Tie Your Tie With The Proper Knot--Competency
Competency is one of the most obvious keys to success. Yet, it remains one of the most elusive. Whether you are seeking individual or small business growth, competency is the foundation on which you must build.
What is competency? Competency is a demonstrated ability to do something well. And, in coaching success there are a couple of thoughts I want to add to that. A competent person does what he does well, continually persevering and distilling what’s best—and he stops doing what he doesn’t do well.
Does that describe you? Whether you are a self-employed business owner, entrepreneur, solo professional or an individual seeking greater success and fulfillment, competency is the cornerstone in the foundation of small business and personal growth.
Competency: Can Others Depend On You?
Can your customers or teammates depend on you to deliver in such a way that you bring the entire team success? Do you have a process in your business for delivering your product or service that reflects competency.
In my personal business coaching practice I have many people with great ability. Ability is like table salt. There is a great deal of it. What separates the people with ability from the others? Competency. Ability is important. But, dependability is critical.
Others can only depend on you if you have the ability to do a job well and if you consistently deliver at a high level.
To improve your competence….
Competency: Focus Yourself Professionally
Too often I see the self-employed business owner who tries to do everything. It’s hard to develop competence if you are in this mode.
Pick an area in your business where you want to specialize. At first this is not possible. But as your business grows bring in others who can specialize in other areas.
As a self-employed business owner or individual look for the area that brings together your skills, interests and opportunities. Create a process around it. Whatever it is, take ownership of it.
Competency: The Small Stuff
There is a book titled, “Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff.” To have personal or small business success you must sweat the small stuff. Take your work and the have others in your business take their work as far as they can.
To accomplish this you must develop your ability with the details and at the same time create a process to get them all right. Sometimes this is misinterpreted by some to mean they have to become a control freak or micromanager.
What it means is doing the last 10 percent of whatever job you are doing. 90 percent does not reflect competency. Take this approach on your next project or big task that is your responsibility.
In the next post I will finish up our discussion on competency. Bring your ability to your work and couple it with dependability. Then focus yourself on what you are good at and start building your process around that.
Finally, to be competent you must get the details right. Do these things and you will have a high level of competency and greatly increase your odds for success.
