FAQs

As The Founder, Tell Us About Authentic Leaders Edge And Becoming A Personal Brand Strategist?

As The Founder, Tell Us About Authentic Leaders Edge And Becoming A Personal Brand Strategist?

Authentic Leaders Edge was started with the idea to help leaders define the leader they choose to be and provide them with the tools to align everything they do to the model they create for themselves. This heightened level of awareness and ownership of who they are combined with the right tools changes the game to play bigger.

It has them:

  • Be who they are instead of who they think they should be
  • Seek out the role and work they love versus settling
  • Communicate to command the attention of their audience
  • Showcase their value versus letting their ‘hard work’ speak for itself

The methods used in accomplishing these results are the Personal Brand Executive Coaching packages and Personal Brand Mastery program.

That is not where I started.  

When I launched Authentic Leaders Edge in 2002, I initially worked with leaders on their visual presence as it counts for over 50% of the first impression created. With a career as a retail executive, I know first hand how critical having a powerful visual presence is in establishing your professional credibility.  

Clients loved the results!

After we worked together, for a half-day or a full day, aligning their visual presence with the image they wanted to project, clients would share their wins. They were so excited to finally be taken seriously as a leader. They were experiencing being asked for their opinions, speaking up confidently in meetings and their colleagues offering to make key introductions to important influencers. Naturally and unfortunately, they attributed their new success to the external changes they made.

That’s when it hit me. When confident in their visual presence, my clients began to show up differently based on how they felt about themselves. However, I realized they could be ten times more powerful if they aligned their internal set point (their self belief and confidence) with the external image (how they looked on the outside).  

From that moment, I began to work with leaders to address the whole person, which included their internal operating system and self-image. I helped them become the author of their own story, rather than playing a supporting role in someone else’s.  

Because they were getting results, my clients were asking for more. As they were becoming more confident in presenting their ideas, attracting more attention and being offered better opportunities, they began to ask for more advanced tools to perform in a more demanding space. 

They wanted to learn how to repeat those moments of ‘getting it right’ consistently.

One client shared, “Dorothy, I got a rave review from my boss which is great. Now I need to learn how to wash, rinse and repeat!”

Helping clients become more aware of who they were being and get to the core of their challenges to create real, lasting change in a safe space is my gift. I draw on my coaching skills and the real world strategy I used to build my own successful career in the US retail industry. 

Since then, I’ve dedicated my professional life to supporting leaders in building an authentic and powerful personal brand. I believe we achieve our greatest success by being the best version of ourselves.

 

What Is A Personal Brand?

What Is A Personal Brand?

My definition of personal brand is, “the essence of who you are and how you make others feel.” 

Your personal brand is a combination of the intangible elements of who you are, your essence: your values, beliefs, talents, key strengths and passions. It’s also the experience you create for others, based on how you show up, what you say and do. Your brand is what people are saying about you when you are not present.

In other words, what you do represents who you are and how you become known. While you don’t get to dictate your brand, you do have the ability to influence it. 

For example: If I want to be seen as considerate and caring I can demonstrate this by holding the door open for the person behind me, holding the elevator door when I notice someone coming and listening intently when someone is speaking.

I would not walk into a building and let the door close on the person behind me or close the elevator door so I can ride on my own or interrupt someone when he or she is speaking. We can control the story that is told about us by how we show up. 

A big part of our brand’s success hinges on two things: being authentic and how we make others feel. Knowing this, we need to consciously choose the words and behaviours that align with who we want to be and how we want to be known.

 

 

Who Specifically Are Your Clients?

Who Specifically Are Your Clients?

My clients are the leaders themselves or the organizations that want to invest in their leaders to be the best version of themselves. Investing in yourself or the leaders of your organization naturally pays itself forward in the health of the organizations culture, teams and business.

They understand the value of supporting their leaders to be more conscious about who they are being first, which in turn influences the outcomes they achieve. In every circumstance I have seen it increase confidence, engagement and ownership.

The leaders I work with are preparing for that next coveted role, have just landed in a new role with more responsibility or want to be more effective and influential in their current role. 

They are CEO’s, Senior V.P’s, Director’s, CFO’s to Account Managers across a broad range of industries:

  • Real Estate Agents 
  • Engineers
  • Investment Advisors
  • Creative Directors
  • Human Resources Professionals 
  • Bank Executives
  • Coaches and Consultants
  • Funeral Directors
  • Dentists
  • Sales Professionals
  • Advertising Executives
  • Image Consultants
  • PR Professionals
  • Operation Executives
  • Lawyers
  • Academics
  • IT Professionals

The common thread among my clients is their mindset and readiness to change, not their industry. Here’s what my clients are like: they want to be their best, are interested in learning and definitely want to play a bigger. They are self-motivated, respectful, coachable, open-minded and willing to stretch themselves.  

 

Why Is It Important For A Leader To Develop Their Personal Brand?

Why Is It Important For A Leader To Develop Their Personal Brand?

It’s important for two reasons.

First, when a leader puts in the work to develop a personal brand that aligns with the best of who they are and gets clear how to take that from paper to practice, it puts them in charge.

They can more easily quiet the noise and stay focused on what is most important to them. They take ownership of their life and career. 

Second, defining a personal brand provides structure for a leader to follow. Having a structure in place makes it easier to quiet the doubts, eliminate the distractions and accelerate their path to success.  

It helps in setting healthy boundaries and saying no when it is necessary without apologizing or feeling guilty. Making decisions is easier because they know what is important to them and what they are working toward. 

 

 

What Challenges Do Your Clients Typically Struggle With?

What Challenges Do Your Clients Typically Struggle With?

Wow that is a great question. Clients reach out to work with me because:

  • They are feeling uncertain about their abilities to succeed
  • They underestimate their value
  • They are tired of flying under the radar and going unnoticed
  • They want to stop struggling with being seen as a leader 
  • They feel disconnected from who they are and their purpose
  • They are frustrated by working hard and not getting the results they desire 
  • They feel shy about promoting themselves 
  • They want to play bigger but don’t know what is holding them back
  • They struggle to communicate their message confidently
  • They are measuring themselves against the wrong things

My clients start out in survival mode and move into thriving as their best self. Struggles are transformed into opportunities when clients have the right tools. The right tools help clients see themselves more clearly, eliminating the self-imposed barriers that have held them back and gives them the steps to build the structure that supports an authentic remarkable brand. 

 

 

What Are The Different Ways You Work With Clients?

What Are The Different Ways You Work With Clients?

There are three different ways that I work with leaders and organizations:

  1. In a group training, when I am hired by an organization, to deliver my Personal Brand Mastery Program that focuses on a leaders personal brand, presence, communication, mindset and success strategies. This is delivered over a four to six month period.
  2. Personal Brand Executive Coaching whether it be the individual leader or the organization that initiates the engagement. When coaching I work with individuals one-on-one for a minimum commitment of four months. This timeframe allows a leader to build a strong foundation to establish their credibility, boost their confidence and define their path for success.
  3. The third way I work is in the role of a consultant. This typically becomes an extension of work I have already done for an organization or with a leader.

 

What Is The Process That You Take Clients Through?

What Is The Process That You Take Clients Through?

A high level view, whether I am delivering a training to a group of leaders or engaged in one-on-one coaching with a leader there are three core components in supporting leaders to make real change and essential in living an authentic brand. 

#1 Foundation 

This is a self-reflective stage that gives permission to leaders in taking the time to understand themselves better with a series of exercises and also helps them get clear on what they really want. 

This is where the conditions for success are set to clarify expectations and the focused outcomes. Having a plan provides a clear direction that makes it easy for leaders to take the right steps in the right direction. 

#2 Alignment 

This is a stage that guides leaders in building healthy practices that turn into good habits. We take a deep dive into developing the details of who they are: characteristics, communication style, values, natural talents, key strengths and what is most important. 

Getting to know them self at this level, without judgment, gives them the courage to face adversity without compromising who they are. 

Many leaders struggle here because they begin to practice new behaviours, taking them away from what is familiar. They are changing the way they think about themselves and how they engage with others. Simple but not easy to do!

Sadly, many of us underestimate the value of what comes easy to us. I know this because I have been there myself. It is amazing how energized and confident a person can feel when they consciously structure their life to use their strengths as much as possible.

Addressing the mindset is also a big part of this stage in order to create big breakthroughs in reducing the mental chatter that hijacks the mind and eliminates resistance to change. Awareness, mindset and choice all play a big part in living an authentic brand everyday.

#3 Ownership

This stage is where a leader creates consistency in living by the standards they have created for themselves.  As they take action challenges arise and we work together to strip away the excuses, finger pointing and blame so they take full ownership of managing their outcomes. 

This shifts a leader from ‘victim-mode’ to being ‘solution focused’. 

We work to deal with any resistance that attempts to keep them small and setbacks that have the potential to paralyze their progress. 

We develop a relationship plan to ensure leaders create a rich environment with the right people and expand their reach. They also articulate their own personal formula for success.

Evolution is also part of the brand process: as a leader evolves so does their brand. Working through the process will support remarkable changes in a persons life, but they will need to do check-ins periodically to make sure their brand continues to reflect the message they want to communicate about themself. 

 

 

How Are You Different From Other Leadership Coaches?

How Are You Different From Other Leadership Coaches?

I work with leaders to define their personal brand model that will showcase their best self. I don’t prescribe a model for them to follow. We work together to build the brand model that aligns with who they want to be. It is about the person first then what they do. I go deep, not broad.

I address the visual elements that people see but also go beneath the surface to work with leaders on the intangible elements that create the real change. It can be a bit uncomfortable at times, but man, it shifts their mindset and opens their heart, helping them lead from a more powerful place.

The work we do together is not about changing the people around them. It’s about focusing on the change they need to make. Here’s the best part – when they change, magically those around them change, too.

I provide them with what they want, but I also give them what they really need. They emerge with the personal brand that fuels their life’s dreams, the success they define for themselves, and the tools to “stay sharp”. 

 

 

Are There Leaders Who Aren’t A Good Fit For You?

Are There Leaders Who Aren’t A Good Fit For You?

The leader who isn’t a good fit is someone who is not coachable, does not value the advice from an expert, doesn’t see the value in investing in them self and is not interested in doing the work.

It is never the industry or position, it is the attitude of the individual leader. I can provide the direction and tools but I can’t do the work for them. 

 

 

What Are The Results Leaders Can Expect?

What Are The Results Leaders Can Expect?

The results my clients achieve are directly related to their determination in making the change to get what they want. Some results show up very quickly, within days or weeks, and others take a bit longer. Some of my clients’ results are: 

  • Establishing their credibility as a leader
  • Landing the promotion and being able to define their own role
  • Multiple promotions in 18 months
  • Raising their visibility in the marketplace
  • Closing the biggest deal in their career
  • Communicating their message with purpose and capturing the attention of their audience
  • Attracting big opportunities that once seemed impossible
  • Being acknowledged for their contributions with an outstanding review and pay increase
  • Generating increased profits every quarter in their business for two years straight
  • Earning their previous years annual income in the first six months
  • Focused, increased productivity and knew clearly when to say no
  • Learned to communicate to meet people where they are at, increasing the quality of work produced and the results achieved
  • Increased level of influence without direct authority
  • Skillfully managed meetings with high profile experts and reached resolution.
  • Cut out the extra steps in a decision making process that demonstrated respect for all involved and resulted in a more profitable outcome. 
  • Confident in having the tough conversations with clients and pushing back when necessary. This has established a greater level of respect and enabled them to secure future business.

These results were possible because they established a personal brand model they crafted and aligned with the best of who they are. 

They began working smarter and not harder. The changes stick because it is their choice to change. The change is being reinforced with positive feedback from those that matter and the results they desire. A leader is always more powerful when they are aligned with the core of who they are. 

 

 

How Quickly Can Someone Expect To See Results?

How Quickly Can Someone Expect To See Results?

Some results will be noticed immediately. I have received calls from CEO’s who’ve been blown away at how quickly their leaders have embraced the change and taken greater ownership. 

Some results take a little longer because they have deeper roots. When a leader is changing poor perceptions it requires consistency demonstrated over many encounters to build trust. 

The leaders I work with are high achievers. They have a strong desire to be their best, but they don’t have the ‘right’ tools to get them there. Once they get the right tools they are empowered to make the right changes to achieve outstanding results. 

 

 

Dorothy, When A Leader Feels You Are The Right Person To Help Them Develop A Powerful Personal Brand, How Can They Get Started?

Dorothy, When A Leader Feels You Are The Right Person To Help Them Develop A Powerful Personal Brand, How Can They Get Started?

Go to the contact tab on the website and send me an email. Let me know why you are reaching out and we will circle back to schedule a thirty minute call to discuss your needs and how we may work together. 

 

Authentic Leaders Edge

Next Step

Ready to implement a model that elevates your leaders and has them taking ownership of who they are and the results they achieve? Interested in creating the environment that puts people first to increase engagement, build trust and improve how business gets done?

Let’s start a conversation. It will give you the opportunity to get your questions answered and understand if it is a good fit for you, your leaders or organization.