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Honor. Trust. Loyalty. Hard Work. All of that adds up to building awesome brands, no matter if your role is more traditional or heavy on the digital/new media.
Those are words we strive for on a daily basis when it comes to our field: honor of waking up daily and being entrusted with brands; trust from our employer that we are being enabled to execute; loyalty on both sides of employer/employee; hard work to land a client in a publication, build up ambassadors and increase awareness.
The thing is? You can’t do everything on your own. Your foundation should be a mix of your ideals, principles and work tactics mixed with those “in your corner.” Few are self-disciplined enough to push themselves toward goals without any social contact. Social contact in the professional sense is similar to the personal sense – it really is just as easy as taking a person to coffee/drinks and building a relationship before asking for something for your own gain.
So who do you need in your proverbial corner?
Mentors
No brainer, right? However, many tend to struggle in this arena because they never know who to ask, what qualifies as a mentor and who they should seek out. Your criteria is unique, and you might be approached by a person rather than the reverse. Leverage in-person events and social outlets to seek out those with similar interests and those who demeanor, interactions and business mantra are who you want to be. The thing is, many who enjoy mentoring are always watching, always learning, always engaging – and when they monitor someone with mass potential, it’s exciting. Position yourself as your brand, not an industry one.
Same age, have done just as much as you
Our society is a competitive nature, and it’s what the business world is built on. One of the easiest ways to benchmark success is against yourself and against others in the same situation. I have chats with good friends such as Carla Blumenthal and Katie Morse about both personal and professional. The same age levels the playing field, but also pushes one to strive to be even better in the career realm. Ideals that come from those you trust more than others impact a bit more.
On the flip side of this coin, there are those that have done a lot and will push you to be better – because you want to be better than them. Is it healthy? Not always, but it can show you what’s possible and push you past your imaginary boundaries. Believing in yourself is half the battle.
Industry Leaders
Your industry leaders (and the circle of those you respect) is probably different than mine. One should look for specialists, not generalists in the grand scheme. Think about the topics that intrigue you and what you want to touch in your life. For me, it’s PR, B2B v. B2C, cause marketing, analytics, social strategy. community building and SEO. Many could argue that they fit into 2-3 of those categories. The PR person is also in B2B, but their knowledge of cause marketing is a force to be reckoned with. You can be in a general role with a speciality.
Your Generalist
Look, we all like to believe we are unique. However, there are going to be people in your circle that act the same way, approach situations similarly and have literally been in your shoes. Embrace it. Fields tend to attract similar mindsets in the thought that we all have at least one quality that is the same as another. I can’t count the number of times I have been in a situation, called my mentor Beth Harte and she gave sound advice knowing my exact thought process.
She uses her stories of experience to push me to step back, relax and realize it’ll be ok. She also understands the best way to approach situations with my type of personality.
Would you add anyone else?
