Building Your Professional Brand

Oh, okay. It's Friday. Are we doing our reflections? How did the week go? What were the wins of the week? What went well? What did you learn? Oh, I learned a lot this week. Isn't it interesting how you learn things that you didn't expect to learn? Sometimes I'll, like, find out something and I'll, like, start to look into it or research it or go down like a rabbit hole with this thing because I feel like I need to understand it better and I'll just end up learning so many other different things. But I think it's divine timing. You know, you learn the things you need when you're ready for them, when you're ready to, like, understand them, accept them, or your life needs that. The information that you need comes to you at the right time. I really believe that. Sometimes it's frustrating and I feel like, oh, my God, why didn't I learn this years ago to make so many things easier? Years ago, no one could have convinced me of it. I wouldn't have learned it. I wouldn't have accepted it. Or sometimes I will, like, look at an old notebook or a journal of mine and write down something. And it's years ago. And when I look at it now, I'm like, oh, my goodness, I knew this then I don't remember, like, learning that I can apply this right now. Now is when it, like, resonates and it feels like it's new. Or sometimes when someone tell you, like, I told you that ages ago, and actually I do this to people as well. I'll be like, I've been telling you this for years. You just want listening to me now. All of a sudden, it's like, it clicks. You have this aha moment and you're like, oh, it all makes sense now. I need to do it this way. This frustrates me. At work. I'll be like, I've been telling you, you don't listen to me now. When this other person has told you, it's like, oh, now it makes sense. I guess people understand things when they are meant to. You cannot understand things before you're ready for them. Life is a journey. There's no finish line. You just keep going. I hope that's not depressing. I hope you had a good week and you have done some reflections on your week and on your routines. That's something I reflected this week. I was like, do I need to change up my morning and evening routines? Are they still serving me? Are they still giving me what I need? My life has changed so much. In the last two years and my routines haven't. So I was like, do I need to make adjustments to my routines to make sure that they are setting me up for success in what I need to achieve today, right now, in my current life and current challenges and current growth? And that was an interesting exercise for me this week. If you want to try that. Everyone, I think, should have morning and evening routines. It does help you with your life. Tim Ferriss actually talks about this a lot. So does James Clear. Routines are like the cornerstones of your habits. You know, it's good to have the way you start the day, like the energy you kick off the day with. You want it to be on your terms and also the energy you end the day with. I actually saw a Jay Shetty video on this also this week. He's also very interesting in this area. And the energy you end the day with. If you can take like a few minutes for yourself, whether it's an hour or half an hour or five minutes to start your day and end your day on your terms, what's important to you? What do you need to start the day well? What do you need to end the day in a useful way for yourself? Whether it's to relax or unwind or reflect, or it's to start the day with an intention or exercise or tea or music or yoga or prayer. There's so many different things you can do. But if you build in a routine, it's all. It sets up your body on different levels, like mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually. It gets you into the right gear, like your morning routine. When your body goes through that same repeated pattern every day, it knows, okay, now we're starting the day or on a good note because we've done our routine, we've gone through what we need to go through. And also when you end the day, it's like bookends, you know, are they called bookends? Those things that hold up books? You know, when books are, like standing and they'll fall if there's no heavy thing on the edge. I think they're called bookends. Yeah, you need to have those to hold your day. I feel you start the day and you end the day. And it also helps your system know the day starting the day is ending. And the more you do it and repeat it, the more you get used to it. Like now, I've had the same routines for years, so as soon as I wake up, my body immediately starts going through the routine. And also when I go to bed at night, like when I start my evening routine. My mind and my body all knows. Okay, it's bedtime. We're starting to go to bed now where, like, the process has begun. It's helpful and you feel it physically and energetically and mentally. It helps you to like, sift and organize things and also to start the day with, like, your visualizations, your intentions, like, how is the day going to go? Start the day with that energy and to end the day with, how did the day go? What am I grateful for in this day? What do I need to plan for for tomorrow? Like, it's a whole process. Maybe I should make a video about this. I think I talk about it in one of the courses. But very, very helpful. These are the habits, your cornerstone habits, bookends. They hold your day. So think about your routines might be helpful. Okay, Today we are in branding. This is one of my fun topics. Imagine I never studied branding, but I started getting asked to speak about branding so often. Like a few years ago, I actually had to start, like reading about it, understanding it, because I was doing it for work, but I wasn't like, taking it seriously. Sometimes in my work I get thrown projects that I have no experience in and I have to just figure out. So I always have to do research and then find experts and then just start doing and we learn as we go. So I think is it two years now? We started a digital marketing department in Simba Group and we knew we needed it. We just had never done it and we didn't have like one specific person and we had like marketing people in different companies. But it wasn't really working. So I was like, okay, we had a board meeting and they're like, figure it out. Sure. And I started like reading about this stuff and learning more. And I'm really grateful because I learned so much about like social media and branding and like advertising and the different types. I really understand how it's a whole industry and like, people have degrees and there's lots of data and science and analysis and psychology and like, there's so much involved. And it's a very interesting topic. But I started applying because the easiest, well, I think the most effective way to learn something is to do it. So it's not useful to just read books and the knowledge is in your mind. You have to read and apply, read and apply. And as you apply, you see holes and things you still don't know and things you still don't understand. And that's when you need to ask for help. So that's when you like have more specific questions or you find a mentor or you find an expert. So, like in my case, I had started a department, but this is not my expertise. So I found someone who's an expert at it, hired them as a consultant, and that person ended up being the head of the department and has been with us since. I'm very grateful, but you need to have someone who actually knows the technical stuff and then as you go. All my job to do is to facilitate, to make sure this growth happens, but I have to know enough to. To direct it and to ask the right questions and to make sure we're having the right outcomes. So kind of like how I had to learn about hotels branding was also something I had to learn about on the go. But I started to apply it and the attitude I took is we can experiment with my brand because my brand is so much smaller than like my dad's or like one of the hotels or telecom, which are like institutions and much more corporate. So we can experiment with things we learn and then we go and apply them on the other brands. And it worked out great. Look where we are. It's very funny, my branding journey, but it's an interesting topic, so I've learned a lot about it along the way. And so now this month I wanted to, like, talk about branding and we divided into our four areas for students, for professionals, for family businesses, and for careers. Those. No, professionals and careers are the same thing. Entrepreneurs is the last one. So that's what we are doing. So today we are starting with the professionals. We had a video, I think yesterday or the day before that was released on my platforms about building your professional brand. And I feel like this is an interesting one and it's an area I love talking about because I feel like I have experience on both sides, which is something you don't get so often. But because I'm an employer, I get to see people and interview them and also see people in our companies grow and move based on their brand and their reputation. But also as a professional, I have to have my own brand and my own career and my own reputation, and I see how it affects me and my life. So I feel like I have an interesting perspective on both sides. And in the video I was talking about, like, the tips for career people, because you really do have to think about your brand. I think in this day and age, we think branding is something for companies or for like, social media influencers. So I don't think of myself as a social media influencer. No one is paying me to Try on clothes, you know, So I feel like it's just my brand. That's how we talk about it at the office. That's how I also think about it. And so it's my professional brand. And because I have a presence on social media, it has helped my brand in certain ways. As much as it was just an experiment for us, it has affected me in many positive ways. There are also many negatives which we can talk about as well. But I think what's important about your professional brand is that you are proactive about it. I think too many career people focus on the technical side of stuff and I think that's what's going to take you through in your career and it never is, unfortunately. You need the technical stuff to get in the door, to get the job, to get into the bank or into the insurance company or into the healthcare sector or whatever sector you work in. You do need technical qualifications as a career oriented person, as a professional. But it's your soft skills that are going to get you up the ladder. It's not that every year I'll do another diploma or I'll get my ACCA or CPA level 2 or is it CFA or like, you know, and every profession there like the different things, whether it's CMI or PMI or project management or marketing or diplomas or degrees or like doctors, how they have to keep getting more qualifications and pass more exams. Those help you. But that is like a foundation that is just to make sure you meet the criteria to do the job. It's not actually going to help you to get a promotion or an opportunity or to help you get influence in your organization. And that's what you need if you want to move forward. I feel like this is a topic that you don't want to sound like aggressive about, but there's a difference between being aggressive and pushy and being like proactive and intentional. Because you need to be visible, right? We've talked about visibility a lot. Visibility is important because if you're good at your job but no one knows it, what does that really help you? Yes, you're good at your job, you tick a box, you get paid every month. But you're not going to move forward unless people know that you are good at your job and you are visible and you have your reputation and your brand in the organization you're in or in your industry so that people know of you. Then they can be like, oh, there's this opportunity, oh, there's this job. Oh, let's call this person in because, you know, she's great at what she does. This person, he was really good in that meeting. He was presenting at this conference and he was so great. He knows his stuff. I liked him. You know, you have to have your brand out there and your brand is more than your technical qualifications. You can't just be sending your CV around because you know who is getting those CVs? People. You know, these days, lots of computers, like sift through CVs if you do online job applications and they make you go through so many rounds. A computer is reading your CV and your answers and like picking out the keywords through an algorithm to remove to filter you. Because by the time you get to a person, that's when it has to have your brand, your flavor on it. You need the technical basics to get through that first filtering process. That is true whether it's a computer or a person. The first junior HR person that collects all the CVs just is removing the ones who are not qualified. That's their job. Just remove the ones who wrote bad English. Don't have this degree, did not get this diploma at this age, don't have the work experience we're looking for. Remove. So by the time it gets to a senior person, it's a short stack of CVs. And now that person needs to interview all of you. Call all those references and that's where your brand comes in play. They call your reference and they're like, Stella. Which one was Stella? She works in our department. That's not a good reference. That's not going to help you. They can't even remember who you are, which one you are. You know, we have many Stellas in our organization. You be specific. This one? Yeah, she's good. She's here. If that's all someone can think and remember of you, how are you gonna get the job? Yo. So you have to be doing things for your brand, for your reputation. You don't have to be all out here on social media like me. I understand that. That's not what I'm saying. But in your own organization, in your own sector, people should know who you are and what you're capable of and what you do. If you go to a Rotary Club meeting and you work in a bank, everyone in your Rotary group should know you work in a bank and should know what you do in the bank and should know you're good at it. So that when they have thoughts or clients or problems, they think, oh, let me call Stella, who works in insurance. She's going to Help me with this thing. She's so good at her job, she's so kind, she's so informative. Because every time they come to Rotary, Stella is talking about, oh, we have this new product. Oh, have you tried this thing? Oh, we have this. Oh, let me help you with that. You have to be proactive. You have to be intentional. It really helps. And, you know, you think you live in a fair world. We really don't. It's a big, big myth. Even these big organizations, it helps to know someone inside who's going to help your CV get to the top of the pile, who is going to recommend you or say, oh, yeah, you know, I know you're doing checks for the new program we have. I know a person who has applied. Actually, I should tell my friend to tell her daughter to apply. Her daughter is so great. She's very intuitive at this. She's very interesting. She's worked, so she has all these degrees. You should give her a chance, casually mentioning it in the corridor to the manager, who gets to decide who gets this opportunity. It helps. Your brand lives in rooms that you don't. Your reputation arrives before you do. So people need to be able to speak up for you, make it easy for them, make it easy so that when they think of you, they know exactly what to associate you with. Not which one is Stella. I can't really remember, you know, So I feel like as a professional, it might be scary because this is not what you were trained or taught at school. I wish we taught young people this more often. We're always telling people, just work hard, just get your degree, just do your job. No, life sucks, guys. It's not fair, it's not easy. You always have to be putting more effort. That's the truth. Those who put in the effort to ask for things, who are louder, who are more visible, those are the ones that get the opportunities. And you know, I'm not lying. Sit and think in your office. Who always gets the promotions or who does the boss always refer to or ask? What do you think? Can you tell the team this? Can you organize this? It's the person who talks the most, who's always loud in the meetings, who's always. And it's not even like they're saying the most useful things. It's just that they're the most visible. They're always there. Somehow you don't even know how they know that this department is having that event. Why is this person from the other department there? How do they know? Because that person is friends with everyone. They talk to everyone at lunch. Everyone knows their name. They're not shy to talk up in front of the bosses. They're just like that energetic person. Guys, you can be that energetic person. It's not a personality trait. Yeah, some people are extroverted, and they just like to talk all the time. It's easier for them, but you still have to have substance. You can't just be extroverted and talking all over the place. It's not the same as being visible or being intentional with your brand. You can't just be talking and being friends with everyone. There are people who everyone's like, oh, we love Stella, but is she actually good at her job? I don't know. I would invite her to my birthday, but would I give her this project and this budget to manage? Don't be that Stella. You want to be the person that people respect your opinion. They come to you for information. Actually, when I worked in a bank once, I noticed that there was this guy in the office that everyone would ask for advice on their own project. And I'm like, this is not even his job. Why are you asking him? But everyone just, like, deferred to him. This was like, 10 years ago, maybe. Oh, my old. But now he's one of the leaders in the bank. Yeah, makes sense. When I saw that, I was like, huh, I see. And at the time, I didn't realize what it was, and I never even asked him, but he was so nice, and he was always advising people and helping them. Yeah, I'll introduce you to this person in this department who can help you push this paperwork through. No. You know, when you do this calculation, you have to change it like this. I'm like, how does this guy get anything done? He's constantly helping everyone else, but it has helped his career. He was good at what he was doing. He was advising everyone else. He was being informative and useful. So people knew of him in other departments before he had even made friends with them or known them or worked with them. So I'm sure when it came time to, like, the committee that decides who gets promoted, it was an easy vote. Oh, we all love this guy. He's so good at his job. He's informative, he's useful, he's respected. Promote him. Such is life, guys. Such is life. Even in our own organizations, I sometimes see that you see the person who puts in more effort, who helps their colleagues, who is informed, who keeps up to date in their department on their trends, on what's going on in the Industry, they speak up, they reply emails, they are just more proactive, they are just more in your face about it. Something that always bothers me with my dad. He'll be like, haven't seen you for three days. How was I supposed to remember to tell you? I'm just like, so you need to physically see me to remember to tell me something that's crucial for my work. But you know, it's visibility. Out of sight, out of mind. You have to stay top of mind. That's how you have to think in your career. Whether it's your supervisor in your current job because you want a promotion or if you want to move to, like now, a competing bank or competing hospital or another organization. How are they supposed to give you that chance? Why should they? They have people in their own organization they can promote, they can do an advert and get the best candidates. Why should they give you that chance? What's going to make you stand out? Yeah, it's good to interview well, it's good to have a good cv. But what is that special push that's going to make someone want to give you that chance and that opportunity? Visibility. They should know that, oh, their colleague or their boss recommended you or when they called your reference, who is a very respected person in the sector, they really had a glowing reference. Oh, she's fantastic. I really recommend her. She goes above and beyond, always working hard. That's Stella. Ah, give her the chance. You want that, that's what you want. And that's something you can only create and get by putting yourself out there, by building your reputation so that it moves ahead of you, by being more proactive and more visible. It's in the small things you do every day. When you're on an email thread with like 30 other people, how many people reply? There's that annoying person who replies all and just goes, thanks, received, noted. You don't want to be that person. Be the person that actually replies, the person who sent it and said, thank you, that's very useful information. I'm going to pass it on to this department because they've been working on this project and I think it could be useful, small things like that, because whoever sent that email, they're doing their job, but they need that information to get where it needs to go and they'll be like, thank you, Stella. Yeah, that makes sense. That department needs the information, then I can work with them, you know, they'll remember Stella. I don't know who's Stella, but we're using you as the example Today, I'm just saying there are small things you can do every day that help put you out there, that put you in a visible position in a positive way, that show that you're competent, you're qualified, you know what you're talking about, and you're adding value. That's what you want to get. You want people to realize your value. We all have value. Everyone has value. Human beings, we all have a worth and a purpose and a gift. And we're all there doing something. But if you keep it a secret, no one can help you. And we can't do anything alone. No man is an island. So you have to get over your shyness. I really hate the word shyness. I think it's so wrong how we teach people that that's a personality trait. It's really not. You can outgrow that. You can work around it, find a medium you're comfortable with, even if it's just LinkedIn. Go on LinkedIn and look at the thought leaders in your sector, who are the big dogs in your career area, in your industry and see what do they talk about, what do they follow, what do they post about and go and respond. Give your opinion, Have a thought, you know, put yourself out there. Go attend a Rotary meeting or conference, join a club, be out there. Because it's the people who are out there that are moving forward. I promise you, in 10 years, look at the colleagues you have now. Look in 10 years, you'll see where they are and it will be that same trajectory. He who was quiet, who always did their work, is probably going to be in the same place, that same desk with that same salary, with six different bosses have passed them because they're not putting themselves out there. They are not being visible in a productive way. You have to build your professional brand. And when I say build, it's because you have to keep evolving. You'll get that promotion, you'll get that new opportunity, that training. You'll be in charge of that project. And then what? Actually, you have to level up. You have to get good at those skills. Now you're a leader now. You have a team now you have to manage them. And then you have to be good at that. And then you have to be visible that you're good at that so that you keep moving up. I guess it's a corporate ladder. I think that's still what people call it. It's still a ladder. You still have to, like, climb. So climbing takes effort, guys. No one climbs by sitting there, but it's very Doable. That's what I always hold on to. I feel like even when things are hard, as long as it's achievable, it's doable. You can break it down. You can see what are the things I need to do, what are the things I can manage? What can I endeavor? This month, I'm going to try and be more visible in this area. I will talk at lunchtime instead of letting everyone else talk. And I'm just the person who laughs and listens and says, what do you think? You have value, too. There's a reason that you're there. If people get to know that value, they can open doors for you. You can't open doors for yourself. I feel like in life the doors have a handle on one side. You know what I mean? You can't open the door for yourself. You can stand at the door and hope it opens, but someone has to open it for you, someone who is already on that side. So you have to make it easy for them to open it for you. If they're really struggling to try and get you a reference, you do badly at the interviews. No one knows who you are in your company. You didn't even finish that CFA thing you said you were going to finish. How are they supposed to help you? And we all have that in African culture, there's always like an auntie or your parents, friends, or someone who's like, oh, yes, let me recommend your son for this thing. He didn't send me the cv. He didn't show up for the interview. He didn't talk well in this. Do help yourself, guys. Help yourselves. Do your part so that other people can open doors for you, so that opportunities can come and you are ready to use them. You're ready to strike. You have the qualification, you have the confidence. You have the experience. You just need the chance. You just need the chance. Put yourself in that position where all you need is a chance. Look at yourself. Have you put yourself in the best possible position that when the chance comes, you're ready, you'll jump in and you'll succeed. Ask yourself that, because that's what's in your control. That is something you can do today that's going to affect your career for the rest of your career. I hope that's not too harsh. If it is, sorry. It's true. Okay, we have questions. As a fresh graduate looking to become something big, some tips on building a professional brand. As a first graduate, what you lack is experienced. What you have in plenty is time. So I would use Leverage your time. How can you go out and get experience? How can you meet more people, learn more things, do more to build your brand. Make sure you are reading the right books, you are attending the right things that you can afford, and you're speaking to people, you're asking relevant questions. See even your question here. What is something big, Dear? What is something big? I kind of get what you mean, but you need to be more specific about that. Look at your career, look at your industry. What is something big in your industry? Go and speak to someone about it. How do I become a regional manager in M and e in the NGO sector in the next 10 years? Get specific, know what you're trying to work towards and then become a professional at that. Research it. Read books, attend courses, watch videos on YouTube. There's videos on everything. Go on LinkedIn, go and see who are the people in that sector, what do they follow, what organizations are leading, what is the trend in your sector. And then push yourself in that direction so that you build your brand. Associating with the right things. I'm trying to build the brand under my names. Any tips under your names is slightly trickier because I feel like that's what you mean, like, by me, like how I do the social media stuff. You're using your own name. You have to remember that your name is associated with you. So everything you do now has to fit within your brand. Sometimes I'll be like, attending a party or wearing a certain outfit and my dad will be like, is that in alignment with your brand? And I have to ask myself, is this in alignment with the Dr. Talley brand? Because you have to think about your brand holistically when it's like your, your name and you're putting yourself out there. Because there's also a lot of downside. There's a lot of things you can't do once your professional brand is now public. It's different from having like a professional brand and like your sector and people know of you. So you have to be a bit more careful. You have to navigate those things. But it also does open up doors faster, I think, because people now see you even beyond where you can see them. There are people who follow me that I don't know that have sent me things, like even the Forbes thing, I didn't apply for that. Someone who knew, someone who I knew had seen me on someone's social media and like submitted me. So there are many benefits. And I think I would still say make sure that you're specific about your sector and your Niche, so. So that it's clear. It's not like I'm going to be nominated for, like, an award in healthcare. You know, it doesn't make sense. You have to, like, be specific about the areas that you work on and you focus on and get your name associated with that being. Building a brand is all about the association. When people see your name, what should they think of Kenneth? Who is Kenneth? What is Kenneth? What sector? What industry? What is he good at? What do I feel when I think of Kenneth? You know, so it's about associating your name with the right kind. Well, not the right. The. The ones you choose. Be proactive because people always associate you with something. So be proactive about what you associate with your name. Kenneth. Who is Kenneth? What is Kenneth? What sector? What industry? What is he good at? What do I feel when I think of Kenneth? You know, so it's about associating your name with the right kind. Well, not the right. The. The ones you choose. Be proactive because people always associate you with something. So be proactive about what you associate with your name. All right. What are the main elements of a brand? Well, that's what I was saying. When it's about a brand, like your professional brand, it's different from when it's like a brand, like a company, like the colors and the logo, but at the core, it's the same thing. It's about what people are associating with you with that name, with that logo, with that color. When they see you or they hear you, or when there's a conference and it says Dr. Martin Kabanda is speaking, who is that? When they see the name Kabanda. Oh, my gosh, he's an engineer. He's excellent. I have to go for that. You see, you need to have that association in people's minds of what that brand means. Like, when you see a Nike tick, you immediately know it's Nike. You think of sports, you think of clothes, you think of athletes, so that's what they've associated their brand with, and that's the core element of a brand. So it's about how you positively associate the things you're looking for with that brand name. When can one use private personal life as a factor when branding of her professional life? See, that's an interesting thing, because I feel like today we have to. We can't, like, keep our private and personal separate. Many people disagree with me on this, but I think just because we live in a world of social media, when you're applying for jobs they check your social media. Your colleagues will add you on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter and see the things you say and do. So you have to sort of. I feel like we live in such a scrutinized world now. Everyone has a camera on their phone. If you do anything, someone can take a picture of you and post it, and that's your whole career gone. I see this on Twitter all the time with, like, the Karens. They're these angry white women they call Karen. And when they do rude things in public, like harass someone or scream or have tantrums, and people film them on Twitter, within 24 hours, someone has found where they work and has sent the video to their workplace. So many people get fired. These Kyrams, I've seen that happen because of their behavior in their personal life. Just because you are a racist at home now, that's going to affect your career. That's the world we live in, you know? So I feel like you have to think about it and be conscious of it. I'm always telling young people when I do talks with students, delete all the bad pictures of you on Facebook. If you look drunk, if you're dressed badly, if you're doing something stupid, just delete them. Because you don't know who is going to go through your Facebook one day when you're applying for a job. Remember with Obama, they found a picture of him smoking weed when he was in uni. He's like, I was a kid, but he's now already the president. If they find out that kind of stuff when you're campaigning, it really hurts you. So you have to, I think, be authentic. These days. You have to integrate your personal life and your private life into your professionalism and think about it all the time. I'm not saying I'm perfect. I still also do things on my personal, like in my private life. But I've come to the point where I accept that if someone records me right now, is this going to affect my brand? Is this something I'll be ashamed of? I have to know and think, no. I have to do things consciously because we live in a public world and you're always going to be scrutinized. But also, I think the flip side is people get to know the real you, and that adds a layer of, like, authenticity and warmth and people can connect with you. Oh, I didn't know in your private life, you volunteer with disabled kids. Wow. I didn't know you had a disabled child. I also have a disabled child now. You're Born then you have a better professional relationship with someone you know. There are small things in your personal life that can help you connect with people in a better way. And I think that adds to your professional life because you don't know what doors it will open or what connections you have, what friends you'll make, how people will see you in another light. Because at the end of the day, we're all human beings. And I'm grateful that we live in a world that's more accepting of that these days. I think the previous generation had to have a big separation because there was just no acceptance of that. But now with Work From Home, everyone is like, seeing everyone's house and kids and what, like, the lines are blurred a lot. So just be intentional about it, is what I would say. Okay, how can I grow my career with addition of qualifications in my field? Qualifications are always useful because it builds your own confidence and competency. It makes you better at your job. But to grow your career with that, people have to know that you have those new qualifications. Like, for example, I just got a qualification for my Harvard executive education. Posted it on my Instagram. There is a reel about it. So now people know that I am qualified in these other areas. I got these additional trainings that it's going to help my career and then I will have to show in the future. I use this training on this project and it helped me in this way that is visible. Then that shows the people who can give me opportunities. She's capable at doing this. Now, you know, it helps you to level up. So I would say get the qualification for your own confidence and for competency. It gets you in the door. It means you match the criteria when it's time to apply for that promotion. Yes, I have this diploma. I have this level of training, I have that. But to grow your career with it, you need to turn that into something visible. And people are very sweet. Whenever you promote, you see a graduation or a qualification or someone getting something, like on LinkedIn, people clap. They give you nice comments. They like the post. It does so well. People are so sweet. So people want to see you grow. They want to see the good things happen to you. Put it out there, Solomon. Okay. Personally, I think most professional ladders are based on one's loyalty to their reporting manager. And applying professionally would be a threat to superior positions. I had experience while I worked for Amazon Logistics and the EU escalation department. Okay, this is an interesting question. True. Now you need to build a relationship with your supervisor. That is true. And Everyone wants loyalty because no one wants to look stupid in front of their own boss. So people don't like it when the junior goes around them to their boss. But you also have to grow. And ideally having that relationship with your supervisor, they should be the ones recommending you for promotions, recommending you for trainings or for projects or for things. So if you build that relationship well, they will want you to grow as well and they will not feel threatened by you. That is the difference. Most people want loyalty because they feel threatened. Like if you are growing, you're going to try and chase them out of their job. But ideally they should also be trying to get the next job. You should be trying to get their job and everyone should want that, right? So maybe go with them on these learnings. Come, let's go for Rotary together. Come, let's go for this conference. Let's go and learn about this. Because if they are learning and growing, they will also move up, which will leave a space for you to move up. So I think you have to balance the emotional intelligence part with the visibility. You don't want to be super aggressive and trying to outshine your manager. That makes you look bad. Your manager will even try and sabotage you when it comes to the hiring committee. Recommending your manager will say, no, this person is terrible at their job just because you always make them look bad and they don't like you. That's what I'm saying. You have to remember that it's human beings you're dealing with at the end of the day. So you have to cultivate that relationship so that they want you to win. It's a win win for both of you. Your winning should not take away from their winning. They will also look like a good leader if they're constantly recommending people to other departments. Oh, I've trained this person so well. Take them, promote them, take them. Here it looks reflects well on them. And so that's what they need to understand. And that's something you can cultivate with them. I understand it's a challenge, but you have to sort of take a step back. Sometimes when you're caught up in those kinds of negative relationships and you feel trapped by your supervisor, you're so caught up in the anger and the negativity, you don't take a step back. What is it from their side? Look at their perspective. Put yourself in their shoes. How do they get to look good while you also get to look good? How do they win and you win? How do you make their life easier so they can make your life easier if you're so caught up in it, you don't take a step back to see what can I do to help this situation. So sometimes it helps to talk to a friend, someone out of the organization, bounce ideas off, because you need to take a step back and see how can I make this work for both of us? Because your supervisor can be a big roadblock in your career. If you have a bad one or you have a negative relationship with your supervisor, you're going to be stuck. You're going to have to find another job or another industry or another organization because your reporting manager can cause a lot of problems for you. That's the power they have. And some people really like to exert their power. So I would say use your emotional intelligence to build a better relationship with that person. No matter how difficult and horrible they might be, it's in your best interest to make them happy and to make sure they are winning, too. Okay, I believe that is half an hour. I hope that was useful. Send me any questions you have and we shall be live again next Friday.