Stephen Mitchell Challenges Executives To Build Their Own 'Personal Brand' as an Alternative to Working for a Corporation

Los Angeles, November 2010

Stephen Mitchell, author of the Executive Management Consulting protocol, has issued today a challenge to CEOs and top level executives to build their 'personal brand' so as to generate alternate and supplemental sources of revenues as an alternative to work-for-hire with a corporation. The protocol contemplates the aggrandizement of a personal brand for men and women in a variety of industries.

In 1980, Stephen founded an entertainment industry think tank labeled The New Hollywood Studio System where he authored a number of intellectual properties including the Action/ReAction technique for actors and curricula for writer/directors; all bearing directly on advertising and marketing concerns.

In 1985, Stephen pioneered a unique application of product integration in branded entertainment with his cable TV series (Interview). "I wanted to sell a product that nobody wanted to a public that had an aversion to buying." The series was lauded by critics and attracted a cult following that included Oscar, Emmy, Peabody and Grammy winners (http://sminterviewseries.blogspot.com/).

Stephen is offering the EMC protocol to selected executives for the strategic management and marketing of their personal brands, applying the same strategies used in the entertainment business for the commercial development of Hollywood actors, writers and directors. "The goal is to maximize the yield from the client's personal brand."

"The progression," says Mitchell "is to secure an enhanced W-2 situation and then proliferate income sources for the executive so the brand is working to his or her benefit."

Having discreetly piloted the program, Mitchell is now extending the challenge to a wider number of candidates.

END

How many people know about you?

Most executives with whom I've spoken have a network of about 200 people. This is a good number when it comes to getting things done. It is not a good number for expanding the horizons of a career and ensuring a future. The optimum number for that agenda would be closer to 200,000. It isn't likely that one will ever have this many contacts on the Rolodex and it isn't important that one actually knows that many people. It is only important that they know you and, of course, your signature skills.

One can work very hard for decades to build a personal network of one to two hundred peers. On the other hand, one can build a constituency of two hundred thousand overnight by appearing in the media--print or television--and expressing your particular observations and solutions. This kind of visibility and positioning drives offers to you and increases the value of your services.

How many people know about you?

Career advancement as psychological warfare

The U.S. Department of Defense defines psychological warfare (PSYWAR) as: "The planned use of propaganda and other psychological actions having the primary purpose of influencing the opinions, emotions, attitudes, and behavior of hostile foreign groups in such a way as to support the achievement of national objectives."

Career advancement is psychological warfare, in my view. The 'hostile foreign groups' may consist of employers or corporations who might opt to hire or contract with others. They may be consumers opting for products other than the ones we are selling or services offered by others. In any event, we want to attract potential employers or clients to engage us rather than someone else.

Psychological warfare can be waged in any number of ways. It is a conceptual activity with an infinite number of possibilities. One simply must know what one wants--and from whom one wants it. Once these factors are established, the work can begin.

A well conducted media campaign creates new networks--not of peers, but of qualified motivated buyers for what you have to offer.

Retailers report soft May sales figures

In the Los Angeles Times, Andrea Chang writes, "The nation’s consumer spending recovery hit a snag in May as retailers reported soft results that hinted at what could be a tough summer for spending."

One might ask if this is a consequence of massive job losses or if this will this stimulate further job lay-offs.

In any event, those who rely on keeping or finding a job should take note and act to increase the value of their personal brand.

The three kinds of actors

In response to the "How to Start a Hollywood Career Without Having to Go There" entry, someone asked: "Since there are no more than 3 kinds of actors, I want to know what are the 3?"

In order to answer this precisely rather than in general terms, I had to check with Kathi who had a copy of the book handy. The three kinds of actors, therefore, are:

1) The lead, whose job is to secure funding for the producer and excite box office results owing to his/her popularity with the public;

2) The antagonist, whose job is to upstage the lead so as to make him/her seem more heroic when he/she wins at the end of the story (remember how well Anthony Hopkins did this for Jodi Foster?);

3) And everyone else, whose job is to be credible without distracting from the interaction between the lead and the antagonist.

This differentiation is meant for strategic purposes to help an actor kick-start a career (bear in mind the title of the book). One can see that, normally, it takes some exposure to be a lead though there are exceptions that become more frequent as the budget gets lower. So, it makes sense to analyze the qualities of an antagonist and incorporate them into one's signature as an actor--or brand, if you will. Making a mark as a good antagonist is also a great way to move into the lead category with the benefits that go along with that status.

Now, imagine how this applies to businessmen and women in the business world.

Have you been on television yet?

In speaking with a gentleman the other day, he told me that he has been with a marketing company for two or three months and felt as though his bases were covered in navigating his search for a new job. One question changed his perception. I asked if they (the marketing company he had engaged) had gotten him on television yet. I was met with silence followed by, "No".

I went on to tell him what his 'marketing' company was doing for him: After spending some considerable time consulting with him, they rewrote his resume into narrative form and spammed it out to as many email accounts as they could.

If one wants to ensure a successful result rather than follow the herd and hope for better, would spamming out the best resume that was ever written trump a personal appearance on television and related media? Would receiving spam from you provide better positioning for you in the business sector than a focused presentation of your perspective and wisdom in a national forum? Which approach gives you marquee value? In my view, one approach makes it look like you need a job. The other makes you look like a voice of authority at the national level.

I'm interested in engaging with management level executives who want to ensure the expansion of their horizons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvWWoYK9hXw

Amplification of a market resonance

When growing a market for a brand--whether it is a person or a product--one needs to look for the resonance point in the marketplace. In other words, what is it about the person or the product that stirs the reaction in those who are, or would be, drawn to the brand? Understanding what the market is reacting to will determine what aspect of the personality or product needs amplification in the media communication in order to grow and extend the reach of the brand. Voyage is a good example of this. At first the film content may seem counter-intuitive in the way it presents the designer with only a brief look at the products, however, it hit the market's resonance point squarely on target.

"The Voyage video is lovely! It does build a connection to the designer and at the same time it's subtle. It gives a taste of who she is and the journey of her inspiration without giving away too much. It keeps the mystery of the creative process intact. (You know how some videos are too direct when they show: "And this pattern made exactly this piece of jewellery." I think that sometimes devalues the mystery of creativity.) I think that inspiration is multifaceted, a recipe with a whole range of ingredients. I can imagine that one of the designs could have been inspired by a range of memories, smells, parts of a story/book etc. So in this way your Voyage video is a nice balance. It gives enough to build a human connection to the jewellery range, but not too much." Katrin Hannusch, Senior Art Director, Doremus, Hong Kong

"The unique emotional and visual elements in "Voyage" are captivating and stimulating."

Judit & Corina, Wine & Dine TV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuTT17vAqz8

Licensing and the business executive

Why should a business executive be concerned with licensing? The best answer is that it increases the yield from his or her personal brand. It extends the life and reach of the brand without requiring extra hours of work on the executive's part. Finally, it can create earnings that relieve the executive from the need to engage in work-for-hire contracts by which he or she is cast in the role of an employee. In a time when jobs are disappearing faster than the polar icecap, it is worth taking note of how licensing can apply to an executive.

If one were to think of an upper-level executive as an intellect, it can be quickly understood that there are many ways to monetize--merchandise--that intellect. Showing up to put in hours each day at someone else's corporation is but one of these. It is probably the least rewarding and remunerative, as well.

In the mid-80s, Mark McCormack of IMG turned his attention to the licensing of athletes thus forever changing the financial dynamics of the sports world. Until I pushed into the business world as a function of my Business on-demand project, I don't know that anyone else was applying this protocol to executives--a curious oversight, in my view.

I think a great many executives will become interested in the subject as the imperative 'Get a job' is supplanted by 'Assure the future'.

General Wilmot talks about the interview with Stephen Mitchell

The Interview

I was recently interviewed by Stephen Mitchell, a friend and associate to whom I was introduced about four years ago. The interview was conducted in a TV studio in Sherman Oaks, California. The resulting program and DVD will be used as a promotion piece for me and my projects (one of which is a new book I am writing) and also to promote Business on-demand, a business news channel conceived by Stephen in which I will play a part.

I am convinced that the production will be a valuable product which will enhance my career--not because of what I said or how I performed. It will be due to the professional approach utilized by Stephen in guiding the proceedings.

The Process

His technique involves meeting with the interviewee a few minutes before the shooting is scheduled. He came to the meeting fully prepared with a plan, notes and questions--a virtual roadmap of where he was going. This was comforting for me and I’m thinking, “Well at least he knows what we are going to do.”

I did take note of the fact that he wasn’t very specific concerning precisely what questions would be presented. So I was comforted on the one hand but concerning the questions--well, I was a little on edge.

He quickly sent me into the studio area to sit-in while his assistant set up lights and worked out the sound in preparation for the interview. In other words he left me to “stew” over the possible questions for 15 minutes or so.

In retrospect, my reaction was interesting. During the 15 minute interlude I felt as if the chemicals in my brain were activated and my interest in what was going to occur was piqued and I actually began to focus before the interview. I was ready for the challenge of Stephen Mitchell.

Underway

The command, “Roll camera” came and he hit me with the first question--an easy opener and then another question. I responded with a rather long answer to question two opening up a myriad of pathways for Stephen to pursue. At this point I noticed that Stephen put his notes aside and he went full steam ahead--he was underway--guiding, directing and asking for amplification, explanation and more details. We talked for over an hour.

Post Interview Thoughts

I was amazed at how effortless and easy the interview turned out to be. We simply had a conversation--yet the interview was powerful. I wondered to myself, “How did he do it?” Now I know--he came prepared, he gave me time to get the adrenaline moving, he opened slowly and ultimately followed his instincts to highlight important points for me to discuss.

In my view the key to a quality interview lies with the interviewer--Stephen Mitchell is a Master at the interview game.

Richard Wilmot
Brigadier General
US Army Retired

Layoffs Spread to More Sectors of the Economy

In the Economy section of the New York Times on-line, Catherine Rampell quoted Nigel Gault, chief United States economist at IHS Global Insight, as saying “There really isn’t any hiding place for companies anymore. The recent numbers coming in from the rest of the world are disastrous.”

The Comfort Zone with regard to careers, if ever there was one, is gone. When an announced seventy thousand jobs disappear in one day (knowing full well that the reality in these cases usually exceeds the announced numbers) on top of the jobs that have already slid into the ocean like so many melting glaciers, one cannot contemplate one's resume and feel reassured that what attracted offers a few years ago will have any allure for CEOs making hiring decisions in a time when the battle cry is "Abandon ship!"

It is a sad, but unavoidable, fact that many management-level executives aren't going to make it through their next job transition. No reflection on the quality of their skills and abilities, they've merely chosen to remain anonymous to their market--the CEOs in their sector--because it's easier to send out resumes and deal with hiring managers and head hunters rather than to confront the top brass. For many, it is uncomfortable to become known at that level of play.

If one isn't better known in the sector than the CEO who might tender an offer, the offer is likely never to come.

What is the difference between managing "Hollywood" talent and business executives?

Having managed actors, writers and directors for the better part of thirty years, I've been asked what is the difference between managing "Hollywood" talent and business executives. For me, there is no difference since the objectives are the same: Increase the client's visibility in the public media so as to attract enhanced offers and to proliferate sources of cash flow to the client.

The only difference I have to deal with is that, while every actor, writer and director I ever dealt with understood the need for strategic management and actively sought it out, business executives rarely understand the subject and believe that mailing out résumés and phoning their network contacts constitutes marketing. What this actually does is to advertise your misfortune rather than to create a demand for your services.

A presence in the media is the fastest way to double or triple an executive's earnings and television is the optimum outlet. It is a tool I've been using since 1980, so I speak from experience.

The question is: What does it take for an executive to see that television will do things a résumé could never hope to accomplish? The answer to this question could mean the difference between comedy and tragedy.

Manage Smarter

Excerpts from:
Ready for Your Close-Up, Mr. CEO?
Brand like a celebrity

By Stacy Straczynski

As a filmmaker and the founder of Hollywood-based talent management company Cine Paris, Stephen Mitchell is particularly intrigued by the enterprise of branding executives. During his 20-plus years in the entertainment industry, Mitchell knows first-hand the power that personal branding gives to an individual.

"I started as a filmmaker," Mitchell says. "My experience is that writers, directors and actors all need to brand themselves in order to break into the industry." He says he believes the same goes for executives' careers, and to that end recently expanded his company to offer an executive management consulting service.

"Executives have a need for visibility," he says. "No producer wants to cast an 'unknown.' The same goes for corporations." Companies are looking for a star to act as a business magnet and therefore want to hire an executive who has an established relationship with the public. They want their own industry celebrity who never fails to draw positive and profitable attention. But the problem is many executives don't know how to market themselves, and without correct self-positioning, companies will overlook them. "What actors have and CEOs don't is someone to help manage an executive's trajectory and career or even market them," Mitchell says. Executives often need help.

To begin building your personal brand, Mitchell says you need to start with the most important part—you. "When executives begin to find their interests and focus on areas in which they have a lot to say, they can begin to get a sense of who they are—and bring attention to themselves. It's a way to make a career out of being you that is separate from any corporate climate and affiliation," Mitchell says.

http://www.managesmarter.com/msg/content_display/marketing/e3if98651d51568f53a97b93b73dfad7696

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvWWoYK9hXw

Stephen Mitchell talks about Business on-demand

Q: What is Business on-demand?

SM: I intend Business on-demand as a cable and Internet channel to address the needs and interests of the business world by providing news, commentary and perspective to the major sectors of industry and which would be populated by icons from the business world rather than news readers. The channel would also serve to create strategic alliances with executives and corporations.

Q: Why "on-demand" as opposed to conventional program streaming?

SM: According to Roger Lynch, CEO of U.K.-based video-on-demand supplier HomeChoice when speaking at the inaugural MIPCOM CEO super panel assembled at Cannes to discuss changes affecting broadcasters, as much as 60% of viewing in Video On Demand-enabled homes ignores conventional TV channels. That's a compelling observation. Lynch went on to say that viewers are hemorrhaging away from conventional channels when given the choice of on-demand viewing.

Q: What is your goal for the channel?

SM: The goal is to surpass Bloomberg, CNBC and others as a portal to information and perspective vital to business around the world by creating a global interactive network of executives, businesses and industries as a revenue generating platform for further expansion. That I have a list of clients in the business world for whom I create management strategies dovetails nicely with the purpose and needs of Business on-demand.

Q: What would attract sponsors to business on-demand?

SM: The dynamics of advertising and programming content have traditionally been in conflict. Television has used the interruption model to communicate the advertising messages of sponsors to the detriment of the content and the irritation of the viewer. The advent of digital recording has, in effect, nullified entire ad campaigns given that viewers can elect to skip over a commercial thereby avoiding its message. Branded content uses the attraction model to deliver its product messages by creating an experiential context in which content and product message are “joined in a spiritual union” to paraphrase Frank Lloyd Wright, which is the model for Business on-demand.

Q: What excites you about the activity?

SM: The idea of providing a national or global platform for those who actually toil in the various sectors of business is very interesting to me. It is content I would want to watch as opposed to the all-too-prevalent practice of using a news program for the redistribution of press releases. I want to hear from active individuals who have something to say.

Think "Hollywood"

Most business executives are considerably undervalued. This may seem an extraordinary thing to say to a man or woman earning a base-line salary of $200-500K per annum along with stock options and benefits. One could easily respond by saying that this is the norm for executives in my position, and that would be correct except for one thing. All of the peers one would cite in making such a statement are as anonymous as you are.

Whether we are talking about athletes, actors or soft drinks, the greater the visibility the higher the value as a brand. In our society, what gets attention gets money. It is an unavoidable fact. The inclusion of a well-known actor in the cast of a movie can propel it out of the made-for-DVD realm and into a first-run theatrical release. Well-known actors sell tickets. When an executive sheds his or her anonymity to become known throughout an industry sector, their value goes
up; they, too, “sell tickets” in the form of increased interest in the company’s shares.

Don’t imagine that the visibilty factor is lost on the board of directors. Neither would it be lost on competing companies interested in having a well-positioned icon in their hierarchy. What was “book value” for a position becomes irrelevant as other, extremely important, dynamics come into play when you are well known.

The best advice I could give any executive is to think "Hollywood" where there are no generic jobs, only those that come because one has created a demand for one's specific identity.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and the business executive in transition

How can Arnold Schwarzenegger help you get a better job for your next engagement?

In the early 80s. I founded an organization that mimicked the old Hollywood studio system. We had a hundred actors and a dozen writers and directors at any given time. With this base, the company was like a guerilla army that could make movies effectively anytime the decision was taken. In addition to creating work for these creative individuals in our own projects, we undertook the strategic management of their individual careers so that they were also working in mainstream Hollywood productions. The first thing that happened when a new member came into the fold was to establish his or her 'signature'--that which only he or she could offer as a product.

The promoting of an actors 'signature' was vital since generic jobs are few and far between in Hollywood. It has always astonished me that men and women in the business world seldom recognize this aspect of developing a career and present themselves in a manner that classifies them as a utility player rather than a specialist.

An actor asked me if being defined by 'signature' would be limiting. I told him yes, in the same way that Arnold Schwarzenegger had been limited to multi-million dollar paydays playing Terminator-style roles.

If a business executive in transition understands how to publicly present his or her 'signature' to decision-makers (not hiring managers) in the sector, better job offers will be the result.

Personal Branding

What are its signature deliverables?

When one assesses the need for an application of brand management strategies, it requires the existence of a brand and a contemplation of its characteristics. What does the brand stand for? What are its signature deliverables? Most importantly, what can it offer to the marketplace that cannot be acquired elsewhere and which imbues the brand with exclusivity?

As one asks these questions of an executive who is wanting to aggrandize his or her personal brand, the perspective he or she offers based on years of accomplishment is usually the prime characteristic of the brand. That an executive’s wisdom might apply to a broad range of interest and act as a magnet for interesting offers from a wide horizon of companies, organizations and even governments is to be expected.

It is incumbent upon a brand to author and issue its own definition.

Every one of us has been branded to some degree by friends, associates and even people with only a passing acquaintance of us. It is incumbent upon a brand to author and issue its own definition. Otherwise, it may suffer from a seventieth percentile perception of it. At the seventieth percentile one sees a canvas and spilled paint; at the ninetieth one sees a Jackson Pollack rendering of a seasonal upstate New York. Both perceptions are accurate as far as they go. Through which filter do you want your brand perceived?

The strategic management of a personal brand can accomplish many things. The most notable is that it places control of its future in the hands of the brand.

As always, the media wants to hear from individuals who are affected by the decisions and actions of incumbents and candidates alike. The media is especially keen on hearing from articulate executive leaders who are able to express the concerns of business or industry sectors, whether he or she can argue in support of or against the implementation of an agenda. An executive's most powerful asset is his or her perspective born of experience and intellect and the ability to communicate extraordinary ideas to others.

The goal of personal branding is to maximize the yield from an individuals’s signature skills.

The goal of personal branding is to maximize the yield from an individuals’s signature skills. In the same manner that the large talent agencies of Hollywood create demand for their clients to make them independent of the hiring process and, further, too make of them a franchise, the strategy should be to make the client immune to the vicissitudes of any one corporate environment or the problems facing any particular sector of business.

Some will want to accelerate the process of their next engagement with enhanced terms and conditions. Others will look at how best to expand their personal franchise--to build out the brand, so to speak. Either is the very legitimate concern of personal branding.

Never show a resume to anyone

In the New York Times, Eric Dash wrote under the headline:

American Express Plans to Trim 7,000 Jobs to Save $1.8 Billion

In addition, a hiring freeze has been imposed, and the company said that it was suspending management-level raises next year.

This led me to think about the most common mistake made by those transitioning from one job to another.

Never show a resume to anyone

Realize it or not, the positioning statement of a resume is that something has gone wrong and now you need a job. Whether or not it is true, that is what the document proclaims. The trick is not to advertise your need, but rather, to resonate the need of a potential employer. The resume also reduces you to generic compensation--probably about half what you are worth at competitive market rates--but more on that later.

Conventional advice says that anyone wanting for a job, a new job, a career transition, a come-back or a "return from hiatus" needs to update their resume and circulate it where job openings have been announced. This advice, if followed diligently, will result in a 14-20 month job search--remember that Baby-Boomers are extending their careers at an age when our parents were withdrawing from the job market--that will likely result in a decision to retire or the acceptance of a position that is beneath one's station with a de-valued compensation.

The Internet has changed the dynamics of the game. Whereas the announcement of a job opening used to represent a need, today it no longer does. The same day a job announcement is posted, they receive some 300 thousand resumes off the Internet, the need evaporates and what begins immediately is a process of elimination that does not benefit an executive of standing--a job candidate, if you will--to take part in.

Almost all of the expert advice on how to get your next job was designed to keep you away from where you need to be

Almost all of the expert advice on how to get your next job was designed to keep you away from where you need to be. None of the advice put you across from a CEO--or the board if a CEO position was being sought. All of it put you in front of a lower echelon functionary whose job it was to get rid of you, fulfilling his or her role as a filtering agent reducing the numbers to a workable level. Why do they give you this kind of advice? It was given to you for their convenience and not to advance your agenda. They deal in the so-called Law of Large numbers and, from their perspective, crowd control is a must. The Internet has impacted the dynamics of our lives in many ways. This is one of them. Don't get caught out adhering to an old paradigm.

The strategy for the new paradigm is to understand that visibility and value are inextricably linked. Stop seeing yourself as an employee hoping to get hired and realize that you are a personal brand with deliverables that can impact on the bottom line of any company your move into. The only statistic that will indicate your viability and forecast the speed with which you obtain your next job under enhanced terms and conditions is this: The number CEOs in the sector you want to operate in who are aware of your signature skills and deliverables. Simple, right?

If you would like help, contact the author of this blog.