For it's 5th anniversary edition, the Young Hoteliers Summit at the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne invited me to host a workshop on personal branding to help hospitality students from more than 27 different hotel schools around the world define their personal brand and market themselves more efficiently.
In a fast-paced 1-hour session, I explained to students what it takes to position their personal profile to stand out from the crowd. Are you creative? Do you have an entrepreneurial mindset? Have you worked in several countries? Are you a statistics wizard?
No matter what your skills or pedigree are, it is about identifying the areas where you are really good at and combining them. Many people are good at accounting, but how many are also creative and boast international exposure?
A simple yet powerful 3-step approach developed by Bridge.Over Group was shared with the students.
It is not so much about picking one extraordinary skill, it is more about defining a set of competences that are unique.
Some students got a chance to present their profiles to the other workshop attendees, among them:
-
an entrepreneur who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro
-
a talented sales person speaking 4 languages
-
a marathon runner with project management expertise
Following positive feedback, Bridge.Over Group is planning to give a series of workshops in various educational institutions on the topic of personal branding.
Youri Sawerschel is a consultant for Bridge.over Group. His field of expertise covers strategic marketing and branding. Solicited for his creative thinking skills, he has been involved with projects focused on creating, launching and managing brands in Europe, China and the Middle-East. He is also the author of several articles on the topic of customer loyalty, branding and concept development and is a regular speaker at the Geneva School of Business Administration. Previously, Youri has worked for Rocco Forte Hotels and Kempinski Hotels. He holds a bachelor degree from the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne and a graphic design degree from Geneva Art School. He is also a co-founder of the Young Hoteliers Summit.
Bridge.Over Group is a boutique strategy consulting firm dedicated to solving business challenges for hospitality visionaries across the globe. Sought after by hotel owners, investors and management companies alike for its entrepreneurial way of thinking, Bridge.Over Group is a partner of choice for companies seeking fresh ideas for change and improvement.
