Management Growth Strategies

Transcription

1 Management Growth Strategies The Business of Life Introduction I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty. (John D. Rockefeller) You are in business for yourself the President of your own personal services corporation from the time you take your first job until the day you retire. A business is merely an organization that is assembled to get a certain quality and quantity of results by using the talents, abilities and resources of various people. There are many parallels between the operation of a business and the operation of your personal life. The most effective people are those who apply proven business principles to their activities so they get more of what they want, faster than the average person. In this lesson, you learn how to approach your life like a business and how to use the practical principles that have been demonstrated to get better results in almost every business situation. In this lesson you will learn: How to run your life like a company The parallels between businesses and individuals in the marketplace The problems of competitive markets The seven Rs of personal and managerial effectiveness The GOSPA Model applied to your work and your career How to position yourself in the marketplace 1

2 What Do You Already Know? Test your knowledge by attempting to answer the questions below. 1. What are the similarities between a business and your personal career? 2. What are the common principles for both personal and business success? 3. What must you do to be successful in your current marketplace? 4. What are the major problems of achieving and maintaining dominance in your field today? 2

3 5. What are the keys to personal and managerial effectiveness in your work life and personal life today? 6. What changes could you make immediately to begin operating more effectively in achieving your career goals? 7. What are the five steps to planning and organizing your business life more effectively? 3

4 The Business of Life 1. Your life is like a business in many respects. a) You are the President and CEO of You, Inc; b) You are the head of an entrepreneurial company with one employee yourself! c) You sell your services in the marketplace in the work you do; d) You are responsible for all aspects of your performance and the quality of your work; e) As a business, you must make a profit to continue growing; f) The market for your services is changing continually and you must change as well; g) Competition for your services is fierce and intensifying every day. 21 Successful businesses operate on the same principles that successful people operate on. a) You need clear values, vision, a mission and purpose for yourself; b) You need clear goals and objectives for the next one, two, three, four and five years; c) You need clear strategies and plans of action; d) You need clear measurements of performance and results; e) You need written schedules and deadlines for achieving your goals. 4

5 3. Both businesses and individuals have similarities in the way they function in the marketplace. a) You need core competencies and skills, the things you do that make you different; b) You need an area of excellence, a unique selling proposition for yourself and your services; c) You must clearly differentiate yourself from other people seeking the same job and the same income. 4. Businesses and individuals also face similar problems in succeeding in today s competitive marketplace. a) You are experiencing rapid change in all areas of your life work, family and personal activities; b) You are also witnessing the rapid obsolescence of the services you offer to your employer; c) Your knowledge and skills are becoming outdated as the needs of business change; d) The requirements of your job and even your career are changing daily; e) You need to engage in a plan of continuous innovation and improvement to survive and thrive; f) Time is the currency of the 90s you need to move rapidly to keep pace with the rate of change. 5

6 5. There are seven Rs of personal and managerial effectiveness in business and personal life today. a) ReorganizATIon continually look for ways to increase the quality and quantity of outputs relative to inputs; b) ReSTRuctuRIng move resources, especially time and money, from areas of lower value to areas of higher value; c) ReengineeRIng analyze every part of the way you work to find greater efficiencies; 1. You can achieve time compression by job expansion; 2. Look for ways to consolidate, eliminate and downsize; 3. Look for ways to delegate, outsource and simplify the work; d) ReinvenTIng look at starting your work life over again every year; 1. Zero-based thinking knowing what you now know, is there anything that you wouldn t get into today? 2. Imagine starting over again tomorrow; 3. Think of starting a new job, a new career in a new city; e) RethinKIng take time to stand back and look at every aspect of your life; 1. What do you really want from your life and career? 2. What are your major fears and frustrations, and how could you resolve them? 6

7 f) ReevALuATIng determine to live your life consistent with what is really important to you; 1. What do you really care about? 2. What are your most important values? g) RefocuSIng refocus your life and time on your highest payoff activities; 1. Apply the 80/20 Rule regularly to all of your activities; 2. Your return on energy must be your major aim in the organization of your life. 6. The GOSPA model is a powerful strategic planning technique that you can apply to your life and your work. a) GoALS what you want to accomplish in the long term, two, three, four and five years down the line; b) objectives the short-term steps you must take to accomplish your goals; c) STRATegies your master plans for accomplishing your objectives and achieving your goals; d) PLAns the specific, concrete ways that you will implement your strategies; e) AcTIvITIes the specific, day-by-day tasks that you will complete to fulfill your plans. 7

8 7. Positioning yourself in the marketplace is one of the most important things you do to achieve maximum performance. a) Describe yourself now in terms of the way others perceive you; b) Describe yourself as you would like to be perceived sometime in the future. When you think of your life as a business, you will notice a variety of ideas, methods and techniques that you can apply to be more effective and efficient in everything you do. By viewing yourself as a successful business in a competitive marketplace, you will achieve greater results and earn greater rewards. By taking responsibility and seeing yourself as the President of your own life and career, you will move into the top three percent of adults living today. You will accomplish far more, far faster than you ever could otherwise. Action Exercises 1. What is your main responsibility as the President of your own one-person company? 8

9 2. What must you do every day to maintain a competitive edge in your current marketplace? 3. What are your goals for your work and career for the next one, two and three years? 4. What are your core competencies and skills that enable you to compete effectively in your current marketplace? 9

10 5. What is your area of excellence as an individual? 6. What major changes do you have to make to continue to survive and thrive in your work and career in the years ahead? 7. How can you increase the speed at which you deliver your services to your company and your customers? 10

11 8. If you were reorganizing your work and your career today, what changes would you make to operate more effectively? 9. What are your goals and strategies for your career over the next three to five years? What one change are you going to make immediately as the result of what you have learned in this lesson? 11