Continuing on my voyage of discovery as a self-employed consultant seeking to help teams become not only more effective but great at what they do, I’m learning so much from the people I meet as well as the books I’m reading.
Special thanks to Simon Brooks of Contacts4Business for starting me on this train of thought. As others have also said, we can be very good at what we do (our aptitude) but it’s our ‘attitude’ that will distinguish people from each other, get us noticed, and help us work with others in whatever team situations we find ourselves in.
I’m still reading the 8th Habit by Stephen Covey (it’s taking me a while because there is so much good material in it). He likes to talk in blocks of 4, and in terms of a holistic approach embracing the body, the mind, the soul and the spirit. So, looking for 2 other attributes for success, I thought of plenitude and servitude.
Plenitude – it seems that to be a successful self-employed person, you need to have a diversity of offerings for your potential customers, and to be generous with them. Who knows where the potential positive leads might come from.
I’m now following Ian McKendrick on twitter and I really like his attitude: ‘Share the love’. The more you share with others, the more they will share with you. It’s a bit like Stephen Covey’s concept of ‘abundance’. We can find ways to share with our potential competitors that will benefit us all, rather than concentrating on being secretive and keeping everything to ourselves. Although of course there is a role for confidentiality as well.
This all leads nicely into ‘servitude’. For many if not most of us, there’s no greater satisfaction than helping others and finding that you’ve made their life better in some way. This applies to helping our team members, and helping our fellow self-employed acquaintances. We can help others benefit from our aptitudes, and in turn, we will benefit from theirs. I really like this concept of strong team leaders being there to help and support (or serve) their team members to become ever more effective, if not great…
And finally, for those that are curious, I think my 4 concepts might to Stephen Covey’s like this: aptitude = body, attitude = mind, plenitude = heart, servitude = soul…
The focus in the work that I do is still on aptitude: how teams can make better use of their time and expertise, but thanks to Simon, Ian and Stephen, I’m going to continue reflecting on how these other aspects can make them (and me) even more effective.
More information on www.linkedin/in/elisabethgoodman