What Is It That You Do?

Do you ever ask yourself this question? Others often ask me.

When new people come into your life, the first question of conversation sometimes is, “So, what do you do?” It can be a very important question, but it is not always easy to answer. In fact, people often times struggle with being able to articulate this.

Formula For Success

For me, everyone who knows me at all knows my formula for success: Clarity, Focus and Execution. I first introduced this concept when I launched Strategic Acceleration in 2009, published by Perseus books. I re-launched this formula again in my newest title, RESULTS Faster!

Why is Clarity, Focus and Execution important? Because what I do is help people win. I listen, encourage, and help shape people and organizations so they can become better and produce better results faster. They accomplish this through gaining clarity, focusing on what matters and being accountable to their consistent execution. I help individuals and organizations do this; I do it well, and I’m extremely zeroed in on becoming better and better at it every single day. This allows me to work in my sweet spot.

I know my game – it’s what I do.

What Do You Do?

Do you know your game? Your sweet spot? What you do best? Have you ever really thought about it?  You should.

Let me encourage you today as you’re reading this to self-reflect, talk to yourself, and actually write out a description – get real with yourself – of what you do. Make it a fun venture of self-discovery on what you do well and ask yourself if there’s alignment with what do well and what you’re actually doing. If not, ask yourself what you can change to get alignment. Working in your sweet spot is where you’ll be the happiest and where you’ll be the greatest results.

Top 5 Wins From Working in Your Sweet Spot

There are many wins that come from really knowing what you do and what your real sweet spot is.

1. You can focus on becoming exceptional at that main thing. You’ve heard the expression “jack of all trades, master of none.” It is great to be good at a lot of things, but it is even better to at one big thing that you do exceptionally well. Being an expert has great wins.
2. You can take on assignments and opportunities that align with your strengths. Oftentimes, people are assigned projects and tasks because of their role versus their expertise. As a leader, know the strengths of your team; as an individual, ensure your leaders know your strengths so they can capitalize on them when needed. This creates wins for you and your organization.
3. You can more easily say “no” to things that aren’t your best fit. Oftentimes learning to say “no” is the most strategic things you can do for your success. When appropriate, offer up alternative solutions or people for specific roles where your strengths don’t match up well with a request. Make sure it is understood you are not attempting to push off an assignment. Being very tuned into your strengths can keep you from volunteering where there is not a great fit and allow you to contribute at a higher level there it is.
4. You become happier by doing more of what you do best. All kinds of studies show that people are happier when they are doing things they are passionate about and where they feel like they are good at something. When people are happy, they are more productive and fulfilled.
5. You can help others better by knowing yourself, knowing your gift(s), knowing what you do best, and working in that sweet spot. When I help others, I always look at where my strengths are and how that matches up with the other person’s needs. There are often multiple ways to help someone with solutions; sometimes they need someone to help with strategy, other times they help with execution. Help where your strengths are and everybody wins.