Question of the week: What has made you successful in the past that needs to change?

[JoeSorge]

This week's question really hits home for me as I try to "pass the torch" so to speak in many aspects of my own business.
The question reminded me of the idea that goes: what got you here, won't get you there.

Here's an excerpt from the article I was reading:

As we go through different phases in our personal and professional lives, we're called upon to adapt, to marshal skills different than those we've used in the past. And in the modern world — where the pace of technological and social change is as fast as at any time in human history, those demands on our adaptability are greater. An exceptional grocery store cashier, for example, will need a different set of skills to be a store manager as her career evolves. And those in computer repair have had to learn and unlearn a myriad skills over the past 30 years to keep pace with the changes happening around them.



So what skills do you need to modify or leave behind to grow?

[Brew]

The answer for me is the technology piece. It's where I started (hacking/coding) and where I've found myself again (to save money after the loss of our developer). I feel great being able to hack my way through bug fixes and a blog theme creation, but I know that soon I will have to refocus on selling and marketing in order to grow.

This question took me a while to answer, and really made me think long and hard about change. Thank you.

[shelmke]

A huge part of my job is marketing and selling for other companies. I'm actually pretty good at that and I've been coasting along doing just that over the last couple of months. I haven't brought on many new clients during these last couple of months because what I had on my plate was all I could handle. Those I have brought in were mostly recommended by current clients.

This morning I had my first meeting in awhile with a potential client who I didn't get an intro from someone beforehand. I was surprised that I was quite nervous leading up to the meeting. I knew that one of the people in the meeting was going to be the president of the company and he didn't know me. He doesn't know that I am good at what I do because he hasn't experienced it.

I realized why I was nervous: I had to remember how to sell and market myself, by myself, with no testimonials from any of my other clients. Sometimes I'm great at talking about others and not so great at talking about myself.

No matter... I think I rocked the meeting. I got a little confidence back and am going to try to remember that I also need to be selling and marketing for ME all the time as well.