Sunday, January 10, 2010

I LOVE what I do! (You should too!)

I LOVE what I do! After decades of developing a career within the "safety" of Fortune 500 companies, I'm now entering my second year in private practice, with my own consultancy.

Getting started was "easy". I was so SURE that I could bring to market the skill sets and experience I'd gained over years of developing and executing strategies for these huge companies! After ALL.... I could point to scores and scores of successful projects which I'd handled, any of which should be worth a train-load of cash to any company!

I developed a website, a newsletter, and began the process of reaching out to my network. I began to get "traction", but NOT in the areas I was so SURE would be fruitful. After months of working hard within the assumptions I'd established for my new consultancy, I came to realize that what was needed "out there" were PROBLEM SOLVERS, not "Consultants".

Problem Solvers. Many respected associates who were displaced during the downturn sought traditional solutions for finding new employment; they filled out hundreds of resumes and mailed them off. They called friends. They tried to get interviews. They talked to Headhunters. The problem with this approach is that they are were positioning themselves as "Operations Executives", or "Field Management", or "Marketing Executives", etc. etc. etc...

What the needed to do was to position themselves as PROBLEM SOLVERS. Target companies they like, and study them. Begin to determine the nature of their challenges.
  • What are their problems?
  • What are their impediments to growth?
  • What are their human resource obstacles?
  • What are their operational challenges?
  • What does their competition do that creates PAIN for them?
The bottom line is that in order for us to ADD VALUE to any organization, ALL of us must find a need and fill it. Find a problem and solve it. Rarely do these "needs" or "problems" occur neatly within the confines of some specific job title. Did my extensive background and experience help? Of COURSE! My experience is what made it possible; the KEY was learning to apply my lifetime of knowledge differently.

My consultancy is growing, and I am finding ways to help people SOLVE PROBLEMS daily. What a GREAT way to live!

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