Your Brilliant Difference Podcast with Finka Jerkovic: Personal Branding for Career Advancement

Do you know how you think, speak, and make decisions? What about for those you work with? If not, it's no wonder why your brilliant ideas aren't landing with executives and rallying teams together. That's why I'm sharing with you five communication styles in the workplace, so you can:

• Communicate more effectively.
• Adapt and tailor your message to others' communication preferences.
• Elevate your impact and influence.

Using my career experience, I've created five workplace communication styles that are inspired by Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, meaning they're ordered in what people often require the most.

The five communication styles in the workplace include:

1. Certainty
2. Connection
3. Consequence
4. Confidence
5. Change

What do each look like at work and which type is yours? Find out by tuning into this episode and taking my Communication Quiz!

Take the Communication Quiz

• Discover Your Workplace Communication Style

Influence Amplifier Blueprint: Apply Essential Influence Rules in Real-Time

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• Share the episode and show with a fellow colleague and podcast listener!
• Leave a rating and review. Your feedback is valuable.

Related Episodes

• Why is Influence Important in Leadership? Learn From My Doozies
• 3 No-Nonsense Rules for Influencing Executives and Senior Leaders

Need More Career Direction and Clarity?

• Download the Finka Inc. Career Advancement Forecast
• Connect with Finka on LinkedIn

Interested in Working with Finka on Your Company's Leadership Skill Development?

• Book a Call

If your message isn't sticking, it's because you're not doing these three things. I'll teach you exactly what these rules for influencing executives and senior leaders are, so people can buy into your ideas. Every. Time.

• Rule 1: Know your audience.
• Rule 2: Identify motivators.
• Rule 3: Plot the transformation journey.

I've designed this episode as an immersive learning experience so you can see what these rules look like in action right away. Grab your copy of the Influence Amplifier Blueprint, fill it out, and translate the rules into your influence impact at work as I guide you along:

• The most powerful yet overlooked aspect of influence.
• The three most common influence mistakes and how to mitigate them.
• Why you need to know your audience (you cannot skip this step).
• The differences between your primary, secondary, and tertiary audience.
• How to understand what motivates your audience's decision-making process.
• How to plot your audience's transformation journey.

Influence Amplifier Blueprint: Apply the Influence Rules in Real-Time

• Grab Your Blueprint Here

Like What You Listen To?

• Share the episode and show with a fellow colleague and podcast listener!
• Leave a rating and review. Your feedback is valuable.

Related Episodes

• Why is Influence Important in Leadership? Learn From My Doozies

Need More Career Direction and Clarity?

• Download the Finka Inc. Career Advancement Forecast
• Connect with Finka on LinkedIn

Interested in Working with Finka on Your Company's Leadership Skill Development?

• Book a Call

You hear it all the time: you need to have influence at work. But why is influence important in leadership and what does it look like done right and wrong? You get to learn all of that from me. This episode sets the tone for a new series: Influence Without Authority.

No matter your position—manager, executive, president—your title can change but what no one can take away from you is your ability to inspire. Want to persuade senior leaders to agree to an initiative? You need influence. Trying to gain buy-in for a new process? You need influence. Collaborating with team members on cross-functional projects? You need influence.

You get the picture.

If you nodded along to any of these scenarios, you're in the right place. In this episode I'll help you learn:

• What influence is and isn't.
• Where you may be going wrong with your influence and why your message isn't sticking with your team and leaders.
• How having strong influence can amplify your leadership and career.
• How not having influence can drain and stall your career.
• Why influence matters.
• The best-case and worst-case of my own influence scenarios, so you can know what hinders and helps you to effectively influence.

What are you waiting for? Press play and get to the answer of why influence is important in leadership.

Like What You Listen To?

• Share the episode and show with a fellow colleague and podcast listener!
• Leave a rating and review. Your feedback is valuable.

Related Episodes

• Influence Stack Part 1
• Influence Stack Part 2

Need More Career Direction and Clarity?

• Download the Finka Inc. Career Advancement Forecast
• Connect with Finka on LinkedIn

Interested in Working with Finka on Your Company's Leadership Skill Development?

• Book a Call

Approaching change and trying something new can be downright scary. But what if it didn't have to be? It seems society has conditioned people to make change in one full swoop, immediately, seeking instant gratification, and it's setting up people to fail. Making a big change or trying something new is like going into a polar plunge head-first versus tiptoeing in and getting your body adjusted—it shocks your system.

What I'm saying is, your success of managing change and trying something new all comes down to how you approach change. With the right strategies and the best practices for using Edge Moves (incremental actions that bridge your comfort zone to courage zone), you can handle change with ease, elegance, and even excitement.

I teach you how in this Your Brilliant Difference Podcast episode.

Learn about these 10 strategies to approach change:

1. The 80/20 rule
2. Openness to become someone new
3. Repetition
4. Manage your FUDGE energy
5. Anchor in the familiar
6. Focus on skill development
7. Sell the outline
8. Build external support
9. Have a Brilliant Difference project
10. Bring an Edge Move mindset to everything you do

Like What You Listen To?

• Share the episode and show with a fellow colleague and podcast listener!
• Leave a rating and review. Your feedback is valuable.

Need More Career Direction and Clarity?

• Download the Finka Inc. Career Advancement Forecast
• Connect with Finka on LinkedIn

Interested in Working with Finka on Your Company's Leadership Skill Development?

• Book a Call

It's time to continue your Edge Moves Evolution journey. Get right to the good stuff at 2:26! Thank you for joining Finka for another week and committing to being a transformational leader by actualizing your Brilliant Difference through Edge Moves.

• In episode 190, she covered what Edge Moves are and how our brains react to threats, newness, and change.
• Then, in episode 191, she got deeper into Edge Moves by giving you types to think about applying in your role and work.

And now, she's peeling back the layers even more to help you identify what Edge Moves you can make that are specific to your role and industry in six simple steps:

1. Identify your problem or goal.
2. Identify your actions that are producing your current results.
3. Visualize where you want to go; define your destination.
4. Determine a person, place, or scenario to apply your Edge Moves.
5. Brainstorm a list of Edge Moves.
6. Choose and act on your first Edge Move.

But don't do it alone. Finka guides you in the episode!

What You'll Learn:

• How Edge Moves fuel personal and professional growth.
• How to identify a problem or goal within your workplace.
• Ideas to practice Edge Moves in real situations.
• How practicing Edge Moves leads to thought leadership and visibility in your organization.
• The importance of support systems when trying something new.
• How to strategically ties success metrics to Edge Moves.
• Why continuous learning and adapting are crucial for being a successful Edge Mover and leader in your company.

Get Career Clarity and Direction for 2025: Download the Finka Inc. Career Advancement Forecast

Surveying over 100+ corporate leaders and professionals, Finka Inc. has the pulse on what's top of mind for people at work in 2025. What should be your priorities? What is the workplace landscape going to look like? What are career advancement critical skills you need to help you soar? Find out by clicking the button below to download your copy.

[Grab Your Finka Inc. Career Advancement Forecast]

We're back to guide you on your Edge Moves Evolution journey. In episode 190, Finka covered what Edge Moves are, what motivates you to change, what your threat responses are to change, and how you can detect those patterns within yourself. This is a powerful episode to tune into if you want to figure out what keeps you in your comfort zone.

But in this episode, Finka shares her own Edge Moves story so you can see what Edge Moves look like at work, as well as the six types of Edge Moves you can make and glean inspiration from:

1. Mindset
2. Visibility
3. Relationship
4. Leadership
5. Communication
6. Innovation

Find out what each Edge Move means, and which aligns with your Brilliant Difference by listening to episode 191 now!

What You'll Learn:

• What FUDGE is and how it impacts your leadership and career.
• Finka's personal Edge Moves story and key lessons learned.
• The importance of incremental, sustainable change.
• The six types of Edge Moves, and which is best for you.
• The caveat to making successful Edge Moves.

Transform Your People in 2025: Register for The Future of Leadership Forum

Attend a jam-packed, 1-hour community event with fellow HR and L&D Leaders and People Managers to discuss future leadership trends, skills, and strategies.

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We talk a lot about Brilliant Differences on the Your Brilliant Difference Podcast. After all, it's in the name. The power of identifying your two words that inform how you think, act, and feel in the workplace is immeasurable. Meaning, once you identify them, you're unstoppable. Remember, your Brilliant Difference contains your unique talents and how you're programmed to deliver them in a way no one else does. However, knowing your Brilliant Difference is one thing, putting it into action at work is another. So, how do you apply your Brilliant Difference? Through Edge Moves.

Episode 190 leads the way for a new series called Edge Moves Evolution. In this podcast series you'll:

• Understand what Edge Moves are.
• Identify real workplace scenarios where you can make Edge Moves.
• Leave with a list of strategic Edge Moves you can make in your company.
• Know how to use Edge Moves as a change management tool and technique to adapt and rise no matter the challenges you experience.

In episode 190 specifically, you'll learn what Edge Moves are, what drives fear and keeps us in our comfort zones, as well as the benefits of expanding beyond your comfort zone.

Tune in now to go beyond at work.

What You'll Learn:

• 4 ways humans respond to threats and fear.
• 3 ways we experience change.
• What Edge Moves are.
• Why 2x is better than 10x.
• How to strategically apply your Brilliant Difference at work.

Transform Your People in 2025: Register for The Future of Leadership Forum

Attend a jam-packed, 1-hour community event with fellow HR and L&D Leaders and People Managers to discuss future leadership trends, skills, and strategies.

[Register Now]

Welcome to the concluding episode of the Leadership Mastery for Managers series on the Your Brilliant Difference Podcast. While it's not detrimental to listen to the first three episodes before this one, we highly recommend you check them out after so you can connect and apply all your learnings at work.

• Episode 186: 5 Strategies to Design Your Leadership Growth Pathway
• Episode 187: Manager vs. Leader: These 7 Skills Will Set You Apart
• Episode 188: Meaningful Management: How to Lead and Work with Purpose

Now, in episode 189, Finka Jerkovic double-clicks on another key finding from the Finka Inc. Career Advancement Forecast: 66% of respondents want a promotion or to move into new role in the next 12-18 months.

If you're in the same boat and want to move into a more senior level this year, then this episode is for you. Finka highlights a checklist of seven habits you can start right now to prime yourself for this opportunity:

1. Get clear on and own your Brilliant Difference.
2. Come clean about your weaknesses.
3. Make your managers, senior leaders, and colleagues the heroes.
4. Pitch, pitch, pitch.
5. Master the art of being a storyteller speaker.
6. Always have a project on the side of your desk.
7. Become a centre of influence.

What does each habit look like at work

and how can you start putting them into action? Tune in to find out!

What You'll Learn:

• The mindset you need to acquire for senior leadership.
• How being aware of your weaknesses brightens your Brilliant Difference.
• How to flip from "what's in it for me" to "what's in it for them."
• The importance of pitching initiatives within your company.
• How to pitch ideas.
• What a side project is and how it can 10x your impact.
• What being a centre of influence means.

Resources:

• Speak to Lead mini e-book

Transform Your People in 2025: Register for The Future of Leadership Forum

Attend a jam-packed, 1-hour community event with fellow HR and L&D Leaders and People Managers to discuss future leadership trends, skills, and strategies.

[Register Now]

Welcome to another episode of the Your Brilliant Difference Podcast and part 3 of the Leadership Mastery for Managers series. If you haven't already, check out episode 186 to design your leadership growth pathway and episode 187 to learn about the skills to prioritize to get to your next leadership and career level.

In episode 188, I outline how to inject meaning and purpose into your work so you can show up as a transformational leader, not just a transactional manager. This theme also stems from a key Finka Inc. Career Advancement Forecast finding: corporate professionals are burnt out, but they still want to make a meaningful difference:

• "This will sound cheesy, but my big aspiration is legacy, knowing that I had an impact on peers, colleagues, and especially clients."
• "I want to help others have more ease in their life and develop confidence to go after the life they really want."
• "I want to make an impact on the employees and company overall for the better and implement lasting changes to lead the company into the future."

Now, purposeful work and finding your mission may feel like a marketing ploy, but when done right, it can fuel your personal and leadership success, as well as the success of your organization.

I'll show you how to do it the right way by uncovering the 5 benefits of injecting purpose into your work, as well as 5 tangible tactics to help you discover and apply your purpose at work.

Let's get started!

What You'll Learn:

• How purposeful work leads to fulfillment.
• Why purpose at work is critical for today's workforce.
• The difference between passion and purpose.
• How purpose fuels resilience.
• 5 tactics to help you find your purpose and live it out at work.

Get Career Clarity and Direction for 2025: Download the Finka Inc. Career Advancement Forecast

Surveying over 100+ corporate leaders and professionals, Finka Inc. has the pulse on what's top of mind for people at work in 2025. What should be your priorities? What is the workplace landscape going to look like? What are career advancement critical skills you need to help you soar? Find out by clicking the button below to download your copy.

[Grab Your Finka Inc. Career Advancement Forecast]

Welcome to another episode of the Your Brilliant Difference Podcast and part 2 of the Leadership Mastery for Managers series. If you haven't yet already, check out episode 186 to design your career growth pathway.

In episode 187, I'll be focusing on the seven skills you need in 2025 to help you get to the next level in your career. There's no doubt about it—a title doesn't make someone a leader. This is often why, in the workplace, people can pick apart leaders from managers. They carry a certain presence and particular skills that makes them shine from the crowd.

Now, what skills are those? According to my Finka Inc. Career Advancement Forecast, the seven must-have skills to take your career to the next level, to take your management from transactional to transformational leadership are:

1. Executive presence
2. Influence
3. Relationship building/networking
4. Transformational leadership
5. Personal branding
6. Pitching and selling ideas
7. Presenting

Why are these skills so important, how will they impact your work, and what other themes should you consider when playing the workplace game? Tune in to find out.

What You'll Learn:

• The skills you need for future work and leadership demands.
• The importance of focusing on interpersonal and communication skills.
• The top skills corporate professionals and leaders are proficient in today.
• The top skills corporate professionals and leaders are deficient in today.
• How executive presence, personal branding, and managing difficult conversations impact your career advancement.

Get Career Clarity and Direction for 2025: Download the Finka Inc. Career Advancement Forecast

Surveying over 100+ corporate leaders and professionals, Finka Inc. has the pulse on what's top of mind for people at work in 2025. What should be your priorities? What is the workplace landscape going to look like? What are career advancement critical skills you need to help you soar? Find out by clicking the button below to download your copy.

[Grab Your Finka Inc. Career Advancement Forecast]