English in business

Could you let me have a decision by next

Friday?

Well, we can decide when we get the extra

information.

I think we need to discuss . . .

We need to involve .. .

The person ultimately responsible is . . .

3Collecting information

What do we need to know to take a decision? Why can't we take a decision? What information are we waiting for?

4Setting criteria

What criteria are we going to use?

On what basis will we take our decision?

What is important here?

We need information about. . .

We don't have enough information on...

We are waiting for confirmation of. . .

Our decision should be based on . . . I think the decision should be driven by The deciding factor will be ...

5 Deciding on an option

What do you think we should do? Which option is best for you? What is your decision?

I think we should . . .

In my opinion we should decide to.

My decision is to . . .

6 Implementing the decision

What do we need to do to implement

this decision?

What do we do now?

Can we agree on an action plan?

We have to . ..

The next step is to. Yes, I suggest that

7 Reviewing the decision

Was it a good decision? Yes and no. On the one hand, we could.. .

Did we take the right decision? Yes, we did. So far. . .

Would you take this decision again? I think so.

Section В Decision-making idioms

There are many idioms and idiomatic terms in English about decisions and decision making. Here are some of the most common ones.

A done deal

This expression describes an agreement or decision that has been reached on a specific issue. "We are still looking at different options, so it's not a done deal yet."

Jumping on the bandwagon

If someone "jumps on the bandwagon", they decide to join a trend that is already very successful or fashionable.

"So many companies are jumping on the work-life balance bandwagon at the moment and starting initiatives. But I don't think they really believe in it."

Putting your money where your mouth is

People who "put their money where their mouth is" support a decision or opinion, often in some financial way, either with an investment or some kind of bet.

"Come on. If you believe England will beat Germany in November in Berlin, put your money where your mouth is and bet me $10.

Playing for time

People who "play for time" try to delay a decision in some way:

"He tried to play for time by asking for more information. I think he was hoping we would just give in and reduce our prices."

Blamestorming

This business buzzword is used to describe the process of groups trying to find out who was responsible for a decision that produced bad results. The term comes from "brainstorming". "The meeting about the failure of our marketing campaign turned into a blamestorming session, with nobody taking responsibility. Everyone just blamed everyone else."

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Bob Dignen is one of the directors of York Associates (www.york-associates.co.uk) who

specializes in language, communication and intellectual training.

Contact: bob.dianen@york-associates.co.uk

BOOKS

Group Communication, Peter Hartley, Routledge, ISBN 970-415-11159-1.

Harvard Business Review on Decision Making, Peter Drucker, John Hammond, Ralph

Keeny, Howard Raiffa, Aid M.Hayashi, Harvard Business School Press, ISBN 978-57851-557-

Unit 4

PERSONAL BRANDING. A BRAND NEW YOU

1 Before you read the article, take a few minutes to think and say what the word `brand' means. Give examples of your own.

2 Read the first part of the article.

PART I

I Companies invest an enormous amount of time to develop, promote and sustain their corporate brands. Think of Coca-Cola, Apple, BMW or McDonalds. Branding is a powerful way to shape customer perceptions of products or services and to influence their buying behaviour. So, if branding works for companies, why can't it work for you as an individual? Personal branding uses key corporate principles and practices to enable individuals to manage their image in the workplace. Before you read on, take a few minutes to think about the following questions. Then compare your answers to the comments in the article.

Why do you need a personal brand?

What steps should you follow to create such a brand?

What channels can you use to communicate your personal brand?

What role does culture play in personal branding?

Why do you need a personal brand?

II On the history of branding

The origin of the term "personal branding" is often traced back to a 1997 article, "The Brand Called You", by Tom Peters, one of the world's leading business experts box, He said that everyone has a personal brand, whether they like it or not. Peters defined brand primarily as what other people think about us -- the ideas and associations we stimulate in their minds by the way we look, sound and behave.

Some aspects of our brand will be positive, others negative. Yet most of the time, we don't think about managing how people experience us. Peters believed it was time for individuals to take control of their personal brand in the workplace and to market themselves more consciously.

Peters argued that flatter corporate structures were making career development more problematic. Automatic promotions up the organizational ladder were be coming a thing of the past. Instead, individuals needed to promote themselves by defining and communicating their unique selling proposition (USP).

Some benefits of personal branding

· Greater visibility and opportunities for promotion

· Better working partnerships inside your company

· Higher salary

· The ability to attract and retain more customers

· Greater self-confidence

· Clearer focus on what really matters for you at work

III Creating a personal brand

It will be easier to create an effective personal brand if you follow these three key steps:

a) Define your personal brand vision. When was the last time you thought about what you want to achieve at work over the next three, five or ten years? Ask yourself questions both about specific career objectives (What do I want to become? How much do I want to earn?) and about general professional objectives (What kind of leader do I want be? What kind of team do I want to work in?). This process enables you to devote the appropriate amount of energy to the right areas and also plan to reach meaningful career goals.

b) Define your personal brand. The second step is to define a unique and impressive professional brand. Start by creating a short statement of who you are: the values you represent, your key qualities, and what makes you unique. Tom Peters suggests that your uniqueness include not only general personality descriptions, but also four key aspects of working life: your vision and style as a leader; what makes you special as a team member; your technical expertise: and your ability to help deliver results. Think about your own uniqueness by answering the following questions. You will find some useful examples of language to answer these questions, see the survival guide section.

Leadership vision

· What inspires and motivates you?

· How do you inspire and motivate others?

· Where are you taking people?

Team focus

· What do you see as your greatest strength in team?

· What do your colleagues admire most about you?

· What's special about working with you in a team?

Technical ability

· Where are you excellent?

· What are you known for doing better than others?

· What is your particular genius?

Pragmatic results

· What have you achieved that you are most proud of?

· What will you deliver to your management?

· What unique benefits do you offer the customer?

c) Promote your personal brand. No matter how good a brand is, it will be of little value if it isn't promoted well. That is why companies spend millions on advertising to increase the visibility of their brands. The same is true of personal branding. It is essential to move on from creating the brand to making sure it is experienced by key stakeholders -- that is, the people with whom you work and who have direct or indirect influence over your career development.

3 Read the first part of the text quickly once more and find the words and phrases that match the definitions below:

a) excellent knowledge or skill in your professional subject

b) the feature of being very special, unusual

c) the relationships between people in business, organization

d) something important in your job that you hope to achieve

e) the process of creating your special image

f) the state of being more popular

g) the main personal characteristics

(personal branding, greater visibility, working partnerships, meaning career goals,

key qualities, uniqueness, technical expertise)

4 Read the second paragraph, discuss the importance of the enlisted benefits. Which one is the most important in your opinion? Write the list of the benefits of personal branding in the order of importance from your point of view.

5 Read the third paragraph and

a) name the three key steps in creating a personal brand (don't look into the text)

b) answer the questions from part 1 in close pairs, then in open pairs

c) speak about your uniqueness using four key aspects of working life from part “d”. You will find some useful examples of language to answer the questions in the survival guide section.

d) speak about the importance to promote your personal brand, use no more than 3 sentences.

6 Write down 10 words and expressions from the first part of the text, which you think are the most suitable to speak about personal branding.

! Home assignment:

1-write down your personal brand vision, using no more than three sentences,(see the survival guide section)

2-wrte down your own personal brand statement, using no more than three sentences, use a list of useful personality adjectives from the survival guide section.

7 Read the second part of the article

PART II

IY Communicating your brand

There are various channels you can use to promote your unique personal brand in the workplace.

a) The work channel. Effective personal brand promotion is more than telling everyone how wonderful you are. The best way to showcase your talent to others is to find opportunities to work with them. Look for new projects where you could play a role. Volunteer informal support and advice to those who might benefit from your experience. Don't expect opportunities to fall into your lap; you need to look actively. And don't get impatient if benefits don't appear immediately. Allow your reputation to grow slowly but surely. As a way of getting started, commit yourself to one extra task for the coming four weeks that will enhance your reputation with a significant decision maker.

b) The people channel. One of the best forms of marketing is personal recommendation or "word of mouth". It is essential to cultivate a strong network of carefully selected people who like and respect you. Such people can act as multipliers for your brand in conversations with other decision makers. Some people like to join professional networking sites: others increase the number of strategic lunches they take part in. Whatever method you use, it is important always to think about whether you are spending the right amount of time with the right people talking about the right things. Your aim is to ensure that your "stakeholder network" understands your values and talks about you in the right way.

c) The emotional channel. Corporate brands use emotions to connect strongly to customer desires, such as the wish to be successful or attractive. Your personal brand also needs to manage emotions. In their book Beyond Reason: Using Emotions as You Negotiate, Fisher and Shapiro identify four areas of emotion that need to be managed in business contexts. Think about these four areas for your personal brand:

Appreciation. People feel good when they see that they are liked. When people meet you, do they feel liked and appreciated by you?

Affiliation. We usually have more positive feelings towards people with whom we have something in common. When people meet you, how clearly do you communicate that you are similar?

Autonomy. We need to feel a sense of control over our own destiny. Do people feel empowered and autonomous when they are with you, or do you threaten their independence and expertise?

Status. People need to feel respected. How does your personal brand communicate respect for others? How does talking to you confer status on others?

To gain their customers' trust and loyalty, companies try to make the experience of their brand an enjoyable one. Effective personal brands work in the same way. Do people find it enjoyable and rewarding to be around you?

d) The visual channel. When people see you, they should experience credibility, authority and openness. For example, when you are making a presentation, an open posture with strong and controlled gestures normally helps to build your brand better than shifting from foot to foot or waving your arms around wildly. Choice of clothing, hairstyle and portables, such as a briefcase and laptop, also communicate your values. And think also about your written communication, including e-mails, presentation slides and even your handwriting on a flip chart. What do the information load, format and design say about you?

e) The auditory channel. What do people think when they hear you? Are they inspired, or do they have mixed feelings towards you and your approach to business? Does your voice persuade with warm and friendly tones, or does it create discomfort with dull intonation or shrill tones? Do people "hear" you smiling on the telephone? If you don't know what people really think of you when they hear you, start asking!

Y The culture question

Creating and communicating a personal brand is not easy. For example, what should you do if you feel that the key people in your professional network don't like your personal brand? What if they respect alternative values and behaviours? Should you change yourself and risk becoming inauthentic?

There is no easy answer here, but it can help to think about this problem in two parts. If you believe that key stakeholders have the wrong perception of your talents, then you need to work on improving the promotion of your brand. If on the other hand, your brand values genuinely offer little to your stakeholders, think about whether you can adapt your brand, or whether you need to find another place to work.

Culture can play a key role in brand communication. Whatever values or information we try to transmit, the receivers of our message will see or hear us and interpret the message according to their own mental model and filters. For example, you may wish to promote a brand that says you are direct and honest, but others may experience you as aggressive and pushy. Or, you may want to promote the patience and empathy of your empowering leadership, only to find that others see you as indecisive and lacking direction.

You are likely to have a number of diverse audiences for your brand campaign at work. These may include different national cultures, departmental cultures, age and gender cultures, different business relationships (for example, that between a customer and a supplier) and, of course, the individual personalities of your colleagues, managers and business partners. All these audiences will have distinct needs and perspectives and may experience you in different ways. Effective personal branding requires a clear vision and message but, above all, intelligent promotion to diverse audiences.

YI Always be selling

Developing and communicating your personal brand is not enough. You also have to "walk the talk". Are you a leader who breeds confidence and trust with analytical excellence and good people-management skills? Are you open for feedback and do you act to improve yourself even when the messages you get are difficult to accept? If not, your brand may be compromised. Remember that every encounter represents an opportunity to sell "Brand You", from first impressions in casual social encounters and the many e-mails you write each day to taking part in international meetings or presentations. Effective brands are consistent brands. So make sure that how you look, sound and act at all times sends a consistent message about who you are and what your unique value is.

8 Read the fourth paragraph of the text quickly and find the words and phrases that match the definitions below:

a) to present somebody's abilities or good qualities

b) when people tell each other about it (not read or write, only speak)

c) people or companies that are involved in a particular project, especially if they invest money in it

d) to give somebody the power or authority to do something

e) to make people feel that they are respected by you

f) to have the feeling of trust and belief

1-experience credibility

2-stakeholder network

3-to communicate respect for others

4-to showcase

5-to feel empowered

6-word of mouth

9 Check your memorizing skills. Name five channels which you can use to promote your unique personal brand, don't look into the text.

10 Read part “c”(paragraph IY) once more and

a) try to explain what the words “appreciation, affiliation, autonomy, status” mean

b) complete the sentences with proper words mentioned above

The job of a university teacher brings with it high ________ and good income.

His_______ to the most powerful political party gives him high position in the society.

Frenchmen usually show great_______ to women.

Young people would like their parents to give them greater ________ autonomy in their personal life.

c) answer the questions you can find in the parts c, d, e.

11 Read paragraphs Y and YI quickly. Try to summarize in a sentence what each part (a-f) is about

12 Find key words and expressions(at least 10) suitable to speak about developing and communicating your personal brand from paragraphs Y and YI.

13 Match each sentence 1-6 to the sentence( a-f) that should logically follow it, don't look into the text

1-What should you do

2-It can help you to think

3-Whatever values or information we try to transmit

4-Effective personal branding requires

5-Are you a leader who breeds

6-Every encounter represents an opportunity

a) confidence and trust with analytical excellence and good people-management skills?

b) if you feel that the key people in your professional network don't like your brand?

c) to sell your personal “Brand You”

d) about this problem in two parts

e) a clear vision and above all, intelligent promotion to diverse audiences

f) the receivers of our message will see or hear us

14 Read the survival guide section, get ready to participate in the round-table discussion “Creating a personal brand helps to face the challenges of the modern life”.

SURVIVAL GUIDE. PERSONAL BRANDING

Creating your personal brand.This section provides some suggestions for phrases and vocabulary that can be used to communicate your personal brand at work. Remember, however, that you should only use the language and approach that you feel comfortable with in your specific context.

1. Communicating your brand vision and values

Building a personal brand is not achieved by telling everyone how wonderful you are. You need to communicate your vision and values regularly in business encounters such as presentations, meetings and social conversation. Here are some key aspects you should consider:

a) Leadership vision

Communicate your vision of good leadership, so that your staff can deliver the performance you want.

For me, good leadership means...

This organization's strategy is to...

What inspires me is...

My greatest motivation is...

The future for me is...

b) Teamwork

Communicate your vision of good teamwork practice.

My approach to teamwork is...

The critical success factor is..

What I always want to see in teams is...

Teams need to have...

For me, a team is not a team unless it has

c) Skills

Communicate your own skills as well as those you admire in others.

Your skills:

· One thing I do know is how to..

· My core competence is...

· Some people say that my particular attribute is to...

Others' skills:

· One quality I admire in people is...

· The key attribute for firms is...

· A core skill for us all today is...

d) Results

Communicate an attitude to goals that is personally focused, but also highlights the importance of wider goals.

I guarantee that I will deliver...

· My goal is to...

· My view of (customer service) is…

· The secret to getting great results is...

· The team has to reach...

· The organization's objective is to...

2. Differentiating your brand

Positioning is a critical element of brand identity. Differentiating clearly between what you see as right and what you see as wrong is a simple way of distinguishing your personal brand from the competition. The following extracts from presentations are examples of the type of approaches and sentences you could use.

Empowerment, not dictatorship: a message about leadership

"I am not going to stand here and tell you what to do every time something goes wrong. My leadership philosophy is one of empowerment, and not dictatorship. I work with trust, and I work with you, not instead of you."

Responsibility, not blame: a message about teamwork

"I don't like the current atmosphere in the team. There is too much focus on finding the person to blame, rather than taking responsibility for putting things right. Responsibility for me is a value that I expect everyone to live by."

Analysis before action: a message about results

"I don't think we should take a decision without having the data. In my view, you can't get effective performance without sufficient analysis."

Clarity, not confusion: a message about communication

"The messages we are sending to our staff confuse not just them, they also confuse me. I am a great believer in clear and direct communication. So we need to look again at our communication to create greater transparency and thus increase motivation."

Solutions, not problems: a message about customer focus

"My approach to this issue is to focus on solutions, not problems. We don't have the time or resources to discover every problem. And anyway, our customers need solutions... yesterday!"

3. Finding your strengths and talents

The Gallup Organization's Strengths-Finder is a talent assessment instrument developed for the internet. A talent is defined as a "naturally recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behaviour that can be productively applied.

Knowledge and skills, on the other hand, can be taught and learned.

The Strengths Finder instrument lists 34 different "themes" that describe talents. These can provide an excellent starting point for the creation of your personal brand statement. Among the themes are those below. Remember that people can be strong in a number of themes.

Achiever: People who work hard and enjoy being busy.

Communication: People who find it easy to put their thoughts into words.

Developer: People who recognize and cultivate the potential and abilities of others.

Futuristic: People who inspire others with their visions of the future. Harmony: People who don't enjoy conflict and try to achieve consensus instead.

Maximizer: People who focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence.

Responsibility: People who are committed to honesty and loyalty.

Woo: People who love the challenge of meeting new people and making a connection.

For a full list of the 34 themes and their descriptions, see the article "The Gallup Organization's Strengths Finder Instrument" by Tonya Fredstrom, Jim Harter and Kenneth Tucker. The article can be found on the Career Trainer website (www. careertrainer. com).

Personality adjectives

When creating your personal brand statement (see below), it can be helpful to use adjectives that describe your personality.

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