Heat and light 🫀 EBH

What are you bringing to the table?

Thomas Friedman has three Pulitzer prizes. He writes for the NYT as a columnist and has written seven books, one of which won a National Book Award. He was given an Order of the British Empire by the Queen, and it is rumored that President Obama used to call him to talk about trends in the middle east.

So, you know… He’s got some game.

What’s on his business card?

Thomas Friedman, winner of three Pulitzers? Nope.

Thomas Friedman, the most-read columnist at the NYT? Nope.

Thomas Friedman, columnist, author, and shaper of minds? Nope.

Thomas Friedman, writer?

Nope.

On his business card, it simply says:

Thomas Friedman, heating and lighting

No, it’s not the wrong guy. It’s just that a guy who is read by millions of the most well-read people in the western world (and beyond), thinks about his work in terms of two ideas:

Heat: Stirring emotions to make you care about something (and maybe even take action on it)

Light: Presenting an idea or situation that makes you see it in a whole new way (presumably to get you to take some kind of action on it)

This is a pretty good way to look at your employer branding content. Is it providing light or heat?

Chances are, it isn’t doing either.

And if it isn’t, what exactly is its purpose?

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Reminder: Here’s an audit of 30 pharma/biotech career site brand messages that came away seeing a LOT of opportunities for employer branders.

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Last week, Mike “Batman” Cohen and I started to plan our talk on the intersection between employer brand and sourcing. Three minutes in, I told him to stop.

Don’t miss our session today at noon. It is purposefully unplanned. It will be chaotic. It has the potential for being the best TA session you see this year.

***This Newsletter Contains No ChatGPT***

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