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The Career Distinction Workbook
William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson

www.careerdistinction.com

www.reachcc.com

2007. Reach Communications Consulting, Inc (Reach). All rights reserved. No part of
this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means, including
information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from Reach. The
Reach logo, where branding gets personal, and 360Reach are trademarks of Reach. All
other marks are owned by their respective companies.

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Table of Contents
page

Using the Career Distinction Workbook 5

Vision 6

Purpose 7

Goals 8

Values 11

Passions 15

Brand Attributes 16

Strengths 18

Motivated Skills 19

Describing Your Competitors or Peers 20

Putting it Together 22

Describing Your Target Audience 23

Building Your Brand Profile 25

Career Marketing Tools Checklist 27

Making On-Brand Career Decisions 28

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Communications Skills 29

Personal Brand Communications Planning 31

Online Identity 33

Observing Your Brand Environment 36

Defining Your Brand Identity System 38

Connecting Members of Your Network 40

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Using the Career Distinction Workbook

Congratulations on taking a major step towards ensuring a career

filled with success and personal fulfillment!
As you read Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand
(Wiley, June 2007), youll find references to exercises that you can
explore in this companion workbook. This workbook has been
designed to help you put the learning from the book into action.
Remember to sign up for complimentary weekly Career
Distinction Tips at www.careerdistinction.com/tips. They enable you
to keep your career top of mindputting Principle #3 of Career
Distinction into regular practice.
These exercises are by no means the only exercises that can
support you through the process. We have included in this workbook
those exercises that have proved most useful to our professional
clients. If you have recently taken some quantitative assessments
through a career coach or know of other exercises or activities that
work for you, by all means, incorporate them as well. If you are a
member of the Reach Branding Club, you will see that there are other
exercises from which you can select that will help you as you build a
career that few imagine and even fewer attain.
We wish you the highest level of Career Distinction. Enjoy!

-William and Kirsten

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STEP 1. EXTRACTUNEARTH YOUR UNIQUE
PROMISE OF VALUE

Chapter 4: Know Yourself to Grow Yourself

Because the exercises in the Extract phase of our 1-2-3 Success!
personal branding process encourage you to dig deeply into some
personal themes, some of them may seem a little touchy-feely. We
urge you to keep an open mind and to complete the exercises over a
period of time (or repeat them a few times) to get comfortable with
the material. This is not a linear process. If you feel stuck while
completing one exercise, move on to another. Youll want to finalize
your work in the Extract phase, however, before moving on to
Express or Exude. Youll find a detailed explanation of each phase in
our personal branding process in Career Distinction.

Defining Your Vision

Think about one world problem you would like to see solved or one
area of life that you want to see transformed or improved. This is
your vision. Write it below.

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Defining Your Purpose

Now, imagine yourself at your own funeral. You are hovering above
the room and can hear what people are saying about you. What are
they saying about what you accomplished, how you touched their
lives, how you made a difference to them and to the world? Their
comments suggest your purpose. Write what you are hearing below.

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The Mother of all Goals Exercises

Step 1
Open up either a Microsoft Word or Excel document, and just go
crazy typing in every goal you have for your career or business (one
goal per line). You might type in items like I will be the head of our
IT department, or I will take an assignment in the New York
office. Type every single goal that you can think of into your
document. And when you think youve got them all out of your head,
go back and add some more, because we guarantee you that there are
some more in there. When you are done, you will have a long list that
details everything you want to accomplish in your career.

Step 2
Go back to your list, and to the left of every goal, put a 1, 2 or 3.
Mark an item with a 1 if its a goal you would like to accomplish in
the next year, a 2 for those you would like to accomplish in two to
five years, and a 3 next to every long-term goal (greater than 5
years).

Step 3
Sort the list (this why you do this exercise in Word or Excel). Youll
end up with all the 1s together, all the 2s together, and all the 3s
together. Then within each of the three subgroups, ask yourself, is
this one more important than this one, is this one more important
then this one, and so on. Then for each of the three categories, put

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them in priority order with the most important goals first. What you
will end up with is a complete list in chronological and prioritized
order.

Step 4
There are two things that you do with this. First, look at the links
among various goalsmilestones that together lead to achievement
of a major goal. And second, you will find that by prioritizing them,
you will see what is really important and will be able to focus your
energies instead of fracturing your efforts on too many disparate
goals.

Step 5
After looking at the list:

1. Delete any goals that are not really important.

2. Consider adding goals or refining ones that youve
documented.

Step 6
Look over your complete list of goals and identify the most logical
next step in your career that will help you along the path toward your
ultimate goal. Then, describe the position in great detail.

Use the following to get clarity on the position(s) you are considering.

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Fill in the blank or circle the items that describe your ideal position:

Company size (by number of employees or revenue):

Employees:

Revenue:

Circle One:
Small
Medium
Large

Type of role/ job titles:

Location(s)

________________ _______________ _______________

Can you list the companies you are targeting by name?

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Understanding Your Values
In the space below, document your top five values (the list on the
following pages will help). These are your guiding principles. Refer
to Identifying Your Values and Passions on page 40 of Career
Distinction to learn more about the roles of values and passions in
your career.

1. ______________________________
2. ______________________________
3. ______________________________
4. ______________________________
5. ______________________________

Now that you have identified your top five values, take a look at your
current companys values and see the connection and intersection of
those values. How can you become known for demonstrating these
values?

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As you determine your key values, here are some to consider; but
dont limit yourself to just this list. As you go through the list,
eliminate those values that dont really resonate with you. Then from
the remaining values select the five that are the most important to
you.

Abundance Calmness Conviction

Accessibility Camaraderie Cooperation
Accomplishment Care Courage
Accuracy Carefulness Creativity
Achievement Celebrity Credibility
Adaptability Challenge Curiosity
Adventure Charity Daring
Affection Cheerfulness Decisiveness
Affluence Clarity Dependability
Aggression Cleanliness Depth
Agility Cleverness Desire
Alertness Comfort Determination
Altruism Commitment Devotion
Ambition Compassion Dignity
Amusement Completion Diligence
Assertiveness Concentration Directness
Attractiveness Confidence Discipline
Awareness Conformity Discovery
Balance Connection Discretion
Beauty Consistency Diversity
Being the best Contentment Drive
Belonging Continuity Duty
Bravery Control Dynamism

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Education Frugality Leadership
Efficiency Fun Learning
Elegance Generosity Logic
Empathy Grace Love
Encouragement Gratitude Loyalty
Endurance Growth Making a -
Energy Happiness difference
Entertainment Harmony Mastery
Enthusiasm Health Maturity
Excellence Heroism Mindfulness
Excitement Honesty Modesty
Experience Honor Motivation
Expertise Hopefulness Mystery
Extravagance Humor Obedience
Extroversion Imagination Open-
Exuberance Impact mindedness
Fairness Independence Optimism
Faith Ingenuity Order
Fame Inspiration Organization
Family Integrity Originality
Fascination Intelligence Passion
Fashion Intensity Peace
Fearlessness Intimacy Perfection
Fidelity Introversion Perseverance
Financial- Intuition Persistence
independence Inventiveness Persuasiveness
Fitness Investing Philanthropy
Flexibility Joy Piety
Focus Justice Playfulness
Freedom Kindness Pleasure
Friendliness Knowledge Popularity

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Potency Sacrifice Surprise
Power Satisfaction Sympathy
Practicality Security Teamwork
Pragmatism Self-control Timeliness
Precision Sensitivity Traditionalism
Preparedness Sensuality Tranquility
Privacy Serenity Truth
Pro-activity Sexuality Understanding
Professionalism Sharing Uniqueness
Prosperity Significance Usefulness
Punctuality Silence Variety
Purity Silliness Vigor
Realism Simplicity Virtue
Recognition Sincerity Vision
Recreation Solitude Vitality
Relaxation Sophistication Wealth
Reliability Speed Winning
Religion Spirituality Wisdom
Resilience Spontaneity Wit
Resolution Stability Youthfulness
Resourcefulness Strength Zeal
Respect Structure ____________
Rest Success ____________
Restraint Support __________

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Unearthing Your Passions

In the space below, document your top five passions. These are
activities, interests or conversational topics that fascinate or excite
you and make you feel energized. Your passions make you get out of
bed at 6:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning or get you talking
enthusiastically with other people.

1. ______________________________
2. ______________________________
3. ______________________________
4. ______________________________
5. ______________________________

Your top values and passions will also become important later, when
you work on your personal brand communications plan in Step 2
Express (page 79).
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Chapter 5: Remember, Its What They Think That

Counts

Brand Attributes
Use the 360Reach Personal Brand Assessment that comes with
your purchased copy of Career Distinction to determine your brand
attributes. You can find it at:
http://www.careerdistinction.com/360Reach

Remember, you have 15 days of unlimited use of the assessment, so

take advantage of this opportunity to poll those around you to
understand their perceptions. Print our your summary before your
15-day subscription expires. You will not have access to the
data after 15 days.

Because this is a complimentary subscription, there is limited

customer support. Get answers to your questions at
http://www.careerdistinction.com/360Reach/faq.html

Once you have completed the assessment, you can refer to your
printed summary. To perform an analysis of the data and glean the
greatest insights from the feedback you received, refer to the ebook:

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The Complete 360View Making the Most of Your 360Reach Results
available for $14.95 at:
http://www.careerdistinction.com/360Reach/360view.html
(If you are a Reach Branding Club Job Search Edition member, this
PDF file is downloadable from your member area when you login to
http://ww.reachbrandingclub.com.)

If you need more than 15 days to complete your 360Reach

assessment, you may purchase a 30-day extension.

After completing the assessment, document what you learned below:

My top five personal brand attributes are:

1. ______________________________
2. ______________________________
3. ______________________________
4. ______________________________
5. ______________________________

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My Strengths
Analyze your 360Reach results to determine your strengths.
Document them here.

1. ______________________________
2. ______________________________
3. ______________________________
4. ______________________________
5. ______________________________

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Motivated Skills Exercise

This exercise also gives you great content for your resume and other career
marketing materials.

Make a list of the greatest personal successes of your careerit

doesnt matter whether or not you were compensated for these
endeavors. Think about the times when you were outstanding and
truly enjoying your work (hint: it didnt feel like work). Choose your
three to five favorites, and write challenge/action/results stories in
terms of the results or benefits you delivered. Document what made
you so successfulthese are your motivated skills.

Example:

Pizza Hut
Challenge: Make cinema commercial for less than $5,000 to improve
sales in restaurants near movie theaters.
Actions: Reviewed all existing footage from several countries, and
edited together with "mock" Action Movie soundtrack and witty
credits.
Results: Budget and sales goals achieved.

Motivated Skills Used: experimenting, creative thinking, taking

calculated risks, collaborating

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Chapter 6. Define Your Brand Community

Refer to Figure 6.1 on page 59 of Career Distinction.

Describing Your Competitors or Peers - Commonality

Think about your competitors or peersactual and potential. Can

you identify them by name? By category? What do they all have in
common? What makes you different from your competitors?

Consistency with Peers

To know what makes you different, it is often valuable to identify

what you have in common with your peers. List below the items that
you share with your peers or those who seek the same career
objective. These items can include credentials, attributes, skills, etc.
For example, you might list items like: B.S. Marketing, solid
communications skills, and creativity.

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Describing Your Competitors or Peers - Differentiation

Now, list below the items that make you stand out from others who
are seeking the same position as you. These items can include
credentials, attributes, skills, etc. For example, you might list items
like: Chair the Committee at my local Boys and Girls Club, sarcastic
wit, certificate in international business.

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Putting it Together

Now think about your ideal job and determine which of the items
you identified in the exercises above (attributes, skills, and
differentiation) will be helpful in reaching your goal. Take a look at
the lists above and complete the following:

Identify those items that are absolutely essential for achieving

your ultimate career goal.
Think about how you can use these differentiating attributes
to achieve your goals (the job you seek and your longer-term
goals).
Ask yourself how you can inject more of your strengths, skills
and differentiating attributes into what you do now.
Ask yourself whats missing. Are there brand attributes or
skills that are critical to success that you need to have? If so,
list them below:

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Describing Your Target Audience

Take a few minutes to think about your target audience. If your

career goal is to make it to CEO of your current company, your
target audience will include many people that you know by name. If
you are looking for a new job right now in a new company, industry
or location, you should be able to describe your target audience by
demographics and psychographics. You want to be crystal clear about
the people who need to know about you!

Fill in as much information as you can about your target audience in

the space provided below.

Demographics:

Age range

Gender

Career/job position/title(s)

Income

Location/geography

Education

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Psychographics:

What do they do in their spare time?

What magazines or newsletters do they read?

What movies or TV shows do they watch?

What websites or portals do they visit for information?

What do they do for vacation?

What are their professional activities outside of work?

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Chapter 7: Tell Your Brand Story

Building Your Brand Profile

Write your personal brand statement (a brief description of your

promise of value) in the space provided below. This should be a well-
worded description of what you do, for whom, how, and what makes
you unique. Try to keep it to one sentence. Refer to examples on
page 71 of Career Distinction.

You can elaborate on your brand statement by completing your

brand profile below. But it is invaluable to be able to communicate
your essence in a sentence. Now, review your brand statement against
the PBS Checklist on page 76 of Career Distinction.

My PBS:

Concisely summarize your vision, purpose, values, etc. in the spaces

provided below.

Vision:

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Purpose:

Values:

Passions:

Personal Attributes:

Finally, to find another way of expressing what you strongly believe,

think of your favorite quotation (not created by you) and write it
below:

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STEP 2: EXPRESSCOMMUNICATE YOUR BRAND TO
YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

Chapter 8: Create Your Career Marketing Tools

Completing Your Career Marketing Tools Checklist

Heres a checklist that will help you as you develop your career-
marketing tools.

Bio written and up-to-date (See bio advice on page 83 of Career

Distinction).

Resume up-to-date date (See resume advice on page 87 of Career

Distinction).

Resume starts with Summary of Qualifications (See resume

advice on page 87 of Career Distinction).

Customized Cover letter template ready to go (See cover

advice on page 94 of Career Distinction).

All documents communicate my personal brand and

differentiation.

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Making On-Brand Career Decisions

After interviewing for several positions, you will need to determine

which job is going to meet your criteria and move you toward your
ultimate career goal.

Complete this checklist for each opportunity you are considering:

The company is the kind of organization in which I can be

successful.

The position fits all/most of the ideal characteristics I described

above as the ideal.

I will have an opportunity to use what I am passionate about in

this new role.

This position will allow me to fulfill my purpose in support of

my vision.

The companys values are consistent with my mine.

This role is a logical next step toward my ultimate career goal.

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Chapter 9: Express Yourself

Communications Skills Self-Evaluation

One thing all strong brands have in common is that they are great
communicators. Assess your communications skills in the following
areas with 5 being the strongest and 1 needing most
improvement. Although branding is about using your strengths to
stand out, all strong brands are excellent at communicating. 62% of
CEOs say it was their communications skills that got them to the top
spot.

Writing 1 2 3 4 5

Email 1 2 3 4 5

Presentation 1 2 3 4 5

Telephone 1 2 3 4 5

In-person 1 2 3 4 5

Now, looking at the communications skills in which you excel, think

about creative ways you can increase your visibility. Refer to the story
on page 108 of Career Distinction.

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Refining Your Communications Skills

Review your responses to the above. Below, list three ways youre
going to improve your communications skills in the areas that you
identified need improvement. For instance, you may want to take a
writing class, join Toastmasters (the international public-speaking
training organization), or take advantage of some other resource to
hone your skills. Record your ideas:

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Personal Brand Communications Planning

List the communications vehicles on the communications wheel

above that are right for you and that would be effective for reaching
your target audience. Then, document the overarching content theme
that you will communicate through these vehicles. Content themes are
the key messages you want to get across. They sit at the center of
your communications wheel and can be applied to all of the
communications vehicles you have identified.

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Write your comprehensive annual communications plan (organized
by month) and gauge its effectiveness with the checklist on page 112
of Career Distinction. To ensure that you implement your plan,
schedule daily activities in your to-do list.

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Chapter 10: Assess Your Online Identity

Google yourself and take the Online Identity Quiz at:

www.careerdistinction.com/onlineid/

Look at the online identity matrix on page 121 (Figure 10.1) of Career
Distinction and read the descriptions on page 124. Then circle where
you currently are on the scale:

Digitally Disguised

Digitally Dissed

Digitally Disastrous

Digitally Dabbling

Digitally Distinct

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Chapter 11: Build Your Brand in Bits and Bytes

Online Brand Building Checklist

Ive performed a baseline Google assessment to determine my

online identity.

Ive registered my domain name e.g., www.williamarruda.com.

I have an up-to-date profile on zoominfo.com, linkedin.com,

ecademy.com, and other online profile and social networking

sites.

I have my own niche blog and/or website.

I have the volume of Google results that is appropriate for my

level (Refer to Table 10.1 on page 123 of Career Distinction).

My online search results are relevant for what I want to be

(Refer to Table 10.2 on page 123).

My online communications plan is in place.

Ive sourced the appropriate professionals (Find tips for this on

page 137).

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Ive found relevant places to post comments/advice and publish

articles.

Im committed to one online identity-building activity at least

every other week.

I Google myself every Monday morning.

Three things that I will do to improve my online identity in the next

two weeks:

1.

2.

3.

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STEP THREE: EXUDEMANAGE YOUR BRAND
ENVIRONMENT

Chapter 12: Be On-Brand in All That You Do

Observing Your Brand Environment

For the next two weeks, observe everything you do, every tool you
use, every article of clothing you wear. For example, do you use a
Palm Pilot or other PDA, a printed calendar, a handwritten to-do list?
Do you carry a briefcase? Your actions, tools, clothing, and office
space all constitute your brand environment. In the space below, list all
the items that make up your brand environment.

Now, for each item in your list, identify whether that item is on-
brand or off-brand, and explain why.

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Finally, in the space below, write the changes you need to make to
your brand environment so that you can be more consistently on-
brand.

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Chapter 13: Get a Visual Identity

Defining Your Brand Identity System

Work with a designer to develop the visual vocabulary for your

brand. This vocabulary is used to describe your brand attributes and
differentiation. For some communications, you will be required to
follow your corporate identity guidelines. But for other activities,
such as presentations to professional associations, your blog, articles
you publish, etc. you will want to have your own identity system that
reflects your unique promise of value. When used consistently, it will
help those around you recognize you. Document below the items
that make up your unique brand identity system.

Color(s):

Based on the table on page 161 , circle the color that best
represents your brand

Font(s):

Refer to the Figure 13.1 on page 162 to select the font(s) that
best represents your brand. Also, search for fonts in

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Microsoft Word and printed publications, and share your
preferences with your designer.

Now think about the other elements that are appropriate for
your brand identity system. Refer to the examples on pages
163170 of Career Distinction.

Images:

Logo:

Textures:

Audio/music:

Tagline:

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Chapter 14: Increase Your Career Karma

Connecting Members of Your Network

Connecting members of your network with each other is also
important. Often, a meeting of two powerful brands can create
tremendous value. Review the names of your inner-circle network
members and think about the value that might emerge if you were to
connect certain members with other members. Draw lines among
these network members. Design a plan to connect them with each
other. Write your ideas below, including dates by which you intend to
implement your plan.

Also check out www.jibberjobber.coma cool online tool for

organizing your network and your career-management efforts.

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Additional Resources and Special Offers

Reach Branding Club Job Search Edition

When youve purchased Career Distinction, you can join the club for
half price. This innovative brand development and social networking
site will help you accelerate your career success. The benefits of this
annual membership include:

Networking with other like-minded club members

Connecting with career coaches, executive recruiters, and
hiring managers
Keeping the branding process top-of-mind with fun, inspiring
on-demand presentations, exercises, and quizzes
A free copy of the 360View ebook and an interactive
presentation that will help you analyze your 360Reach results
Access to the recordings of our monthly teleseminars with
top experts and authors

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