Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand

Arruda and Dixson's book, Career Distinction, is a comprehensive look at the personal branding process, from uncovering your unique promise of value, to expressing your brand in all of your communications and social media, to managing your "brand environment" in all that you do.According to the authors, uncovering your unique promise value involves an extensive self-exploration process, drawing upon your own insights, as well as those of others. It starts with the identification and articulation of your unique vision and purpose, goals, values, and passions. From there, the authors provide a 15-day password for you to use a 360-degree feedback assessment, the 360◦Reach (available at [...] to obtain honest feedback about your brand attributes and strengths.Then, it is important to define your "brand community," or your target audience. This community includes those who are most critical to your ability to advance in your career: Those who work for you, your peers, your boss, your customers and business partners, your friends and family, and your competitors.Arruda and Dixson guide you in the development of a personal branding statement and brand profile, and in the use of these in the development of your career marketing tools, other essential marketing communications, and your online identity. Finally, they provide valuable insights and ideas for managing your brand environment by being "on-brand" in all that you do - from your personal appearance to your office and business tools, your brand identity system, and your personal network.Career Distinction is an indispensable tool for anyone seeking to advance in their career, build credibility and visibility, and succeed in today's competitive and ever-changing employment marketplace.

Career Distinction, released on my birthday (a great birthday present!), is truly THE guide to building your personal brand for professional success.The book starts off by addressing the new world of work. This is essential as people need to understand there are a different set of rules to play by today. Boundaries between life and work are blurring, people are changing jobs every 3 to 5 years, and employers are no longer necessarily concerned with grooming all employees for lifetime employment. You've got to take control and run your career like you would run business. Authors William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson are spot on with how they start the book - "Change is the only constant."The book also introduces four key principles which one must embrace to get into the right mindset to succeed in the new world of work:1) Stand Out - Stand for Something2) Be Your Own Boss3) Forget the Ladder - It's a Ramp4) Think like a BrandIt then proceeds to lay out a very actionable three step process for building your personal brand. A downloadable workbook comes with the book so you have additional support as you move through this process.Two key elements that also really stand out for me with this book are the focus on online identity and developing your professional network. Both are areas that I find, being a certified personal branding strategist and helping expatriates build their personal brand to support their professional or business success, many people don't take into consideration when developing a strategic professional development plan.This is a must buy for any career professional looking to leverage their strengths and unique promise of value to succeed into today's new world of work.

This book is a fantastic resource and not only helps the person on the career search but any person seeking definition for their professional brand and to understand their leadership impact (how they are currently understood or impact others). I use this book and assessment for career search, leadership development (simple 360 assessment) and marketing brand.Leaders and career seekers have all found it useful to better understand their strengths and weaknesses, their impact and their stand out characteristics.  The book is a wonderful workbook of sorts to dig in deeper and can be used simply as a reference tool if needed. The key is starting with the assessment. It is a 360 type and works best when you have 30-50 people take it. The more people who weigh in the more your key attributes rise to the top.Coaching is a great way to analyze and understand your results and the so what factor.  The company offers a free 15 day to get feedback and results. Excellent tool for leaders and career seekers.   Take yourself, your leadership and your company to the next level by understanding your impact and distinction today! Have fun!

This book begins a little slow in order to get readers up to speed on the concepts of career branding. The good news is that the book when coupled with serious thought and the online workbook- creates a strong set of tools for creating a personal brand. By using this book and tools such as Twitter, Blogs, Facebook and Linked In- a person can make strong headway in the realm of personal branding.For no other reason than to sit down and focus on the Vision a person has with their career, this book is wonderful. I strongly recommend this to people who are focusing on making an impact in their career. The information is timely, but the Internet data is a bit dated. I would recommend using integration points with Twitter as a focus to begin creating an online identity.This book has changed my outlook on my career and proven that you must drive your career and not sit back to enjoy the job you are in. Moving forward will only happen when you push and develop your own brand.

A Good Read

It is a Christmas gift for my son, I'll be giving it to him the Christmas gift on Dec. 25

Great condition overall.

Considerando la possibilità di cambiare lavoro o, semplicemente volendo dare una maggiore enfasi a quello che già si sta svolgendo, questo libro - insieme al workbook disponibile gratuitamente [...]- aiuta a pensare a se stessi come se si fosse un "brand" - un marchio - e a come affrontare in modo più efficace la propria carriera professionale.In un mondo in cui si identificano tramite Google "i talenti", tutti hanno bisogno di pensare alla loro brand identity ossia, a come siamo percepiti in rete.Questo libro permette di creare o migliorare la propria brand identity, insegnando come:- creare il proprio brand;- costruire la propria identità on-line;- creare la propria storia;- identificare i propri obiettivi di carriera.Una lettura per tutti coloro che cercano un nuovo lavoro o desiderano migliorare il modo in cui il loro attuale datore di lavoro li vede.

12 years after being published, I find the book to relay a topical message in a very understandable and practical way