Unleashing and Channeling Your Power To Succeed

Achieve true success in your personal and professional life!

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 04:46:00 +0000

Do you want to be in the drivers seat instead of the economic downturn driving you? Then join nationally-recognized coaches Beth Kennedy and Marshall Brown on December 1st and they will show you how to prepare for success in any economic environment!

In just 60 minutes they will show you how to:

** Feel more motivated and energized
** Know how to formulate your action plan for getting unstuck
** Have the tools you need to move forward in your personal and professional life
** Speak to your success, maintain your positive outlook - and not fall victim to negative thoughts and negative talk.

Don't let talk of economic downturn deter you from achieving success. Take that step by clicking here!

Some Interesting Facts During This Economic Climate

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:07:00 +0000

FACT: Everyone is stressed under the pressures of this economic downturn. Unemployment rates are rising, layoffs are rampant and businesses are failing.

FACT: The current economic climate calls for a robust career management plan.

FACT: Career Coaching is a powerful tool to help you reach your career goals, whether you wish to change your career, grow in your present career or find a new career.

The Economic Downturn Can Be An Opportunity To Make A Radical Career Change.

Read more about this here:

http://www.mbrownassociates.com/get-clarity-career-coaching.html

Prepare for success in any economic environment!

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:30:00 +0000

"Take Charge Of Your Life! Powerful Tips AndTechniques That Put You
In The Driver's Seat Of YourLife” Audio Conference
with Marshall Brown and Beth Kennedy
Monday December 1, 2008 at 7:30pm Eastern

Prepare for success in any economic environment!

Let nationally-recognized coaches Beth Kennedy and Marshall Brown show you how to overcome the barriers that are preventing you from achieving true success in your personal and professional life during these economic times and beyond.

In just 60 minutes, you'll learn:

** How to market yourself, know what your skills are and how to go about developing a job search strategy during challenging economic times

** How to create a vision of your own success in any economic environment so that you can set goals that lead to greater happiness and more energy

** How you can dramatically increase the chances for your success by taking the ideas and insights from this audio conference and using them to formulate your own unique personal action plan

And so much more!

Don't let talk of economic downturn deter you from achieving success!

Join coaches Beth Kennedy and Marshall Brown on Monday December 1, 2008. They will work with you to focus on specific solutions to particular issues, challenges and opportunities.

Seats are limited, register now!

Are You Ready To Take Charge Of Your Life?

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 18:24:00 +0000

Let nationally-recognized coaches Beth Kennedy and Marshall Brown show you how to overcome the barriers that are preventing you from achieving true success in your personal and professional life. In just 60 minutes, you'll:

** Feel more motivated and energized
** Know how to formulate your action plan for getting unstuck
** Have the tools you need to move forward in your personal and professional life

Tired of the rut your in? Ready to spark success?

Read how at: http://www.mbrownassociates.com/teleseminars.html

Develop a Winning Job Search Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:20:00 +0000

Time Is Running Out!

Sign-Up Now To Learn Powerfuland Wide-Ranging Job Search Techniques!

Join Certified Executive and Career Coach, Reach Brand Strategist and Author Marshall Brown on his audio conference "Landing Your Next Job – How To Develop A Winning Job Search Plan And Follow It Through To Success" being held on Thursday October 23rd at 7:30pm Eastern.

In only 60 minutes he will unlock the secrets to:

** Developing an exciting, action-oriented plan for your job search

** Using the full menu of job search techniques – going way beyond just resumes

** Identifying and take advantage of hidden and/or unacknowledged resources that you can use to boost your search

** And so much more...

You can learn all of this from the comfort of your own home!

Join Certified Executive and Career Coach, Reach Brand Strategist and Author Marshall Brown on his audio conference "Landing Your Next Job – How To Develop A Winning Job Search Plan And Follow It Through To Success" being held on Thursday October 23rd at 7:30pm Eastern.

Read more about this fantastic audio conference here:http://www.mbrownassociates.com/teleseminars.html#Job

What To Do with Uncertainity in the WorkForce

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:05:00 +0000

Today’s work world is full of uncertainty. Every day we hear about another corporation or organization going out of business, downsizing, rightsizing and on and on. In order to prepare ourselves for these uncertain times, we must take charge of our own career.

Get Ready to Land Your Next Job - How? Learn How To Develop A Winning Job Search Plan And Follow It Through To Success.

Nationally-recognized author and career coach Marshall Brown will show you how to become the master of your own fate with powerful and wide-ranging job search techniques at his Audio Conference to be held on Thursday October 23, 2008 at 7:30pm Eastern.

Read more about this great event here:
http://www.mbrownassociates.com/teleseminars.html#Job

Are you ready to charge ahead with your next job search?

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:52:00 +0000

No question that in today's job market you must have a job search plan. We invite you to join author and certified career coach Marshall Brown on Thursday October 23, 2008 and he will show you how to become the master of your own fate with powerful and wide-ranging job search techniques at his audio conference:

"Landing Your Next Job – How To Develop A Winning Job Search Plan
And Follow It Through To Success"

Learn how to advance your career by developing and implementing a power-packed job search strategy.

In just 60 minutes, you'll learn how to:

** Develop an exciting, action-oriented plan for your job search

** Use the full menu of job search techniques – going way beyond just resumes

** Identify and take advantage of hidden and/or unacknowledged resources that you can use to boost your search

And so much more!

Click here to read more about this great event.

Leadership As a Way of Life

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:57:00 +0000

“In a world that is changing as rapidly as this one, we need to think differently about leadership,” says Susan Collins, author of Our Children Are Watching: Ten Skills for Leading the Next Generation to Success. “Leading is not done by those few in high places, but by parents and teachers and managers and those governing — all working together to create the world that we want.”

When we dare to stand up for our beliefs or follow through on our big dreams and ideas, when we act as though what we say and do in the world matters — matters greatly — we are leading. In other words, leadership is a way of life, an expression of our fullest and best nature, our unique gifts. And it starts on the inside.

“Everything rises and falls on leadership,” writes John C. Maxwell in his book The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. “If you can become the leader you ought to be on the inside, you will be able to become the leader you want to be on the outside. People will want to follow you. And when that happens, you’ll be able to tackle anything in this world.”

Click here to read more of this article.

Executive Coaching Is Critical To Organizations Today

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:49:00 +0000

86 percent of companies say they used coaching to sharpen the skills of individuals who have been identified as future organizational leaders. They also understand the value of an investment in executive coaching.

IBM has more than sixty certified coaches among its ranks. At the executive level, development feedback becomes increasingly important, more infrequent, and more unreliable. Many executives plateau in critical interpersonal and leadership skills.

An Executive Coach it’s my life’s work to help show you how to “shine” within your industry and STOP being a rat on a wheel that’s not getting you where YOU want to go. Allow me to personally help you get there! Isn't it time you invested in YOU! Click here to find out how.

Take Charge of Your Career

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 21:35:00 +0000

The workplace has changed. Organizational life has changed and the rules of career success have changed along with them. AND the good news is…You are in charge!

Whether you are in job search now or thinking about making a change, you must prepare yourself for the new world of work. You must learn how to market yourself, know what your skills are and how to go about developing a job search strategy. Don’t wait until you are no longer in charge!

Marshall provides a wide range of presentation topics. Click here to read more.

The Business Results of Coaching

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:28:00 +0000

Without a doubt, coaching is the hottest approach to enhancing the performance of the people in an enterprise—whether it’s teams of coaches working with managers in an association, Fortune 500 company, transition coaching for new C-level executive hires, or coaches working with the owners of small businesses or sole proprietorships. It is clear from the increasing acceptance and investment in coaching, among the broad spectrum of business in many countries, that we believe coaching works.

But how well does it work? And how hard is it to measure?

In recent years, there have been a couple of detailed, well-documented studies that put the ROI of major coaching engagements within Fortune 500 companies between 600% and 700%, depending upon how improved retention was calculated.

But studies of this precision—funded by the corporate clients—are generally too costly to be meaningful as a sustained way of assessing the business benefits of coaching even at the level of large corporations.

Moreover, the issue of the benefits of coaching is, if anything, even more relevant to small business. For many firms considering hiring a coach, the notion of funding a major study to assess the results is laughable, yet it is critical that they be able to associate the benefits they are deriving from their investment in coaching.

To a certain extent, the challenge of measuring the benefits of coaching depends upon why the coach has been engaged in the first place. In some cases, the goal of a coaching engagement can be fairly easy to quantify—improving meeting management skills, for example. You can measure how many meetings start on time, how many end on time and survey meeting attendees for their evaluation of the effectiveness of the meeting. With a little imagination, such measures could be converted to hard dollar savings or productivity increases and an actual ROI developed.

Often, however, the connection between the behavior and the result isn’t so clear.

“One of the biggest challenges in measuring coaching is that tangible, behavioral change is usually linked to intangible mindsets and beliefs,” explains researcher Terry Bacon, of Lore International Institute. “Effective measurement strategies require that we make those intangibles measurable.”

Read more of the article here:

http://www.mbrownassociates.com/businessresults.html

360°Reach Branding Assessment Special

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:35:00 +0000

What Do People Think About YOU?

An executive brand is becoming a required business value. Your brand combines personal and business qualities. In today's marketplace senior professionals are beginning to take very seriously the concept of themselves as a brand.

Executives need to understand how they are perceived internally and externally. As well, it is important to constantly review their current brand and modify it.

The most successful leaders use what makes them unique, their brands, to help them succeed. Coaches work with executive clients on brand building activities to enable them to expand their personal fulfillment and professional accomplishments

What is 360°Reach?

360°Reach is the first and leading web-based personal brand assessment that helps you get the real story about how you are viewed by those around you. It gives you the critical feedback you need so you can expand your career or business success. It's an integral part of the personal branding process and an indispensable tool for thriving in today's professional environment.

Read more here: http://www.mbrownassociates.com/reachbrandspecial.html

How Can a Coach Help Your Career?

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 18:09:00 +0000

Coaching has quickly become one of the leading resources people use to transform their lives from disappointing or merely successful to extraordinary.

From senior executives to up-and-comers, people who hire coaches are learning how to set better goals for themselves, increase self-awareness, improve performance, and develop strategies that improve their overall quality of life.

The relationship between coach and client is based on the premise that nothing is broken or wrong or needs to be fixed - coaches are not therapists. Coaches do help clients discover what is most important in their lives, but they do so primarily by looking at the present and the future, rather than by placing a heavy emphasis on the past. From this discovery, coaches assist in developing action plans to help clients create a better future for themselves. However, while a coach may be able to show the client a window, it's up to the client to look through it. Coaches will try to hold clients accountable, but in the end clients are accountable only to themselves. If a client is willing to work hard and think critically, then a coach can help bring clarity.

Read more here:
http://www.mbrownassociates.com/coachforyourcareer.html

A Move Within Present Organization

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:40:00 +0000

When making a move within your organization, it is usually one of two basic options: a) A move that is a step up (a promotion) or b) A move that is across the career ladder and/or the organizational structure (a lateral move). Since people are quite familiar with the concept of moving up or advancing your career and what a promotion implies, no further explanation is needed.

However, not everyone may fully understand what is and why someone wants to make a lateral move. A lateral move involves transferring to a different but equal to the one you presently have. This is a professional shift to consider when you want to remain with your present employer, but want to further develop as a professional and therefore, interested in expanding your skills and experience base. For example, Bill a HR Specialist with some responsibility for writing training materials, develops a growing interest in writing and editing. This results in his request for a lateral move to the In House Publications Department since one future possibility is working for an organization specializing in HR publications.

Read more excerpts from High Level Resumes! written by Marshall Brown and Annabelle Reitman here:

http://www.mbrownassociates.com/book-excerpts.html

Do You Want To Find Out More About You?

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:10:00 +0000

Have you taken the MAPP (Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential) assessment? MAPP is a personal assessment that pinpoints your strengths and matches them to 900 online job descriptions. If you haven't taken this assessment click here to learn more.

Branding You

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:21:00 +0000

In a previous post I spoke about Branding You. Which means knowing what you have to offer, what makes you different, what is the uniqueness of YOU?

Today I'd like to talk specifically about your skills when it comes to Branding You.

There are various types of assessments you can take, some available online, such as checklists, card sorts and experience stories. If you need help preparing your list, hiring a career coach can help you in this process.

You need to include the "soft" skills (for example communication skills) as well as the "hard" skills (for example technical skills) when putting your list together. These can be just as important when marketing you.

Read more about BrandYou here:

http://www.mbrownassociates.com/personalbrand.html

Marshall Brown is a Reach Certified Personal Branding Strategist.

Creating A Powerful Resume

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Sat, 03 May 2008 22:26:00 +0000

Are you marketing your skills and accomplishments effectively? Would you hire yourself? In today’s highly competitive job market, your resume needs to be powerful and stand out from the competition. It needs to attract the attention of hiring authorities, showcase your relevant work background and demonstrate that you have the right qualifications for the job.

Read more about our new resume services and the three packages we offer here:

http://www.mbrownassociates.com/resume-services.html

Are you happy with your resume but not sure about posting your resume? Read how to do that here:

http://www.mbrownassociates.com/howtoemail.html

The Importance of Networking

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:41:00 +0000

Networking is very important both online and offline.

Marshall was recently interviewed by the Speaking Channel on this topic. Click here to view the video.

Read Marshall's article on networking here:
http://www.mbrownassociates.com/tunningintonetwork.html

What is your unique vision of yourself?

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 19:03:00 +0000

Each of us has goals in life. As a personal coach, I have been fortunate to help execs develop those goals into personal visions, unique for each individual.

Vision to me is when you create a future picture of yourself living a life filled with passion and accomplishment. Where do you see yourself going in the next year? What do you want to be doing, both personally and professionally?

When I say "vision," I'm not talking about New Year's resolutions. Where do you see yourself in December 2008? For some people, the goal is to develop a stronger personal relationship with someone. Perhaps you see yourself as more self-confident or self-assured. You might see your work as a calling, so it figures heavily in your personal vision. Your vision must align with what is really important to you because vision is what drives action! Every successful business and individual starts with a vision.

Read more here:
http://mbrownassociates.com/uniquevision.html

Top 10 Steps to Achieve SMART Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:29:00 +0000

This is the time of year that a lot of people take time to reflect on a change they want (or need) to make. Some people call them resolutions…they are going to resolve to follow thru on the change(s). For me (and I must say a lot of my clients) that’s A LOT of pressure. I much rather would look at them as goals. Goals I want to achieve during the next year, not necessarily “resolve” them.

Making a SMART goal—Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound—is just the first step in making your goal a reality. It’s what you do after that can make or break your objective. Below are 10 essential steps to achieving your SMART goals.

1. Make sure your goal passes the SMART test. To the letter.

2. Align your goals with your values. Without values alignment, you are likely to struggle —if not fail—to implement them.

3. Share your goals with three to five key people to become more accountable. Don’t sabotage yourself: choose people who are supportive and positive.

4. Identify the resources you need to make your goal happen. For example, if your goal is to develop a website for your business, you’ll need to find a designer.

5. Identify ways to save time. Take only the short-cuts that can accelerate your progress and support your goal.

6. Detect potential obstacles. From poor work habits to limiting self-beliefs to too much on your plate—take action to clear these hurdles.

7. Pinpoint at least one daily action. The little things you do everyday are what propel you towards your goal.

8. Establish a support structure. Who or what can provide you with encouragement, advice, healthy feedback or a willing ear?

9. Identify rewards. A soak in the hot springs, a new outfit, dinner out. Little rewards along the way make achieving your goal more fun.

10. Identify an action you will take right now, after you finish this article. Do it.

Whether you personally call them goals (or resolutions), I wish you much success in achieving them. And if you have additional insights or ways you have successfully achieved your goals, let me know. I will be glad to share those with our readers.

Remarkably BOOST Communication And Drastically IMPROVE Team Building!

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 03:15:00 +0000

The MBTI® provides a valuable tool for managers and individuals to handle communication issues and to synergistically build better teams.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which was designed to implement the theories of C. G. Jung, is an easy-to-use questionnaire for identifying our natural preferences and strengths. The objectives of this workshop are to:

• Identify their own work or managerial preferences and how these preferences are similar and different from others on their team.

• Examine how these personality similarities and differences facilitate and block productivity.

• Develop and sharpen interpersonal skills that will heighten personal job effectiveness.

• Understand the basic differences between people, allowing them to work together while remaining comfortable with themselves.

MBTI® is a tool that provides a positive and constructive way of understanding and valuing differences between people.

Read more here: http://www.mbrownassociates.com/leadership-more.html

Marshall is a Certified Provider of the MBTI® Instrument.

Career Self-Assessment Quiz

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:25:00 +0000

How well do you know your career values, passions and goals?

I am happy to offer you a free career self-assessment quiz. This career self-assessment quiz is designed to give you a sense of how well you know your career values, passions and goals, as well as the steps necessary to get you to that place of career fulfillment.

http://www.mbrownassociates.com/assessment-register.html

Take it today!

Could you benefit from partnering with a Virtual Assistant?

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:04:00 +0000

Consider this:

1. Are you running your business or is your business running you?

2. Is running your business more work than you thought it would be?

3. What is one hour of your time worth?

If you’ve been thinking about working with a Virtual Assistant, congratulations! That means you have identified areas of your business that you need help with…and you’ve finally admitted that you can’t do it all by yourself any more. You could easily hand these duties over to your Virtual Assistant (or VA) to manage for you.

If you're wasting time on administrative tasks, you're probably not growing your business (and let’s face it, it’s not the work you want to do anyway). If you're not growing your business, you're not making money.

Some business owners put off hiring a VA until they "hit the wall." Things like overdue bills, missed appointments, late projects, and unreturned phone calls add up until the business (and possibly the owner) nearly collapses. Working with a VA allows you to focus on the things that require your attention and expertise – and generate revenue. (Let’s not forget the reason you started your business in the first place.) A VA handles the things that will keep your business running smoothly, such as client relationship management, maintaining your calendar, sending out client welcome packets, and managing your email. Some VAs also have experience in marketing, web design/maintenance, and e-commerce.

Most people who are considering working with a VA wonder if they can afford it. Referring to question #3 above, what is one hour of your time worth? For example, if you charge $100/hour for your services, and pay a VA $50/hour for hers (or his), you are realizing a profit of $50/hour. Why spend your valuable time doing administrative work when you can pay a professional VA to handle it for you?

Let’s take this one step further. Say you are spending 20 hours a month on the administrative part of your business (that’s less than one hour a day). If you pay a VA $1,000/month to do that work (20 hrs x $50/hour), you will have 20 more billable hours per month ($2,000 in additional revenue) and will therefore enjoy a net profit of $1,000 per month, or $12,000 per year. Ask yourself this: Can you afford not to work with a Virtual Assistant?

Kim Murray is the owner of Harmony Virtual Assistance, LLC (www.HarmonyVA.com). She is also Marshall Brown’s Virtual Assistant. If you would like to learn more about virtual assistance, please visit Kim’s website or check out the client information available at www.AssistU.com.

Job search via the Internet

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:46:00 +0000

The Internet, if properly and wisely used, can be a very effective and efficient way to market your story, i.e. your resume. Your resume can be distributed in a matter of minutes, if not seconds, to an unlimited number of recruiters and employers. And therein lies a problem. With a traditional print resume, you can control its distribution and can customize qualifications according to what you believe are the needs of a specific organization.

To conduct an online targeted mar-keting campaign, you need to have some selectivity over who reads your resume and a way to reach those you want.

Also, use some caution when conducting online job searches, since it is possible for a supervisor or colleague to come across your resume. You do not want this to happen, particularly if your current employer is not aware you are seeking a new position.

You are likely familiar with basic Internet research tools, such as Google or Yahoo. You also can take advantage of search engines as information resources to help focus and narrow your marketing arenas. Think about your job search needs and use web sites to:

* Identify organizations where you have some interest in working;
* Research organizations that have job openings for which you intend to apply;
* Review job listings on an organization¹s web site;
* Locate on-line job databases specializing in your field or industry;
* Become informed about salary range norms and other benefits;
* Learn of local networking events and headhunters¹ offices;
* Investigate cost of living and other needed community information, if considering relocation.

Read more here: http://www.mbrownassociates.com/postingyourselfonline.html

MARKETING BRAND YOU…Creating Your Own Identity

noreply@blogger.com (Marshall Brown) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:42:00 +0000

Whether you are thinking about making a career change orsatisfied in your current position but still don’t know what yourskills are, it’s time to discover your abilities and strengths andwhat makes you marketable.

The world of work has changed. In the past, as long as youdid your job and met expectations, you were paid. According toWilliam Bridges, author of “Creating You and Co” and“Jobshift,” “Jobs were slots, boxes and pigeonholes. Jobsdemanded performance in a script that was already written.”

Those days are over. Today, whether you are working in a“for profit” or “not for profit,” employers pay for results andwhat you can produce for them. And those who are succeedingare the ones who know what they have to offer and what theyare capable of doing better than some of their competition. It’salso about taking charge of your own career and knowing yourmarketable and transferable skills.

You might be asking…So what does this have to do withMarketing Brand You?

A LOT! Any marketing professional will tell you that oneof the first things you have to know about a product before youput a marketing plan together is to know the benefits…Whatmakes this product different? Why should I buy it? How will itbenefit me (and maybe my team)? Translating this to your joband/or career means knowing what YOU have to offer, whatmakes YOU different and why Mr. or Ms. HR person shouldhire YOU?

Read more here: http://www.mbrownassociates.com/pdf/MarshallBrownarticle.pdf