Women of Innovation and Personal Branding

Posted by Rahna on January 29, 2009 under Personal Branding | Be the First to Comment

I had the extreme honor of cheering on one of my Executive Coaching clients as she was announced as a finalist in the CT Women of Innovation Awards ceremony at the elegant Aqua Turf Club this evening.  She was one of a roomful of innovators, women who are brains surgeons or scientists working on stem cell research, or bone marrow research.  These were people working on military helicopter designs–all sorts of technical fields, and I’m awed by what people can do.  From this evening, it occurs to me that one person really can make a difference.

 

Now I was with 500 people, all making a difference in their field, in their industry, in their lives day after day pushing projects through, celebrating triumph, dealing with frustration, dealing with setbacks and then trying to figure another way around. 

 

I act as marketing coach to people from so many different fields to help then strengthen their own personal brands, and one thing that I have found is that all of the people that I work with are already wonderful, brilliant, fantastic….They just don’t know it yet.  It’s locked deep inside.  Lack of self-esteem is hiding all the great that they can do (and are doing) in their fields.

 

Everyone thinks they lead ordinary lives, doing not much of interest and certainly nothing of significance.  But think about that.  These researchers conduct test after test, looking for the slightest nuance that might make medical history.  I’ll bet there are days when it feels like they are sitting there watching the paint dry.   But in the mundane, the ordinary, the boring, innovation does come. 

 

The same can apply to you.   

 

As I sat in this room of neurosurgeons and rocket scientists (literally!), I was reminded again that everyone has something interesting and unique to contribute in their own organizations.  If we could innovate, just in our own little worlds, even within the scope of the work that we do, we could change the world.  Maybe you need to innovate within your school or your children’s school.  Maybe you need to innovate within your accounting department.  It doesn’t matter.  Just innovate.  Be curious.  Don’t accept the status quo.

 

If you want to find out more about these extraordinary Women of Innovation, check it out by following the link.