If You Had to do it Over

Today's #kaizenbog chat on Twitter will be about knowing your core competencies to develop a clear business message. Think about core competencies as strengths -- what are you really good at? What are you passionate about? What do you find effortless, as if you were born to do it?

The third circle is one we often leave behind in our considerations -- what would people pay you to do? That is the place where you add value in business. Jim Collins calls this understanding of what you can be best at, the hedgehog concept.

A core competency is

• a benefit to customers
• difficult to imitate by competitors
• can be leveraged in many markets and products

Of course, you need also to think about how this core competency is connected with a bigger purpose -- there is no limit for better. I can tell you that those times in my life when I followed what my gut told me was the right thing, because I observed what lit me up, have led to the most incredible opportunities.

Which brings me to ask.

If you had to do it over

Let's pretend for a moment that you could go back in time and arrange to redo some of the things you did. Many who approached me in the last couple of years since the conversation about social media heated up wished they had paid attention 10 years ago when I was getting into digital and community.

If you had the opportunity to do it over, would you make the same choices?

Would you, for example, change the focus of your business? Would you indulge the artist in you knowing that you could eventually leverage the Web to create a side business that fills you with joy? Would you avoid any failures, even though there are plenty of ways to fail and come out on top?

I confess that I rarely think about what could have been. In a world of innumerable choices, I trusted my instincts and followed a vision, even when I had to hunker down to preserve that core. For many years I felt I was in the closet with social media -- companies are still grappling with it today.

Now that you made clarity on this point.

Focus on what you do incredibly well

Following your passion is usually a good way to tell if you are.

I regularly challenge myself to up the ante, to work smarter building on my strengths and apply myself to understand things I have not come across yet. If you want to learn how to really kick ass, ignore your limitations, and learn to use your gifts.

The more you become you and what you do really well, the wider the gap between you and your competitors or businesses that seem to do the things you do. Learning to articulate those points of differentiation, the benefits to customers, in a clear message allows you to build momentum.

In today's chat we will address three main questions:

Q1: how do you know your core competencies?

Q2: how do you keep your message focused on what you really do?

Q3: what criteria do you use to determine the real value you bring to your clients/customers?

Join the conversation here and on Twitter at 12pm ET.

© 2010 Valeria Maltoni. All rights reserved.

Comments

[Jeff Hurt]

Small business consultant Andy Birol and a friend of mine calls this concept your BHU: your best and highest use.

When you focus on doing what your passionate about, what you're good at doing and what the market is willing do pay you for, you've found the sweet spot of success!

[Andy Birol]

Thanks Jeff!

If anyone is interested in my methodology for figuring out your BHU, it's here with my compliments http://www.andybirol.com/UserContent/UserFiles/Entrepreneurarticle.pdf

[Glen Kendell]

Great stuff, Valeria!

One thing I always think about is the process versus the product.

Doing what you love is something we all understand and hopefully aspire to. Being the best at something means being a student of your craft -- you never stop learning. This is your internal process that feeds your product which is what you offer to your customers.

But what if the process IS the product? That to me, seems like the ultimate realization of this magic combination. It's the zen place to be. Instead of coming across as being the master, perhaps it's better to always be the student. To be humble. To listen and learn from clients. And through the process of simply being who you are, the client receives the a rewarding and valuable outcome.

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Jeff - thank you for introducing us to Andy participating in the chat as well. Conceptually, BHU makes me think about a higher purpose, and that is something to aspire to.

@Andy - welcome to Conversation Agent and thank you so much for sharing the link to your work. Many here are as eager to learn as I. I love #5, well said!

@Glen - being the student of your craft is a worthy aspiration. As a lifelong learner, I can tell you there is satisfaction and joy when I can still the internal voices and be in the moment with process = product. What a profound thought, thank you.

[Juliana Crispo]

I like the last bullet point you use to define a core competency. Often overlooked. Perhaps this is why so many 20 somethings feel the weight of a quarter life crisis or something. Just starting a career they are uncertain about their biggest strengths. Thank you. Great discussion going here.