Self Coaching Journey to Leadership Maturity - Business Acumen
Business Acumen – The words reverberate with the precise confidence of success. This manager seems to have a business compass to hone in on the directional decisions that are right for the organization.
Acumen, conveys a confidence and knowledge for efficient and effective business. Although these words convey a natural ability, the truth is that business acumen is more a verb in practice than a noun. You need to develop acumen as an active search for business skills and to applying that knowledge over time. Great concept…but now you’re thinking what does that mean to me in my career?
Business acumen is about focus so let’s think about a Ready – Aim – Fire approach for your success.
What is it and Why Does it Matter?
Leaders in organizations of all sizes understand, people are our single greatest resource. There are clear bottom-line benefits to having an effective, integrated talent management strategy which is created upon a foundation of the broader business goals and objectives. An effective talent management strategy will ensure that critical roles are understood, key people are identified and your future stars are acknowledged, managed, engaged, motivated, empowered and retained.
In this webinar:
How to be “Top of Mind” for Your Customers
Several years ago, as part of a large organization, I was challenged along with a peer to create a leadership program for a particular group of upper-level executives. Exciting as the opportunity was we were overwhelmed because we had little direction or suggestions from our sponsoring senior executive. After much brainstorming (and complaining to each other), we decided that we needed to pursue some expert advice. One of those experts was a speaker/author who had been part of another event that we had supported. John was a favorite throughout the organization because he was a passionate speaker, could deeply connect with his audience, and was a “wealth of information”. John is/was not a “hoarder” of his expertise. By that I mean, while he was paid for his expertise, you felt like he was consistently going beyond the expected agreement. And for John, the contract never ended. You could email or call him long after any contracted event and he would respond promptly with as much information he had on any topic. He shared all his expertise and would point you to other experts.
Recently, I was coaching an entrepreneur who was struggling with getting and keeping customers. The entrepreneur asked me this question, “How can I get people to automatically think of me when they are seeking my kind of expertise?” The million dollar question, right? I sent the entrepreneur off to think about that question and added this question, “Why should anyone think of you first?” Of course, I was thinking about those two questions as well. That’s how John popped into my head. When I needed an expert, he was the first one to come to mind. So why was he “top of mind” and how did he get there? Here is how I answered the two questions with John as my model.
Why should someone think of you?
How can you get to “top of mind”?
I am sure that John “gave away” a lot of his expertise. I know he did for me. I also know that John’s company has grown from a man of one to many. And he is still one of the most sought after experts in his field. I challenge you to work on becoming “top of mind” in your area of expertise. And if you need help, use me, I am good resource!
When I first started working in strategic planning, this became my favorite quote. Meetings were a sea of vague but lofty strategic terms. Discussions focused on visionaries who could see and define a future the rest of us could not. I cringed at critical assessments such as “she can’t think strategically” or “he doesn’t have vision”. I was frustrated by the conflict between this elite view of strategy and my values that each individual has insights to contribute to future planning. I see this collaboration as the very essence of a leadership planning model.
My work is energized by a much simpler and more basic view of what is important for effective strategy…an engaged team that understands and contributes to a common future vision. In one of my favorite books, Being Strategic, Erica Anderson has a quote “Being strategic means consistently making those core directional choices that will best move you toward your hoped-for future”. This simple definition in a complex world of business, knits operations and strategy into cohesive future direction. If you can create actionable strategy that your whole team understands, you create communication to power your organization.
So how do you actually build effective strategy? Like any team effort, diverse thinking builds a better product. Committing the time and effort for the process is critical and well worth the investment. Invest your time for strategy in the following ways
The business world of today is powered by diverse teams. Success is driven by passion, commitment, and a plan. Strategy is the plan to energize and empower the people in your organization “in any direction you choose”. Hats off to Dr. Theodor Seuss Geisel for saying it best. Use your strategy to “steer you in any direction you choose”.
Our team consists of passionate and experienced people,
who love what they do and always look forward to face new challenges.
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