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Successful business people do these 10 things best ...
They:
1. Understand that the way to serve customers in an exemplary way is to serve employees in the same manner. If employees don’t provide exceptional service to one another in their daily roles, they are unlikely to provide customers with caring service that goes above and beyond what they expect.
2. Have a strategic game plan for themselves and use it as THE context for everything they do. They are guided by strategy, not tactics. They avoid chasing anything that doesn’t have direct line of sight to their strategy.
3. Don’t over-analyze everything. The degree of study depends on the risk associated with the decision to be made. They don’t get mesmerized with the tools of analysis; they use them appropriate to the level and risk inherent in the decision to be made.
4. Don’t look for perfection. The quest for the perfect solution (which doesn’t exist in any event) only takes valuable time away from execution. They understand that success is a function of making tries , and doing lots of imperfect stuff fast.
5. Are the champions of change in their organization which gives them currency among their peers and colleagues and the ability to garner the resources required to get things done. They get nervous with the status quo and always look for opportunities to create a discontinuity to force the organization out of its comfort zone.
6. Are crazy about execution. They are comfortable with loosening up on the development of their plan and not trying to make it perfect. They believe in getting the plan “just about right”, and focusing on execution. They understand that performance depends on how well they execute , not on the brilliance of the plan and strategy.
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7. Spend copious amounts of time with the frontline; people in the organization who deal directly with customers. This is the way to find out what’s really going on. They want to discover the issues personally to make meaningful change, and not be jaded by what others want them to believe. They don’t have a stay in the office mentally .
8. Have a contrarian belief system by nature. They believe that the source of opportunity lies not in copying what others are doing, but rather charting a course that no one else is on. They are true 180 degree thinkers who look to go in the opposite direction to others.
9. Place a priority on meeting with customers regularly. There is no substitute for getting feedback on performance directly from a customer. They make it a priority and schedule it weekly on their calendar. And if faced with a conflict between attending an internal meeting or keeping a customer commitment, the customer wins.
10. Are relentless and voracious learners. Standing still intellectually isn’t an option in a world changing every instant. Value added to the organization depends on business people keeping up. They are “learning leaders” who believe staying ahead of the learning curve is essential to success.
The smart generation of business people know that success doesn’t come from an academic pedigree.
They know that brilliant performance is the result of practising the fundamentals of being different than the competition, staying close to customers, serving employees and executing strategy in the trenches.