It was 10 minutes after 8:00am when I heard my family crying after receiving a phone call from the hospital. It was May 7, 2007, I remember that day in every detail. Before one day, I was in the hospital and for a moment I didn’t feel that my father was good, I felt something inside me, he had quadriplegia, he can’t move or talk. I kissed his hand and left.

In My Father, My Brand Inspiration – Part 1, I wrote about my father’s core values: passion, consensus, honesty, energetic, patience and faith.

In part 2, I will share what I learned in life after what my father raised in me. Here are another set of attributes that my father’s brand shine with:

Unselfishness:

“Salah Saleh was behind my new national record”, that statement is the title written on the newspaper. Mr. Abbas Jabbar is the new national hammer throw champion, my father’s record stand for 16 years and here is the story of the new record as translated from Mr. Jabbar’s interview.

“Salah Saleh was in the same military unit as mine, he was the national champion. I was watching him closely and watch how he throw the hammer. I even sometimes bring the hammer for him. With his support and encouragement and even the game is difficult, requires good technique and a lot of physical exams, I started to understand the game with all its tricks. Under his supervision and coaching, I broke the record”.

That’s one of my father brand attributes that created his unique personal brand, a brand that friends and family keep talking about it today even after five years, this is What Would You Like Someone to Say About You at Your Funeral?

As Mohammed today, I learned after all these years that selfishness in management is a cancer and paralyze the entire management system or project.  As in my current role as Chief Experience Officer, one thing I remind my team and upper leadership about is that I am building a management system that can run without my continuous presence, If I created that, I will consider myself successful, If I don’t and everything must run with my presence then I am kind of selfish. Just distinguish between being aggressive and selfish. When I hear that I left a value and good standing system in my previous roles, I knew that I am branding myself to unselfishness.

Humble:

My father can start and engage in a conversation with anyone, he can make fun with kids and seniors. He is a master when it comes to social life. He is not arrogant and everybody loves him, he don’t let others feel he is more important than them.

I learned that being humble is what makes friends, team or anyone you meet feel comfortable to connect with you in the future. Your charisma is what makes your personal brand unique and being humble can surround you with a network that you could need their help one day. I meet a lot of arrogant friends and till today, I don’t understand what the point of being arrogant in this short life. Being humble become like a Trust Agent for the team, people like humble person, they feel she/he close to them than a boss who just say hi and bye! until we have robots who the run the company, remember we are dealing with humans like us.

Thoughtful:

My father care about people he know and don’t know, he care about people walking on the street or even driving., he give preference to others, he give preference to others when driving even if he stop for 15min.! he is ready to cancel an important meeting if he want to help someone. He always want to make others happy, he used to buzz me to help people when they need it, he is doing it for no return, it’s just make him happy.

I am still learning that people don’t have good times everyday and that neglecting people emotions or feelings could result in weakening the team’s morals or demotivating employees to work, being thoughtful is attribute we should have, we all have to understand what the “Unknown” said:

When companies started to have a role like Chief Emotions Officer, it means that businesses started to care about employees and customers emotions, employees are not human resources, they are partners in your overall success or failure, we have to provide a culture and environment that makes everyone comfortable else you will end with more turn-over, resources wasted, and null referrals. Employees can create better customer experience, better business and better system. The sales minute, the decision change in choosing products, the click for putting an item in the cart are all reside in people’s emotions at that minute, your unsubconscious mind, that’s where it started, somebody who is thoughtful about others.

At the end, no one is perfect but I am sure that I and my sisters raised in a good hands, Allah bless his soul.

Last month we brought you 100 Social Media tips that you need to carry with you to 2011; this month it’s all about Personal Branding. 50 of those are quotes and tips from branding experts and the rest are based on our experience. So without further adieu, let the countdown begin:

100 – Accept people for who they are. Accept yourself, without judgment, as you are.

99 – Set your vision as “BE THE BEST!”

98 – Be consistently delivered.

97 – Upgrade yourself to a new version of YOU but don’t upgrade to another person.

96 – Treat others the way you want to be treated.

95 – Pay no attention to those who say it can’t be done.

94 – Surround yourself by self-disciplined people who’ll encourage not destroy you.

93 – People respect individuals who are original.

92 – Be a role model for everyone who follows you.

91 – Don’t compare yourself with others, let’s others do that.

90 – The first step in personal branding is self-discovery.

89 – If you want to earn more, you must increase your worth, your value to others.

88 – Never discount the value of the smallest connection.

87 – Listen to yourself. Trust your inner voice. Go with the flow of your own personality.

86 – REMEMBER: Having a social media presence doesn’t necessarily mean your brand will flourish overnight.

85 – Invest in human relationships and not in $$$ transactions.

84 – Don’t hide what makes you different. You know, It takes courage to be different.

83 – Do not denigrate your competitors.

82 – An excellent way to build your personal brand is to become known as a problem solver.

81 – Carve your niche, and then own it.

80 – Careful what you post on your social networks, nothing goes unseen.

79 – Whatever you are doing online, be HUMAN. Technology tools are just a tools.

78 – BE “OF SERVICE.” ALWAYS.

77 – Stories are the basic fundamentals of every brand. Have you created your story? Have you developed your emotional connection? ~ @KylePLacy

76 – You must be the best for you before you can be your best for others. ~ @WalterAkana

75 – Make sure you take time out to replenish yourself. ~ @DarrenHardy

74 – The closer you can get to the true you, the happier and richer you will be. ~ @nancerosen

73 – Just be yourself. To pretend to be something (or someone) you’re not increases the chances that you will not be happy and/or successful in your career. ~ @TheJobQuest

72 – Take control of your future and position yourself and your personal brand for growth and the opportunities you want before others do it for you! ~ @CareerRocketeer

71 – Don’t reinvent without help and support. Build connections, solicit support, and find mentors. ~ @myreinventure

70 – Be the you that you are most proud of — that’s the authentic you. ~ @MalcolmLevene

69 – Be yourself – being anyone else will fit you like a bad suit. ~ @pdejager

68 – You do not excel through wishing, you must discover, craft and continually fuel your personal brand’ ~ @pathfindernig

67 – To stand out, not to fit in. To make connections, not to be an invisible cog. To do otherwise is a loss. ~ Seth Godin

66 – ‎Only those who constantly retool themselves stand a chance of staying employed in the years ahead. ~ @tom_peters

65 – It’s critical to keep your community in mind and develop your online presence in a way that demonstrates your relevance and brand value to the people you serve. ~ @WalterAkana

64 – The content you create influences your perceived value. ~ @ChadALevitt

63 – Consistency is key, for the more consistent all of your own marketing efforts are both online and offline, the more powerful and memorable your personal brand impression will be on all current and prospective stakeholders in your career. ~ @HajjFlemings

62 – Act like a company. Companies have to act like people in order to communicate to customers online. As personal brands, we need to think like companies and have a clear position and brand strategy. ~ @DanSchawbel

61 – There is no greater gift your personal brand can receive than a recommendation, referral, or testimonial. ~ @HeatherHuhman

60 – The best legacy is one that can be lived before it is left behind. ~ @mikemyatt

59 – Each one of us needs to assume personal responsibility by becoming the CEO of our own roles and leaders within current positions. ~ @_Robin_Sharma

58 – Your personal brand should be authentic—it should reflect your true character. It should be built on your dreams, purpose, values, uniqueness, genius, passion, specialization, characteristics, and favorite activities. ~ Hubert Rampersad

57 – The energy you spend trying to make sure your adversary does not get ahead is energy you could be spending to strengthen your own skills, enhance your learning and advancing your own career by providing value. Holding another person back does not provide any value. ~ @MargaretMeloni

56 – Remember to do something for your brand that is offline. It’s not all about building an online brand. ~ @PaulCopcutt

55 – Be consistent. Communicate your message clearly and frequently. When it is crystal clear, those around you will be able to communicate it on your behalf. ~ @WilliamArruda

54 – Next time you have a success experience, instruct your subconscious to park it by the front door for easy access later. ~ @SandersSays

53 – A relationship – and a brand – isn’t created overnight. Work to cultivate these relationships for the better part of your life, and you’ll be amazed at what kind of doors open. ~ @DanSchawbel

52 – Every day ask yourself: How can I communicate my unique value message today?  ~ @MegGuiseppi

51 – It’s never too early to start building your brand, and it’s never too late. You need to come up with a brand strategy and development plan if you want to be successful. ~ @DanSchawbel

I know you’re expecting 50 more, but @JohnAntonios stole them from me… don’t worry, I got you the link, but please don’t tell him I gave it to you! It’s our little secret

You can follow the personal branding experts on Twitter just with one click from my most followed list.

Forget the introduction this week – this post is clear cut and straight to the point. As the title suggests, below is a list of 100 tips about social media that you need to remember  before 2011. Some might sound generic and applicable beyond the scope of social media – but that’s exactly the point. Social media is an extension of real life engagement so let’s Go!

1 – Be human, be real.

2 – Engage, listen and measure.

3 – Focusing on internal operations (culture) is a golden key to successful customer service.

4 – Make sure employees understand how to use social media tools and processes to brand the company image on the web.

5 – Maintain your brand effectively on the social networking sites.

6 – Successful social media strategy = successful human relationships and conversations.

7 – Invest time in educating employees about social media benefits.

8 – When you mess up, be the first to admit it and learn from the lesson.

9 – Before you develop a social media strategy, be clear about your marketing and communication goals.

10 – Start with listening.

11 – Delegate when necessary.

12 – Think visual.

13 – The lines between public and private, personal and professional are blurred in online social networks.

14 – Be interesting and not just an old news.

15 – Remember, adding value to your network starts with you, so be generous.

16 - The key to social media success is to get online and listen to what the customers/fans/criticizes have to say.

17 - Appreciate your followers.

18 - Before you develop a social media strategy, establish your key performance indicators and what success will look like for your business.

19 - Respond quickly.

20 - Build a strong network: Your network represents those you know and trust.

21 - Leverage connections to get introduced to inside sources at companies through someone you already know.

22 - Social Media is a profound change that impacts all departments in the organization.

23 – Stay relevant and authentic in your message and different in your style.

24 – Don’t build a SM strategy without knowing the business objectives.

25 – Think quality comments, blog posts, tweets, etc.

26 – Don’t think numbers, think of a community you build for your brand.

27 – You must have a content strategy before you have a social media strategy.

28 – If you are trying to build authentic relationships online, use a real professional photo of you (as your avatar).

29 – Social means engaging, sharing, and caring.

30 – Remember, in social media you need to have big ears.

31 – Don’t sell. At least, not all the time.

32 – Before you develop a social media strategy, evaluate which social media channel could support you in achieving your goals.

33 – Listening is a form of participating that gets overlooked by many, but is the most important step in engagement.

34 – Quality still trumps quantity.

35 – Make your content count and you’ll be able to stand out amongst the masses.

36 – Realize that how you behave online is how you will behave in person.

37 – Your message across all social media sites should be consistent.

38 – Social media policy goal is to organize and manage your message on the web.

39 – The human capital is the foundation to build a successful social media campaign.

40 – Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, etc. are medium tools and they should not replace having or writing to a blog. A blog is preferred to be your brand’s hub.

41 – You don’t need to be the best technology guy to use social media effectively.

42 – Never expect overnight success by applying social media strategy to your business.

43 – Do not disclose confidential or proprietary information on your blog, Facebook, Twitter or any other online platforms without appropriate approval.

44 – Contribute value to the online conversations.

45 – Always pause and think before posting.

46 – You should make sure that your online personal activities do not interfere with your job or work commitments.

47 – You have sole responsibility for what you post to your blog or publish in any form of online social media.

48 – Do not denigrate your competitors.

49 – Instead of blocking social media which is an easy thing to do, maybe it’s better to use common sense and tell people not to say online what they won’t say in public.

50 – Careful what you post on your social networks, nothing goes unseen.

And …

Et voila! What did you think of the tips? Hey, how come you look surprised? OH! You’re wondering where the next 50 tips are  well, what I failed to mention at the beginning of this post is that this is a co-authored effort. John and I believe that two minds are better than one and that is why we decided to write these 100 tips together… here’s the next batch

Amman Tech Tuesday (AmmanTT) is a non-profit organization that hosts a monthly event that brings tech industry experts, local technologists, engineers, entrepreneurs, idea-generators, and just about any enthusiast together in a casual setting to meet and learn from each other. AmmanTT’s platform allows people to share their experiences, projects, and ideas with the rest of the tech community.

Although I offer speaking at events as one of my services, supporting non-profit organizations and volunteering my expertise  to some educational institutes is one of my favorite interests.

Why did they choose me to speak?

It’s because of my online reputation, period. Today, you don’t need to pay $$$ to get more business or job deals. Social media is for everyone and it’s free. If you build your personal brand and work to maintain it, then someone will speak on your behalf. AmmanTT team chose the premier speakers in Jordan not only based on what they hear, but also what they see.

I selected Reputation 2.0: Manage Your Online Reputation as my topic for many reasons. Today, you have to manage your reputation before someone else does. The target wasn’t just GenY; GenX, baby boomers and even kids were part of my presentation.

Event Format:

The format was interesting.

1.      Eight speakers to discuss social media challenges (5 minutes each)  2.      Interaction with the audience for speakers (15 minutes)  3.      Networking break (20 minutes)  4.      Speakers will discuss conclusions (3 minutes each)  5.      Q&A panel (20 minutes)

My 1st Toastmasters speech: Who is Mohammed Al-Taee?

Toastmasters:

I joined Amman International Toastmasters Club, and a few weeks after I joined I was elected as the vice-president of public relations . I branded the club image on the web so I created Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and FriendFeed social accounts.

In my interview with Jörgen Sundberg, he advised job seekers to do public speaking whether at work or at the pub. I agree with Jörgen; Toastmasters helped improve my communication and leadership skills a lot.

In my first bi-monthly newsletter, I mentioned what Seth Godin said in his latest book, Linchpin: “Public speaking is one of the worst things the lizard brain can imagine.”

My response to that is this: We should work on mastering our lizard brains and give them no chance to control us out of fear. I’m not saying you don’t have be a little afraid of public speaking, but be more prepared and confident. Fear, or the lack of courage, is more responsible for failure in management, and in life, than any other factor. It is always fear that causes people to hold back, to sell themselves short, to settle for far less than they are capable of.

I firmly believe that you can do, you can have, and you can be far more than you now know if only you could eliminate the fear, doubts, and misgivings that consciously and unconsciously interfere with you realizing your full potential.

The event day:

The surprise for the event was the attendance of His Excellency, Jordan’s Prime Minister, Mr. Samir Al-Rifai who joined Twitter that very day and started interacting with Jordanian people.

Demonstrating how Twitter co-founder @ev was afraid of damaging his online reputation

Presentation:

I jumped directly into my topic and started my presentation with: “Do you know how many people get rejected from employment opportunities due to a bad online reputation?”

There was a silence… I proceeded to give few statistics before moving to my challenge for the audience.

I was reading It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be by Paul Arden at the time I was preparing for the event. Page 68 is entitled: “Don’t Give a Speech. Put ON a Show.”Arden said:

“When we attend a lecture, we generally go to see the speaker, not to hear what they have to say. We know what they have to say. That’s why we go to see them. How many speeches have you heard? How many of them can you remember?

“Words, words, words.

“Instead of giving people the benefit of your wisdom (words), try painting them a picture. The more strikingly visual your presentation is, the more people will remember it. And more importantly, they will remember you.”

So I thought: instead of creating a boring text presentation, why don’t I create visual slides that get people attention while they are listening to the stories behind that images? For anyone who is preparing for speaking events, it works

Open air discussion:

That session described my challenge and explained on a flip chart how to manage an online reputation. I got a lot of questions and many people took action after the event, like buying firstnamelastname.com, joining Linkedin, Twitter, etc. or even warning their friends or kids about the important of content sharing on the Internet.

Challenges:

Flexibility:  Each speaker got just five minutes to demonstrate his topic to the audience, I find it very difficult to give examples and explain the consequences just in five minutes, but AmmanTT team was not flexible with me in that issue! I don’t think things can move smoothly in the future if flexibility is not an option in the management process.

Other: It’s a $0 budget event, and they do a lot with the limited resources. I have to say “Bravo!” to everyone who made the event successful.

After event:

Speaking events are always a great opportunity for networking with different people.  I received invitations to speak at other events, I got business consulting offers, and one of the most important things I gained wass credibility.  Influence is power and when you have the power to be the leader in your niche, you get credibility. Credibility is a shortcut to branding yourself and differentiating your personal brand.

There is nothing to hide with my experience. I took a chance, prepared well, and did it. What about you? Do you have a successful speaking experience to share?

In Top 10 Quotes From Trust Agents, I explained my new way to review the books I read. I reviewed Career Distinction too.

Today I will review Linhcpin by Seth Godin. This is my 1st read for Seth. I feel shy for not reading at least 5 books for him. It’s an excellent book & must read for EVERYONE. This book inspired people around the world to meet and discuss the book. June 14, 2010, Linchpins in Jordan met & have very informative discussion. I’m not planning for explaining what is Linchpin as you can find on your favorite search engine.

I tweeted many quotes  during my reading and for those who miss them, here are my top 40 quotes from the book:

1 – This new dream isn’t about obedience. It’s about vision and engagement.

2 – Now, like or not, the world wants something different from you. We need to think hard about what reality looks like now.

3 – STOP asking what’s in it for you and start giving gifts that change people. Then, and only then, will you have achieved your potential.

4 - You have brilliance in you, your contribution is valuable, and the art you create is precious. Only you can do, and you must.

5 – Instead of focusing on complying with management as a long-term strategy for getting more stuff and being more secure, we have a chance to describe a powerful vision for our future and to actually make it happen.

6 – The indispensable employee brings humanity and connection and art to her organization. She is the key player, the one who’s difficult to live without, the person you can build something around. The indispensable employee-I call her/him a linchpin-is a person who’s worth finding and keeping.

7 – Being a tall helps you become a star in basketball, but how many of us have a shot at playing in the NBA? It’s not about what you’re born with; it’s about what you do.

8 – It’s easy to fool yourself into believing that genius works for them, but it won’t work for you.

9 – The linchpin feels the fear, acknowledges it, then proceeds.

10 – Organizations that can bring humanity to their interactions with other human beings will thrive.

11 – If the game is designed for you to lose, don’t play that game. Play different one.

12 – It doesn’t matter where you live on the long tail, as long as the tribes of people you connect with are eager to seek you out and help you succeed.

13 – If you are remarkable, amazing, or just plain spectacular, you probably shouldn’t have a resume at all.

14 – Great jobs, world-class jobs, jobs people kill for–those jobs don’t get filled by people e-mailing in resumes.

15 – If your Google search isn’t what you want (need) it to be, then change it.

16 – The resistance is working overtime to be sure that you wont actually do anything remarkable. As a result, the list of excuses in reverse is longer that you might expect.

17 – The challenge is in being alert enough to write them down, to prioritize them, to build them, and to ship them out the door. It’s a habit, it’s easy to learn, and it’s frightening.

18 – By separating the hard work of preparation from the scary work of insight, you can build an environment in which you’re more likely to ship.

19 – I don’t want to be around people who are in frequent cycles of pain and fear.

20 – It’s impossible to be a linchpin if you agree to feed your anxiety.

21 - The goal is to quit the tasks you’re doing because you’re hiding on behalf of the lizard brain and to push through the very tasks the lizard fears.

22 – The resistance will help find the thing you most need to do because it is the thing the resistance most wants to stop.

23 – The art of challenging the resistance is doing something when you’re not certain it’s going to work.

24 – All the creativity books in the world aren’t going to help you if you’re unwilling to have lousy, lame, and even dangerously bad ideas.

25 – The lizard brain is the reason you’re afraid, the reason you don’t do all the art you can, the reason you don’t ship when you can. The lizard brain is the source of the resistance.

26 – The reason that art (writing, engaging, leading, all of it) is valuable is preciously why I can’t tell you how to do it. If there were a map, there’d be no art, because art is the act of navigating without a map.

27 – If you accept that human beings are difficult to change, and embrace (rather than curse) the uniqueness that everyone brings to the table, you’ll navigate the world with more bliss and effectiveness. And make better decisions, too.

28 - You can’t make a map unless you can see the world as it is. You have to know where you are and know where you’re going before you can figure out how to go about getting there.

29 – The most successful givers aren’t doing it because they’re being told to. They do it because doing it is fun. It gives them joy.

30 – Great bosses and world-class organizations hire motivated people, set high expectations, and give people room to become remarkable.

31 – Connections are valuable in and of themselves, because they lead to productivity, decreased communication costs, and yes, gifts.

32 – Giving a gift makes you indispensable. Inventing a gift, creating art-that is what the market seeks out, and the givers are the ones who earn our respect and attention.

33 - Don’t let your circumstances or habits rule your choices today. Become a master of yourself and use your will power to choose.

34 – You can either fit in or stand out. Not both.

35 – Either you are the drama of your everyday life or you are seeing the world as it is. These are all choices; you can’t have it both ways.

36 – To stand out, not to fit in. To make connections, not to be an invisible cog. To do otherwise is a loss.

37 – Every successful organization is built around people. Men and women who don’t merely shuffle money, but interest, give gifts, and connect.

38 – You have a genius inside of you, a daemon with something to share with the world. Everyone does. Are you going to continue hiding it, holding it back, and settling for less than you deserve just because your lizard brain is a afraid?

39 – Don’t ask your boss to run interference, cover for you, or take the blame. Instead, create moments where your boss can happily take credits. Once that cycle begins, you can be sure it will.

40 – If you want to be a linchpin, the power you bring to the table has to be very difficult to replace. Be bolder and think bigger. Nothing stopping you.

Share your review for the book or let me know your favorite part or advice in the comments box. Let’s have discussion.