All
I've ever wanted in business is an unfair advantage.
Before you raise your eyebrows, let me define the term.
An unfair advantage is not lying, cheating, or stealing.
It's exactly the opposite. An unfair advantage is doing
everything just a little bit better than your competition.
And even if you've been in business for many years and
you're at the top of your profession, in today's competitive
world you also need to do everything just a little bit
better today than you did it yesterday. That's your
unfair advantage.
It's
not always easy. Do you remember the movie STAYING
ALIVE, the sequel to SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER?
(And can you still dance that way?) It's about how the
John Travolta character pursues a career as a professional
dancer, all the highs and lows (with a little romance
thrown in). The last scene is an incredible dance routine.
As my friend Kookie and I danced out of the theater
afterwards, I had a revelation: The trouble with life
is that it's just too short to be good at very many
things!
The
dedication and discipline that the Travolta character
needed to become a great dancer didn't leave him much
time for anything else.
That's
the problem with working and being in business today.
The future belongs to those who are competent in many
different areas. To be successful in any industry, you
need to be a technically-adept, charismatic communicator
with exceptionally good work habits, good people skills,
and an abundance of healthy energy. (And it doesn't
hurt if also you look good and dress well.)
There's
an old saying, "If you build a better mousetrap, people
will beat a path to your door." That was true once,
but not today. Having the best product or service does
not automatically guarantee you success. That's because:
1.
People do business with people they know.
2.
People do business with the people who do business with
them.
3.
People do business with people their friends talk about.
4.
People do business with people they read about.
Start
now to develop your own unfair advantage and build your
client base.
HOMEWORK
1.
What one thing can you do better than your competition?
How can you let the world know about your advantage?
2.
What one activity can you improve on? Decide whether
this improvement is worth the energy it will require.
If so, what one step can you take this week?
3.
Learn from the best...and the worst! No matter how long
you've been in the work force, make a list of every
boss you've had. Start with your first job at the age
of ten or twelve and go right through to today. What
did you learn from each of these people, good or bad?
This
exercise is especially important if you are now in management
or plan to be. Everyone you've ever worked for can teach
you something, even if it is only to provide you with
a pitiful example of what not to do. "If you want to
build a ship," wrote pilot-poet Antoine de Saint-Exupery,
"don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't
assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to
long for the endless immensity of the sea." How many
leaders have gone beyond mere management to filling
you with a yearning for the endless immensity of opportunities
before you? How did they do it?
Patricia
Fripp CSP, CPAE is a San Francisco-based professional
speaker on Change, Teamwork, Customer Service, Promoting
Business, and Communication Skills. To learn more about Patricia, as
well as save 20% when you order her audio/video programs
Million Dollar Words: Speaking for Results, Preparing
and Presenting Powerful Programs and/or Confessions
of an Unashamed, Relentless Self-Promoter, go to YourSuccessStore.com. |