Engineering Management Institute

Carl Friesen

Building Your Personal Brand as a Problem Solver: The Right Message at the Right Time

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This is a guest blog by Carl Friesen

problem solverBeing recognized as a problem solver in your organization, profession, or industry can bring big rewards. These include distinguishing yourself from people who just focus on performing a task. As a result, you can earn more respect from the people you work with. You have more control over the work you do, who you do it for, and how much you’re paid.

But to gain that reputation as a problem solver, you’ll need to gain buy-in for your proposed solutions from the people you work with. To do that, you need to communicate your ideas in terms understandable to those you need to convince. This applies whether you’re trying to “sell” your idea to one person — your supervisor — or convince thousands by writing an article for a national publication.

problem solver

Just like living beings, ideas have a lifespan, and to get buy-in you need to work with that fact.

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Mastering the 4 Ways to Show Thought Leadership on LinkedIn

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This is a guest blog by Carl Friesen

LinkedInImagine your ideal client, employer, or business partner has heard about you and wants to learn more. Let’s give this person a name — we’ll call her “Aisha.” She’s someone you want to impress, as she could be the key to your brighter future.

So if she’s interested in learning more about you, how will she do it? Aisha will likely begin by going online, and what will likely show up first about you is your LinkedIn profile.

So ask yourself: Would Aisha be impressed with what she finds there? Will she be reassured that you’re a recognized expert in your field, someone worth her time?

One of the most important ways to show your expertise, so Aisha will take the next step of reaching out to you, is through publishing thought leadership content on your LinkedIn profile.

LinkedIn

It could be content about a new development in your field, such as a new law, regulation, or disruptive technology. Maybe it’s a trend you’ve seen. Or it could be a case study of a project you’ve worked on.

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Four Ways To Move Your Career Ahead Through LinkedIn

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This is a guest blog by Carl Friesen

I’ve always been a behind-the-scenes kind of person, pleased to be part of an ongoing effort, maybe essential to it, just … quietly. Many of the engineers I work with are like that too — particularly the geotechnical people, whose work is literally buried underground.

So when all this talk about “thought leadership” started bubbling up, as in, “You’ve got to generate thought leadership content to move your career ahead,” I got uncomfortable.

But I’ve found that if I change my frame of reference, it’s easier. I now think of it as being helpful — providing insights that can be useful for someone else. That works for engineers too, because many of them are justifiably proud of their skills, and like to help others.

One of the best ways to build your career, and to help others, is to publish useful content on LinkedIn. It shows that you have contributions to make to your profession, and that you can be the go-to person for your field of specialization.

This is likely to get you noticed by someone looking to hire a professional with your skill set, a prospective client, or a colleague wondering if they should invite you in on a startup they’re planning.

You can learn more about how to work effectively on LinkedIn in the webinar I’ll be leading on EMI on January 12, 2021. One of the topics I’ll cover is how to host content on the platform. But in the meantime, here are four types of “helpful” content:

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How Public Speaking Changed My Career Direction (and Can Change Yours Too)

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This is a guest blog by Carl Friesen

Public Speaking

How can one speech transform your life? If you’re the one giving it, on the right topic, and to the right audience, it can. That’s what it was for me. In 1999, I jumped out of the best job I’d ever had to fulfill my goal of having my own business before I turned 40.  Now my attention turned to building a base of clients for my business. I liked the idea of public speaking, as I’d heard it’s a great way to build personal rapport with people who might become my clients. 

As a marketing professional seeking to work with engineering firms, I knew that my best audience would be marketing staff. So, I found an organization of marketing people and booked myself as a speaker. Doing that speech involved flying halfway across Canada, from Toronto to Vancouver.  

I picked a topic for my speech to serve two purposes. One was meeting the informational needs of my audience — how they could build the professional profile of their firm’s members. The other purpose was to show that I was someone who could get results for them, without it being a sales pitch. 

At the end of the speech, two people from different firms came up and introduced themselves. They both became clients. One was a firm that I’d never heard of before, but it turned out to be a global environmental and geotechnical firm that has been my core client ever since. Many of the people I’ve worked with at this firm continued to work with me when they left for other jobs, so my business grows. 

That’s why I say that one speech in Vancouver transformed my life. 

Five Key Steps for Success as a Speaker 

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TECC 118: How Engineers and Engineering Firms can Build Thought Leadership through Public Speaking

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How Engineers and Engineering Firms can Build Thought Leadership through Public Speaking

In this episode, Anthony Knutson, PE interviews Carl Friesen, a professional who likes helping engineering professionals and firms build their profile as thought-leaders.  Friesen talks specifically about how to build your expertise and thought leadership through public speaking.

Engineering Success quotes:

public speaking

public speakingHere are the key points:

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