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304: Upgrade your personal brand; Manage a career pivot; Build your network - Derede McAlpin

On Air with Ella - podcast episode 304

derede mcalpin is on air with Ella

Listen here (and everywhere you get podcasts):


How to manage a career or lifestyle pivot...

Maybe you want to make a "2nd-half career transition," or perhaps you're re-entering the workforce after an extended pause...or maybe you just want to up level your life in some way? Ella welcomes Derede McAlpin, known to many as the "Crisis Concierge." Derede helps individuals, companies, and organizations navigate difficult challenges while also providing advice on reputation protection. Tune in to hear Derede's unique insights and strategies for managing crises effectively, for managing a career pivot, building a high quality network, and tips for personal and professional growth no matter what your objective.


We discuss:

  • Managing your personal brand and authenticity

  • Crisis management and reputation protection

  • Your personal brand and social media

  • Valuing personal connection over online outrage

  • Protecting kids' privacy on social media

  • The best way to make a career or life pivot

  • Seeking constructive feedback for personal and professional growth

  • The importance of upskilling and networking in career transition

  • The 5-step process to reinventing yourself in your career


It's important that when you talk about determining your 'North Star,' that you're not just talking about your skills and your expertise and your capabilities, but you're asking,'What are my values?'

The Crisis Concierge's "Five Pillar Action Plan"

1. Determine your North Star objectives - What matters most? Get clarity on your Values/Capabilities/Expertise


2. Conduct a 360 assessment - Eliminate your blind-side: look for teachable moments, essential pivots/actionable insights [see mine below]


3. Develop a plan of action

  • Be intentional/Write it down/Get a coach or accountability partner;

  • Identify emerging trends;

  • Join an association;

  • Attend in person/virtual events;

  • Follow-up with people you meet (handwritten thank you notes go a loooong way);

  • Review job descriptions (identify key words/critical skills);

  • Request informational interviews;

  • Volunteer!

    • Need a boost? Do something nice for someone else that may need a boost - underpaid workers; the elderly; custodial workers; the 'visible invisibles.'.... "Spontaneous joy for others will bring you joy personally."

4. Execute your plan with clear and definable milestones to gauge progress and stay on track


5. Review plan/Solicit feedback/Refine as appropriate



3 Key Take Aways

  • Feedback is essential for personal growth: Receiving feedback can be a game-changer. It helps us understand how we show up in the world and gives us a different perspective on ourselves. Constructive feedback, although sometimes difficult to hear, is invaluable in helping us improve and become better versions of ourselves.

  • The power of human connection: "The power of a one on one, the power of empathy and active listening is, I think, such a force. And it pains me when people choose outrage over connection."

  • By aligning our purpose, superpowers, and values, we can make successful pivots and find fulfillment in our personal and professional paths.


360 Feedback Survey Template

You can hire someone to do this and you can get quite detailed, or you can do what I did and keep is short and simple. I created a google form with the below questions and sent the form out with promises of anonymity and a request for candid feedback. The results we're hugely helpful for me. I asked:

  • In working with me, what would you say are my greatest strengths?

  • What area(s) would I benefit most from improving?

  • START/STOP/CONTINUE: What is one thing I should start doing? stop doing? continue doing? [Optional add on questions]

  • What are 4 words or phrases you would use to describe me?


About Derede McAlpin

Derede McAlpin is the founder and CEO of Mitchell + Minter, a consultancy specializing in crisis management; litigation communications; executive misconduct investigations; sports and entertainment; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); and discreet crisis concierge services. Specializing in getting clients into and out of the news (but mainly out), she has served as a trusted advisor to CEOs, attorneys, boards of directors, C-suite executives, sports organizations, and public figures facing crisis and litigation issues, including civil/criminal trials, race-related controversies, regulatory matters, sexual misconduct allegations, whistleblower and financial crime cases, and U.S. Department of Justice investigations, among others.


Derede received her Juris Doctor degree from Temple University Beasley School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in communications from Howard University. She also studied international law in Rome, Italy, and received leadership training at the Yale University executive education program in book and magazine publishing.


IG: @crisisconcierge and @deredes_artgallery


 

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xxoo Ella






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