon Lyle have partnered with an exciting new media entity You+Dallas to create in perpetuity a multi-media community to keep the programs and possibilities alive — with a goal of growing the impact and participation.  Here is the TEDxSMU-specific link.

Note the multiple channels.  I was honored to be asked to contribute on the topic of Creativity.  See link to the post here

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Not Your Father’s Accounting Firm

Zowie!
I popped over to the PricewaterhouseCoopers website yesterday in search of some current venture capital statistics from the always excellent MoneyTree survey.
Yikes!
Thought I had landed on the wrong website and actually did a Google search to see if the domain name had changed.
It’s a new, very NOW branding initiative, much discussed at a PwC alumni event .   A big, bold refresh– the first since the merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand in 1998 that yielded the squished typeface logo.
The new branding identity will be controversial and much discussed.  I think it’s fabulous.  Truly breakthrough.  Very exciting.  It telegraphs a strong message that PwC will have a bold, fresh approach in serving client needs.
It follows a very Hollywood axiom in the Media & Entertainment world (where PwC handles the Oscar tabulations, as you know…)   Don’t just say it, show it! 
TREND ALERT: Look for others in the staid world of professional services to loosen up their visuals and migrate out of the staid look of the previous millennium.
A few months ago, I was interviewed by a McKinsey consultant regarding finance hiring decisionmakers and their perceptions of the Big Four accounting firms.  Does anyone ever specify previous experience from a specific firm?  Not really.
There is often a requirement for a CPA certification with a career foundation in Big 4 public accounting, but there is typically no preference regarding where the candidate gained the experience.  What they want is the credential + discipline + training + personal/professional rigor.  The next ”must have” might look like this:  public company experience within a certain revenue range in a specific industry sector, rapid growth via M&A;, etc.
But recruiting new, young talent into the accounting firms is a totally different matter.  Millennials are seeking an experience that’s meaningful to them.  One that will give them rotational assignments, training, growth, excitement and challenge.  A cool place to work!
Definitely, the Big 4 and other public accounting firms have variances in their internal cultures — work/life balance attempts, career tracks for women, diversity initiatives.
But the new PwC brand identity will be an attention-getter within a young demographic.  It was designed to play well in the digital world, including social media.  Expect lots of buzz and a splintered range of Love It/Hate It opinions.
Too much fun!
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Dress for Success

copyright Nancy Keene, 1983
Have you ever heard of John Malloy’s Dress for Success bible? 
When women were gaining higher stature in the workforce, he espoused in 1975 a set of rules for professional attire — spawning minions of man-suited females and likely inspiring the entire Liz Claiborne category of fashion for working women at the time, launched in 1976 with great success. 
Malloy’s message, at heart, was pretty sensible.  Be conservative. Be classy. Don’t make fads and fashion your focal point. To some extent, the principles still apply.
Why do controversies constantly erupt on aspects of female attire?  It’s been widely discussed this week, due to the hoo-hah of the New York Jets coaching staff and television reporter Ines Sainz. See link to NFL story here

 
I did an interview today on the topic with MSNBC “career diva” Eve Tahmincioglu.   See link here

There are many reasons for confusion.  More flexibility exists in what you can wear today, as there are companies that favor old-school, traditional corporate attire.  Others go the business casual route.  Then you add the complication of home offices — occupied by entrepreneurs as well as Fortune 500 company sales forces seeking real estate savings on the bottom line. 
There are no real rules.  And no singular expert upon whom women today rely.   
 
copyright Nancy Keene, 1983

I wrote a blogpost last year on the dilemma.  Here is the link

Generally, you are in charge of your own brand.  You get to choose your own packaging to showcase your  fashion sense, career image and life purpose. 

Here are some principles for perpetuity: 

  • Dress for the job you want, not just the job you have now
  • Watch for visual cues from those you admire
  • Consider your personal brand and how your attire transmits signals
  • Be appropriate for your role
  • If you are going to multiple venues during the day, dress for the dressiest. 
  • You can always remove a jacket or alter accessories to suit the more casual setting
  • Who you want to be and how you look must be congruent

Some comments on Ines:

There was an early role model in sports broadcasting who was also a former beauty queen.  The elegant, classy Phyllis George.  But she was pioneering in a U.S. media market, which favored attractive, but conservative females, albeit with a touch of sass.   The female on-air TV talent in Latin America has a distinctive aspect of va-va-voom.  So…it is important to view Ines in the context of her home market. 

Photo commentary:  A video shoot at D/FW Airport to promote voice mail technology for VMX, my first high-tech ad/PR client.  I was cast as a busy, traveling businesswoman who wanted an easy way to stay in touch with her office and clients.  Even in the 1980s, they wanted the Dress for Success look and there was one little John Malloy silk neck bow in my wardrobe — added to a demure silk tweed suit with a wrap skirt. Vintage, anyone? 

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Decision + Trend + Change = Plan B

Every day people make decisions.  What to eat.  Where to go.  What to buy.  Whom to hire.  Or not.
It doesn’t happen in a vacuum.  There is a ripple effect.  We all experience the reaction — at some point.  Technology and economic circumstances are powerful drivers.  Time and money.  Or lack, thereof. 
The decisionmakers decide.  Yes. No. Not now.  Next quarter.  The decisions string together to form a trend.  Trends are soft and bend-y.   They curve left or right.  They sometimes disappear.  Fads and phases. 
When trends escalate and hold their power, they solidify into change.  Tough. Unyielding.  Think of a hockey stick.  It can pack a wallop.  Unpleasant upon impact.  Ouch!
When we don’t get the result we want, there’s a reason.  A dirty little word.  C-H-A-N-G-E.  Thus, it’s time to delve into the challenge.  Find our inner grit.  Lose the ego.  Tweak it up.  Try something new. 
The market is not going to flex to us.  We have to flex into the market!  If you’re trying to do something the way you’ve always done it — to no avail – think of the message you’re transmitting to your audience.
There’s only one way to do it.  My way!  
Ouch!
Time to get creative and build a re-invention roadmap.  It’s not easy.  You won’t know the answers right away.  But it could free you from the past and deliver something fresh and wonderful. 
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More on Career Movement — Literally & Figuratively

Where are the jobs?  Should you stay local or go fishing in a new pond?  How do you find the right pond?  What are the best ways to prepare and package yourself for a new geography?

I was interviewed on the topic in this story by Alina Tugend (who also writes on career topics for the New York Times). 

The dialog continues…..

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Quote of the Day

”Because I’m on stage.”
    – Michael Douglas, responding to query on his recent Stage 4 throat cancer diagnosis on the Late Show with David Letterman.   

Douglas is in the midst of radiation and chemotherapy treatment.  Telling the drama of the dilemma in a calm, collected manner. Plugging the new movie Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.  Pausing occasionally to sip from a water bottle.   

Letterman is in awe of his aplomb.  ”…But you look so good and you don’t sound like you have throat cancer.  Why is that”?

A real-life Oscar-winning moment in the category of grace under pressure.  How to perform if you’re in the hot seat — whether it’s a job interview, Senate hearing or analyst conference call.

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Mad Men: Don Draper’s 10 Secrets of Career Success

Don Draper, the dashing lead character in the television series Mad Men, is a master in the art of re-invention. His story is taken to the extreme, as he architected his ascent from humble beginnings to the top of Madison Avenue in the 1960s.

Flash forward to today — a difficult economic environment with many vying for fewer upwardly mobile career slots.

What can be learned from Don’s skills and strategies?

Here’s an analysis — from my perch as talent advisor and former ad agency VP:

  • #1  Lack of Privilege. Don entered the world in the ultimate state of indignity. His mother was a prostitute who died giving birth to him. He was dumped on the wife of his cheating, abusive father — an unwelcome addition to the family and on-going reminder of the infidelity.  It didn’t discourage him, it propelled him.
  • #2  Visionary. Don was a have-not in a world of haves. Every life experience magnified the disadvantage of his childhood status and the allure of a better place.  He would escape to the dark of the cinema and fantasize living the life he observed on the bright silver screen. He had clarity, ambition and determination.
  • #3 Opportunistic. When his commanding officer was killed in the bunker, Don seized a lifeline by trading G.I. tags and undertaking a new identity. Wounded and in a state of delirium, he still had the grit and wherewithal to break out of the box of his reality and into the potential of his future. He lives his mantra, “Move forward.”
  • #4 HANDSOME! ! ! ! Women swoon over Don’s good looks. And guys consider him a man’s man. What a delightful and beneficial distraction as he’s striving to jump onto a new path to prosperity. Recipients of fibs and fakery along the way probably didn’t even notice, as they were no doubt dazzled by his considerable dazzle. Clearly it was an asset he was able to package and deploy.
  • #5 Core Talent.  Don is a gifted story-teller, as wife Betty notes when confronting him about his double life. His talent was born out of ignominy, desire for escape and the complexity of living a lie. He knows first-hand the desperation of want — an insight that would evolve as a secret competitive weapon.  He has the power to persuade.
  • #6 Savvy Targeting. Don is not adept with money or the mechanics of business. He knows how to sell and compel. Thus he chose a brilliant career track: the go-go world of advertising. It was the glamorous, highly-compensated Master of the Universe profession of its time and a growth field, to boot.
  • #7 Act and Dress the Part. To elevate into a new echelon, industry or company, you must embody the culture and nuances.  You have to fit in.  Don may have the private behavior of an alley cat, but in public he displays the patina of the elite.  He has impressive board room presence.   He is indignant at impolite behavior. ”Take off your hat,” he orders uncouth gents in the elevator.
  • #8 Massive Capacity to Hold Liquor. Who isn’t amazed at the proliferation of alcohol and womanizing depicted on the show? No wonder they called it the Swinging Sixties!  That said, Don is generally cool, credible and in control when on duty for Sterling Cooper business. No blithering or dialing drunk. An excellent lesson, always.
  • #9 Work Ethic. Despite the drinking and extracurricular activities, Don puts out the work — in spades. He is constantly jotting, thinking, researching. He gets out of bed in the middle of the night when his client Conrad Hilton beckons. The original 24/7 man, he also demands high performance of others.  When turning down copywriter Peggy Olsen for a raise, he tells her, “You’re good. Get better!”
  • #10 Supportive Sponsor. You can’t get from here to there all by yourself. Neither did Don. You need a network of support — at the top.  Ad agency owners Bert Cooper and Roger Sterling were good star-pickers. They took Don under their wings, nurtured, challenged and rewarded him. But they called in their chits when they needed him to sign an employment contract in order to win and retain key clients.
  • Bonus Boost:  The Better Half. Don was strategic and savvy in wooing a wife who would fit his future standing. Betty had breeding and Grace Kelly beauty.  She came from the Philadelphia Main Line, a Bryn Mawr alumna.  She knew how to ”keep help” and run a proper, tastefully-appointed home. She bore him a daughter — and two sons to carry on his made-up name.  With Betty, he had the complete package.

But it wasn’t enough for Don. Or was it too much? Maybe more than he deserved?

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Resume Do’s and Don’ts

”Freedom is having options.”
This is the mantra of the esteemed career futurist Helen Harkness, founder of Career Design.  On this Independence Day weekend, here’s a salute and tribute to everyone seeking success and happiness in work.
It’s a big audience:  All of us!
I was interviewed last week by a savvy young intern at More magazine, Victoria Phillips.  She was compiling a slide show on resumes for the website.
Here is the link to the story — with top ten recommendations from experts polled.  See #7.  The value of supplementals, a favorite mantra of mine.
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The End of the Little White Lie

ABC News Logo
If you’re thinking of stretching the truth on your resume — or presenting a blatant falsehood — here’s a word of advice.
DON’T! ! !
Career columnist Michelle Goodman interviewed me for a story on this topic.  Here’s the link on ABCnews.com.
Since we’re in a jobless ”economic recovery,” there is a feeding frenzy for the modest number of opportunities that exist.  Understandably so.
But it’s critical to be pristeen in representing yourself.  Whatever you’re hiding is likely to be uncovered in a background check, which is de rigueur for most positions from entry level to C-suite.
In the old days before the Internet and electronic databases, it was easy to fudge and get away with it.  But no longer.  It’s the fastest way to eliminate yourself from consideration.  You will also burn bridges with valued colleagues who refer and recommend you for potential new opportunities.
Here’s another nightmare scenario.  A falsehood uncovered during an interview process for a new position could reverberate if you’re currently employed.  Suppose the hiring manager for the new role knows your existing boss.  If you lied and got away with it — in pursuit of your current role — you could be fired for the original misrepresentation.
Be open.  Be upfront.  Be honest.
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Copyright © 2012 Nancy Keene