August 15 2020 Webinar - How to reinvigorate your brand or reinvent yourself with Amanda Blesing & Julie Hyne

0:00:01.6

Amanda: So, welcome, everyone, to your Reinvent Webinar. And as you may have guessed from the email I sent you the other day, this is a re-recording. I am sorry to say that the other day on the webinar, it was a Thursday, we had a few technical glitches, and for whatever reason, the record button didn't get pressed.

So, both Julie and I decided that this is such an important topic, that we would re-record the webinar, so that you could have some great resources and feel more certain in this really crazy mixed up pandemic world that we find ourselves in.

So, my name is Amanda Blesing, and I'm the founder of The Ambition Revolution, I am an executive coach for executive women, and totally obsessed with helping women to lead and succeed.

So, when it comes to reinvention, I think people may be all of a sudden have that realization that maybe they don't like their job anymore, or that they think they might want to do something different. So, what I do is I teach a powerful approach to reinventing yourself with a beautiful six-step process. And we want to have your effort, but double your impact. So, I'm here today with Julie Hyne, CEO stylist, so welcome, Julie.

0:01:21.3

Julie: Thank you, Amanda. It's great to be here this Saturday, but you know we are both committed to what we do. And as you said, empowering women to get to that next level. So, what I do is I -- how you go to wardrobe, particularly now, when a lot of people are doing a lot of Zoom meetings and a lot of online presenting. And so, it's really critical for them to present at the best every single day.

Sometimes, it's like, “Well, what am I going to wear today? How am I going to put myself together? How do I put my best foot forward when I'm in front of the camera?” because it's all about differentiation. It's all about really being able to look your best, because you don't get a second opportunity to do that, particularly, if you're meeting people for the first time.

And so, it gets hard, and even for me as an image consultant and stylist. Some days I go to my wardrobe in the morning and I think, “Okay, I've got Zoom meetings all day, what am I going to wear?” So, even for me, sometimes it's been challenging. But the key is all about having the right things, and knowing how to pull it all together, and coordinate, so that you can differentiate and you can look your best every day.

So, I work mainly with senior executive women. But that doesn't exclude younger women from actually reaching out to me and talking to me about how can they present themselves in a very confident, mature way, so that they don't get -- their presenting is not sabotaged by the youthfulness as well, which we'll talk about a little bit later.

0:02:56.0

Amanda: Fantastic. So, when we were pulling together this webinar, we brainstormed on a range of scenarios that women have been reaching out to us about. So, perhaps you're a younger woman, and you've either had the opportunity for a promotion or you've have been promoted already, and maybe you're now managing people who are older than you, or you feel like you're not being taken seriously, so that's a really lovely opportunity. I must admit, that's one of my favorite opportunities to help younger women to step into that next level leadership role.

But definitely, there's an opportunity to reinvent yourself. In actual fact, it's far easier to reinvent yourself inside a new role. So, that's a really great time to reinvent yourself.

Another typical reinvention problem is if perhaps you have an executive career, and you're thinking about launching that portfolio career, going out as a consultant, getting a couple of board roles, etc. And that's a really great time to reinvent yourself. And perhaps my part of the process there would be to encourage you to build a lovely, juicy on ramping towards that new reinvented you, so that you find the new reinvented you far more, find yourself being far more successful, far sooner and far easier.

And right now, though, we are in the midst of a global pandemic here and around the globe. And as you know, there are some sectors that are totally decimated. There are no roles in travel, hospitality, and if you're a manager or you work in those sectors, then really, you may be very well struggling. So, while reinvention for some is a bit of a luxury, reinvention for you is an absolute needs must. So, this is definitely a really important webinar for you to be on.

So, Julie, did you want to have any other reinvention opportunities that you would like to add there or any other advice there before we get going into some content?

0:05:04.5

Julie: Yes, sure, Amanda. I think that you've also raised a very important point that, yes, we do have a pandemic worldwide. And sometimes people have carved out their career within one organization. And they might have been there 20 years, and all of a sudden, they finding themselves challenged as to whether the role is going to continue or whether there is any further opportunity.

So, these women are really struggling, because they've got used to a certain culture, everything in the organization, and dare I say, it may have become a little complacent about how things are. And so, they're having to, A, it's exciting because they’re stepping outside of that comfort zone and looking at new opportunities, and realizing that, “Oh my goodness, there's potential income increases, there's this whole new opportunities out there.”

But it's also very, very daunting, because maybe they haven't had to really think about how they dress, and how they present themselves, and put themselves together, what really happens outside of that space that they've been in is something that they haven't had to really worry about.

And then there's women who are challenged by the age that they’re at, and whether it's worth actually reinventing themselves and pursuing another career, so these women are starting to think about, “Am I still relevant? Is how I put myself together still relevant when I'm dealing with a younger generation?”

So, it just brings up so many different issues for women in this sort of situation as to, “Well, what do I do? Do I go this way? Or do I go that way? And what are the implications of going either way? And how do I make it work for myself?”

So, it all is around confidence, and self-esteem, and being able to just really believe in yourself, value yourself enough to actually make that investment and move forward. But right now, they've got you and they've got me, which is a good start. [laughter]

0:07:16.7

Amanda: That's great. Absolutely. And I really like that your comments there are around -- if you find yourself, let's face it, we're all going to get there, if we're lucky, over 50. And perhaps all of a sudden, find yourself competing for roles with much younger people. And you wonder if you're losing your relevance, if people will be marginalizing you, because they perceive you to be past it, or not up with it, or not agile enough. That's the sort of language that we're worried about.

So, I think that that also undermines our confidence. And I really love the way you bring it back to confidence. And when I'm talking with my clients, it doesn't matter how senior someone is when it comes to women and when it comes to confidence. I don't know whether it's because we're not necessarily made to feel that welcome in the C-Suite.

On many occasions, it's pretty competitive there. But when it comes to confidence, women at all levels of the organization, at all stages in their career will express lack of confidence or confidence becomes the real defining issue, because our society, confuses confidence with competence. So as society assumes that if you're confident, that you're really great at your job. And if you're coming across for whatever reason that you're not feeling that confident, then people will doubt your credibility.

All right. On that note, I've got a PowerPoint that I'd like to take you through. Now, Julie and I, when we set up our Style and Substance webinars, we said that we would try to avoid using PowerPoint, and we tried all sorts of different tactics, and we've tried props, and holding shapes up as we help our clients to digitize their leadership brand in this new world with lots of remote working.

But today, I have a little PowerPoint that I'd like to take you through because it's a nice process for you to follow in your reinvention journey. And we'll help you moving through in ticking all the boxes, so you feel more confident and certain on your reinvention journey.

So, I've just put my first slide up there, here we go, Reinvent the Process. Let's head on in. Julie, feel free, as I take you through the slides, the other day on the webinar, I know there are a couple of points that you wanted to make or reiterate as I took you through the slides, feel free to interject, that would be great. It makes the webinar a richer experience.

So, you can see we've got a little process here I've mapped out for you. And I'm going to take you through all areas on that little map, so that you understand where you might need to go, what you might need to do next. And I'm a really big believer in prioritizing for impact, doing the things that matter most.

And I love Catarina Fake, who said, “So often people are working hard at all the wrong things. Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard.” It's so true. And in actual fact, language choices, when we're reinventing, in actual fact, are critical to your reinvention journey. Sometimes we have to examine the way we describe ourselves to other people and the way other people might describe us. We need to reinvent that, we might need to re-describe that.

So, ditch the working hard and start focusing on working far smarter as I take you through this process. So, the first thing you want to do on your reinvention journey is actually set a goal. What is it that you want to achieve? What is it you're trying to achieve? Define your destination, as Dorie Clark said, and Dorie Clark wrote a book on reinvention. And in particular, reinventing yourself as a consultant.

So, you need to be really clear, what are you aiming for? Because how will you know if when you get there if you don't really know where you're going? So, what is it you want to achieve? What does success actually look like in this new reality that you're creating for yourself?

So, it might be that you're thinking, “I just want a job.” But until you can articulate what job it is, or what that looks like, what your value proposition and relay to that job is, get really clear and really confident about articulating that. Then unfortunately, others won't be able to help you as easily as -- sorry, I'll start that again.

Until you can get really clear about what you're aiming for, and how others might be able to help you, then unfortunately, people won't be able to help you as much. So, getting really clear and getting certain is really, really important. So, do some research, ask some people, set your goals.

The next bit is looking at what you've already got from the place of your strength. So, you want to articulate what you're really good at, but also have a look at some of the gaps that you might need to fill. And before we head into the gaps, I just want to remind people that sometimes women will look at something and think, “I have to do more work,” “I need to go and do a course.”

And I think Sheryl Sandberg first articulated that and really popularized that idea, and reminded us that women often feel that we need to go on to do more study before we step into a new iteration, or a new career, or a new sector.

I remember speaking with someone from the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and she said that women tend to do the AICD course before they land a board role, or as men tend to do it after they've landed a role. Now, it was anecdotal, and she was generalizing, that same idea is backed up by research that women will do further education before they springboard. And I'm going to challenge you to think, “Well, maybe that's not necessarily the case. Maybe get there and then back it up with some education.”

So, when it comes to strength, you really want to work out what are you good at? What's your unique value proposition, that beautiful intersection between your experience, your expertise, and the things that you are most passionate about? What is your reputation in this space? Do you have a track record?

And in an economic downturn, this is really important, in an economic downturn, as society will become more conservative in their judgments, and so opportunities that might have been available for women will no longer be on the table. And in actual fact, just this week, I saw some research, it's about to be launched, it was a BBC article talking about women and boards. And it was talking about in good times at the moment, board appointments women have, it's not quite equal, but women are certainly more easily able to land board appointments.

In an economic downturn, boards are being appointed more predominantly men. So, you wouldn't build a really good reputation, so what's your reputation, what is your track record, and you want to really focus on building up that track record, building up that reputation, bolstering your brand in relation to your new goals?

So, let's have a quick look at Why You? Let’s head on to the gaps. So, what are the gaps? And you might want to create some narrative around that and I'll talk about that shortly. And most importantly, play to your strengths. So do define what your strengths are and play to them, make sure because they help you feel more confident. And they'll keep you on track in an alignment with your goals.

So, view your new goals through the lens of the strengths. But don't forget to have a look at what the gaps are. Julie, did you have anything you wanted to say?

0:15:19.1

Julie: I do, actually. This is where we partner so well together, because a lot of what you've just been talking about is really what I discuss with my clients when it comes to image management. And when we look at the circle of image in the center, we actually have what we call our hidden image. So, these are all the things that you have come to what's made you who you are today.

So, it's your values, it's what your attitudes are, what your social economic background is, your culture, etc. But this is the core of who you are as an individual. And when we talk about creating your image, yes, reputation’s really important, but before that, and when you think about when someone is going to meet you for the first time, they might have a pre-conceived idea as to what you're about based on what you've actually presented to them on paper.

So, they have an assumed expectation of what they're actually going to say. Now, if what follows through and what they see when they do meet you is not consistent, then you can have some misalignment. And that's when they can start to question things.

So, this is where you build up your reputation. It's about people having that expectation of what they're going to see, seeing what they believe they're going to see, and then you following through with everything that is consistent with who you say you are. So, this is a really important part of this whole process, is to take stock of who you are right now, think about, yes, what is your point of difference, what does your reputation look like, do you have a reputation?

Because if you don't, then now's a great time to actually start building one. And there's a whole lot of things that we can work on in relation to what does that look like? So, when Amanda's finished going through her process, I'd love to take you through a few steps that I use with my clients, which helps them define what that might look like now moving forward.

0:17:26.4

Amanda: Right. Beautiful. Yeah, and I think Julie's quite right. I love the way you do some editing to that conversation there about if you are right now with Melbourne in stage four lockdown, or lockdown 4.0, and the rest of the country, certainly with a lot of remote working environments and working from home, now is a really good time, you can build a great on ramp, you can start building a reputation towards the role you really want, not necessarily the role you have cut right now. So, leverage your online platforms.

All right, let's head on into your story. So, you're creating your story or crafting the narrative, that is the work. And if you can create it in a way that's congruent and in alignment with your background and alignment with where you want to go, it'll be really easy for other people to believe that you are the right person for the job.

When we're clear, when we're confident, and when it's congruent, the three C's: clarity, confidence, and congruence, then all of a sudden, people will start to believe you more, you'll have some credibility.

So, let's have a quick look. So, what is your story in alignment with the goal? Do you have a backstory? Are there parts of your career, or some projects that you've been involved in or some volunteer opportunities that you've been involved in, that helped fill out any gaps?

So, for example, I'm working with a woman at the moment. She's worked in a particular sector for quite some time some years ago. And right now, she wants to go back to that sector. Now, on paper, her story, like if you look at her CV, on paper, it looks like she hasn't had any recent experience. But in actual fact, she and I know she has because she's on a board in that same sector that she wants to go back into.

She's actually got two board opportunities, or two boards and committees that she's working on in the aged care sector. And so, that really helps us now build a better narrative. But someone looking at the old her on paper would think, “No, she doesn't have any credibility. It's been a long while since she worked in that sector. She might not be the right person for the job.” But because of her board experience, and we've brought that into her narrative, all of a sudden, it makes her a far more likely candidate or likely ideal candidate for the role.

So, what is your new narrative? Start carving that out. Now, say, if you're a consultant, you need some stories to be able to launch your new consultancy about the why, what was it that drove you? And some of you have heard me talk about my story, how I was the CEO of a non-profit, and also in the association sector, and I would call for papers and 10 men would put the hand up and only one woman. I would call for award nominations, and the women were all running around nominating their junior staff, which was the right thing to do, from the perspective of the sector in the industry.

But in actual fact, then they were worn out, or too busy, ran out of time, maybe that was code for the head imposter syndrome, they didn't really feel that it was worth it because they weren't going to win or they weren't good enough. So, then they didn't submit their own nominations. Now, I could see, I was in the back looking at this award process going, “My goodness, this sector is highly feminized, why aren't the women nominating?”

These are some of the most talented women in the country. You want them on your side, 8if you're in a dispute, in the Consumer Affairs space, if you've got a complaint or dispute with an organization, these are some of the most talented people in the country, and not just women.

And so, I knew that, but they weren't nominating. And what was really interesting was I found out that the guys were often getting the comms or marketing department to help them with their award nominations. So, that was my story about why I wanted to launch into this business or this iteration here. But you need stories, too, because they will help people bring you on the journey, they will help you bring others on the journey towards your new iteration and the thing that this new thing you want to be doing.

So, let's get practical. You need to update your CV, LinkedIn, cover letters, all your career tools in alignment with your new goal. Don't just update them like the generic, you need to craft the narrative in alignment with your new goal because your CV, your LinkedIn, your cover letters, all your career tools need to be written for the job you want, not the job you have.

And just because you updated your CV two years ago, or a year ago, or six months ago, doesn't mean it's necessarily right for the things you want now. So, get back in there and have a look at your CV.

You also need a comms or communication, or content plan. And I mentioned before, you could be posting online, but craft the content plan so that when you're posting on LinkedIn, the posts are about the sort of work you'd be doing in your ideal role, they express interest, they demonstrate to someone who goes on your LinkedIn profile, that you actually know something about the sector you want to be in, demonstrate that you know about leadership, demonstrate you know about strategy.

So, post towards those opportunities, not just at that low level, which we see a lot of on LinkedIn, don't we, Julie? That how do we cope with COVID? If your job’s about COVID and coping with COVID, post there, but if your job’s about strategy, start posting about strategy.

That's my bugbear at the moment on LinkedIn, Julie. I know we both see a lot of that playing below the line and the low-level stuff there. Most important, take charge of the narrative before it takes charge of you. You really need to get on the front foot here.

So, let's hit on perceptions and misassumptions, because as you all know, perception is nine tenths of the law, whether it's right or not, what someone thinks about you is how they will judge you. And so, you need to get on the front foot. That's why it's so good to have done the narrative work first. But it's important to understand what people think. So, how do others perceive you? It's worthwhile doing a brand audit, and I do one with my clients, and I know Julie is going to take us through some steps because she does one with her clients. It's really important to understand how we perceive ourselves, and how other people perceive us, and where any misalignment might be.

So, what is your brand in alignment with your new goals? What misassumptions might others have about you that you need to address in your narrative? So, for example, I was working with a young engineer of Asian heritage, she was very slight, super smart, super talented, she'd been working in the industry for about 10 years, very slight. And people thought she was a little girl, but she was a really talented Mechanical Engineer, and with about 10 years experience.

And so, you can imagine the misassumptions was that she was too young, or too junior, or didn't know a stuff. So, she had to constantly work on correcting that narrative if she wanted that next level promotion or next level role in their organization. And then what is the elephant in the room about you?

So, for example, if you have come from a different sector, the elephant in the room might be that you don't have experience in this sector. So, craft some language about that upfront, don't leave people guessing, don't make them wonder or don't let them wonder, don't give the opportunity for them to wonder, craft some narrative about that right up front.

So, work out what it is, what is the elephant in the room about you. Too young, too old to live in a different city, work out what those things are, and have some narrative ready to go to nip those things in the bud before they become too overwhelming.

Julie, did you want to jump in in here around perception? Because I know you've got lots of ideas on perception

0:25:36.8

Julie: Oh, look, I do. And perception is when you say it's nine tenths of the law, perception is not always reality. So how you perceive yourself and how other people perceive you, is sometimes just a figment of your imagination. So, it's a really, really good time for you to actually find out and come to terms with your own perceptions of yourself. Because when know how you feel about yourself and what your own perception is about yourself, then you can ask other people.

That's when you can start to see whether you're on the right track or whether you're not. And when we go through what I go through, I related them to the visual, because I would say “Seeing is believing.” And it's really important that who you feel you want to be, you have the sole reflection in your wardrobe in terms of what you have available to you.

I’m so sorry about those alerts coming through. I thought I’ve turned everything off beforehand. So, yeah, I'll take you through that process when Amanda's finished going through this. And because I also want to talk about her last point, which is ethics as well.

0:26:59.6

Amanda: Wonderful, cool, all right. So, perception is really important. You cannot afford to ignore that, or if you do choose to ignore it, you do so at your own peril. And the smartest and most successful women that both Julie and I would work with, do this work and get on the front foot with it. It's just like it worked in marketing, and brand and marketing do the same thing as well. So, we need to get on the front foot with perceptions and turn it to your advantage, and turn your weaknesses into strengths, or whatever that might be.

Okay, so let's move on. Then let's get into the strategy and the tactics. Let's get into some things that you can actually be doing. So, you need to make a plan, you need to actually make a plan about what you're going to do. And this plan might, obviously, how will you get started?

But this plan might be something that you plan, it might be something you do, you think, “Well, I want to go from point A to point B, and I understand I want a job change in the middle that's a stepping stone.” All right, so that might be your plan. Or it might be, “I need to make this happen in three months. So, my plan is going to be really truncated, I'm not working right now. I need to make it happen in three months, to reinvent myself in three months, I've got to do it, so what do I need to do to get that done?”

Bang! Or it could be that you actually think, “Well, I want to launch in a year's time. I've got a new consultancy idea I want to launch in a year's time. I want to build a really lovely on-ramp to get there.” But everything starts at the beginning. So, what are you going to do right now?

And how will you reintroduce yourself? What's the narrative? Again, it comes back to narrative so often. Letters, words, and language, and writing is one of the strengths that I bring to the table. I'm always helping women refine their language, their elevator pitch, their interview roleplay, the way they introduce themselves in board meetings, refining their language, refining their language, the way they publish and post on LinkedIn.

All right. Then you're going to look at how you leverage your network. So, your networks need to be a part of your on-ramp, a part of your plan, because well-networked women succeed far better.

And what profile building activities do you need to undertake now to reinforce your brand? And remember, I said, “Post towards the job you want, not necessarily the job you have. You need to plan your content plan, and actually plan what that will be.” And at what would you need to do less of, because obviously, as you go into a new role, if it's a higher-level role or a new sector, the learning curve is going to be hard. So, you're not going to have as much time, but you won't be successful if you try and take your old habits in.

There's a great book called The First 90 Days in a Role, and one of the bits of advice the author gives is to do an audit of the things you need to do less of in order to be successful in this new role and in this new sector, this new iteration of yourself.

So, for myself as a consultant, every time I lift my -- every year I set new goals, and nearly every year, it's like I need to delegate more. [laughter]

That is the challenge for people who like to be in control. So, will you need a brand refresh? And I love that often that's a certain point, and when I'm working with a client, there’s a certain point, I say, “You need to go work with Julie.” Because if you're going to be aiming for that, there's a different style, your executive presence needs to be different, you need to go and do things differently, and refresh your brand, and come back to that congruence piece. So, your brand-new brand you needs to be in alignment with what you're actually aiming for.

And who is going to be on your support team? When it comes to that, you might need a coach, you might need a mentor, you might need your own personal board of directors. So, who is going to be on your support team? And remember, you want to soar with the eagles, not hang with the turkeys.

And Avril Henry, a leadership coach who I admire, admire immensely, and she was really instrumental in me just all of a sudden go, “Oh my gosh, I can't do what I'm doing anymore. I need to step up, speak out, take charge,” the name of my first book, but that was me in my first few years. Avril Henry was really a catalyst for me.

And I don't know if any of you have seen her, but she does a really funny talk. And she talks about how she does a friend audit every 12 months. She audits her friends and works out, “Well, who's not helpful for this new section of a career anymore? And drop who's a drain? And then who's going to be in the A-team moving forwards?”

Now, I'm not sure if a friend or if it's right for you, but I do think you need to think about who is going to be on your support team moving forwards.

And will you need to revisit your executive presence? Style, like we mentioned, voice, language choices, posture, mannerisms, all those sorts of things like get rid of the hair flick that you might be doing in meetings, certainly not appropriate on Zoom meetings, but not really appropriate in many meetings when you're aiming for the top job.

And what other tactics will help you be successful more easily? So, don't shoot yourself in the foot or make it hard for yourself.

And then I'm just going to move on to assets before we head into the rest of the webinar. So, before you launch, I think one of the really big things is just not to forget that you actually already have a lot going for you. So, we did the strengths and the gaps and things like that. But I think you need proof points and Dorie Clark talks about needing proof points. But I talked about an asset register. So, if you've ever filled out or applied for a tender in an organization, or maybe that's your role you regularly apply for tenders, you probably know that when applying for tenders, you probably have an asset register.

So, you just copy and paste the relevant bits out of this asset register. These are the things that really work in your organization you've got going for you. So, to copy and paste them into the tender document. Well, it's a bit like that with your career, you need an asset register so that you're not constantly rewriting all your documentation.

I call it an achievement reservoir, and Peggy Klaus calls it a bragalogue. But you need to review your asset and curate it now in alignment with your new goal. So, some of the assets you had before might not be relevant right now. And this will help you cement your credibility in your new career choice far more easily.

So, how can you create a new track record? What is your current track record? What are your proof points? Revisit your achievement reservoir with this new lens and modify old and add new achievements in alignment with this new goal.

And Peggy Klaus, we're going to have a look at her book on self-promotion. And she calls it Create a Bragalogue. But remember, you want to create that, but curate it in alignment with your goals.

Now, there's one final thought I want to leave you with. And that's, those who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those already doing it. We live in an era where it's quite normal for us to have five to seven career changes. I mean, my parents, they had one job they did their whole life. My mom was a teacher. My dad was a farmer. Their parents had one job they did their whole life.

Nowadays, we have between five and seven career changes. So, this is really normal. The science, the process around reinvention is really normal. So, don't lean out for it. Just get going.

All right, Julie, there you go. There's my little presentation.

0:34:58.1

Julie: Really interesting. Gosh, Amanda, I don't know how many more job changes I can have because I've been in this one for over 17 years so I don’t know how many more I can fit in to my life. [laughter]

0:35:08.9

Amanda: There you go. Well, I've had a few career changes myself, and I have to say, the art of segue, and that’s probably a word I didn't put in the presentation, but it's like that's part

of creating the narrative, you need to develop the art of the segue, building that bridge between the gaps between where you are now and where you want to get to. And the art of the segue. That's what this is about. And using that segue and being really clear about where you want to go.

So, I was working in the fitness industry, and I had a diploma of teaching. And I was working in the fitness industry, and I wanted to be able to get back into a more professional world. I didn't want to teach. So, I went back to university to finish my degree. So, then I had a degree in education. And then I used this segue, I went and used the fitness industry, but I went into their professional peak body, and I ran their professional development like conferencing and exhibitions.

So, it was about finding what is the next natural, the segue that will help me get to where I want to go? And that's the next bit how I launched my association career. It was a segue from teaching fitness industry, and it was a nice little intersection there that enabled me to launch my association career.

All right, Julie, take us away. I know, you've got some things there for us that you got some fun things for us to try.

0:36:31.6

Julie: Yes. You were talking about assets before and I guess I wanted to just reiterate that at the end of the day, you are your best asset. So, yes, you can do all what Amanda said, and you can work on your reputation, you can work on your CV and resume, and everything that someone read about you, and you can put your bragalogue together, and it's all very impressive, dut don't forget that it all comes down to you and what people see. And those first impressions become so incredibly valuable and important so that people can make that instant connection.

“Oh, yes. Yes, I can see now that everything that she's told me about herself, or himself, it all aligns. And I can see that that person is a professional, they're credible, they’re competent, they're likable, they're very much like me, and it's a really pleasant experience.”

And that's what's going to help you build that trust, and get to the next step of the whole relationship process much more easily and quickly than if there's a block or a stop in the road somewhere because there's misalignment. So, what I thought I'd do is just take you through just a little exercise that I take my clients through very early on, because it is all about perception, it is all about image management, it's all about crafting that message, crafting that reputation, and understanding how other people actually perceive you.

So, I'm just going to share my screen here for a second. So, I'm going through this particular presentation. This is, as I said, what I take my clients through very, very early on, because unless I understand this, it's very hard for me to actually help them create that image that they want to enable them to get to the next step.

So, first thing we look at work, how you would like other people to see you. So, you've decided that you're going to go down a particular path. You might be applying for board role, you might be -- whatever it is that you're doing. So, have you actually thought about how you want other people to perceive you, how you want other people to see you?

I find this quite challenging for people to actually just stop and say, “I never really thought about that before.” So, do you want people to see you as being confident? Do you want them to see you as professional? Do you want them to see you as being more useful, more elegant, more knowledgeable? Because when we dress in a certain way, we actually communicate a certain message.

So, we can use these words in a way that, “Okay, well, that's how we want other people to see us.” And then I relate it back to what are the sorts of things they've got in their wardrobe, and what are the sorts of colors that they're wearing? And because clothes and color have so many different psychological meanings, it's really important that we can drill down to this and get clear and have clarity on whether we're in that zone or whether we have to actually then start working on that significantly.

The next sheet I can --

0:39:54.4

Amanda: I can see some really interesting words on there, Julie, sexy, I'm wondering, in a professional setting that doesn't normally have a place, are some of these words -- are we looking -- say, someone did give you that -- why don't we do that? Is that something you want to fix? Or is that --

0:40:21.9

Julie: Absolutely. Well, that will definitely raise a red flag for me to say, “Well, why do you want other people to see you like that?” Now, at home and socially, that might be highly appropriate. And sadly, I did work with one woman, one stage, the sole purpose for her actually doing this with me was so that her husband would actually recognize her and take notice of her.

0:40:45.8

Amanda: Okay, so people are --

0:40:47.0

Julie: Which was really sad. So, people have different purposes as to why they work with me. If we look at this in a professional setting, and in the whole essence of why we're doing this webinar, then yes, we're going to be looking at the thought of words that leave out that are going to be relevant for this particular topic that we're talking about. So, at home and socially, how do you want other people to perceive you? Do you want -- again, look at the words, just circles, and this is one of those exercises that you do without really spending a lot of thought. It's just where you're at in the moment.

And then the third one is, at this time, how do you think people perceive you? And this is the one that actually makes you stop and think, because I've never really thought about it. And I have a client I'm working with at the moment who did these exercises and handed this particular part of it out to about six different people. Some she worked with, some she didn't.

And it was really interesting for her the sort of words that people were actually circling because she had no idea that people thought about her that way. So, what we're doing with that now is, is looking at those and saying, “Is this something that we need to address? Is this something that we need to fix? And why are you putting across this particular impression? Why do people perceive you this way? What's happening? What's happened in the past that maybe is impacting how you feel and the message that you're communicating to other people?”

So, this is a really interesting exercise, I said, to just really come to terms with where you're at now, where you've come from, where you're at now, and in the direction of where we're going, how can we then use this information and apply that to the visual side of your image? And how you're coming across to other people?

Because what I do with all of this, Amanda, now is we will google images and I’ll ask the client to say, “Okay, well, google images for me of what a motivated woman looks like,” google images of what - what's the word here - a friendly woman looks like, of a successful woman.”

And let's have a look at what's in your wardrobe and have you got the type of clothes, the styles, the colors, that actually would help communicate that type of message to the people that you're surrounding yourself with?

And if it doesn't, then we’ve got some serious to do.

0:43:23.0

Amanda: This would be great. I know there's some people on this webinar who, in actual fact, don't want to reinvent themselves entirely, they want to rebrand, and just to reinvent, reinvigorate their brand, so this would be also really good for people who want to reinvigorate their brand.

0:43:37.4

Julie: That's right. But where the problem lies often with this - so we'll just stop sharing for now - is that, often, women don't know, “How do I do that? What am I supposed to be looking for in terms of style of dress? And what are the right colors that I should be wearing?” Because as I said, colors have an enormous psychological meaning. So, that's where it becomes extremely valuable to them, to not only be working on their message, and their voice, and their language, and everything that they do with you, but to also be thinking of the other side of the equation, which is the visual, because not only does it have an impact on how other people perceive you, but it also has a really big impact on how you feel about yourself. Because people will behave in certain ways based on how you present. And it also affects your behavior as well.

Yeah. So, I have also an image here, which a lot of people will relate to. Let me just show you. When we're talking about perception and we're talking about Image, and image is all about projecting fabulous styles, substance, and success, from where I sit anyway. And everyone will be able to recognize this woman, Julia Gillard, who was our first female Prime Minister. And if you look at the image on the left-hand side, you'll see very early in her career, she was very demure. She was almost retreating into the background. And I know Amanda's going to talk about the top of the head, and just that very coy look that she's projecting there. But also look at the colors that she's wearing.

They're very into scripts, they're not really saying anything about her, she could almost be disappearing into the background. And maybe that's where she was that in her career.

But then you look at the center photo, and you can see -- here, we see a very confident, competent, professional woman, much stronger hair color, really polished in her appearance, nice contrast of color. And this is the day she actually met with the Governor General when they announced her Prime Ministership.

And then the last photo is when she -- here, she appeared suddenly wearing glasses. Now, I know we've discussed on previous webinars, Amanda, the power of accessories, and particularly I weigh in elevating you to a different level of intelligence, and competence, and professionalism. And it's like for a woman when she puts on a jacket, she instantly takes herself up to the next level when she puts on a jacket. That’s like their armor, it's her power-garment that she can put on, which when she takes it off, she actually diminishes her level of professionalism and credibility.

So, there's certain things we as women can do, which can instantly make ourselves a lot more relatable, a lot more professional, position to be seen, heard, and taken seriously as well.

0:46:52.8

Amanda: Yes, it is interesting. So, on that note, I'm going to put on some glasses so that you think I'm more intelligent. It’s funny, I have a love-hate relationship with glasses. And there we go. I resist wearing them. I'm resist, resist, resist the little ready readers. But it's really interesting. We do make judgments. And people with glasses, we think they're more smart, that we think they're studious. So why am I resisting? I have no idea where that comes from.

But the coy head tilt you mentioned before, the coy head tilt or the head tilt on the angle, which is something that women often do, and you'll see it in photos, and it does make us look youthful. So, if you are trying to look more mature, and trying to increase your gravitas, then ditch the coy head tilt. So, as soon as we tilt our head, it connotes that we're listening. So, if you're on a Zoom meeting and trying to give the impression that you're listening to someone, totally hit on the side a little bit if that works for you.

But the coy head tilt and in a photo actually diminishes your power. And if you've done any work with a photographer who's well-versed in the language of female power, the coy head tilt, they'll be saying, “Please don't tilt your head, no, we're not going to use that one, you're not allowed to use that one,” they'll only give you photos with your head more vertical.

Though certainly, when you've got other -- if you've been able to balance that out with something else in your posture to give you that powerful, more powerful look. Yeah, so I liked your reference to the jacket, too, because we know that the line of the jacket gives us a bit of gravitas.

0:48:35.1

Julie: Look, certainly. When we talk style of clothes, I assess people based on height, weight, shape, proportion, but also a lot of other things come into effect, face shape, line and design, whether you wear something that's quite dramatic in its design, or whether you can wear things that are a little bit more rounded. So, it's all about you, and how you present, and how you wear style, and how you apply all the principles of line, and design, and color, and everything else.

And as to how we can project what it is that you want to project to the world. So, I've got a little micro bit here, which I thought I'd also share with people, which this lady has kindly agreed to let me show, because it was quite a significant transformation this one.

Bernadette, actually, is in the sales leadership area. And she's doing a lot of webinars at the moment. She's presented to probably just under a thousand people during this whole pandemic, and she's certainly an expert and leader in her space. But at the time when I started working with her, she had gone through a period of illness and she wasn't feeling her best. And she had been out of the workplace for a while and so it was bringing her up into a moment where she could feel again empowered, she could really feel her confidence, and self-esteem was up to new heights because she's an icon on the international stage when it comes to sales and sales leadership.

So, but just see, the transformation is quite significant in terms of just adjusting things like hair color, grooming, use of makeup, wearing the right colors, getting the right contrast, just really nice accessories. And you can just see that she's a completely different person in how she projects and it's enabled her to be highly successful now since we actually started this a couple of years ago.

0:50:52.8

Amanda: I love that. So, dress for the job you want, not the job you have. And so, we're talking a lot about dressing up. So, if you're someone who's changing sectors though, and maybe the dressing up isn't necessarily the currency of the sector you're going to, so it's actually dress appropriately for the job you want, not the job you have. Rather than --

and I think that's really important, because I know there's some people on this call who aren't changing sectors, and maybe the new sector is going to be childcare, or maybe the new sector is going to be in a kitchen.

We need to dress appropriately for the sector we're going in. So, dress for the job you want, not the job you have.

0:51:31.9

Julie: Well, I always talk about when we’re dressing, we're talking about it being appropriate for you. And that's appropriate for you in terms of how you present you personally, and making the most of your assets as an individual, dressing appropriately for the people that you're meeting. And then also for the outcome that you that you want.

So, we do take very much into account what industry sector you're going into, what is the role, what's the environment like? And dressing for that so that you could come across as being credible, competent, and likeable, so that you’re like them. That's really important. That's where the trust is built.

0:52:16.1

Amanda: Yeah. And it makes it just seem almost a fait accompli, rather than a fight. And that's what you want, you want for people to see you in your new iteration, this new reinvented you, you want for people to see you as being already successful before you even get there. And that's an actual fact. How a reinvention really works very, very well.

Julie, I know, you and I had discussed that you had a letter from a client. And you're going to read that letter out for us to --

0:52:46.5

Julie: Yes. Yeah, what we're talking about right at the start, Amanda, which was often it's not always women who are more mature that come to me, I often get women who are also younger as well, who are unfortunately, they look very useful. I shouldn't say, unfortunately. Fortunately for them, they still hold their youth particularly well. But this young lady was happy for me to talk about the nature of her inquiry.

So, she says while she's not probably a typical client of mine, she's not a senior executive, but she holds a fairly senior position. But most of her professional peers are in their 40s to 50s. And this is where it starts to get challenging for her. She has to inspire comfort, confidence, capability, and trust with all manner of professional people. And she definitely knows that first impressions count.

But she's only five-foot tall, and she has a significant youthfulness about her. Which sometimes, whilst it's nice that she has to get asked for her ID when she goes to buy a bottle of wine, it's disheartening in large corporations or meetings when she's usually the youngest, and probably mistaken for admin person. Or she seemed to be the new inexperienced person in the team because she looks so young.

So, she struggled consistently to look consistently mature, polished, capable, but not overdressed. So, this is something that can be a real problem for women because it can consistently sabotage their efforts to win a pitch when they're presenting in a boardroom, it can sabotage their efforts to be noticed if they're going for significant interviews for new roles.

I mean, we see it a lot, don't we, Amanda? And so it's about how can you move from this stage to this stage without necessarily making huge changes to wardrobe because -- but just making those subtle differences, or maybe adding a few things, or changing the way you style your hair, changing the way you wear your makeup, and just giving you a different sort of assignor, you know, and you'll have a different presence when you move into the room.

0:55:22.2

Amanda: Yeah. And I guess the things that if she was a client of mine, I'd also be looking at language choices, voice, tone of voice, upward end or downward inflection, pace of delivery.

So, I'd be looking at a lot of that executive presence, but from a voice language, from that space. Especially in this new remote world where so much of what we do, it's visual, which Julie looks at, and the voice and etc., the language and the written communication as well, so I'd be looking at from that perspective.

Also, from the perspective of being proactive rather than reactive. And that's definitely my remit so that their approach to hitting things off at the past, and addressing the elephant in the room, dealing with any misassumptions, so that those things don't come to a head and don't get in your way. So, if you would be working with me, those are the things I'd really be focusing on.

All right. So, Julie, have we come to the end of our webinar?

0:56:31.5

Julie: I think so, Amanda. I think we've covered off some really great things here. I mean, there's so much to both what you and I do, and every client is different. So, every client comes to us with a different case study, so to speak, and we'll tackle it each individually, don't we?

0:56:51.0

Amanda: That's right. Some of our clients work with both of us. So, that's the beauty of our work together, that some of our clients choose to do dovetail the two together.

All right. So, thanks, everyone, for listening. This was the re-recording of our Reinvent Webinar. Julie and I, we love the topic so much. So, while we did a little bit about having to re-record it, it is a topic we really enjoy. And we wanted to make sure that this was a really good resource for our clients. And I know Julie sends out to a to her clients and I send this out to my clients and anyone who signed up to the to the webinar.

So, thanks, everyone. Wonderful to have you online. My mission is to help women lead and succeed with big ideas, big vision, and bucketloads of confidence.