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The Power of Being Different

Lesson 3: Formulating Personal Strengths.

Since this lesson is part of the radicalism module, and -- as you will soon discover -- ties in excellently with this topic, let's first talk about Gary Hamel's idea of what radicalism is.

Hamel shakes us up by asking, "Can you go nonlinear?" With going nonlinear he means, going in a different direction than what is logically expected and, hence, predicted. Hamel then warns us that, "In the age of revolution it is not knowledge that produces new wealth, but insight."

If we first limit our scope to the business area, we see that Hamel explains, "Without radical innovation, a company [you may also read: "person" here] will devote a mountain of resources to achieve a molehill of differentiation" (Hamel, 2000, p. 51).

You know what? All of the above can pertain just as well to your personal life. In every way! Like we learned in the first module, lesson 2, you can end incrementalism in your life and start reinventing yourself on a regular basis by perceiving yourself as a company. You are a brand on your own, completely provided with:

ü        A mission and vision statement;

ü        Goals and action plans,

ü        A target group (because, don't forget, you have skills, which are the products that you sell!),

ü        Unique, self-tailored ways to maintain open lines with sources, and

ü        A declaration of Personal Independence.

 

This indicates that the general rules that count for businesses, also count for you as a free agent!

Embroidering on this thought, and personalizing Hamel's statements on companies, we can conclude that people who "are creating new wealth [be it emotional, financial or material wealth] are not just getting better; they're getting different -- profoundly different." (Hamel, 2000, p. 55)

Another important phenomenon that Hamel introduces is, "Gray-haired revolutionaries." He emphasizes on the absolute importance for business organizations to attract visionaries who have the ability to transform businesses into "Gray-haired Revolutionaries." What this means? Gray-haired Revolutionaries are "companies that have managed to reinvent themselves and their industry more than once (Hamel, 2000, p. 209)".

So why couldn't you do that with yourself? Didn't Tom Peters give us a couple of wonderful tools in lesson 2, module 1? Remember that he mentioned that we could renew ourselves regularly by, for instance, having an own "board of directors," meaning, people that we can discuss several issues with in order to obtain their valuable point of view; and developing our own marketing plan, because we all have something to sell to the world.

In the coming lessons we will work on transforming ourselves into revolutionaries. Radicalists. Nonlinear innovators.

Keep in mind, that "Revolutionaries don't release wealth, they create it. They do more than just conserve, they build." (Hamel, 2000, p. 19)

Although Hamel explains the following for businesses, it also works in personal life:

"Concept innovation starts from a premise that the only way to escape the competition is to come up with a concept that is so different from the rest, that all traditional competitors are left scrambling." (p. 69) This means that, by practicing nonlinear innovation, or radicalism, "you are not necessarily competing; you are not positioning yourself against competitors, but you are going around them! You are avoiding instead of attacking them."

Derived from Hamel's advises, here are a few questions you might want to ask yourself. The questions are personalized especially for this purpose:

1.      Have I let others define my focus? If you manage to not only define what you want, but also do it a little more thoroughly than others, you are well on your way to becoming a winner!

2.      Do others see me as a rule taker rather than a rule breaker? (In other words, have I just been a follower up till now?)

3.      Has my approach changed in some important way in the last two years (two months if your main source of interest is the Internet)? In other words: Have I built any new competencies; have I approached new potential clients; have I created any new sources of competitive advantages?

4.      Has there been any erosion of that what distincts me from others? In other words: has there been any negative change in the way I am perceived?

5.      Has it been getting more difficult to socialize with really cool people? Remember: cool people only want to talk to other cool people!

(This list was derived and modified for this purpose from Hamel's "Leading the Revolution", 2000, p. 52)

Now, getting to the point: To know who your clients should be, you need to know what your product is. And to know what your product is, you will have to formulate your personal strengths:

A helpful way to do that is provided by Matrix Resources (http://www.matrixresources.com/)

¯     The first step is: Constructing Your Profile

Construct a current profile of personal strengths and weaknesses.
The selection process begins with defining yourself. This means finding out about your relative abilities, personality, aptitude, communication skills, presentation skills and willingness to try new tasks. [...] Attempt to construct your personal profile by addressing the following issues:

Define personal strengths and weaknesses. (See below: SWOT analysis)
In your current position, which tasks do you enjoy the most. Which tasks do you enjoy the least?
? What skills benefit my current employer the most?

Your answers to these personal issues will shape a model of current values and needs as they relate to you and your career.

SWOT analysis:

A very helpful tool to define your personal strengths and weaknesses is to make a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

On the site http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm you will find all about the SWOT analysis. Below we've pasted the most crucial information for this purpose. You may visit the site if you want to go more in depth.

To carry out a SWOT Analysis, write down answers to the following questions. Where appropriate, use similar questions:

Strengths:

  • What are your advantages?
  • What do you do well?
  • What do other people see as your strengths?  

Consider this from your own point of view and from the point of view of the people you deal with. Don't be modest - be realistic. If you are having any difficulty with this, try writing down a list of your characteristics. Some of these will hopefully be strengths!

Weaknesses:

  • What could you improve?
  • What do you do badly?
  • What should you avoid?

Again, consider this from an internal and external basis - do other people seem to perceive weaknesses that you do not see? Are your competitors doing any better than you? It is best to be realistic now, and face any unpleasant truths as soon as possible.

Opportunities:

  • Where are the good opportunities facing you?
  • What are the interesting trends you are aware of?

Useful opportunities can come from such things as:

  • Changes in technology and markets on both a broad and narrow scale
  • Changes in government policy related to your field
  • Changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyle changes, etc.
  • Local Events

Threats:

  • What obstacles do you face?
  • What is your competition doing?
  • Are the required specifications for your job, products or services changing?
  • Is changing technology threatening your position?
  • Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems?

Carrying out this analysis will often be illuminating - both in terms of pointing out what needs to be done, and in putting problems into perspective.

You can also apply SWOT analysis to your competitors - this may produce some interesting insights!

(available at: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm)

Once you've determined your strengths and weaknesses, you can move on to finishing up the formulation of your personal profile.

Here?s what your personal profile could look like:

Personal Profile
· Team Player
· Self Initiative
· Customer Service Oriented
· Expertise in core business knowledge
· Excellent communication and presentation skills
· Mastery of computer skills and business applications
(http://www.matrixresources.com/)

¯     Now it's time for the second and final step in formulating your strengths: translating them into personal objectives.

Translate strengths and weaknesses into personal objectives.
Next, translate these thoughts to a blank sheet in the form of personal objectives. Be demanding of yourself, and avoid being nebulous. For example, you might state that "Leverage my customer service and outstanding skills to support key business operations" " as opposed to "Work with customers".

This is what your personal objectives could look like:


Personal Objectives
· Support customers in Financial Services Division
· Join a Financial Users Business Organization to improve business skills
· Invest personal time (and money) in training courses to learn Financial software

(available at: http://www.matrixres.com/matrix/website.nsf/d30fff78d7922037852566e100540aaf/4cd6b024f94854f58525696500676c60?OpenDocument)


It is time for: Lesson 4