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Click here to add this blog to your feed and you will not miss out on any story 3E Story Blogathon Post #11 by Peter Sterlacci For Day 11 of the 3E Story Blogathon, Japan's Personal Branding Pioneer & game changer, Peter Sterlacci begins with the power of storytelling and how storytelling is different from elevator pitch. He then shares his personal mission through a video. So, what's your Story?  Just recently I was at a networking event and someone approached me and asked, "So, what's your story?" I was expecting the standard, "So where you you work?" or "So what do you do?". But I now had the opportunity to communicate my story, my character, my why! How exciting! For many of us this question is likely to catch us off guard and yet nowadays it is our story that has the remarkable power to define who we are and how we are uniquely different from everyone else.  Nobody has the same story. We mi...

 Japan and India-Personal Branding from Two Angles Peter Sterlacci-The Japanese Angle The Secret to Understanding the Japanese Personal Brand  When I was first introduced to personal branding I learned two things. First, everyone has a personal brand whether we realize it or not. Second, our brands are based on how others perceive us or as William Arruda says, they are "held in the hearts and minds of others." I also discovered that strong brands are based in authenticity and only by being true and genuine can we truly differentiate ourselves and deliver on our unique promise of value.  The Outer and Inner Self in Japan  Authentic, true, and genuine. While these words are at the core of any personal branding process they present a very interesting challenge in accurately understanding personal brands in Japan.  For the Japanese, there are two mindsets called 'tatemae' (建前) and ' honne' (本音).  Tatemae, literally meanin...

Japan and India- Two Angles Peter Sterlacci-View from Japan 4 Driving Tips to be a Thought Leader It should be no surprise that 'personal branding' is quickly becoming a household term. The current global economy combined with the huge role social media plays in our daily lives demands that each one of us considers how we can stand out amongst all others who offer similar skills, talents, and backgrounds.  Of course our credentials still have value as they are the table-stakes that anyone must have for a specific job or position. But, it is our character, our personal brand that ultimately gets us recognized.  One of the ways we demonstrate our personal brand is through thought-leadership. Our resume might tout our expertise but in the day of Web 2.0 people are looking online for how we communicate our expertise, knowledge, and brand message.  Being a 'Driver' not just a 'Passenger' So how do you use your personal brand to drive discussi...

Japan and India- Two Angles Blogging Japanese Style   While the Japanese may have been slower at embracing social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn, they quickly jumped on board to blogging when it became popular in the country from 2002.  Since then, Japanese have slightly edged out English in becoming the dominant language of the blogosphere.  Pretty amazing considering that English speakers worldwide outnumber Japanese speakers by over 5 to 1.  Here are some interesting factoids about blogging in the Land of the Rising Sun. • While 40% of English-language bloggers blog to raise their visibility as thought-leaders, only 5% of Japanese bloggers are motivated by the same reason. • Americans blog to stand out, make a point, or complain. Japanese blog to fit in and keep a record of their thoughts.  • Compared with Americans, Japanese write at less length but write much more often. • Japanese are 5 times as likely as Americans, t...

Japan and India-Personal Branding from Two Angles Peter Sterlacci from Japan How Earthquakes and Role Models are Influencing Personal Branding in Japan? In past decades young Japanese have focused their career efforts on a 'job for life' at a big company.  After all, life-time employment has been a virtual mainstay in Japanese business culture for years. However, given the current economic factors in Japan recent university graduates have had to change their mind-set to realize that jobs with the traditional lifetime employment "guarantee" are disappearing.  Interestingly though, something beyond this economic reality is having an even more profound impact on this mind-set change -- specifically the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in March of 2011.   In the wake of the disaster last March, more and more Japanese are questioning their traditional cultural values of not taking risk, maintaining harmony, and not standing-out.  The aftermath of a ...

Japan and India; Personal Branding across Two Cultures Peter Sterlacci from Japan Is Japan the Twitter Nation? Last year I read an article calling Japan "The Twitter Nation". Recent data clearly supports this. The number of Japanese internet users who tweet is close to 17% surpassing Americans at about 10%. Twitter also estimates that Japanese write nearly 8 million tweets a day, which is close to 14% of the global total!  Twitter really gained credibility in the country after the massive earthquake and tsunami devastated the Tohoku region on 3/11/11.  New users flocked to the network for real-time information about the nuclear crisis, blackouts, and aftershocks.  Now with the huge number of users in Japan, workshops are cropping up helping individuals to learn the tricks of the tweet as well as companies to use the platform to reach consumers and get feedback.   Clearly the personal and corporate branding potential for Twitt...

Japan and India-Personal Branding from Two Angles Peter Sterlacci from Japan Are Japanese LinkedIn? LinkedIn operates the world's largest professional network on the Internet with a current membership of over 135 million.  Close to 60% of these members are located outside the US. The latest data shows that professionals are signing up to join at a rate that is faster than two members per second! Clearly LinkedIn has become an essential tool for professionals all over the world to network, share business expertise, find jobs, advance professional knowledge, and build personal brands.  Recently, LinkedIn has set up shop in Japan with offices in Tokyo and the inclusion of the Japanese language on its site from October 2011.  For Japan, LinkedIn’s proposition is to focus on local professionals and students keen to build their true identities and personal branding for their careers as well as the ability to connect with a global network. Yet ...