Helping an individual into their first role is about more than helping them become technically competent at the job they’ve secured.
They need to be able to operate effectively in a broader sense.
This means understanding the business they are a part of, the people around them and the wider context in which their work has value.
They need to develop beyond their technical expertise and begin building the people, business and cognitive acumen that will support them throughout their career.
Those responsible for helping early career professionals to make this transition have a powerful opportunity to help them see the bigger picture earlier than many of their peers.
Here are some thoughts.
The six areas below are a practical high level lens for thinking about the business you are helping to run and the environment you are operating within.
'When we're looking to improve our B2B business, I think a good place to start is to consider and, where necessary, take action in these six areas:
-- Firstly, the clarity and appropriateness of our offer in the context of the markets we serve and the resources, both operational and financial, available to us. We don't want to be stretched too thin or applying our efforts in areas that don't suit us or our configuration well.
-- Secondly, the quality of our customer base, paying particular attention to their ability and willingness to pay for what it is we have to offer. The better the quality of our customer base the stronger our business.
-- Thirdly, the environment we have designed, consciously or otherwise, for our people. A good question to ask and to listen carefully and take positive steps in response to is "are we as a team, are we as an individual, easy to work with and easy to work for?"
-- Fourthly, the business and people acumen of each member of our management team. The more adept our leaders are in these areas the likelier they'll set a positive, collaborative and commercial tone for their respective teams and make good decisions.
-- Fifthly, the confidence, consciousness and capability of our sales professionals to engage on a business level with business leaders and other budget holders. The more of an asset our people are to our customers the likelier we succeed.
-- Sixthly, the confidence, consciousness and capability of our non-sales customer facing professionals in building strong productive relationships both externally and internally. The closer we collaborate the stronger our bonds.'
- Rob Evans, Founder Of Outperformance Highway, Based On 35+ Years Working Inside 150+ Businesses Worldwide
We ask ourselves ‘what’s the point of this?’
Engagement operates at both a macro and a micro level.
What we’re presented with has to make sense to us.
We have to buy in to the concept and the substance.
When it comes to learning and development, we’re more likely to be engaged when we can see it helps us achieve what we’re pushed by our leadership to achieve.
This applies beyond learning and development too.
Do our internal initiatives make sense to those affected by them?
Put another way, will our demands on others’ time help them better execute?
How can they hope to inspire our confidence when they aren’t confident themselves?
And what about us?
It starts with feeling like we’re on solid ground.
Knowledge underpins confidence.
Deep knowledge provides strong foundations.
Does our knowledge of our business run deep enough?
We need all four.
Careers tend to follow a similar pattern.
As our career evolves, the demands placed on us evolve.
Career stages tend to direct us to a focus on one or two of the four.
We still need all four.
Think of these collectively as the four big picture acumen’s.
Technical acumen.
People acumen.
Business acumen.
Cognitive acumen.
Without strength across all four, our road is treacherous.
Wherever we are on our journey.
How consciously do we work on our four acumen’s?
Curriculum For Your Short Free Programme
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Introduction
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A Quick Question
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Powerful Curiosity
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Twelve Areas For Conscious Development
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Wrap Up
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About this course
- Free
All of the above is drawn from 35+ years working inside 150+ businesses worldwide. It's not theory, it's what I discovered and observed working and where I saw people come unstuck.
'Luck may play a part but outperformance is never a fluke.'
- Rob Evans, Founder, Outperformance Highway