Are you making the most of a valuable brand – yourself?

Other research from New York University concluded that when we meet people, we make 11 decisions about them in the first seven seconds, judging them on a wide range of issues from their politics to their sexuality.

Jennifer Holloway, who set up Skipton-based executive coaching firm Spark a year ago this month, believes that is a daunting prospect for anyone whose job depends on making a good impression.

Spark specialises in helping top executives take an honest look at themselves so they can define who they are and then deliver that person to their audiences.

"Your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room," says Ms Holloway. "When 50 per cent of a company's reputation is linked to its chief executive, it is vital that the head of the organisation gives people something good to talk about."

Ms Holloway initially started out coaching executives without voicing her own opinion, preferring to use an approach whereby people discovered their own solutions.

But she rapidly realised that many executives, especially "strong male characters", were cutting to the chase and asking her what she thought.

"What a lot of these people needed was someone to tell them the truth," she says. "One executive did a presentation to me and I said: 'Is that the best you can do?'

"He said other people had told him it was good, so I told him they were lying. Then I told him how we could make it better. These people don't want their advice sugar-coated."

It is this down-to-earth attitude that has won Ms Holloway her clients, which include Skipton Building Society, Skipton Financial Services, The Private Health Partnership, Pearson Jones and Mutual One.

Ms Holloway believes that a lot of executives are not clear who they are and that confuses the people they deal with.

Spark's programme involves a seven-stage process.

The initial half-hour meeting is free. "In this meeting I ask them what they want," says Ms Holloway. "Some have had coaching before and found it beneficial, others want to know more about themselves. They want someone to give them a different point

of view."

If, after the first half hour, the client wants to go ahead, they sign up for five two-hour face-to-face sessions which are then followed up by a final one-hour meeting.

The first sessions consist of finding out who the person is – who they are in public (such as their management style or their way of working) as well as who they are in private.

"It's about what drives them about being a boss," she says. "Who are they? Are they loyal? Dependable? Then we pare down the attributes to the key ones that matter. "

Clients will also look at how they are perceived by others.

For this last part, Ms Holloway will ask up to 20 given people how they found the client.

One trait Ms Holloway has found is that the people she deals with always want to improve themselves and will take feedback with good grace.

The latter sessions deal with teaching clients how to promote their brand.

"It's those who stand out who are getting ahead, so you need people to see what's different about you," says Ms Holloway.

The final session happens two to three months after the initial interviews.The idea is to have a catch up and check that the brand is working.

The one-to-one cost is between 4,000 and 6,000 for the whole process and usually the client's company pays, but this can be negotiable. Ms Holloway also works with groups to help entire teams with their brand.

Graham Lund, managing director, Callcredit, Leeds

Although Mr Lund had been with the company for a number of years, he had only taken on the role as managing director a short time before beginning work with Spark.

He needed to re-focus himself as the head of the organisation rather than a member of the management team.

He says: "I realised that, although people knew me, they didn't necessarily understand me in the way I needed – especially

those who hadn't known me long.

"Working with Jennifer I defined who I am, put it down in black and white and shared it with a number of people. Now they get what I'm all about much more clearly, especially my personality and my work values.

"Using a lot of these techniques with the team has enabled us to all work much better as a result."

Zulfi Hussain, chief executive, Global Synergy Solutions, Bradford

Mr Hussain has a number of different hats. He has worked as a speaker, adviser and mentor in the worlds of business and charity.

However, feedback he received as part of defining his brand showed that, although he is very successful at what he does, the variety of work was leaving people confused.

The aim was to clarify what his focus was and find ways to communicate that.

He says: "The huge range of things I do meant I didn't have a concise way of saying what I was all about – every time I introduced myself I said something slightly different which weakened the message.

"Jennifer helped me pick out what really mattered, the common thread that pulled it all together. Now I know exactly what my brand is and as I tell more people they act as my advocates, so the word is starting to spread."