Welcome back to the Look and Sound of Leadership, an ongoing series of executive coaching

tips designed to help you be perceived in the workplace the way you want to be perceived.

I'm Tom Henschel, your executive coach, and today we're talking about branding yourself.

Ailsa was pursuing a promotion to Vice President. Part of her campaign was

lunching with the current VPs who would one day she hoped become her peers.

Their support of her promotion was important. During our coaching

conversations she decided that at lunch she would not be the one to bring up her promotion. If they wanted to talk about the

promotion, great she'd be happy to do it, but she wouldn't initiate it. She said to

me, but I hope that doesn't mean I shouldn't talk about myself at all.

What's your concern? I asked.

Well, I hope there's a moment when they ask me, how's it going?

Like happens during an interview, you know, tell us about yourself. I want that moment.

Do you, I asked? So many people don't. No, she said, I'm ready for it. I had a boss who kicked

our butts about moments like that. He used to say a lot of

business happens in those hallways. And at that company it was true people were

on the go and they stopped and they talked with each other a lot.

He taught us, be ready, give a snapshot of your project,

have an opinion, tell your point of view,

talk about your work like it's the most fascinating thing on the

planet.

Good coaching, I said.

It was.

...