View
441
Download
0
Category
Tags:
Preview:
Citation preview
How you can continue
to shape your career
The Career Development Pack
This pack provides practical tools you can use to do satisfying work.
Anybody can do work they love, the art is getting somebody to pay you for doing it. How to make this happen?
One approach is to learn from creative people and service givers who have made a living doing work they love. Such people do satisfying work by focusing on their:
Strengths: They build on their strengths.
Sponsors: They find sponsors – employers or customers -who will hire them for what they do best.
Success: They help those sponsors to achieve success.
Introduction
You can build on your strengths, find sponsors whohire you and help those sponsors to achievesuccess.
Satisfying Work
Sponsors
Strengths
Success
Great service givers also recognise that people buy success, not
the theory of success. So when working with a customer it is
vital:
To clarify their Picture of Success.
To clarify the road map towards achieving the Picture of Success.
To clarify and do whatever is required to achieve the Picture of Success.
This pack provides many exercises you can use to follow these
steps in your own way and shape your future career.
The following page provides an overview of the topics we will
be covering in the pack
Please excuse the crammed format. But we have put them
on one page so you can get the overview.
It is important, of course, for you to take the best and leave
the rest. Please use and apply the ideas in the best way for
you.
So here are the topics we will be covering.
The Exercises
* Strengths.
- You can build on your strengths.- You can follow your successful style.- You can clarify your specific contribution – this includes clarifying
your perfect customer and how you can help them to succeed.
* Sponsors.
- You can clarify each sponsor’s agenda – their challenges and goals -and how you can help them to achieve success.
- You reach out to sponsors in a way that fits your values system – you can give to people and help them to succeed.
- You can, when appropriate, make clear contracts for working together to achieve their picture of success.
* Success.
- You can perform superb work, proactively keep your sponsors informed and deliver great service.
- You can find creative solutions to challenges.- You can deliver success and produce success stories.
My Picture of Success
My Life Goals
Everybody is different and has different pictures of success.
What is your picture? Looking back on your life when you are 80, what for you will mean you have had a successful life? This is a particularly challenging exercise, so only do it if you feel okay about it.
The exercise invites you to start from your destination and define your overall life goals. People often cover three themes when doing this exercise.
* Positive Relationships.
They focus on how they want to be remembered as a parent, partner, friend or whatever.
Introduction
* Positive Contribution.
They focus on how they want to follow their vocation, do good work or make a positive contribution to the world.
* Positive Memories.
They focus on how they want to enjoy life, pursue experiences and have no regrets.
You may prefer to clarify your life goals in another way.
Whatever approach you take, clarifying these goals can act as a long-term compass. You can bear in mind these aims when making key decisions. When given the opportunity to take a new job, for example, you can ask yourself:
“Will taking this step help me to achieve my longer-term picture of success?
Looking back in later years, I will feel my life has been successful if I have done the following things:
1) I have
For example:
*
*
*
My Picture of Success - My Life Goals
2) I have
For example:
*
*
*
3) I have
For example:
*
*
*
Strengths
Everybody has strengths. They have specific activities in
which they deliver As, rather than Bs or Cs. The key is to
build on your strengths and manage the consequences of
your weaknesses. The following pages invite you to focus on:
Your strengths.
Your successful style of working.
Your specific contribution towards helping a sponsor –
an employer or customer – to achieve success.
This section starts with some initial questions. You are then
invited to tackle exercises on these themes.
Introduction
Some questions you can
explore with a person to help
them to find their strengths
Strengths
1) What are the deeply satisfying activities in which you deliver As,
rather than Bs or Cs?
2) When do you feel in your element – at ease and yet able to excel?
3) Where do you have a natural feeling for an activity? Where do you
feel at home and say: “This is where I was meant to be?”
4) When do you flow, focus and finish? Where do then, as a by-
product, get a sense of fulfilment?
5) What are the activities that give you positive energy – even when
you just think about them?
6) When do you follow your passion, translate this into a clear
purpose and achieve peak performance?
7) What are the specific activities in which you do things you find
stimulating, set stretch goals and achieve your picture of success?
8) Where do you have the equivalent of a photographic memory?
9) When do you see the destination quickly? When do you go ‘A, B
___ then leap to ___ Z’? Where do you have a track record of
delivering Z?
10) What are the situations in which you quickly see patterns?
11) Where do you have good personal radar? Where do you seem to
know what will happen before it happens? Where do you also
have the repertoire to deliver the right results?
12) Where do you make complicated things look simple?
13) What are the situations in which you are calm?
14) When are you good at dealing with ‘crowdedness’ – many things
happening at the same time?
15) What are the activities in which you continually do creative
problem-solving by focusing on clarity, creativity and concrete
results?
16) What are the activities where you naturally do mental rehearsal?
17) What are the activities in which you have natural self-discipline?
Where do you score highly on drive, detail and delivery?
18) What are the activities in which you enjoy the journey as much as
reaching the goal - the process as much as the prize?
19) Where do you always do the basics and then add the brilliance?
20) Where do you reach the goals by adding that touch of class?
21) What is your successful style of working?
Looking back at your positive history, what for you have been the
most satisfying ‘projects’? What was satisfying about them?
What were the principles you followed to be successful? How can
you follow these principles again in the future?
22) What do you think may be your vocation?
How can you express this vocation through various vehicles on the
route to doing valuable work?
23) What for you would be the most stimulating kind of Project, with
stimulating People in a stimulating Place?
24) Who are your perfect customers – the kinds of people with whom
you work best?
What would be the specific things you could deliver to your
perfect customer to help them to achieve success?
25) How can you do satisfying work?
How can you build on your strengths, find sponsors - people who
will pay you - and help them to achieve success?
My Strengths
* Describe the deeply satisfying activities in which you
deliver – or have the potential to deliver – As rather than
Bs or Cs.
These may be particular kinds of projects, tasks or other
activities. Try to be as specific as possible. Give concrete
examples. Please note. The emphasis is on the word
‘Deliver’.
* Describe the activities in which you deliver Bs or Cs.
The B activities are probably those that you can do
reasonably well. They are not your As, however, or maybe
they were once but now you get bored doing them. The C
activities are those where you have little aptitude or desire
to learn.
* Describe how you can build on your strengths.
Try to be as specific as possible about how you can
continue to develop in the activities that you do best.
* Describe how you can, if appropriate, manage the
consequences of your weaknesses.
* Describe the specific things that you could deliver for a
potential sponsor – an employer or customer.
The emphasis is on what you can ‘deliver’, not what you
can ‘do’. Lots of people can do lots of things, but
employers and customers buy what you can deliver.
We will do more work on this theme in a later exercise
called My Contribution To An Employer.
As. The deeply satisfying activities, projects or other tasks in which I deliver –or have the potential to deliver - As are:
1)
For example:
*
*
*
My A Strengths
2)
For example:
*
*
*
3)
For example:
*
*
*
Bs. The activities in which I deliver Bs are:
*
*
*
Cs. The activities in which I deliver Cs are:
*
*
My Bs and Cs
The specific things I can do to
build on where I deliver As are:
*
*
*
Building On My Strengths
The specific things I can do to manage
the consequences of my Bs and Cs are:
*
*
*
Managing My Weaknesses
The specific things I can deliver for a potential
sponsor – an employer or customer - are:
*
*
*
My Strengths - The Specific Things I Can Deliver
Positive Energy
Energy is life. This exercise invites you to list the things that give you positive energy.
These may include doing certain activities, being with certain people, following certain passions, doing certain professional projects or whatever.
The activities that give you positive energy – even when you simply think about them - can provide clues to your strengths.
They can also help you to make decisions. When in doubt, you can ask yourself: Which option gives me the most positive energy?
So try completing the following exercise.
Introduction
The things that give me positive energy are:
*
*
*
*
*
Positive Energy
My Element
When do you feel in your element? What are the specific
situations in which you feel at ease and yet able to
excel? When do you feel at home and say:
“This is where I was meant to be?” When are you able to
flow, focus, finish and, as a by-product, gain a sense of
fulfilment?
Different people feel this way in different situations. So
you may feel it when writing, gardening, solving a
particular problem, teaching a class, giving a keynote
speech, leading a team, reading a balance sheet,
performing a play, playing top level sport, cooking
superb meals, solving a particular kind of crisis or
whatever.
Introduction
Try tackling the exercise on this theme.
* Describe when you feel in your element – when you
feel at ease and yet able to excel.
* Describe the reasons you feel in your element in
these situations.
* Describe the specific things you can do to put
yourself into more situations where you are in your
element.
I feel in my element when:
1)
The reasons I feel in my element then are:
*
*
*
My Element
2)
The reasons I feel in my element then are:
*
*
*
3)
The reasons I feel in my element then are:
*
*
*
The specific things I can do to put myself into more of the situations where I feel in my element are:
*
*
*
My Passions
Peak performers love to follow their passions, translate these into a clear purpose and achieve peak performance. This exercise invites you to do two things.
* Describe your passions.
You may be passionate about fixing certain types of problems, gardening, working for justice, designing, encouraging people, playing music or whatever.
* Describe the reasons you feel passionately about each of these things.
Try to be as specific as possible. Certainly you may love the actual activity. But there may also be other reasons why you feel passionately about something. For example, expressing values that you care deeply about.
Introduction
My Passions are:
1)
The reasons I feel passionately about this are:
*
*
*
My Passions
2)
The reasons I feel passionately about this are:
*
*
*
3)
The reasons I feel passionately about this are:
*
*
*
Calmness
One clue to your talents is in the situations where you feel calm, clear and deliver concrete results.
Looking at your life and work, what are the situations where you experience these qualities? You may be tackling a certain kind of problem, taking charge in a situation which others find chaotic or making complicated things appear simple.
* Describe a specific situation in which you feel calm, clear and deliver concrete results.
* Describe the specific things you do in this situation to be calm, clear and deliver concrete results.
Introduction
The situation where I feel calm, clear and deliver concrete results are:
1)
The specific things I do in this situation to be calm, clear and deliver concrete results are:
*
*
*
Calmness
B ZA
Seeing The Destination Quickly and Getting To Z
One clue to your talents is where you go into specific
situations and see the destination quickly.
You gather information, look for patterns and see what
must be done to achieve success.
You go: ‘A, B ____ then leap to _____ Z’.
You quickly see the end product or picture of success.
For example, a renovator may go into an old house and
quickly see how it can be restored beautifully; a retailer
goes into a shop and sees how it can boost profits; a
trouble-shooter goes into a situation and sees what
must be done to deliver success.
Introduction
Try tackling the exercise on this theme.
* Describe the situations where you quickly get to ‘Z’.
* Describe the specific things you do, or have done,
in those situations to do superb work – or enable
others to do superb work – and get to ‘Z’
successfully.
The specific situations where I go: ‘A, B _____ then leap to ______ Z’ are:
1)
The specific things I do – or have done - to then successfully deliver ‘Z’ are:
*
*
*
Seeing The Destination Quickly
2)
The specific things I then do – or have done - to successfully deliver ‘Z’ are:
*
*
*
Seeing
Patterns
Pattern recognition is one of the keys to peak
performance. A person may have this ability when
working with people, playing a sport, tackling a particular
challenge or whatever.
Great workers go into a situation where they excel and
quickly read what is happening. They are able:
* To see patterns quickly.
* To see both the successful and self-defeating
patterns – then extrapolate these to predict what
may happen.
* To see what must be done and then use their
repertoire of skills to do whatever is necessary to
deliver success.
Introduction
This is sometimes called ‘personal radar’ – the ability to
see patterns quickly and predict what will happen before
it happens.
Great performers sometimes go beyond having such
radar. They also have the repertoire of skills necessary to
deliver the picture of success. This exercise invites you to
do two things.
* Describe where you have the ability to recognise
patterns.
* Describe what you do with this information.
For example, you may use it to tackle the challenge,
pass on the knowledge or do practical things to
deliver success.
The specific situation I have the ability to recognise patterns is:
1)
The specific things I then dowith this information are:
*
*
*
Seeing Patterns
2)
The specific things I then do with this information are:
*
*
*
My Positive History
Everybody has a positive history. “But I have not achieved anything,” somebody may say. Looking back on their life, however, they may have:
* overcome an illness as a child;* performed in play;* played sport at a high level;* written an article;* built a good relationship;* designed a house;* learned a language; * led a team to success;* built a successful prototype;* or whatever.
Try tackling the exercise on this theme.
Introduction
* Describe your positive history.
List the things you have achieved in their life. Start from the age of 0 and go to your present age. At first you may want to look for ‘big’ achievements. But start populating the pages and you will find other achievements appear.
* Describe what you learned from one specific achievement and clarify the principles you followed to achieve success.
Pick one example. What actually happened? What did you do right then? What were the principles you followed to overcome the challenge or reach the goal? Describe these in detail.
* Describe how you can follow these principles in the future.
Some of the things I have achieved in the past between the following ages (adjust according to age) have been:
0 _______________________________________________
10 _______________________________________________
15 _______________________________________________
20 _______________________________________________
My Positive History
25 _______________________________________________
30 _______________________________________________
35 _______________________________________________
40 _______________________________________________
45 _______________________________________________
50 _______________________________________________
55 _______________________________________________
60 _______________________________________________
65 _______________________________________________
70 _______________________________________________
Onwards __________________________________________
Looking at these achievements, here is one that was particularly rewarding.
* When I
My Positive HistoryThe Lessons
The specific things I did right then – the principles I followed – to achieve this were:
*
*
*
The specific things I can do to follow these principles again in the future are:
*
*
*
My Successful
Style
Everybody has a successful style of working. Clarifying this
style is often the clue to finding their real strengths. This
exercise invites you to look back at your positive history
and do the following things.
* Describe three satisfying projects you have done in
your life.
The word ‘project’ can be used in its widest sense. For
example: writing an article, organising a fun run, launching
a web site, solving a particular problem, leading a team or
whatever.
Introduction
* Describe each of these projects in turn and the things
that were satisfying.
Try to be as specific as possible, especially about the things
that made them satisfying. Looking at these projects, can
you see any patterns? These often provide clues to your
preferred style.
* Describe your successful style – your preferred way of
working.
(Sometimes we have two successful styles: one when
working alone, one when working with other people. See
what the exercise reveals.)
* Describe the things you can do to follow these
principles in the future.
* When I
The things that made it satisfying were:
*
*
*
*
*
The first satisfying project was:
* When I
The things that made it satisfying were:
*
*
*
*
*
The second satisfying project was:
* When I
The things that made it satisfying were:
*
*
*
*
*
The third satisfying project was:
Looking at the patterns that have emerged, I believe my successful style – my preferred way of working – is:
* To
* To
* To
* To
* To
My Successful Style
The things I can do to follow these principles in the future are:
* To
* To
* To
* To
* To
My Successful Style -Following It In The Future
Specific Contribution
So far you have clarified your strengths and successful
style. These are ‘what’ you do best and ‘how’ you work
best. Combining these together can clarify your specific
contribution to an employer or customer. Before doing this,
however, it can be useful to do several things.
* To clarify your perfect customer. This is the kind of
customer or employer with whom you work best.
* To clarify your perfect role. This invites you to focus on
what for you would be the most stimulating kind of
project, people and place.
* To clarify your specific contribution. These are the
specific things you can deliver to help a sponsor to
achieve success.
Introduction
My Perfect Customer
Who are your perfect customers? Who are the people with
whom you work best? Who are the customers who give you
positive energy?
We work best with kindred spirits - people who share similar
professional values. We can then start off at 7/10, which
provides a springboard for getting to 10/10.
You will, of course, continue to do a professional job with all
clients. The key to building a long-term business, however,
is to work with your perfect customers.
Sometimes these people work in a certain sector. They may
also be leaders, managers, front line workers or whoever.
More often they have certain personality characteristics
which make it rewarding to work with them.
Introduction
Of course, people with certain characteristics may be attracted to a particular sector. This means we may spend a lot of time working in that field.
Bear in mind also that there will be people with whom you have certain kinds of ‘clicks’. There will be people with whom:
* There is a personal and professional click.
You share similar values and have a similar view of the world. Connection is easy, because you start from common assumptions.
* There is a professional click.
You share similar professional values. Whilst having differing personalities, you both strongly believe in achieving a specific professional goal.
Personal and Professional Click
Professional Click
No Click
Working with people with different kinds of clicks
* There is a no click.
Sometimes you will be in work situations where there is no
connection with the other person. You will then aim to be
super professional and behave in a diligent way. But it
may be best to find other customers in the future.
* Describe the kinds of customers with whom you work
best and the characteristics of these customers.
* Describe the specific things you can do to help them
to achieve success.
* Describe the specific things you can do to keep
working with these customers – and maybe find
more customers like them – the future.
*
*
*
The kinds of customers I work with best are:
*
*
*
The characteristics of these people are:
*
*
*
The kinds of challenges these customers face and the goals they want to achieve are:
*
*
*
The specific things I can offer to help them to achieve success are:
*
*
*
The specific things I can do to keep working with these customers - and maybe
find more of those that are similar are:
My Perfect Role
How can you do satisfying work that also pays a salary?
This exercise invites you to translate your passion into
your perfect role.
Start by describing the characteristics of the project,
people and place that you find most stimulating. Let’s
explore these factors.
* Project.
Describe the characteristics of the kind of project you find
stimulating.
Introduction
Perfect Role
Project People Place
You can focus on what for you
would be the most stimulating kind of:
* People.
Describe the characteristics of the people - both customers
and colleagues - you find stimulating. Pay attention to the
characteristics of your ‘ideal manager.’
* Place.
Describe the characteristics of the ‘place’ - culture and
environment - you find stimulating.
* Making it happen.
Bearing your answers in mind, focus on how you can find
or create such a project.
Describe the following things.
- The perfect project.
- The specific results you could deliver to a potential
sponsor – an employer or customer - by doing this
project.
- The specific benefits to the employer or customer.
- The steps you can take to find or create such a project.
This is an exercise you can do at various stages of life to
keep finding or creating your perfect role.
The kind of project I find stimulating is one where:
*
*
*
Project
The kinds of people – manager, colleagues and customers – I find stimulating are:
*
*
*
People
The kind of place – culture and environment – I find stimulating is one where:
*
*
*
Place
My Perfect Role
Making It Happen
*
*
*
Bearing in mind the answers I have written, my perfect project would be one where:
*
*
*
The specific results I could deliver to a sponsor - an employer or customer - by
doing this kind of project would be:
*
*
*
The specific benefits to the sponsor -the employer or customer - would be:
*
*
*
The specific things I can do to find or create such a project are:
My Ideal Manager
We each work best for a certain kind of manager. This
exercise invites you to focus on:
The specific kinds of qualities you want in a manager.
The specific things you can do to find such a manager.
The specific things you can do to make clear working
contracts with your manager and achieve the agreed
goals.
Introduction
The good managers I have known have been:
*
*
*
My Good Manager
The specific qualities they demonstrated that made them good managers were:
*
*
*
The qualities I want in a manager is somebody who is:
*
*
*
My Ideal Manager
My Ideal Manager
The specific things I can to find the kind of manager with whom I work best in the future are:
*
*
*
The specific things I can do to clarify the goals they want me to achieve, make clear working contracts,
keep them informed and deliver the goods are:
*
*
*
My Ideal Manager -Working Well With Them
My Specific Contribution
So far we have explored your strengths and successful style. We have also looked at your perfect customers and perfect role.
The following exercise invites you to describe the three specific things you can deliver for a sponsor. It also invites you to describe the benefits to that customer or employer.
The operative word is ‘deliver’, not ‘do. People buy success. They buy what they know you can deliver to help them to achieve their goals.
Bearing in mind the answers you have given so far, try completing the following exercise.
Introduction
1)
For example:
2)
For example:
3)
For example:
The specific things I can deliver for a sponsor - a potential customer or employer - are:
1)
For example:
2)
For example:
3)
For example:
The specific benefits for the sponsor can be:
My Future Work
The Possible Roads I Can Travel
This exercise invites you to clarify the possible routes you
can take in your future career. You can complete the
illustration on the next page or alternatively use the
following pages that allow room to expand on all of the
options. The exercise invites you to take the following
steps.
* Describe the possible routes you can travel.
You may be able, for example, to stay in your present role;
to move to another role inside your organisation; to move
to another organisation; to go freelance; to completely
change your life-style or whatever.
Introduction
* Describe the pluses and minuses of each option.
Describe what you see as the upsides and downsides of each option. Also describe the attractiveness of each route. Do this on a scale 0 – 10.
When people first do this exercise they list the obvious options. After a while, however, they start exploring other possibilities. For example, is it possible to combine the best parts of each road into a new option? Take time out to reflect on the possible ways forward to shape your future career.
* Describe your preferred route.
Finally, if appropriate, describe the route you want to travel.
Pluses:
Minuses:
___ / 10
The attractiveness rating of each of these options is:
My Possible Options are:
Pluses:
Minuses:
___ / 10
Pluses:
Minuses:
___ / 10
C
* To _______
A
* To ______
B
* To ______
My Future Work
a) To
The pluses will be:
*
*
*
The potential minuses may be:
*
*
The Attractiveness Rating is: _________ / 10
b) To
The pluses will be:
*
*
*
The potential minuses may be:
*
*
The Attractiveness Rating is: _________ / 10
c) To
The pluses will be:
*
*
*
The potential minuses may be:
*
*
The Attractiveness Rating is: _________ / 10
The Route I Want To Take Is:
* To
The pluses will be:
*
*
*
My Preferred Route
The potential minuses may be:
*
*
*
The specific things I can do to build on the pluses and minimise the minuses are:
*
*
*
Sponsors
So for we have clarified your strengths, successful style
and specific contribution. We are now going to do even
more work on sponsors. Some of this may sound
repetitious, but it is vital to be super specific. The following
section focuses on how:
* You can clarify each sponsor’s agenda – their
challenges and goals - and how you can help them to
succeed.
* You can reach out to sponsors in a way that fits your
values. For example, you can give to people and help
them to succeed.
* You can, when appropriate, make clear contracts for
working together to achieve their picture of success.
Introduction
My Potential Sponsors
This exercise again invites you to focus on your potential sponsors.
If you feel you have already done enough work on this topic, move on to the next stage. But sometimes it can be useful to go into greater detail.
This exercise invites you to:
* Write the name of one specific potential sponsor.
* Describe the specific challenges they face and the specific goals they want to achieve in their work.
Most sponsors want to improve the 3 Ps: their profits, product quality – including service quality – and people. They may want to focus on these or other challenges.
Introduction
Looking at the sponsor’s overall role, try to describe what
you believe is their wider picture of success.
While you may not be able to help on everything. It can
be useful to link what you can offer to their overall
picture of success.
Also, when you meet the potential sponsor, it shows that
you have thought about their overall agenda and
organisational goals.
* Describe the specific things you can deliver to help
this sponsor to achieve achieve their picture of
success. Then describe the benefits.
This exercise invites you to focus on one specific sponsor.
But you can, of course, repeat it to look at all your
potential sponsors.
The potential sponsor’s name – the potential employer or customer - is:
*
My Potential Sponsor
1)
2)
3)
The specific challenges they face and the specific goals they want to achieve are:
1) To
2) To
3) To
I believe that the sponsor’s overall picture of success – the real results they want to see
delivered in this and other aspects of their work – is:
Their Picture of Success
1)
2)
3)
The specific things I can deliver to tackle these challenges and help them to achieve their picture of success are:
1)
2)
3)
The specific benefits to the sponsor of delivering these things successfully will be:
Reaching Out To Sponsors
This is the part that many people find difficult. But the key is to reach out to your customers in a way that fits your values system. It can be useful to pursue the following guidelines.
* Reach out to people in your network and help them to succeed.
Most of your work will come from your network. It will come from people who know you or from their recommendations. People buy people. Whilst CVs may look good, most buyers in the market want somebody who they can trust, somebody who they know can deliver.
“But I am no good at selling myself,” somebody may say. But they miss the point.
Introduction
Real networking is about helping other people to succeed. As one person said:
“Every job I have had over the past 20 years has come from my network. Twice during that time the company I was employed by got taken over and my job disappeared. So it was then time to reconnect with people who knew what I could deliver."
"The hard part was getting started. I spent masses of time visiting people. I learned that the conversation should be about them and their company, not about me. Every visit I followed up with an email framing possible ideas they could use to tackle specific challenges."
"Several times this led to contract work and somebody saying: ‘How can we take this further?’ This is how I have got my last two jobs. I started by doing pieces of project work, then moved into full-time employment.”
So how can you reach out to people? Follow your natural style, rather than force yourself to do ‘cold calling’.
Do things that put a spring in your step. You might want to recommend books, offer to provide a pair of hands or connect people by putting them in touch with each other.
Like an actor, it’s vital to ‘keep working’. Do something every day to reach people, but be patient. It takes time before the right opportunity appears.
* Find a way to get alongside potential sponsors, connect with their agenda and provide knowledge they can use to achieve their picture of success.
You will do this in your own way. David Maister describes the steps that can be taken to become a Trusted Advisor.
The Trusted Advisor, by David Maister, Charles Green and Robert Galford
They say the 3 basic skills a person needs to develop to become a trusted advisor to their clients are to:
Earn
Trust
Build RelationshipsGive Advice
Effectively
* Continue to keep reaching out to people and helping
them to succeed.
Most of us are in the service business. We are there to
help other people to succeed.
The best time to keep networking is when you are
successful.
Some people get a job, then forget to keep reaching out to
others. This is crazy, because it takes time to regain the
momentum when they haven’t got any work.
Do something every day to reach out to people and help
them to succeed. Keep planting and nurturing the seeds.
You will then have a good harvest in the future.
Try tackling the following exercise on this theme.
Reaching Out To Sponsors
1)
2)
3)
The specific things I can do to reach out to potential sponsors in ways that fits my values are:
1)
2)
3)
The specific things I can do to get alongside potential sponsors, connect with their
agendas and help them to achieve success are:
1)
2)
3)
The specific things I can do to keep giving to people in my network
and helping them to succeed are:
Making Clear Working Contracts With Sponsors
Let’s imagine that at some point somebody says: “How can
we take this further?” It will then be important to make
clear working contracts. You can then aim to:
* Clarify the customer’s picture of success.
* Clarify the agreed road map towards achieving the
picture of success.
* Clarify and do whatever is required to achieve the
picture of success.
Great service givers make clear contracts that are a ‘Win-
Win-Win’. They are a win for the customer, a win for their
own company and, where possible, a win for themselves.
Introduction
Great service givers aim to get a ‘Win-Win-Win’
So you can aim to get a:
Win for the Customer
Win for the Company
Win for Yourself
You can connect with the customer and go through the following stages.
* Clarity.
To clarify the specific challenges.To clarify the real results to achieve and to be crystal clearon this ‘What’.To clarify the controllables.
* Creativity.
To clarify the potential options for achieving the results.To clarify the pluses and minuses of each option.To clarify the other possible creative solutions.
* Concrete Results.
To clarify the conclusions – the chosen route forwards.To clarify the working contracts – who will deliver what.To clarify the specific action plan for getting concreteresults.
You can connect with the client, establish credibility and keep making clear contracts. You can aim to get a ‘win-win-win’ and help the client to achieve success by focusing on:
Clarity* Challenges. The challenge is: ‘How to ____?’
* Clarity. The real results to achieve – the picture of success – is:
* Controllables. The things we can control are:
Creativity* Choices. The possible options for achieving the results are:
* Consequences. The pluses and minuses of each option are:
* Creative solutions. The other possible solutions are:
Concrete Results* Conclusions. The route – or routes – we want to follow is:
* Contracts. The contracts we need to make to achieve the results are:
* Concrete results. The specific action plan for achieving the results is:
The Customer Meeting
* Describe the clear working contracts with sponsors.
Imagine that you have agreed with a customer on the real results to achieve. Try describing:
- The agreed picture of success.
- The responsibilities you have as a supplier to work towards achieving these goals.
- The responsibilities the customer has to work towards achieving these goals.
- The specific things you can do to keep reassuring the customer and keep them proactively informed.
- The specific things that will be happening that will show you have achieved the agreed picture of success.
Making Clear Working Contracts
* To
* To
* To
The Picture of Success - The agreed results to achieve are:
* To
* To
* To
The Supplier’s Responsibilities -My responsibilities in working
towards achieving these goals are:
* To
* To
* To
The Customer’s Responsibilities -Their responsibilities in
working towards these goals are:
* To
* To
* To
Reassuring The Customer - The specific things I can do to deliver some early successes, be
proactive and keep reassuring the customer are:
1)
For example:
2)
For example:
3)
For example:
The Picture of Success - the specific things that will be happening that will
show we have achieved the results will be:
Delivering Success
Great workers always do the basics and then add the
brilliance. This exercise invites you to describe the
specific things you can do:
* To do whatever is required to reach the goals and
deliver the agreed picture of success.
* To, if appropriate, add that touch of class.
* To then, if appropriate, produce a success story that
highlights how your sponsor achieved success.
Here are the exercises.
Introduction
Success
1)
2)
3)
The specific things I can do to do whatever is required to deliver the agreed goals and achieve the picture of success are:
A Touch Of Class
1)
2)
3)
The specific things I can do to, if appropriate, add that touch of class, are:
Success Stories
Sometimes it can be useful to record what people have
done to deliver success. Different people use different
frameworks for sharing success stories.
This one invites people to start by choosing a title for the
story. They can then bring it to life by writing a
compelling story, using video or employing other media.
The following format invites people to describe the
specific situation, strategies and successes. It also asks
them to summarise the learning.
Different people may, however, use different headings to
cover these or other relevant themes.
Introduction
The title of the success story is:
*
The Success Story
The specific situation we faced –including the specific challenges - was:
*
*
*
The Situation
The strategies we followed to tackle the challenges and achieve the picture of success were:
*
*
*
The Strategies
The specific results that were delivered were:
*
*
*
The Successes
So here is a summary of the specific things we did and the things we learned:
*
*
*
This to include: a) The strategies that worked and how these could be followed more in the future; b) The things we could do better next time and how; c) The other things of interest.
The Summary
The Managing Director Question
This exercise invites you to imagine that you are a
Managing Director (or other leader in an organisation.) It
then asks the following question.
“If you were a Managing Director, what would you hire
somebody like yourself to deliver?”
This forces you to clarify the specific things that you can
deliver to an organisation. Again, the emphasis is on the
word ‘deliver’.
So have a go at answering the question.
Introduction
If I was a Managing Director – or other leader in an organisation – the specific things I would
hire somebody like me to deliver would be:
1) To
2) To
3) To
The Managing Director Question
My Best Contribution To An Employer
This exercise invites you to do something rather
challenging before going for an interview for a specific role.
Before tackling the exercise, however, it is vital to be
aware of your strengths and what you can deliver for an
employer.
The following pages invite you to ‘craft your script’ for
focusing on the certain themes during the interview for
your desired role.
It is good to clarify these headlines but then, of course, to
be yourself in the interview.
Introduction
* Success.
Describe what you believe to be the goals – the picture
of success – of the organisation, the team or employer
you want to join.
This may be difficult, because you are not privy to lots of
information. But focus on what you believe may be the
goals. If possible, try to give some specific examples.
Great workers gear their strengths towards helping their
employer to achieve their picture of success. So it is
good to put some the effort into clarifying these aims.
* Specific Contribution.
Bearing in mind the organisation’s goals and your
strengths, describe the specific contribution you would like
to make towards helping the employer to achieve the
picture of success. Again, try to give some specific
examples.
* Specific Benefits.
Describe the benefits of making this contribution. These
can be benefits for the organisation, customers,
colleagues and yourself.
* Summary.
Finally, there is a space to summarise the contribution
you would like to make. Also add any other things that
you would like to mention.
Enjoy the exercise. It will be challenging. But it can help
you to clarify your potential best contribution to an
employer.
As far as I understand it, the goals of the organisation - together with some examples - are:
1) To
For example:
2) To
For example:
3) To
For example:
Success
Bearing in mind the organisation’s goals and my strengths, the specific contribution I would like to make towards achieving this picture of success would be:
1) To
For example:
2) To
For example:
3) To
For example:
Specific Contribution
The benefits of making this contribution would be:
For the Organisation
*
For the Customers
*
For the Colleagues
*
For Myself
*
Specific Benefits
So, in summary, this is what I would like to contribute towards achieving the picture of success. Plus any other things I would like to mention.
*
*
*
Summary
There are many ways to do satisfying work. This pack has focused on how you can focus on your:
* Strengths.
* Sponsors.
* Success.
Please take the ideas you like and use them in your own way. If you want any more information, email me at:
mike@thepositiveapproach.info
Conclusion
Recommended