Page 87 - Managing the Mobile Workforce

66 � mAnAgIng the moBIle workForCe

competent, laugh at you behind your back, or deem you a
good—or a bad—vendor, client, or partner. Their perception
will determine whether they buy your product. Their percep-
tion will determine whether they follow your leadership.
After just a few hours of this “personal branding” semi-
nar, I learned something that was a personal awakening that
rocked my personal “safe mode.” As a mobile worker I have
learned to move fast to cover a lot of ground. Meeting peo-
ple in person and online has always been my road warrior
role. Communication skills have become the value proposi-
tion I bring to the enterprise every day—that is, when my
virtual self is effective. When it’s not, business suffers.
There it was, staring me right in the face—my online vir-
tual me. I realized the advice others would give me—to lis-
ten more. Actually that’s a bit too nice—“shut up” might be
more accurate!
For me it was an awakening, a shock to my self-perception.
It was a slap in my virtual face, which shook the belief sys-
tem I held about myself, the way I interact with others, and
how others viewed my online persona.
If you don’t like your personal brand, you should con-
tinue to improve your communication skills. That’s what I’ve
done. Work on it, and listen to the responses others receive
and share with you when you are together in a group setting.
Record your online and face-to-face sessions, and listen to
how you present your ideas and your style. It’s not a simple
thing to listen to yourself. It can be disturbing—even fright-
ening. Many people do not like to listen to their own voice or
to see video of themselves and yet that is exactly how you
will be judged as a mobile worker. What you say and write
online—and how you do it—creates your mobile identity,
and it’s an indelible record.
This one simple seminar about the personal virtual you
should be a prerequisite for all mobile workers, and espe-