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Obsolete: Your Version of The Brand Called You

In the late 1990s, management consultant Tom Peters explained the importance of self-branding. Creating/promoting a brand was not only critical for PG and GM. You also had to be a brand. That piece of career advice went by the title The Brand Called You. That's even more essential currently.  The labor market has become binary: stars and all the rest. All the rest are expendable. Or not even needed in the first place. In my coaching I warn young people and career-changers not to enter a line of work in which they can't stand out, twinkling brightly. However, the growing wrench in the works on that is that too many of those looking for work - full-time, part-time, contract - are out there with an obsolete brand. I have reviewed a large number of LinkedIn profiles for those in communications. The skills they highlight are not in high demand. They include: Journalism Story-telling Content-creation SEO (search engine optimization) Graphic design. In demand in communications are: Cr...
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Paul, Weiss Rebuilds: Trump Dealmaking/Epstein Association Fading in Collective Memory Bank

  Throughout the Fortune 500, human talent has been losing its value. In professional services, such as law, the value and price of that talent keep escalating. The game in large law firms is to recruit, retain and motivate that talent. So, it's a sign that Paul, Weiss is emerging from the residue of the Trump dealmaking and distraction of the Epstein fallout. It has been acquiring some top talent.  Recently in the US the star hires range from Trent Bridges , energy M&A Houston, to Daniel Zygielbaum , tax matters in DC. With Paul, Weiss's bulging war chest there could be lots more big-name partner acquisitions. It's not a stretch to size up Big Law as binary: stars and all the rest. The latter are increasingly expendable.  Eventually large law firms could reconfigure from the pyramid, with tons of worker bees at the bottom, to the diamond. The structure will have only a handful at the bottom, seasoned midlevels in the middle and a small pool of partners at the top. T...
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The New Hoarders: Aging, and Too Scared to Spend Money

  "I keep saying to myself that once the balance in my checking account hits this number, I will start spending again. My business is doing fine and I am way beyond that number but I can't spend." That kind of problem is the one I am handling more and more as an intuitive coach/tarot-reader for those over-60.  Those who can't spend are the New Hoarders. As Yahoo Finance documents, they are terrified of outliving their money. And maybe with good reason. The Stanford Center on Longevity found that if you're 60 and healthy you could make it into your 90s. The odds of that are best for females but males also are getting more time on planet earth.  One consequence of hoarding money is killing off joy. Much of life is about looking forward to whatever. And much of that takes money. For example, the trip to visit the grandchildren, the addition on the house, developing a hobby like photography. Fear of homelessness hardens the inability to spend that money. The common ...
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Your Employer's Social Events: Anxiety, Boredom and More

Team-building retreats, happy hours, celebration lunches, client dinners, softball games and more. Participating in those social events tend to be expected for full-time employees. Most of you experience anxiety being around the higher-ups, boredom chatting with co-workers/subordinates and fear of consuming too much alcohol in order to feel comfortable.  Rarely, though, are they mandatory. However, your absence can be noted.  And they were for employee Lionel Lim at accounting firm ClintonLarsonAllen. In his lawsuit Lim v ClintonLarsonAllen  the associate contends he was terminated for non-attendance. In this era when anxiety is the new common cold his reason for skipping the jolly good times might resonate. Bloomberg Law reports: "Lionel Lim accused CLA of showing a 'willful' and 'reckless disregard' for his well-being by not exempting him from non-mandatory events like happy hours after he reported suffering from social anxiety ..." Yes, Lim went by the boo...
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Bypassing Reputation Rehab: The Emerging Kathy Ruemmler Model

  Remember the traditional thinking about reputation. It goes all the way back to Shakespeare's "Othello" about the loss of one's good name is to lose everything. More recently, that is in the late 1990s, management consultant Tom Peters formalized that with the concept of "personal branding." And there we have been, that is, reputation is almost everything. An entire sector of services sprung up to take care of hits to the personal branding. Terakeet even specialized in the digital piece. But that whole continuum, from the critical importance of reputation to the need to hire a fixer, might be collapsing. Reputation may not be all that important. And fixes might not be all that effective.  The new emerging model of a career in apparent peril might be emerging with the situation of Goldman Sachs top lawyer Kathy Ruemmler. As everyone knows she was quite a Friend of Jeffrey (Epstein), even receiving pricey gifts. Eventually she announced resigning from Go...
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Ruemmler to Stay at Goldman Sachs: Will Heat Cool for Other Friends of Jeffrey?

Obviously. the world is changing. There's a shift away from an obsession about the amazing con connector Jeffrey Epstein to stock markets, AI advancing beyond human control and wars.  So, no surprise, Goldman Sachs top lawyer, close friend of Jeffrey Kathy Ruemmler will continue with her job there. At the request of the CEO David Solomon she has agreed to stay. That was after resigning, with her last day scheduled for the end of June. Therefore, it's not a stretch to anticipate that others sidelined by the Epstein relationship could also re-enter from the darkness. They range from Paul, Weiss partner Brad Karp to economist Larry Summers. A lot depends on how they approach re-entry. There are myriad precedents for that. For instance, Wall Streeter Mike Milken put together a new identity as a philanthropist after a stay in prison. Bill Clinton transcended the intern fallout and more. Robert Downey Jr. made it back from the abyss of drug use.  In coaching I guide clients on seco...
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Listen Up, US Law Firms: Shift in UK for More In-House DIY

  Best practices can quickly go global.  In the UK, found a survey by the region's legal tabloid RollonFriday , a best practice gaining traction is for in-house to go the DIY route. They are keeping more assignments for themselves instead of farming them to outside law firms. The enabler? AI. Also driving the trend is the cost-efficiency mandate, just as in the US RollonFriday reports that there is a strategic push in UK business to not outsource. However, there are exceptions: "AI won't completely replace private practice ... as external advisors 'will remain important for larger transactions or disputes. But routine work may increasingly stay in-house 'in a world where passable redlines for more basic work can be produced at the click of a button'". In addition, hiring freezes in the UK limit manpower in-house. That's another factor in generating some outsourcing of assignments, Those exceptions are enough for an outside law firm in the UK Quinn E...
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