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Being good at your job is not enough
Milan Juza
steps to becomegreat at what you do
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• Being really great at what you do is hard.
• Most people are average. Some are good, but only very few are truly great.
• Perception of your own success and abilities depends solely on the frame of reference you use.
• Don’t confuse pride with complacency. You need the former, but you can’t afford the latter.
Some tough truths...
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How do you know how good you really are?
Who do you compare yourself with? Your friends? Your colleagues? People in your industry or your country?
Fact: It is more likely than not that you are not as great as you think.
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Does it mean you suck at your job? No! It just means that your frame of reference may not be the the right one.
Step 1: Think hard.
Try to answer these questions:
Do you know what great really looks like?
Who are the true global leaders in your line of business?
How do you/your team/your company compare with them?
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Can you honestly say that you are still great at what you do when you compare yourself with the very best?
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Step 2: Choose frame of reference.
What do you think are the main reasons why you are not as good as the very best in the business? Is it:
Your attitude? Do you tend to look for “reasons" why things can’t be improved. Are you complacent?
Your organisation?You do know what great looks like, but the company/team is just not geared up for it?
Your knowledge/capability/capacity?Access to information, training, need to pair up with someone, lack of focus?
External factors?Economy, communication, location, culture…
Anything else?
Step 3: Understand why.
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Make a list of these reasons.
Be honest with yourself. Separate the true causes from the substitute or the perceived ones.
Are you sure the list is complete? Are your priorities right?
Ask someone, whose opinion you trust, to give you their view.
Ask them to tell you if they see things in the same way as you do? It may feel uncomfortable, but it is essential.
Step 4: Get feedback.
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So you now know what stands between you and greatness.
Now, what can you do to get better? And what do you need others (the team, the company) to do?
Start with things that will make the biggest impact on your own and/or your team’s performance.At this stage, don’t worry about how difficult it may be to actually complete these actions.
Step 5: Identify solutions.
Remember: The aim is not to look for excuses. The aim is to look for actions and solutions.
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Assess effort/complexity of each action or solution.
Compare the impact of each action against the effort or cost of its implementation.
Revise the priorities as necessary.
Identify quick wins and set yourself a time-based target.
Be realistic — set goals that you can meaningfully achieve in a foreseeable future.
Step 6: Distill what you can do.
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So far, you have only been thinking, writing and talking about getting better.
Now you need to start doing stuff!
Don’t forget that most (self)improvement activities fail for one or more of these reasons:
you did not take it seriouslyyou did not allocate enough timeyou never moved from talking to doingyou were not honest with yourself
Step 7: Take action!
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You might have implemented all the actions from your list. And it hopefully made a big difference to the way how you or your team/company operates. Well done to you!
See what you’ve learned in this process. Has your definition of great changed in some way?
Now, repeat the same process again — You know what to do.
Step 8: Never stay still.
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Always strive to get better. Be passionate about it. Let continuos improvement be an key part of everything you do.
Quick Recap.
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Think hard
Choose frame of reference
Get feedback
Identify solutions
Distill what you can do
Take action!
Never stay still
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Understand why
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