This blog is all about career advice and career success.  As a career success coach, I advise my clients that they need to develop competence in four key areas if they want to become a career success: positive personal impact, outstanding performance, dynamic communication and relationship building. 
You create positive personal impact by doing three things.  1) Creating and building your unique personal brand.  2) Being impeccable in your presentation of self – in person and on line.  3) Knowing and following the basic rules of business and personal etiquette.  Today, I’d like to provide some …

Commitment to taking personal responsibility for your success is one of the keys to career and life success that is part of my Common Sense Success System.  I discuss it in several of my books: Straight Talk for Success, Your Success GPS, and 42 Rules to Jumpstart Your Professional Success. 
If you want to succeed, you must commit to three things.  First, you must take personal responsibility for your success.  Only you can make you a success.  You need to be willing to do the things necessary to succeed.  Second, you must set high goals — …

Competence is one of the four keys to career and life success in my Common Sense Success System.  I also discuss it in some detail in several of my books: Straight Talk for Success; Your Success GPS; and 42 Rules to Jumpstart Your Professional Success.  If you want to succeed you need to develop four basic, but important competencies: 1) creating positive personal impact; 2) becoming a consistently high performer; 3) dynamic communication skills; and 4) becoming interpersonally competent. 
There are four key competencies that will help you become a career and life success:

You have to …

Positive personal impact is one of the keys to personal and professional success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success, 42 Rules to Jumpstart Your Professional Success and Your Success GPS.  If you want to create positive personal impact you need to do three things.  First, develop and nurture your unique personal brand.  Second, be impeccable in your presentation of self – in person and on line.   Third, know and follow the basic rules of etiquette.
The Stacy Snyder story provides a good example of what not to do in all three. 
In 2006, Stacy was …

Positive personal impact is one of the keys to personal and professional success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success and 42 Rules to Jumpstart Your Professional Success.  If you want to create positive personal impact you need to do three things.  1) Develop, nurture and constantly promote your personal brand.  2) Be impeccable in your presentation or self – in person and on line.  3) Know and follow the basic rules of etiquette.
Knowing and the basic rules of etiquette are especially helpful when you are invited to a business meal.  Business meals are …

This is a blog about personal and professional success.   If you’ve read it in 2008  you know that in my Amazon.com bestseller, Straight Talk for Success, I point out that successful people have five things in common:

1. Successful people are self confident.2. Successful people create positive personal impact.3. Successful people are outstanding performers.4. Successful people are dynamic communicators.5. Successful people are interpersonally competent.

As we begin 2009, I will do a brief recap of each of these.  Today’s focus is creating positive personal impact.
If you want to create positive personal impact, you need to do three things. 

1. Develop, nurture and constantly …

Your ability to create positive personal impact is an important key to your success.  As I point out in Straight Talk for Success, you create positive personal impact in three ways: 1) creating and nurturing your unique personal brand; 2) being impeccable in your presentation of self; and 3) knowing and following the basic rules of etiquette.
Amy Vanderbilt sums up my point about etiquette quite well. 

“It is axiomatic that as we mature and grow in years and experience, we must be able to meet more demanding social situation with confidence and ease.”

In other words, …

The other day I saw a great blog post entitled “Good Branding Requires Good Business Etiquette.”  I was intrigued because I discuss three keys to creating positive personal impact in my latest book, Straight Talk for Success: 1) build and nurture your unique personal brand; 2) dress for success; and 3) know and follow the basic rules of etiquette.
Christine Buskie, the author of the post, was explaining how courteous customer service is key to building a strong business brand.  I agree.  Read the post, she makes some great points.
I was first drawn to the post …

Today is Tuesday, so this post is on creating positive personal impact.
Business meals are an opportunity to create positive personal impact.  They also can create problems for you when you’re trying to create a good impression.  The first thing to remember is that business meals are not about the food.  They are about business.  Therefore, you need understand and practice the basic rules of business dining etiquette when you are invited to a business lunch or dinner.
In “Straight Talk for Success” I tell the story of the time I agreed to share an entrée that …

Today is Tuesday, so this post is on positive personal impact.
When I was in Chicago last week, I picked up a copy of Redeye – a supplement to the Chicago Tribune.  It contained an interest article on manners in the workplace.  As you know, manners and etiquette — along with a strong personal brand and presentation of self – are keys to building positive personal impact.
The article began, “The line between what is acceptable and unacceptable is blurring.”  I agree.  When I first joined the working world, things were pretty simple.  Men wore suits and …