How to Gear Up for Success As

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HOW TO GEAR UP FOR SUCCESS AS APROFESSIONAL

ByNido Qubein

2012 Nightingale-Conant Corporation

Benjamin Disraeli once said: "The secret of success in life is ... tobe ready for opportunity when it comes." My staff and I have

discovered that there are 10 basic requirements for success as aprofessional:

1. You must have a solid, marketable idea and the commitment todo whatever it takes to make it work.

2. You must have the skills and expertise to translate that idea intoconcrete action.

3.You must have a clear vision as to where you want to go bothpersonally and professionally.

4. You must have a solid plan of action that is based on workablestrategies.

5. You must have or be able to create the resources to implementthat plan.

6. You must be willing and able to motivate and guide the peoplewho can help you put your plan and ideas into action.

7. You must be able to always see the big picture, yet be willing toget your hands dirty in the day-to-day activities to becomeinvolved in both the macro and micro dimensions of running asuccessful practice.

8. You must develop the systems that make the right things happenat the right times.

9. You must exercise the disciplines to constantly be doing the rightthings, at the right times, and in the right ways.

10. You must be able to measure your success in tangible termsand predetermined timetables.

To make it easier to grasp and remember, Ive broken it down into foursimple statements: (a) Success grows out of a clear vision, (b) Successresults from a solid strategy, (c) Success revolves around practical

systems, and (d) Success comes through consistent execution.

Success grows out of a clear vision. A vision is defined as "an object of theimagination." It starts as an idea in the mind of an individual and grows into
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a dream maybe even an obsession. To provide the central focus needed

to anchor a successful professional practice, it must meet several criteria:

Your vision must be clear. Vague visions lead to confused activitiesand lost motion. Be able to state the central, unique premise of your

practice in 12 words or less. The more specific your vision is, thebetter your chances of success are.

Your vision must be practical and workable. Most of us can come upwith more ideas before noon each day than we can implement in a

lifetime. The secret is to find the right idea the one that we canmake work for us.

It must be a vision that will capture your enthusiasm and enable youto inspire others. The key to all motivation is desire we have towant it before we can make it happen. Money is seldom a strong

enough motivator over the long haul.

Your vision must fit your skills, your resources, and your strengths.Ive seen many professionals fail because they were chasing the

wrong dreams. Finding the right niche for your unique skills and

resources may be your greatest challenge.

Your vision must be an idea you can communicate effectively toothers. People must be able to easily understand it and to need orwant it, and must be willing to pay enough for it to be profitable for

you.

Your vision must be adaptable enough to survive the changes thatwill occur over the years. To have staying power, you must be ableto constantly adjust your vision to meet new conditions.

Your vision must be marketable. The perceived value of an idea liesin its rarity the more people there are who can do what you do,the less value it has. If you want a real revelation, look in a

professional directory and see how many professionals there are whodescribe themselves exactly as you do. What gives you differential

advantage in the marketplace?

Now, an idea (or vision) doesnt have to be new to work or to be very

profitable. For example, Henry Ford did not invent the automobile, or eventhe assembly line as many people think. Those ideas had both been

around for decades. He took someones ideas and adapted them to his ownpurpose to build large numbers of automobiles that the masses of

people could afford to buy. And, the rest is history!

Management legend Peter Drucker once said, "The most importantquestion my company can ask is: What is our business? " Probably the


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greatest reason professionals fail or dont become as successful as they

could is that they lack a clear and specific vision of what they hope toachieve.

Success results from a solid strategy. Even the greatest ideas are of littlevalue unless they are backed up by a practical and workable plan of action.The word strategycomes from an ancient Greek term, which literally

means "to be a general leading troops into battle." Setting up a goodstrategic plan for a professional practice involves five steps:

The first step is to translate your vision into measurable goals.

You decide specifically what you want to accomplish during the nextfive to 10 years those are your long-range goals.

Next, you break those goals down into intermediate goals thingsyou wish to accomplish during the following six months or year.

Then you break them down further into short-term goals coveringthe next month or six weeks.

The second step is to break your goals down into achievable objectives. Dr.

Robert Schuller says, "Yard by yard life is hard, inch by inch its a cinch."Working on obtaining objectives helps you concentrate on whats

important, instead of spinning your wheels on those things that seemurgent but dont lead to your long-term goals. Objectives add purpose and

direction to all your activities.

The third step is to set up your strategies for accomplishing your

objectives. Strategies are the specific ways you will go about achievingyour objectives. The more clearly they are thought out, the more effectivethey will be.

Fourth, you choose each task you must complete each day to achieve your

goals. This is where most planning breaks down. We tend to leave it vague thinking that, as long as we are working hard all the time, we are

achieving our goals. Most professionals I talk with are extremely busy and most of them are working hard to do things right. The problem is, they

are not doing enough of the right things the things that will help them

achieve their goals.

It is not enough to merely list each task you need to do; you need to buildit into your schedule so that many hours every day you are working onspecific actions that will lead to accomplishing your definite objectives.

And, finally, step number five: Build in the monitoring mechanisms thatwill help you keep track of your progress toward implementing your plan.


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Its one thing to have a "gut-level feeling" that you must be doing

something right because you are always working hard. But it is far betterto design simple mechanisms to let you know precisely how much progress

you are making.

Look for a few key indicators that will help you stay on track, and monitorthose as a doctor would monitor the vital signs of a patient. It doesnt

matter how much activity is going on. What matters most is how well youare doing at achieving your objectives.

One good example is that you will target to contact three people each day

to generate new business. At the end of the day, youll know whether youhave achieved that goal.

That plan is not complete until it has been communicated satisfactorily to

every person in your organization who must help to implement it. Here aresome guidelines to help you communicate your vision and plan to your

staff, associates, and others:

1. Involve others in formulating the plan. People tend to understandand support plans they help to create.

2. Clearly identify roles and expectations. Every person needs toknow clearly what you expect and understand the basis on which

his or her performance is to be judged.

3. Make sure everyone understands all deadlines and schedules. Agood plan has teeth in it, and the only way to give it those teeth

is to set definite deadlines for specific actions.

4. Count on the plan for intrinsic motivation rather than seeking tomotivate people with gimmicks. If the plan is built around the

strengths and personal motivations of the people who mustexecute it, and it has its own built-in rewards, motivation will take

care of itself. If not, you cannot come up with enough gimmicksto make it work.

5. Get feedback to make sure people understand exactly what youexpect. Its not very helpful to ask, "Does everyone understand

the plan?" A far better approach is to say, "Tell me what you

understand the plan to be and how you see yourself fitting intoit."

Help people to better understand your plan, and it will turn into results!

Success revolves around practical systems. Take a systems-approach tooperating your practice. Professionals operate around simple systems that

consistently produce desired results. For example, attorneys have an


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orderly process for preparing briefs or contracts, doctors use standard

procedures for diagnosing and treating illnesses, and accountants usegenerally acceptable methods of doing an audit. Its the only way to keep

from reinventing the wheel every time you want a ride.

Interestingly, most professionals make very little use of systems inoperating their practices. Therefore, they are working far too hard to

accomplish things that should happen automatically.

Here are some examples of functions that should be simplified andsystematized:

All types of client contact. Routine functions like answering mail, shipping, inventory control,

and filling simple requests for information.

Drawing up and executing agreements and contracts. Obtaining and setting up new accounts. Orienting and training new employees.

Systems can become burdensome and add to the normal confusion of

running a successful practice. They should be well designed with guidancefrom experts. They should be constantly reviewed to make sure they are

understood, are operating effectively, and are up to date. They should bedesigned to implement your goals not merely to keep people busy or to

keep you away from the routine of running the business.

Success comes through consistent execution. The best-laid plans will notwork unless we make them work. Ive counseled with many professionals

who had elaborate plans but never got anything done with them. They hadgood intentions, but they were too busy to get around to executing their

plans. Most of us practice the "Pareto Principle." We spend 80% of time onthose actions that bring 20% of our results.

It is wasteful to design elaborate plans but then fail to implement them. It

is devastating to morale and all future planning efforts. It is better toadopt the belief that any plan that results from an orderly process is better

than a plan that you make up as you go along. We have to discipline

ourselves to be proactive rather than reactive and to pay close attention tothe four elements of effective execution:

1. Always knowing what to do and when to do it. There is a law thatstates that an urgent matter will always arise to fill any time thatis not irrevocably committed to some important action. The most

important question at any given moment is "What should I do


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next?" Knowing what to do next is the best safeguard against

wasted motion.

2. Having the knowledge and skills to do it well. As we have seen,most professionals have plenty of knowledge and skills in theirareas of expertise what they lack is the knowledge and skills todo what they spend most of their time doing: running a business.

We need to build into our plans plenty of time and resources forlearning and teaching business acumen. Find out what the most

successful people do and follow their example.

3. Being motivated to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Theappropriate question is never "How hard did you work?" but "Did

you accomplish your objective?" Its a lot easier to talk about self-discipline than it is to exercise it. The key to all self-discipline is

desire. Make sure your plans call for you to be constantly doingwhat you enjoy most and are best suited to do. If they dont, self-

discipline is drudgery at its best, and almost impossible at its

worst.

4. Consistency. The soul of execution is taking the appropriateactions with a high degree of consistency. There is no magic in

operating a successful independent business only theconsistent execution of well-thought-out actions.

If your plan does not produce the results you desire, dont just abandon or

quit doing what you had planned. Come up with a new plan you canimplement consistently. Habits are nothing but actions taken so many

times that they become automatic you can do them without thinking.Make sure the business habits you develop are the ones youve laid out in

your action plan.

Nido Qubein is an international speaker and accomplished author on sales, communication, and

leadership. He is president of High Point University, which has an enrollment of more than 4,500

undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Qubein serves on several national and local boards and is

the recipient of numerous awards. He is also chairman of Great Harvest Bread Company, with 220

stores in 43 states. His Nightingale-Conant programHow to Be a Great Communicatorcontinues to

be one of the companys all-time bestsellers.

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How to Gear Up for Success As