Few questions you might have about me…
Why?
I believe that to thrive in the VUCA world of the new industrial revolution, just studying, training and developing new skills are no longer sufficient and career planning is dead. Today’s workers must learn to create new value and vary their strategies continually and become more self-directed. We need, I am convinced, to move on from standard professional development towards Professional Innovation: this move can be achieved through the application to workers and to their work of marketing and innovation paradigms and tools.
This is why I have spent the last 15 years devising books, tools and practical methods to realize my vision and, in the process, I have helped tens of thousands of people.
I also founded BigName, an organization that specializes in the innovation of people and teams for companies.
I started with Personal Branding, the art of managing one’s professional image to attract opportunities s. I was among the first to offer Personal Branding services in Europe and I was the first to publish a book in Italy on the subject. To develop a practical, project-based approach, I created and distributed the Personal Branding Canvas for free (it was subsequently translated into more than 10 languages and is now used globally). I also had the pleasure of editing the Italian edition of Ditch Dare Do! by William Arruda and Deb Dib.
In 2008 I launched PersonalBranding.it, the very first website dedicated to this paradigm (there’s more on Personal Branding here…).
My experience (and my mentors) led me to understand that personal branding needed to evolve into the art of managing one’s professional image much more strategically.
Most people who want to do Personal Branding today first need to optimize and innovate within their chosen professions or even to totally reinvent it! Sometimes I find that the real problem for some is not a lack of opportunities, but an abundance of opportunities. Do I accept this job or take on this client? How do I improve my offering using the latest digital tools? How do I keep myself competitive in the now globalized labor market?
That’s why I soon started to combine my vision with work modeling. I coauthored Business Model You 2nd edition (Nov 2022) and contributed to Business Model Team by Tim Clark and Bruce Hazen.
Find out more on professional innovation…
How?
To achieve all this, I chose an approach based on the principles of Design Thinking, the method inspired by design and developed by IDEO & Stanford to solve not-well-defined complex problems, such as one’s career or the way we work everyday.
I also constantly use a visual thinking: it simplifies planning, speeds up creativity and facilitates sharing.
Some of the tools I have developed are included in the Career Innovation Toolkit which has been downloaded by tens of thousands all over the world.
I also draw heavily upon experience acquired while working for/with companies such as Ericsson and Hewlett Packard, as well as marketing skills, acquired in the fields of digital, branding, change management and executive coaching.
What?
I run BigName (a company specialized in Professional Innovation for business) and have been working as a clinical professor, trainer or lecturer for leading universities and business schools as SDA Bocconi, ESSEC, WHU, Bath SoM, WHU, St. Gallen and MIP.
Find out how to work with me, here.
Who?
I’m a proud father who plays a lot with his two wonderful children and only just tolerated by a very patient wife (a philologist).
I really, really, love skiing. I even ski in July when possible. At the last count, I had four pairs of skis. Don’t ask my kids just how much I love skiing: I usually force them into faking enthusiasm, not an easy task when it is freezing cold.
I’m also the kind of friend everyone, for some reason, asks for health advice and which University they should send their kids to.
How to contact me?
Contact me at 100log@centenaro.it, LinkedIn or Twitter.
