MentorWords

As any client who meets at my office in Wisconsin will attest, the views from my windows are breathtaking in any season. Those views, however, can be quite distracting when I need to focus on work. So with a large dose of self-awareness and a small amount of prodding, I ordered custom blinds.

The installer has been here before. He is a private contractor who does window measuring and installations, and he is a marvel of efficiency. When he arrived to do the install he left his car running, a clear signal that he expected to finish quickly. We clocked him. He opened the carton containing our blinds, verified parts and specifications, installed three windows, tested them, and removed all evidence of his visit in 11 minutes.

He mentioned where he was off to next, and I commented that he seemed to stay busy. He paused for a moment, reflected, then said, “You know, I found a real niche with this. I make a very nice living.”

Of course he does. He found meaningful work doing something for which he is particularly suited. He can measure windows and install blinds faster than anyone I have ever seen and he enjoys the work.

This is not just another testimony to the value of doing work one loves. I don’t know if the blinds installer loves his work. He seems to enjoy it. He’s cheerful doing it. But would he rather be a landscaper or a lawyer? That I don’t know. What I do know is that he is good at it. So good at it that he must be an asset to the companies that contract with him for services.

The easiest way to make money is to offer something – product or service – that you can do better than the competition. There may be another activity that you like doing more or that you even love – but if that activity is not something you also do better in some way, you won’t make a great deal of money. You might not even make enough.

One thing I have learned as a professional support/mentor for business owners and executives is that most people are working in something close to their greatest competency, but they’re not capitalizing on their greatest competency in a meaningful way. Financial success and tremendous satisfaction can result when self-evaluation and redirection take place, as these examples demonstrate:

• A talented interior design critic and writer who is less than inspirational as a designer. Now he’s doing what he loves, earning more money, and no longer frustrating himself and his clients by trying to do the designs himself.
• A sales trainer who knew her subject matter inside and out, but who dreaded each new training class and wasn’t earning a fraction of what she thought she was worth. She tripled her income when she gave up teaching her ideas to others and instead decided to deploy them – as a field sales rep for a large corporation.
• The executive director of a nonprofit who calculated she only enjoyed her work 10% of the time – when she was writing grant proposals. Now she’s spending 100% of her time grant writing – earning the same amount of money as before but significantly happier and with more free time.

In our pursuit of a profession or industry we love, we frequently fall into doing activities that don’t make the best use of our talents. Once we start doing those activities – and we attach titles, paychecks, and self-image to them – we are unlikely to question them. But question them we must if we want to continue to grow and prosper.

Take time this week to consider your greatest strengths and whether or not you are spending much – if not most – of your time exploiting them to earn a living. Even if immediate change is not possible (though change can happen much faster than you may think), just knowing what you could be doing and creating a plan will start you on your path.

© 2009. Andrea M. Hill