ialsohaveafuckingblog

i’m really struggling to write lately, i’m not sure why but here’s a few things ive learnt while i’ve been avoiding to do it.

• you’ve got to have tact with people. i’ve recently experienced that many people do not have this quality. manners, respect & class are still very much in fashion in my life. i’ve also learnt that my personality is who i am but my attitude is based on how you treat me. okay then. thanks then. fucking bye then.

• living & fucking learning. that’s what i’m busy doing. being in someone else shoes for a day makes you gain massive perspective on yourself. i feel like a part of my soul is brand new & developed so much personally. what a feeling!

• nowadays its about developing a user-friendly & user-interface experience to involve & capture the consumer. what about a user-experience involving your real-time. time is so fucking precious you’ve got to do things now & maximize your free time to live the life you want to. take days off work (its really not going to stop without you), go on many weekends away, ride a horse, go on a boat, fly high in the sky. because that’s what you’ll remember one-day. breathing fresh air & basking in the sun watching the clouds go by is absolute bliss ♥ & perhaps with a beer in your hand.

• we all have a strong history & story behind each & everyone of us. of course we do. however, i’ve learnt that this does not give anyone a free pass to treat people with disrespect because xyz has happened to them in their past.

• throwing yourself into exercise of any kind feels incredible & it’s a perfect distraction. loves.

by Kate Benson

When it comes to personal branding in the digital age, Ellen DeGeneres comes to mind. Recently on her talk show she showed extremely embarrassing photos from several audience members’ Facebook pages. The chosen few were extremely good-natured, and received cameras in exchange for their nationally televised embarrassment. But this idea goes much further than their 15 minutes. If these Facebook photos are accessible to production assistants on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, they are accessible to your boss as well.

The idea of personal branding in the digital age can be convoluted or extremely simple. Some have a difficult time determining the best way to brand themselves on networks, such as LinkedIn, to receive the highest possible responses in terms of search. Or, some may be passive followers, currently inactive, off-line, hidden or with customized privacy settings.

Whether you like it or not, it’s time to get out there because the world is turning digital at an accelerating pace. Jobs are no longer just applied for on company websites, but via networks like LinkedIn and even Twitter.

backspace & delete /

It’s no longer the case that personal branding is solely considered a celebrity endeavor. Your branding ability is fluid, nothing is concrete when keys like ‘Delete’ and ‘Backspace’ are in your life. Personal branding is self-marketing and must be considered a necessary step. A strong personal brand has the ability to turn perceptions. You should make sure that what you put out digitally is representative of not only the job you currently have, but also the one that you hope to have in the future. And, if it’s not, figure out a better way to publicize yourself.

You should own your personal brand—don’t apologize for it, stand strongly behind it. Be a steward and ambassador for your own name. While many may not agree with some of Kate Moss’s choices, no one can discount the fact that she stood behind her brand, and as a result was supported by many industry leaders for acknowledging her mistakes and moving forward, rather than succumbing to the media.

from visibility to thought leadership /

With this visibility comes the necessity to become a thought leader and change agent. If your ideas are published out there, you’ll be able to capitalize on them by using the media to fit your own agenda—enhancing the marketing efforts for whatever brand you’re working on, whether it’s for your company, yourself or for the betterment of both.

Kate Benson is a founding member of Martens & Heads!. She has 15+ years of executive search expertise in retail, fashion and luxury for global iconic brands like LVMH and Prada, to start-ups. Benson’s experience within brands and in executive search gives her a keen understanding of client needs and unsurpassed access to industry talent. She is active in industry associations including: the Fashion Group International, Cosmetic Executive Women, and the Society for Human Resource Management.

by Jeffrey Paul Baumgartner 

You start a new job with a new company. There are two employees in similar positions. They have both been with the company for several years. One is clearly hard working. She is constantly busy, juggles numerous tasks successfully and often stays late to get work done. The other seems much more relaxed. Indeed, she is often sharing jokes with her colleagues! She does not appear to work very hard, finishes tasks seemingly too quickly and is usually one of the first to leave the office at the end of the day. Which one should you emulate if you wish to do well in the company? 

The seemingly lazy one, of course. Both have been with the company for some years, so you can assume that both are doing their job well. More importantly, you can assume that the apparently lazy one has worked out how to do her job efficiently, allowing her to work in a more relaxed way and go home at a reasonable hour daily. 

creatively seeking the easy way /

In my experience,this is something creative people are very good at, particularly if they work in organizations which do give them new creative challenges on a regular basis. They use their creative skills to find short cuts in performing regular tasks and improving the efficiency of their area of operations. 

In truth,it is not just creative people who are lazy. Humans are programed to be lazy and this is a good thing. When our prehistoric ancestors were hunting and gathering, the less work expended to kill and skin a mammoth or to collect fruit, the better. Even today, it is sensible to ask why you should spend four hours performing a task that you can complete sufficiently well in an hour. 

followers or thinkers /

At work, when a new employee is shown how to perform a task, she will normally continue to do it in the way she was taught. This is not surprising. Most of us are taught to follow instructions, especially when a superior at work or school demonstrates tells us to do so. 

But the creative individual is always questioning things and considering alternatives. She cannot help it. That’s how the creative mind is wired. She will try performing the task in different ways. Of course there are risks involved. An alternative approach to performing a four-hour task could prove more complicated than expected—and eat up eight hours of her time. She may be reprimanded by her superior for not doing the task in the prescribed manner. Worse, her method might not work at all, forcing her to start all over again. 

However, this is normal for the creative person. Her curiosity and desire to explore alternatives is stronger than her sense of following instructions. Over time, she will try out various ways of performing tasks and will soon find the most efficient methods. 

lessons to be learned /

As I wrote initially,if you are new to a company, do not look to the workaholics for advice on how to do your job well. Look to the laziest people. They will almost surely be able to show you the most efficient way to do your work well. 

If you are an employer, on the other hand, those apparently lazy people are probably your most creative thinkers. When you need people with ideas for improving products, services and processes, be sure to include them in the teams responsible for developing these ideas. Moreover, be sure also to allow them to perform on these teams as they do on their tasks: let them try out ideas, see how they work, dispose of failed ideas and try out new ideas. This is how the creative process works. 

Jeffrey Baumgartner is the author of The Way of the Innovation Master and Report 103, creator of Jenni innovation process mgmt software & founder of jpb.com. Follow him on Twitter at @creativeJeffrey.