Sital Ruparelia

Within the last 24 hours, we’ve seen the UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown step down from office. After losing last week’s general election, he will be replaced by the first coalition government in the UK for over 30 years.

Just 18 months ago Brown was playing an impressive role in leading global efforts to manage the financial crisis. Yet when it came to the election, he failed to impress the public.

While there were many policy and political factors that led to his downfall, a key part of his defeat and his exit from politics was due to Gordon Brown himself – his style and approach.

Here are 6 career lessons you can learn from Brown’s election campaign and subsequent downfall:

1. You need both style AND substance

Throughout the election campaign, Brown kept reiterating: “if this campaign is about style over substance – then count me out. I’m a man of substance, not a PR or marketing man.” Tough luck Gordon – like it or not, you’re in the marketing business. We all are. Brown, like many people, failed to actively manage his personal brand.

Click here to read the rest…

During last week, I published 7 daily posts to answer 7 common questions I’m asked about using the professional networking site LinkedIn.com

In case you missed any of the posts, below is a quick summary. Just click through to read the post.

1.  The Number One Rule For LinkedIn Users

2.  Increasing The Number of Connections On LinkedIn

3.  How Well Must You Know Someone Before Connecting?

4.  Three Rules For Connecting With People You Don’t Know

5.  How To Get High Quality Recommendations On LinkedIn

6. Tips On What To Write In Your Status Updates

7.  What To Write In Your LinkedIn Profile When Job Searching

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Question: How do you get genuine, personalised recommendations on LinkedIn?

Answer: Here are 4 tips to follow:

1. Make personal requests for a recommendation via phone or face to face before sending the LinkedIn request for recommendation

2. Request results and benefits driven recommendations

3. Ask people to include comments on what they feel makes you different or unique

4. Get into the habit of giving your contacts personalised recommendations (without wanting anything back)

Have you any more tips or suggestions…? Feel free to add them in the comments box below.

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Whilst celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has had his fair share of critics over the years, I’ve always been a big fan. Not necessarily because of his culinary skills, but because of what he stands for.

Jamie has worked tirelessly to give young unemployed people an opportunity to become chefs and transform their lives through his innovative Fifteen restaurants. He’s campaigned to change the way schools and the government feed children to turn around the obesity timebomb.

So I was delighted to see that his work was rewarded last week at the TED talks, where was awarded the 2010 Ted Prize and gave the inspirational talk above about his wish to educate children on food and so eradicate obesity and dietary illnesses.

So how does a celebrity chef win such a prestigious award and be invited to speak in front of such an auspicious audience?

And what lessons can you learn from Jamie?

Click here to read the rest…

1. Play to strengths
2. Do work that you enjoy
3. Work in an environment that suits your style and values
4. Make your work compliment your overall lifestyle
5. Do something of value instead of just chasing the money Click here to read the rest…

If you’re struggling to finalise the web copy for your new or updated website, here are 5 tips which may help:

1. Realise that your website will go through several reincarnations so…

2. Focus on completion, not perfection

3. Give visitors a reason to come back (great content on a blog, an articles page, a newsletter sign up etc)

4. Personalise more, corporatise less

5. Go look at Robert Middelton’s excellent material on writing copy for websites and all sorts of other marketing materials for independent professionals:  http://www.actionplan.com

Last Christmas, I spent two days volunteering at the Crisis homeless shelters in London.

Crisis is a charity that runs centres each Christmas to provide London’s homeless people with food, shelter, entertainment and companionship through the Christmas period. In fact they ran the biggest ever volunteer event in the UK, with 9,000+ volunteers over a 10-day period.

I’d never done anything like this before but, having read about the record numbers of people becoming homeless last year due to the financial crisis, I thought I would volunteer my time on the 23rd and 24th December – after all it was just two days.

I was part of the “Learning and Skills” team of volunteers who helped the homeless ‘clients’ improve specific skills such as literacy, numeracy, language skills, computer skills, artistic skills etc. Given my background, my main focus was to offer advice and help to people about finding work. After all, finding work and earning money has a knock-on effect on being homeless. Helping a homeless person find work could literary change their life.

But in reality, most people that come into the shelters are looking for a warm meal and people to chat to rather than for advice on how to improve their skills. So on Christmas Eve I found myself and a fellow volunteer (Carol), chatting to a homeless 60-year old Irish man over a cup of tea in the canteen of the school that was hosting the shelter.

Click here to read the rest…

From January 2010 I’m reinventing myself and what I do.

The website branding will change, the newsletter will change. I’ll be widening the range of services I provide and the range of clients I work with.

Why?  What?  How?

Below are 9 peices of advice I gave during 2009 and I explain how I’m listening to my own advice to reinvent myself next year – and how you can use the same advice to reinvent yourself and your career in 2010.

1. “If you stand still – you’re in trouble”

Due to the pace of change in modern business, we all need to reinvent ourselves every 2-3 years just to keep up. Given that it’s almost 2 years since I started the 6 Figure Career Management site / newsletter, it’s time for a change to coincide with the significant developments in the market-places I operate in.

How about you?

How’s your market changed over the last 2 years?

What are the likely trends, problems and opportunities in the next 12 months?

How can you adapt to meet this changing landscape?

2. “Don’t define yourself by your job title”

Don’t define yourself rigidly by your job title – but instead look at the results of your talent.

I’m rebranding things under one brand: ‘Sital’ – and one website: SitalRuparelia.com, so that all the work I do will come under there – speaking, coaching, consultancy, career management, resourcing, employee engagement and retention.

When you’re reinventing yourself, start identifying the range of problems you’re adept at fixing and the results you’ve helped deliver, rather than a job title.  Get known for your talents. Then build your brand around ‘you’ – your unique style, values and approach.

That’s how you minimize your exposure to market downturns whilst standing out from the crowd.

3. “Widen your service offering”

We’re all effectively freelancers nowadays – even if we have a permanent contract. And as a freelancer you must constantly widen your service offering to survive and thrive in ever-changing markets.

That’s why this newsletter and my blog will from January provide not only career resources for individuals but ALSO advice for employers and business leaders on how to manage talent within their organisations.

So, as you look to reinvent yourself, look at who else you can help.

What skills do you have that other teams, firms or indeed industries can benefit from?

Better still, ask them and listen…

4.  ”Listen to your audience / clients / the market place”

You’ve been telling me that you want a shorter, punchier newsletter and blog posts. You’ve been asking for advice on dealing with people issues in your teams and businesses – particularly around employee engagement and retention.

You’ve been telling me you wanted something you could read on your Blackberry or iPhone. You’ve been telling me you like the newsletter’s upbeat tone blended with humour.

So the ezine will be much shorter and will focus on both:

A. Career management advice for individuals on how to build exceptional careers in less time and with less stress

B. Talent Management advice for organisations and business – advice on finding, engaging and retaining the right people

We’ll maintain the humour and rebrand the newsletter:  “Straight Talk With A Smile.”

But I’ll still share links to longer articles on my blog so you don’t miss out.

5. “Be agile and flexible”

Between 2003-2007 about 80% of my time was focused on helping firms to find and keep the right people and 20% on helping individuals with their careers. During 2008-2009, 80 percent of my time was spent helping individuals manage their careers and 20 percent helping firms.

I suspect 2010 will be 50:50 between the two areas, reflecting the recovery and improvements in the employment market.

So Iike any other small business I’ve had to adapt to the changing market by being agile and adjusting my branding and marketing activities to meet the changing needs of the market.

The very same applies to you – take a close look at trends and the changing needs of your employers and your market to see where you need to position yourself in 2010.

Then ask yourself how you need to change the way you market yourself in this new landscape.

6. “Keep moving forward – even when it’s uncomfortable”

After much resistance, from January, I’ll be  video blogging. That’s right, me on camera giving advice on career and talent management. I’ll also be doing audio pod casts.

My IT guru Sandra De Freitas, who looks after my website, blog etc has been telling me for months

“Sital, you really need to start a video blog. “Your natural style is to speak rather than write and people will get so much more value.  Plus we’re all watching much more video online than we used to and reading far less – and that trend will continue.”

My response has been…..“yes, I know. But not yet, I’m busy. We’ll start soon….’

I knew it was the right thing to do, but like with anything new, I have found myself procrastinating and putting it off. But am now pushing ahead, despite it feeling awkward and uncomfortable, because I know that the more I do it, the more natural it will become.

And the same applies to you. If you’re planning on reinventing yourself in 2010, remember it will be uncomfortable as you make changes, but that’s not an excuse not to do it. If it’s NOT uncomfortable then you’re not testing yourself much at all.

7. “Forget perfection – just get started”

The new newsletter, the updated website, the colour scheme, the logo, will NOT be what I had in mind or what I really want.  But a lack of time and resources mean that I can’t be a perfectionist – I need to listen to my own advice: just get started and make corrections as we go.

Same with you – you don’t have to get all your ducks in a row and have everything perfectly planned out before starting.

Just take the first step on the way – you’ll find that opportunities, resources and ideas ‘show up’ once you’ve taken that first step.

8. “Be yourself. Be authentic”

‘Re-branding’ and “re-invention” sound like such fancy words – and for some people they sound like ‘spin’ and a little false.

But what I’m talking about is the complete opposite. When you re-invent yourself, you need to be getting closer to your authentic self – the real you.

Anyone who’s worked with me in the last 15 years will tell you that humour and fun play a big part in my work. That’s just me.

All my friends will tell you that if we’re going out to a bar or party, my first question will usually be: “have they got sofas?!” becauase I love hanging out on sofas. Call me an old man, but all my video blogs will (you guessed it) involve me sharing ideas from comfy sofas!

All my clients will tell you I’m passionate, creative and draw lots of pictures to make my points. So the video blog will involve me talking to you from a sofa and drawing pictures so that you get tons more value – and some entertainment too.

Are all these a little quirky and different? Sure they are. But they’re also very authentic. It’s just me being myself rather than trying to be like everyone else.

Being the ‘same as everyone else’ is the worst career strategy you can use. To stand out you need to reinvent yourself – not with spin – but with authenticity.

9. ‘Do some good’

Doing good is no longer deemed ‘fluffy’ but is in fact good for business.

And I firmly believe that our success is measured not by what we acquire – wealth, promotions, job titles etc – but by what we contribute.

It’s your contribution – not your bonus cheque – that you’ll look back on when you retire. It’s your contribution that will give your career and life a sense of meaning and purpose. Your contribution and the value you offer that will determine your legacy.

And so, as part of my contribution, the ezine will include an occasional idea or resource you can use to help you do meaningful work right now instead of ‘some day’ when you’ve got all your ducks in a row.

And that’s the biggest tip on reinvention. Changing yourself and what you do is one of the toughest things you’ll ever do. So make sure the goal involves you becoming a better person and creating a legacy rather than simply making more money or getting a fancy title. There’s nothing wrong with money or titles, but it’s long been proven that money, titles and status don’t give job satisfaction and won’t make you fundamentally happy. Whereas doing something meaningful and making a difference will.

The new shorter, punchier newsletter will be out from early January. As will the www.SitalRuparelia.com website

(the current www.6figurecareermanagement site will redirect to the new site automatically)

The video blogs will be up and running from early January – or even earlier if I push myself through my procrastinating, ignore those uncomfortable feelings and just get them done!

Are you confused about the plethora of social media platforms?

Are you unsure about what you should (or shouldn’t) be doing in the online world of blogs, forums, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook etc..?

Wandering how you can effect your career by the click of a mouse?

Question what you need to know and what you don’t?

Ok, here is everything you need to know in 20 seconds:

Click here to read the rest…

“You’re sitting on a winning lottery ticket -- but you’re too big a pussy to cash it in.”

Apologies for the slightly course language, but this is a direct quote from one of my favourite films – ‘Goodwill Hunting‘ staring Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck and Minnie Driver.

Matt Damon is cast as Will, a janitor working in a university whilst living on his own in a sparse apartment. But he’s also a genius with an amazing gift. He has a brilliant ability for solving highly complex mathematical problems. Complex algebra which he effortlessly solves whilst many of the undergraduates and even the university professor struggle to solve.

Having found out about his gift, the professor tries to mentor him with the help of a psychologist (Robin Williams). And eventually line up a series of interviews for a host of impressive jobs so that Will can utilize his talents.

But regardless of the help and opportunities laid before him, Will throws it back in their face. He’s content to stay where he is within his comfort zone -- same job, same apartment, same friends.

That is until his best friend Chuckie (Ben Affleck) shows him some tough love one day with some straight talking:

“You’re sitting on a winning lottery ticket -- but you’re too big a pussy to cash it in…….I’d do anything to have what you’ve got -- so would any of these guys here…..it would be an insult to us if you’re still here in 20 years (doing the exact same thing).”

What a great friend is he?!!

And how true is that statement of many people…?

As I’ve said before (here and here), we’ve all got genius talent buried within us. We’ve all got our very own lottery tickets waiting to be cashed in. Some people are on a journey to discover what that talent it is, whilst others have already found it. But just like Will in the film, they find themselves holding back from cashing it in.

Whilst it’s much easier to accept the status quo and stay where you are, accepting your talents and, indeed, turning up the volume on those talents is a lot more scarier than it sounds.

But sooner or later there will be a catalyst that forces you to take action and cash it in. Maybe it’s a friend like Chuckie, maybe your personal or professional circumstances change or maybe you watch or read something like this blog post that makes you take action.

Whatever the catalyst is for you, just remember; every successful person in history has accepted their brilliance instead of being embarassed by it. So although your career may at times seem like a lottery, when your numbers do come up and you discover that talent, instead of holding back, cash it in.

To see the 2 minute clip from Goodwill Hunting I’m referring to, see below

(Warning: there’s quite a lot swearing in the clip -- so if you’re sitting near children or easily offended, please do not click the link)