The Keys to Success in your Business and Career
Posted by Ross Nichols on Wednesday, December 18, 2013 Under: career
Introduction
As part of a research project I started with Mentor-net and their partner, CASS business school, I was thinking about mentoring: what exactly is it? If we take the traditional '4 Ps marketing mix' approach of product, price, promotion and place, what exactly is the product that we call mentoring? Around the same time, I attended an excellent presentation by Dr Dave Richards (Inspire networking group, Bournemouth) on The Many Ps of Marketing. This led me to thinking about what P words I would use to describe what I do when I'm mentoring a business, or when I'm working with a client as an executive coach or career coach.
Passion and Purpose
I recognised early in my mentoring career that people with real PASSION and PURPOSE tend to be highly motivated and enthusiastic about their business or career. For professionals struggling to perform or in career transition, it's the loss of that passion and purpose, and rediscovering them that is often the challenge. These are necessary qualities but on their own insufficient to be confident of a successful outcome.
Persistence
PERSISTENCE was the next P word that came up: have they got the staying power to keep going through the inevitable ups and downs when trying something new?
Professional
They also need to be PROFESSIONAL. By this I mean they need to be willing to invest in their business and/or themselves, get appropriate training, learn new skills and take responsibility for their own learning and development. They need to be willing to comply with professional standards.
Probity
PROBITY is an important quality too. Do they have the integrity to keep their stakeholders interests at heart? Whether these are customers/clients, employees or an employer, are they willing to put their stakeholders' long term interests above short term gains for themself? Are they willing to comply with professional codes of practice and ethics? Probity pays off in the long run. I've learned that you don't chase the money. Be authentic: be true to yourself and your stakeholders and success will follow.
Personality
Another quality I'm looking for is PERSONALITY: are they a good cultural fit for their sector or career? Is the context right for them to be doing what they want to do, in other words are they the right person in the right place at the right time?
Performance
If these P words are aligned, in my experience we get successful PERFORMANCE in both business and careers. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's guaranteed, however as predictors of success, aligning Passion, Purpose, Persistence, Professionalism, Probity and Personality generally leads to successful Performance.
Feedback
I realise this doesn't necessarily move me very far forward in researching what mentoring is, however I find it an interesting predictive model and a useful start point for discussion. I'd be pleased to have your views on it.
As part of a research project I started with Mentor-net and their partner, CASS business school, I was thinking about mentoring: what exactly is it? If we take the traditional '4 Ps marketing mix' approach of product, price, promotion and place, what exactly is the product that we call mentoring? Around the same time, I attended an excellent presentation by Dr Dave Richards (Inspire networking group, Bournemouth) on The Many Ps of Marketing. This led me to thinking about what P words I would use to describe what I do when I'm mentoring a business, or when I'm working with a client as an executive coach or career coach.
Passion and Purpose
I recognised early in my mentoring career that people with real PASSION and PURPOSE tend to be highly motivated and enthusiastic about their business or career. For professionals struggling to perform or in career transition, it's the loss of that passion and purpose, and rediscovering them that is often the challenge. These are necessary qualities but on their own insufficient to be confident of a successful outcome.
Persistence
PERSISTENCE was the next P word that came up: have they got the staying power to keep going through the inevitable ups and downs when trying something new?
Professional
They also need to be PROFESSIONAL. By this I mean they need to be willing to invest in their business and/or themselves, get appropriate training, learn new skills and take responsibility for their own learning and development. They need to be willing to comply with professional standards.
Probity
PROBITY is an important quality too. Do they have the integrity to keep their stakeholders interests at heart? Whether these are customers/clients, employees or an employer, are they willing to put their stakeholders' long term interests above short term gains for themself? Are they willing to comply with professional codes of practice and ethics? Probity pays off in the long run. I've learned that you don't chase the money. Be authentic: be true to yourself and your stakeholders and success will follow.
Personality
Another quality I'm looking for is PERSONALITY: are they a good cultural fit for their sector or career? Is the context right for them to be doing what they want to do, in other words are they the right person in the right place at the right time?
Performance
If these P words are aligned, in my experience we get successful PERFORMANCE in both business and careers. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's guaranteed, however as predictors of success, aligning Passion, Purpose, Persistence, Professionalism, Probity and Personality generally leads to successful Performance.
Feedback
I realise this doesn't necessarily move me very far forward in researching what mentoring is, however I find it an interesting predictive model and a useful start point for discussion. I'd be pleased to have your views on it.
In : career
Tags: business career "career transition" "executive coaching" "career coaching" "business mentoring"
