You Are Your Own C.E.O.

I recently attended my first job fair as someone seeking employment.  I have been on the other side of the table recruiting on a few occasions representing a university but this was a completely new endeavor.  I left with a lot of thoughts on the experience and feeling like I was selling myself to recruiters the whole time.  I was representing myself as if I was a product they should buy and invest in.  I know that this is exactly what you are supposed to do at job fairs, but it caused me to explore this topic of being the C.E.O. of yourself and how if you see yourself as a business, it can be a guide for success.

Board of Directors – The majority of businesses have a board of directors.  If you are to be successful you need to have your own personal board of directors.  I’ve had mentors use this metaphor so I don’t know where it originated from, but it’s very pertinent as you strive for success.  A board of directors are typically a handful of people who have expertise in a wide variety of areas and they collectively move the business forward.  This is what you need for your own success.  Select a core group of mentors and people that you trust to be your personal board of directors.  They don’t all have to convene around a table or know each other, but most importantly they have to know you really well.  Make sure that they are interested in seeing you be successful as they role model success.  The people on your board should not only be willing to celebrate your triumphs, but be willing to give you the constructive, and sometimes hard-to-hear feedback that it takes to make you a better person.  Your board, like many businesses can change over time through adding and subtracting depending on your life situations and how effective they are for you.  Most importantly your board needs to consist of reliable people you trust to consult with, not just people who will tell you what you want to hear.

Advertising and Promotion – This is important to any business because it’s how the business, or in this case you, are represented to the public.  You need to think about your public image and what people say about you when you’re not around.  Do not confuse this with being inauthentic and catering or altering your personality to people.  Consider this your brand.  Is what you represent, and are you perceived the way you want to be perceived?  If you’re not representing yourself the way you would like to, explore the reasons why, and what you can do to change your brand to what you want it to be.  This certainly includes your online presence with social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, etc.  A good place to start figuring this out, is by asking your board of directors, which is why it is important that they not only know you, but that they are willing to be completely honest with you, and help you.

Manufacturing – At first glance you might have assumed I was talking about having kids.  Not so fast, that’s not what this is about, that’s up to you.  This is about what you are manufacturing on a regular basis in terms of your deeds.  Are you putting all of your effort into the things you say and do and cultivating your work ethic so that your product can be reliable?  It’s important that what you produce whether it be in your personal life or your work life is of a high quality in nature.  You should be proud of what you do and feel confident that you would want your name associated with what you do whether it’s volunteering somewhere, finishing a report at work or planning a birthday party for a friend, etc.  Give it your all, and have pride in what you’ve accomplished.

Accounting – This is you budgeting for yourself.  In order to be successful it’s important that you are not living at your means but living within it, and saving for the future.  Every good business has a budget plan that includes a rainy day fund, and a slush fund.  As a C.E.O. for yourself it’s important that you’re saving and creating a manageable budget for yourself so that you can be successful in the future, and that unpredicted expenses or that special thing you want to treat yourself with can be taken care of when necessary.

I could break down more business departments and give you more details and examples within those mentioned here.  However I believe you get the idea and hopefully you can begin applying such a model to your own life.  This model of thinking of different parts of your personality and what you do is a holistic model approach that encompasses not only being successful in your professional life but in your personal life as well.  I placed the Board of Directors first because I believe it is extremely important that your support network is in place and ready to support you throughout your endeavors.  You can be successful, you just need to put in the time and effort to develop yourself.  Success does not come overnight for any business and it won’t come overnight for you.  But it is attainable when you put the work in to develop the multitude of facets that make up who you are.