Seven Steps That Could Change Your Life

It is a procedure that's been tweaked to near-perfection over the past five years but will undoubtedly be tweaked many more times whenever improvements are discovered, tested, and evaluated.

To do this, your CEO business brain must think in four dimensions, i.e., remember that each component (networking, CEO mind-set, value proposition, and methodology) becomes supercharged when combined with the other three but has ample horsepower to stand on its own when the situation calls for it.

This will be challenging work and at times you may become frustrated. But the payoff is substantial: You will cut yourself free from the grip of The Black Hole. Instead of being dependent on people who don’t know you to advance your career goals, you will learn to network your way to an interview, job or contract by leveraging the power of advocates — people who not only know you, but like you, trust you and will gladly help you to “connect the dots.”

Don't Leave Home Without Them When Networking

From: How to Wow by Frances Cole Jones

• Remember that 7 percent of your impact comes from the words you say, 38 percent from your tonal quality while saying it, and 55 percent from what your body is doing while you're saying it
• Speaking in story will help both you and your listener retain and commit to your message
• Introducing yourself - saying your name - is a presentation opportunity. Don't squander it.
• Delete useless modifiers from your vocabulary. Something is only amazing, terrific, or horrific if you tell me why.
  

The First 90 Days

During your first few months in a new position, you will obviously want to manage your workload carefully, but downtime provides good opportunities for the following activities, all of which are intended to shore you up when your next job loss occurs:

• Network actively with your new fellow employees (i.e., build and expand the "safety net").
• Manage your new relationships; nurture them with the idea that they will lead you to others and in all cases, connect with them on LinkedIn.
• Check Indeed.com regularly to see what kinds of opportunities are out there even though you are temporarily secure.
• Explore the “Hidden Job Market” to gather business intelligence, discover market conditions, spot trends in your industry, and so on.
  

A Seismic Shift for the 21st Century Job Search

By Rod Colón

Up until a few years ago, The Black Hole was the only game in town.  Today, that’s no longer true.  In 2004, I started engineering a whole new Job Search System for professionals who wanted to manage their careers in the same way a CEO manages a company.  

The system is logical, targeted, and driven by CEO-style business logic.  It leverages the power of advocates — people who will help you get connected to decision-makers or contacts who know those decision-makers — within a company that interests you.  It requires you to develop a powerful value proposition which, if designed correctly, will just about require any sensible decision-maker to grant you an interview.

The CEO of ME, Inc. Paradigm

By Rod Colón

The CEO of any company runs the company.  CEOs direct all critical operations such as sales and marketing, research and development, strategy, finance, corporate culture, human resources, community affairs, public relations, and so on.

CEOs are primarily responsible for setting the corporate strategy and vision.  They decide which products to introduce into which markets and against which competitors.  CEOs decide how the company will brand itself and differentiate itself in the marketplace.

Ultimately, the CEO is responsible for the success or failure of the company.