See Your Career as Your Business - What Critical Conversations Do YOU Need to be Navigating?

"How can I raise my salary?" the career-minded person asks. "How can I raise my revenues?" the business-minded person asks. Are these not the same question? Yes, they are, but the thought processes behind each one are typically very different. The employee would focus on jobs "out there" or think about getting a promotion, or a different job, or asking for a raise. That kind of thinking represents most people's idea of a "career mentality." There's nothing wrong about it, but it can be inefficient and not the most direct and focused path to the change you want. A business-minded person, on the other hand, would focus first on himself or herself, assess what marketable talents/services/products he/she has and look for the their potential profitability in the marketplace. The "business mentality" would be more strategic from the outset, looking for the match between their talents and their potential customer base.

Imagine for a moment that you were offering your talents to the marketplace not just as an employee, but as a business owner of your own talent-based services. Who would your potential customers be? How would you market yourself? How would justify the price of your talents in the marketplace? How would you grow your business? (i.e. how would you grow YOUR revenues?) Who would you look for as business alliance partners?

If you are already a business owner or CEO, how might you view your career as taking it to the "next" level of business? I'm not talking about your company right now; I'm talking about YOUR talents and YOUR career path as a business executive! Business owners rarely see their businesses as their "career" but the same questions apply on a personal level. If you are burned out or hate your "job" as a business owner, did you ever consider assigning your self a different job? (!!!) Yes, you make career decisions every day!----about YOURSELF!---not just your employees! Maybe, you need to re-organize your business a bit and hire someone to do the job you don't like, then assign yourself work that you really love to do. Might that dramatically change how you experience your own company? What a concept!

Here's the catch. Ironically, even successful people don't' know EXACTLY what their talents are and how their updated talent list would fit into today's market place. If you really think you know, try listing your talents SPECIFICALLY with supporting impact statements. Most people are outdated about themselves---whether they are career-minded or business-minded. Regardless of whether you own a piece of the company or not, you owe it to yourself and your own potential to nudge yourself out of your slumber regarding your own career development.

Perhaps you know what your talents are, but have lost track of your passion. It's your passion that allows you to wake up every morning and NOT have to re-invent the motivation to go to work every day. Passion is one of the easiest things to rediscover if you know how. We help most people re-define it in an hour or two---or much less time than that. Imagine what that one simple thing would do for the clarity of your career path!

Maybe you are one of the few who knows the above, but doesn't quite know how you would conduct the CRITICAL CONVERSATIONS that would get you there. Critical conversations are required to get you to the almighty job interview LONG before you ever get there---and ARE the reason you DO get there. In those critical conversations, you'll need to communicate the updated picture about your talents and how you are marketing them AND you'll need to have that critical conversation about how the marketplace will be buying them.

Maybe you need to figure out how to navigate those critical conversations with your business partner or key individuals on your staff to make the changes you most want to make in your own life. You could be experiencing loyalty binds and other such dilemmas that really put you in an awkward position. Those critical conversations are what can unlock you out of your stuck &/or uncomfortable situation. The business should be there to SERVE not just your staff and customers, but you too! When you become a slave to your business, the business is running you; you are no longer running it.

OR . . . Maybe those critical conversations need to be with your spouse and you dread what he or she will say and what position any given conversation might put you in. Marital and dual career concerns impact EVERY individual that has a life-long mate. These are complex and very central issues that you need to face to get out of your unstuck place. Critical conversations are so powerful that they can save both your marriage and your business/career. Critical conversations profoundly accelerate what needs to happen.

Think about it. Which critical conversation (or lack thereof) is really stopping you from pursuing what you want to do?

Bottom Line: Those who can't ask for help or call with the all important questions will probably not get very far very fast. No one is successful all by themselves. We ALL have our lives accelerated by the professionals who help keep us healthy, wealthy and wise. So WAKE UP! and start tapping your real potential!