Listen long enough and every self-help guru and business “coach” in the world will eventually tell you to “be you” or “do you” and you will find success. That’s crap. Don’t buy into it. First, you don’t “find” success. It’s not lost, and you don’t have to go looking for it. Success is earned. By doing the right things the best way enough times and for long enough to either beat, better or outlast your competition. Anything less is progress. It’s not arrival.
Speaking of progress, you want to know the best reason you can’t get where you are going by being who you are right now? Because you aren’t good enough yet. You might have all the tools available, and you might have all the basic skills you need. You might even have all the right people on the bus and all the right money invested in all the right areas.
But you still aren’t enough, yet. Otherwise, you would already be where you want to go. With that in mind, here are three ways you can take the good you are and make it good enough to become better.
You Need to Change your Culture
The biggest issue many established companies have is that the world has moved on without them. Consider this, even Verizon is doubling down on mobile these days. Think about the level of commitment that change took—they cut their cable cord. And they’re not alone. Did you know that Sony used to sell toasters and electric blankets? Yep. And now they sell game systems and high-end electronics. Making that shift required a culture change across the board. Maybe not a vision change, but a culture shift.
Address the Market as it is, Not How You Want it to Be
Yes, the market is volatile, and, yes, some brands can drive consumer choices, moods and buying decisions. But not all brands…and no brand can do it all the time. To elevate your success trajectory, you must address the current market realities and accurately call what happens next. That sort of business foresight will require you to learn things you don’t know and answer questions you have never even considered.
Do Things Better
Operations are vital to business success. But change for the sake of change is foolish. Instead of just doing things differently and hoping for a better result, work on ways to gradually shift your methods and protocols to better address your current and future plans. Have a reason for doing everything you are doing. And that reason needs to be so accessible, the people affected by the change need to be able to explain it.
Accomplish these personally, and you will become more valuable and more marketable. You will also begin to make the move from worker to boss, whether you want to move into management or want to run your own business.
