Image is Everything

Now you are building a solid reputation as someone who gets the job done. You work the hours it takes. You are getting noticed. Good for you!
While you are building that reputation, what else do you need to be doing?

You need to be building a visual image.

There are two parts to an image:

1. The one you have already built and that’s the reputation for getting things done.
2. The second part is the visual image. It’s as important as the first part.

Visual image is made up of three sub parts:

1. What you say
2. Your body language
3. Your appearance

What You Say

If you use crude language or you are sarcastic to others, you are shooting yourself in the foot. You have to be very careful how your verbal messages are received. A manual published by BNA Communications titled: Intent vs. Impact could apply here.

This is very important. Be sure everything you say goes through a filter in your brain that looks at the impact of what you say before you say it.
Listen to gossip, but never contribute your own. You are in HR and what you say is taken very seriously by others.

Your Body Language

What is the first thing you see when you look at most successful, well thought of people? It’s the visual image. That visual image can be very compelling.

You also need to understand that those people know exactly what kind of image they are projecting. It didn’t just happen.

They work very hard at perfecting that image. They stand straight. They do not slouch. They make visual contact with the person they are talking with. They look like they never have a bad day. You feel they are genuinely glad to see you. They listen to what you are saying. They are not looking at their BlackBerry while you are talking. What’s your body language saying?

Your Appearance

The third part of the visual image is physical. Are your clothes neat, clean and business appropriate? Does your right heel look like you are a cross-country truck driver? When was the last time you shined your shoes?

I remember one department head that always seem to have a spot on a suit she wore. The bet was how long it would take before she had it cleaned. Little things, but they are noticed.

Earrings and other accessories (this thought is likely to irritate a few people, but it is the reality of the workplace). You have to remember that the people who hold your future in their hands are likely a generation or more older than you are. They are not apt to think like you do. You have to think like they do. Six earrings in each ear, a pierced nose or eyebrow are not positive attributes. You will lose points.

Are you always wearing a Raiders or Seahawks T-shirt, are your Levi’s needing an upgrade, are you still wearing those black and white tennis shoes? Remember, you will lose points.
The unfortunate thing is you will never know that you lost points!

Being conservative is going to get you where you want to be. Forget the fringe stuff. Forget the statement stuff. If you are not willing to do that then you are not willing to do what it takes to succeed.

Let’s say time has passed and you have learned your lessons well. You have built that power base. Your networks are strong. You finally have the promotion you have worked so hard to get.

There is one final thing to remember as you accept that promotion. Make absolutely sure that when your boss offers you that promotion that you reiterate to him that you must have his backing to go anywhere in the organization to look at issues and solve problems. He has to understand that (except for him) you are the only one who can do so. You have that inherent right to go anywhere, but you need to hear that commitment from him. He will remember he made it when someone challenges your right to go through their wall.

More next time. Have a great day!

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I have been asked many times how to succeed in the Human Resource field. Some thoughts from my book, Surviving & Thriving in the HR World.

GETTING NOTICED

It doesn’t matter whether you are a benefits administrator, a payroll person, or a recruiter, you will not get anywhere in HR without getting noticed. To get noticed, you need a plan.

Just hoping you will get noticed and get promoted won’t do it!

The people who have the power to promote you doesn’t have time to troll around the company looking for an ideal candidate to move into that newly vacant HR management role. They don’t have time for you to go out and get some credentials such as a degree or a PHR or SPHR certification. They want someone ready to step in.

Is that you?

You want the promotion? Then you are going to have to work for it. You must plan to get it long before it ever becomes available. Does this sound cold and self-serving? No, not really. You are not going to sabotage the person in the job you want. You are just going to be prepared for the day when it—or maybe another position you didn’t even know about—becomes available.

So how do you do it? Start by learning what the boss is looking for in an HR leader:
• She is looking for someone to take some of the load off her.
• She is looking for someone who is bold enough to make things happen.
• She is looking for someone who works harder and smarter than anyone else.

Look at it this way, the boss has a full load. So she is going to look for the person who has a track record of recognizing problems and issues and coming up with a plan to deal with them. She is looking for someone who has taken the initiative to deal with problems even before she was aware of them. That’s who she’s looking for!

By the way, you don’t have to worry about a good deed going unrecognized. She will hear about it eventually.

So, where do you start? First, take a look at your company’s organization chart. Look at all the names and titles. Look at the various departments. What strikes you about them? Take a close look. What usually surrounds those names and titles?

Boxes. That’s what surrounds those names and titles. What do boxes have?

They have walls.

Those walls mean “That’s my turf, stay out!”

How many times have you seen an accounting supervisor go into engineering and address a people issue with one from the chief engineer’s team? Most likely never.

How many times have you seen an operations manager go into accounting and address a people issue with one of the CFO’s team? Most likely never.

Have you ever seen a CEO go into a department and talk to one of the employees in that department about a people issue? Most likely never.

So who can go through those walls? Who can go anywhere and talk to anyone?

You!

Human Resource is the only function (with the exception of the CEO) that has the inherent authority to go through those walls and address any issue deemed necessary. Why do I say inherent authority? That’s because the function of HR is to serve all employees from the CEO down. That means HR has to be able to access all employees. If you disagree, then tell me who else in the entire organization can do it?

The fact is there is no one else. You are it.

By the way, it’s not the CEO’s job to handle those issues. Talk to any CEO and they will tell you that’s why they hired you.

So what does this inherent authority do for you? What’s its value?

This is the vehicle you need to build your power base and get you noticed.

OK, so how do you start? Here’s what you do. The first thing you do is to start building networks. For example, instead of sending an e-mail response to a person in another department who has asked a question, you go talk to them in person. It will impress them and you get to look and listen.

I don’t care how busy you are. You do not build networks within your organization by e-mails alone. Unless they are really terrible, you will neither get noticed nor remembered by your emails.

When you get there, look around, talk and spend time there. Get to know the people in that department. Get to know them on a first name basis. Get to know the department head very well. The first time you go into a department where you are not well known, go to the department head first and say “Hi, Joe. Got some information for Mary. Thought I would stop and say hi.”

Do this every chance you get. It won’t take long before you have free access to anyone in that department.
Everywhere you go, everything you do, you have to remember you are building your power base.

These networks are vital to that power base. One day even that department head is going to come to you with a problem. Bet on it! You have to do this with every department in your organization.

Your career will never take off if you spend all your time in your office. Human Resources must have both a name and a face. Do not expect people to come to you. You have to go to them.

Here is another network you must cultivate. Make it a point to talk to the security people, the custodians and the receptionist. Get to know them on a first name basis. Always say “Hi” or “Good morning” and say their first name when you do so. Stop for a moment and comment on something. I don’t care what. Anything! Surprise the receptionist by bringing her a flower for her reception area. If she has a candy dish, bring a bag of candy occasionally. It’s likely she is filling the dish out of her own pocket.

When you go into another department, always nod or smile to whomever you meet. Never, ever, walk by someone without doing that.

Now, let’s say time has passed and you have been building your networks every single day. Then someone comes to you with a rumor or a problem or something just comes up in a conversation. Your instinct tells you to look into it, so you gather as much information as you can and then you go back to your office and think it through.

You decide that it’s an issue that needs addressing and you have developed a solution. So now you go to your boss and tell him that you have come across a potential problem. You describe it and volunteer to handle it, assuring him you will keep him in the loop.

My guess is that he is going to tell you to go ahead. Don’t feel you are tattling on someone. You are in HR and your job is to make sure people problems get dealt with.

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Well, because if you are really good at your job, the tremendous personal satisfaction you will have in being what I call a respected “class act” leader will keep you coming to work every day. There are a lot of people in supervisory roles today that should not be there. They are still out there, causing long-term damage to organizations. You have probably met some of them. They cause unions. They cause turnover. They cause morale problems. They should be anywhere but in a leadership role.

They come and go and few remember names. Class act leaders are remembered forever. I remember the class act leaders in my career. You probably do too. It’s not easy being that class act leader. It’s easy to be just another supervisor, so the choice is yours.

My question to you is simple…“Which one do you want to be?” Believe me, if you want to be successful, you will have to understand that it will take courage to survive and thrive. Just being a “nice person” or “liking people” is not going to make you successful.

Successful leaders do not get there by accident. They work hard at it. They build a solid reputation of One of the things they do is build and maintain an image. Image? So what’s an image got to do with being a quality supervisor?

IMAGE IS EVERYTHING!

To be successful you have to build a solid reputation as someone who gets the job done. You work the hours it takes. You are getting noticed. Good for you! While you are building that reputation, what else do you need to be doing?

You need to be building a visual image.

There are two parts to an image:

1. The one you have already built and that’s the reputation for getting things done.
2. The second part is the visual image. It’s as important as the first part.

Visual image is made up of three sub parts:

1. What you say
2. Your body language
3. Your appearance

If you use crude language or you are sarcastic to others, you are shooting yourself in the foot. You have to be very careful how your verbal messages are received. A manual published years ago by BNA Communications titled: Intent vs. Impact could apply here. This is very important. Be sure everything you say goes through a filter in your brain that looks at the impact of what you say before you say it.
Listen to gossip, but never contribute your own. You represent the organization. What you say is taken very seriously by others.

Your Body Language

What is the first thing you see when you look at most successful, well thought of people? It’s the visual image. That visual image can be very compelling. You also need to understand that those people know exactly what kind of image they are projecting. It didn’t just happen. They work very hard at perfecting that image. They stand straight. They do not slouch. They make visual contact with the person they are talking with. They look like they never have a bad day. You feel they are genuinely glad to see you. They listen to what you are saying. They are not looking at their BlackBerry while you are talking.
What’s your body language saying?

Your Appearance

The third part of the visual image is physical. Are your clothes neat, clean and business appropriate? Does your right heel look like you are a cross-country truck driver? When was the last time you shined your shoes? I remember one department head that always seem to have a spot on a suit she wore. The bet was how long it would take before she had it cleaned. Little things, but they are noticed. Earrings and other accessories (this thought is likely to irritate a few people, but it is the reality of the workplace). You have to remember that the people who hold your future in their hands are likely a generation or more older than you are. They are not apt to think like you do. You have to think like they do.

Six earrings in each ear, a pierced nose or eyebrow are not positive attributes. You will lose points. Are you always wearing a Raiders or Seahawks T-shirt, are your Levi’s needing an upgrade, are you still wearing those black and white tennis shoes? Remember, you will lose points.

So think about this. What’s your image? Be honest ……………… cause people are watching!

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