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A Guest Post on Business Relationships by Rory Kelly Connor How many times have you heard the adage, “ It’s not personal; it’s just business! ” over the last decade? Once or twice? Dozens? Hundreds? Relationships Are Personal As a VP at a worldwide public relations’ (PR) agency in New York, I watched twice as dozens of people were laid off in waves by the company. No warning. Not even a “thank you and goodbye.” Repeatedly, the exit stories detailed heartless conversations handled by cold Human Resources personnel who maintained that “It isn’t personal. It’s just business.” Unanimously, the employees stunned out of a job took it very personally. Because they are people. How else are they supposed to take it? We have seen that same business standard used repeatedly to mask greed, get to goal, and pump up the bottom line over the last 10-20 years. It has been used as an excuse for all kinds of words and behaviors. For instance, Bernie Madoff never thought twice about defr...

Japan & India-Personal Branding Across Two Cultures Japan and India is a bi-monthly series on personal branding perspectives from Japan (Peter Sterlacci) and India (Dr Amit Nagpal) Peter Sterlacci-Japanese Angle If you ask Japanese if they have heard of "personal branding," 99% of the time they will not know. Personal branding is simply not part of Japanese culture and so naturally people are not aware of it. When I explain what it is, I almost inevitably get a '2-part reaction'.     Part 1: "That sounds really interesting and Japanese people need to do this."     Part 2: "But, because we are Japanese maybe we cannot do it because...." What usually follows the 'because' is one of a handful of myths about personal branding. Here are 4 of the most common myths and how I debunk them. Myth 1: "I have to give up my group identity." This myth comes from Japanese being educated to be self-effacing and...