It’s not a question of “if” but most certainly a question of “when” your brand will come under attack for those career minded and success oriented women on the road called success! The real question is, will you be ready the next time?
Have you ever been in a work situation in which you believed everything was running smoothly and suddenly, almost as if out of nowhere, you were blind-sided by vicious rumors or subtle personal and professional attacks? Believing there is nothing you can do except hope it will all end soon is not the leadership armor you must assume. However, there are 6 proven methods you can exercise for ultimate survival.
In my book, Think Like A Brand: A 7-Step Strategic Brand Plan to Increase Your Career Satisfaction and Success, I talk at length about my brand attack experiences and I invite you to apply these 6 proven methods to overcome them just as I have:
1. Recognize that there are some people who just aren’t going to like you for no other reason that they just don’t like you. Strategic ahead of time how you’ll respond to these out-of-nowhere attacks and you’ll recover and move on more quickly.
2. Research the opposing view. If you aren’t informed about possible resisting views to your work or ideas, you’ll appear ill prepared and most certainly open yourself to repeated attack and repeated defeat.
3. Resist the urge to launch a counter-attack and instead re-direct the focus to capitalize on your strengths.
4. Show Reserve and acknowledge shortcomings. We all make mistakes. If one of yours is pointed out, own it and move on. When attackers see they can’t throw you off your game even when pointing out a shortcoming, they’ll move on too.
5. Remind people of why you are an asset. Consider the presidential debates currently taking place in the U.S. In every debate, the more successful candidates consistently remind their supporters, constituents and undecided voters that regardless what the opposition says, here’s why I am still the best candidate.
6. This final one is tough, but you can Remain Positive and focused on the original positive intent of the outcomes you seek.
Improve the positive impression of your brand by rising above the call to battle those who intend to do more harm than good and you’ll find yourself on the winning side of that battle.
Pamela J. Green (www.pamelajgreen.com) is a business executive, leadership consultant, keynote speaker and published author with more than 25 years of business leadership experience. As the former VP/Chief Membership Officer for the Society for Human Resource Management, the world’s largest association for HR professionals, she was responsible for membership revenue and strategies to engage and retain more than 260,000 business professionals. She is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) and holds a bachelor’s degree in business and human resources, and a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio. Since launching her consultancy in 2012, and now as president and CEO of The HR Coaching Institute, she has been serving as a leadership consultant to global corporations, small businesses and non-profit organizations.