The Business of Me

iUniverse, Inc.

Contents

Acknowledgments.................................................xviiIntroduction....................................................xixBusiness Management and The Business of Me......................xxiGuide for Reading The Business of Me............................xxiiiBuild Your Value Foundation.....................................xxvDevelop Your Product: Define What You Offer.....................3Brand Your Product: Make Yourself Unique........................29Get Your Value in Gear..........................................45Market: Let Them Know What You Can Offer........................47Sell: Get Hired.................................................63Prove Your Value................................................95Deliver: Provide What You Promise...............................97Learn and Adjust................................................109Learn and Adjust: Keep Up with Change...........................111Conclusion......................................................129About the Author................................................131About Fields of Success.........................................133

Chapter One

"Business is not just doing deals; business is having great products." &mdash:Ross Perot

What do I offer—why would anyone hire or promote me?

Product Development: Business Management Process

The core measure of business success is value creation. At the heart of value creation is the offering of products that satisfy the customer's needs. This sounds so fundamental and simple, yet companies from large to sole proprietors can sometimes lose sight of this critical factor. In Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, Al Ries and Jack Trout cited failures that companies experienced when they touted their expertise in financial management and other competencies as predictors of success as they introduced new products. After the products failed in the marketplace, the companies realized that the products were not successful because they did not satisfy the needs of customers more than products offered by their competitors. The companies realized that operational excellence is important, but developing and offering products that satisfy the needs of the customer is critical.

The Product Development component of the Business Management Process includes five basic steps:

1. Assess company's strengths and capabilities.

2. Research the marketplace to identify opportunities based on the company's capabilities and strengths.

3. Develop a product concept.

4. Develop a prototype.

5. Develop the product to be introduced into the marketplace.

Executing steps 1 and 2 focuses the Product Development Process on what products the company should develop.

Step 3 defines the features the product must offer to satisfy the market needs identified in Step 2 and provides the basis for the development of prototypes.

Prototypes serve as models of what the final product must offer and provide the foundation for establishing the product development plan.

The execution of the product development plan closes the gap between what is required to satisfy the needs of the market and what the company already has in order to achieve that goal. Closing the gap could include actions such as acquiring equipment and technical expertise, redesigning or creating new business processes, and training employees.

Product Development: The Business of Me

Companies organize functions such as finance, information technology, engineering, marketing, and sales to support business operations and the execution of business strategies. In performing your job responsibilities as a member of a business function, you can easily overlook that you are providing a product to satisfy the needs of a customer. That product is your skills and capabilities. The customer is your function, boss, and other functions and individuals who depend on you to perform their responsibilities. The value you create for yourself is your compensation—your base salary, bonus, and benefits. By reading this chapter, you will:

1. Gain an understanding of the essential role that Personal Product Development serves in managing your career.

2. Be introduced to a process that you can use to convert your skills and capabilities into a personal product that will create value for you.

3. Be alerted to resources and tools that you can use to enable the development of your personal product.

Let's apply the Product Development component of the Business Management Process to the development of your personal product.

Assess Your Strengths, Capabilities, and Skills

There are several assessments designed to help you identify your strengths. Assessments establish profiles of you based on the answers you provide to questions related to your interests, likes and dislikes, and how you act in certain situations. These profiles provide themes or terms that describe situations, roles, or assignments in which you will be most effective. Your profiles are ranked in order of your most to least dominant strengths.

Assessments are also available to help you identify your strongest capabilities and skills. As with the assessments designed to help you identify your strengths, skills assessments rank your skills in the order of your level of proficiency. Skills assessments focus on:

• Measuring your natural abilities.

• Defining your interests.

• Inventorying your skills.

• Relating your personality and psychological type(s) to occupations and job roles.

Some assessments are available on the Internet, either for a fee or gratis. Many career counselors, human resources professionals, and coaches are qualified to administer assessments. Your company may provide assessments at no cost to you.

Also, do not overlook the valuable input that you can receive from people who know you well—your peers, supervisors, friends, and even family members. My own interest in coaching was sparked by a close friend, Ed, who listened to a friend describe coaching—how it included relating to people, being able to listen and provide feedback, and making a difference in the lives of people. Ed recalled his observations of me during our friendship of over twenty years and how coaching reflected how I related to people and the impact that I had on them.

Ed said, "Why don't you take a look at coaching as your next career after you retire from the corporate world?"

Ed gave his friend's phone number to me. When I called her, she provided more information on coaching, identified a book on coaching to familiarize me with the coaching profession, and identified a program that could train me to be a coach.

My interest was further supported by my sister, Sandra. When I expressed my intention to become a coach, she said, "I'm surprised that you didn't pursue this earlier in your life." She spoke of how I had coached family members and friends through challenging situations and also told me of her son's admiration for how I relate to people. In his middle school poem about his favorite relatives, Adrian said, "My uncle has never met a stranger."

You can gain insight into your strengths and skills by conducting an exercise I observed in a class of MBA candidates in a leadership course at Indiana University-South Bend. The premise of the exercise is that we perform at our best when we focus our strengths on what we encounter or are assigned to do. The exercise requires students to:

1. List three to five of their most significant accomplishments.

2. List three to five things that they did not perform well.

3. Ask individuals who have worked with them, observed them, or know them to list three to five things that they performed well and three to five things that they did not perform well.

Students pinpoint their strengths by asking, "What strengths are reflected across my accomplishments?" Students compare their answers to this question to the answers provided by the individuals they asked to participate in the exercise.

By identifying their strengths, students are able to focus their job searches and/or pursue opportunities that present the best chances for their success.

Research the Marketplace

With the assessment you've done, you've discovered quite a bit about yourself. You have a good understanding of your strengths and skills. Now, how can you target the development of your skills and capabilities? How can you focus your personal product development efforts? How can you set a framework to guide your efforts? How can you make the best use of your resources and time?

I recommend that you establish a Target Position Description to answer these questions. Following are the steps for developing your Target Position Description:

1. Set a period of time for developing your product.

2. Focus on a position to which you will aspire. This is your target position.

3. Conduct research and gather information on what the employment market requires for your target position.

4. Prepare a description of your target position.

There are two approaches to setting the period of time for developing your product. You can take a long-term view—perhaps five years into the future—or choose a shorter period of time. Either approach can be successful; it's a matter of personal preference and focus. Some people prefer the long-term view because it enables them to view short-term trends and developments within the context of their career goals and helps them when they need to make career trade-offs and decisions.

Others prefer the short-term view because they are not certain of where they want to be in their careers beyond the next few years. They may also desire the flexibility to adjust to changes in the employment marketplace and the evolution of new opportunities. The decision on the long- versus short-term view can also be influenced by the stage of your career. Early in your career, you may want to take the long-term view because of the many years you have in front of you. Later in your career, you may want to take a short-term view because you have fewer years until retirement. Success will come from the focus that results from setting a period of time.

Once you have set a period of time for developing your product, focus on designating your target position. An excellent source of information for setting your target are individuals who are experienced in the discipline you want to pursue (finance, marketing, information technology, sales, manufacturing, logistics, et al.). Approach your current or former supervisors, peers, mentors, and/or executives with whom you are connected.

A target position should include the following components:

• Responsibilities

• Qualifications

• To whom the position will report

• Role of the position in the company or organization

• Key attributes or traits required for the position

• Compensation

• Location

• Travel

By establishing the position you want to target, you can focus your time and resources on researching what the employment market requires for the position. Again, individuals who are experienced in the discipline you want to pursue can provide information on what the position requires. You can also gather information by visiting Internet job sites such as CareerBuilder and Monster, your current employer's website, and websites of other companies. Do not minimize or overlook the importance and benefits of researching sources other than those of your current employer. Information from external resources is based on a broader view of the employment marketplace. When you research external sources, you:

• Identify new and emerging techniques and competencies that may not be used by your current employer. Your company may seek candidates in the future who are skilled in these techniques and competencies instead of training current employees (including you). These new employees&mdash:your competitors&mdash:would get the position that you targeted.

• Discover career opportunities or options beyond your current employer. You may identify opportunities to develop your product to fit a broader market (in this case, potential employers, including those who are willing to pay a higher price for your product&mdash:your skills and capabilities).

Developing Your Personal Product Concept

Your Target Position Description, complete with information for each component, is your personal product concept for satisfying what your market requires. Your market is the people or employers who can hire, promote, or pay you more for your skills and capabilities. You establish the vehicle to create value when you offer a product that satisfies the requirements of your market. Your target position description includes the components described above.

The Responsibilities component of the Target Position Description should include accountabilities and scope. Accountabilities establish why the position will exist. Accountabilities include:

• Activities or functions that you will manage or supervise or to which you will be assigned.

• Services and/or capabilities the position is responsible for providing to the company or its customers.

Scope establishes the limits of the responsibilities of the position. It should include:

• Number of employees reporting to the position.

• Number of locations for which the position will be responsible.

• Geography (regions of the country or world for which the position will be responsible for supporting).

You should state the number of employees you expect to manage in a range rather than an exact number. The number of employees you expect to manage will indicate how much supervisory experience and training you will need.

The number of locations should be specified as single or multiple, rather than as an exact number. Responsibilities spanning more than one location will indicate the need to manage without a physical presence. No one can be in more than one place at a time. As responsibilities grow beyond one location, individuals will need to acquire or improve communications, organizational, relationship management, and other skills that enable their effectiveness in multi-location organizations.

Geography is an important factor for many companies in today's business environment. Companies that operate or seek to operate globally will seek candidates who have experience working in or with operations in different regions of the world. In some cases, companies pay a premium for global experience.

Split qualifications into two categories—required and preferred. Required qualifications are those that you must have to be considered as a candidate for your target position. Preferred qualifications are those that are desired—but not required—for consideration. For example, your research may reveal that in-depth knowledge of SEC reporting rules and a CPA are requirements for a director of corporate accounting in the financial services sector and an MBA with a concentration in finance or accounting is preferred. Categorizing qualifications as required or preferred will help you prioritize your personal product development efforts (make achievement of required qualifications your top priority).

Components of the Qualifications component of your Target Position Description should include the following elements:

• Experience

• Number of years of experience

• Type of experience

• Progression of experience

• Education

• Certifications

Number of years of experience should also be stated as a range (e.g. three–five years) rather than an exact number.

Type of experience could include combinations of experiences within your discipline as well as other disciplines. For example, your research could reveal that the market is requiring that corporate accounting directors have experience within accounting in areas such as financial reporting, tax, and audit, as well as experience outside of accounting in areas such as implementing financial systems. Requirements for marketing directors could include experience within marketing such as promotions management, advertising, and product management, as well as experience in sales. If your target position is Chief Information Officer (CIO), your research of the market may reveal a need for experience within information technology such as solutions development and infrastructure management, as well as business consulting experience.

For individuals who are seeking their first job, taking a job with companies that are respected for their development of talent in certain disciplines (marketing, finance, information technology management, et al.) will increase their future marketability in the employment marketplace. Some companies will seek individuals who have experience with companies known for developing people in certain disciplines and paying a premium to hire those individuals into management and executive positions. I witnessed this practice when I worked in a consumer packaged goods business unit of a diversified manufacturing company. Individuals joining the marketing function after graduating from universities could advance to the position of assistant product manager. However, the company hired individuals into the position of product manager from companies known for their leadership in product management. This included companies such as Procter & Gamble, Kraft/ General Foods, and Gillette.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from The Business of Meby Linwood Bailey Copyright © 2012 by Linwood Bailey. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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