1. KNOW YOURSELF:
Knowing who you are is also knowing what you have to offer to bring your highest and best talent to the marketplace. This way, you can be sure to present your greatest value to your customers, clients, and employers. What do you do the best? What are your defining personality traits? What is your temperament? What motivates you? What is especially de-motivating?
2. KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER, CLIENT, OR BOSS:
To whom can you make the most difference? To whom can you deliver the most positive change? Knowing the identity of that person is the next step in you bringing them what they need the most. Describe the customer that will align best with your skills, strengths, liabilities, personality, temperament, and motivations? Write these things down. Why? Because, simply put, we forget. There’s a Bible verse that reminds me of this: “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.” (James 1:23-24) We take ourselves for granted, to a certain extent, and we forget our strengths and other qualities. I have written down my own personal inventory, and I look to it frequently when evaluating potential clients, and wish that I had done so in years past when considering potential employers, and their representatives who interviewed me.
3. KNOW HOW TO CONNECT THE TWO:
The third step is the art and science of giving the Customer the evidence that you are the solution to their challenge. Make it clear and concise, and create a mutually profitable connection between you and them.
It’s just like when you are driving and suddenly realize you are lost. Visualize you and your friends have stopped the car, and have the road map spread out on the hood of your car. (For you very analytical people, assume no 4G, 3G, or any data connection for Google Maps, and that, somehow, you still carry an actual physical paper map in your car.)
- What’s the first thing you do? Find where you are on the map.
- What’s the second thing you do? Find where your destination is on the map.
- What’s the third thing you do? Connect the two; find your route.
The thing is, people very often skip #1 and #2, and proceed straight to #3. They end up trying to make a connection between two points that they have not yet defined.
#1 and #2 take time, but #1 and #2 really lay all the tracks for #3.
So, as you go into your weekend, and get an opportunity to take a breather from your day-to-day search activities, here is something a little more strategic for your thought process.
And, as always, may the God of hope fill you with hope,
Rick