The Leader's Edge ─ Using Personal Branding to Drive Performance and Profit

“The Leader’s Edge is a must read for aspiring entrepreneurs and executives. Susan Hodgkinson has done what most management consultants and scholars are unable to do. She has written a book consistent with the best research on impression management, social networks and executive development without the jargon. The Leader’s Edge provides keen insights and actionable prescriptions for creating a personal brand. The 5 P’s framework is the most useful I have found for analyzing and taking action to maximize how others will value your potential to contribute and be willing to invest in it.

“Every aspiring professional of color needs to read this book. Susan Hodgkinson writes with sensitivity to the challenges racial minorities often face in large corporations. Her advice is part and parcel of the tools one needs to be liberated from the self-limiting and defensive approaches minorities often take to being undervalued in their places of work. This book is about power and taking control of one’s own destiny.”
—David Thomas, Professor of Organization Behavior, Harvard Business School, and Author of Breaking Through, The Making of Minority Executives in Corporate America

“Sue Hodgkinson is a brilliant executive coach and a vital partner to me in supporting some of my most important clients at Genzyme. Sue brings her successful approach forward in The Leader’s Edge. She gets to the heart of the matter in a way that few others do, enabling leaders to envision and embark upon new pathways to personal excellence.”
—Joan Wood, Senior Vice President, Leadership and Organization Development, Genzyme Corporation

“Every leader at every level needs to read this book.”
—Deborah Merrill-Sands, Former Dean, Simmons School of Management

“Progressing to senior leadership requires a concerted series of adjustments in your leadership approach. This book helps you assess all the dimensions of how you lead, as well as the barriers you should anticipate as you ascend, and strategies for overcoming them. The personal brand framework is practical and following Hodgkinson’s advice will bring quick, high impact results to your work.”
—James G. Connolly, Former President, Citizens Financial Group

“With the clarity and passion of a true visionary, Sue Hodgkinson delivers a practical and potent approach to the phenomenon of ‘personal branding.’”
—Donna D’Cruz, Founder and CEO of Rasa Music