I don’t know about you but there are many parts to my job. Some I like doing and some I don’t but added together they make up my complete job description.
Now, because I like some aspects better than others they are the ones that get more of my attention. I am always keen to make a start on them, read around the subject and try and make an effort to improve my performance. All great stuff but………
The problem is the reason those other parts of my job exist is because they are required in order to deliver my product to my clients, but because I don’t really like dipping my finger in I just do enough to get by. This cannot be right.
Imagine a doctor who was great at diagnosis but didn’t update your notes or keep up to date with the latest treatments. What about an airline pilot who was great at flying the plane but couldn’t be bothered to do the preflight checks or keep abreast of any modifications to his plane. The list can go on but the result is the same: no matter how good people are at aspects of their job they cannot be considered as “great” unless they are good at all of them.
So if you’re a professional services provider: a lawyer, accountant, banker or consultant and you only focus on the fee-earning part of your remit you can never be great. You must be as keen to develop and hone your skills at business development, management, client care and strategic thinking in that same way that you would for your chosen vocation.
This means finding time to do them, making every effort to get better (attending courses, reading books and blogs, talking to other practitioners and even contributing to the subject yourself) and keeping abreast of any new innovations, ideas and tools. Imagine doing that for the above list!
I know some of you may suggest that because I live in a greenhouse I should keep my mits away from the pebbles but my sincere belief is that we should all self-examine: what is our complete job description? Do we really embrace each aspect of it in the same way? How do we need to change to be great at everything we do?
Some people I know already take this view, others really don’t care but to be honest they are probably not the ones who would spend time reading this kind of blog anyway. But if you truly want to be great at what you do then strive to be great at everything you do.
