One of the first commandments when joining my Professional Speaking training and Mastermind Group Game Changers was to stop posting to social channels without approved content.
Now for someone who served in the military the discipline of listening to others is not hard. The discipline of implementing a command to achieve and exceed the standard that is the benchmark of everyone who served in the military, so I immediately ceased fire.
By stepping back and looking at what I was posting on my social channels, I was able to identify the gaps in my personal messaging and branding. For example, my consistent posting of quotes made me a quotes guy, but I don’t want to be a quotes guy. My Brand disagreed with me.
Being Coachable allowed me the time to align with the Brand that I am building a brand that tells the Veterans Transition story to include the training and empowerment needed to put forth your best effort and continue to serve beyond the uniform. Had I continued posting without this time for self-assessment I doubt I would have been able to see what my audience saw. Just quotes with no true brand direction.
Learning what to do while building your career as a professional speaker is fun, but without a system, you mismanage your efforts. For example, Building your network is a major step in the right direction, and there is a way you do this as a Professional. You have to get to know your industry intimately. You have to get to know your audience like you would a best friend. You then have to build content, branding, and messaging that aligns your industries goals to the needs of your audience. Once you have fostered those relationships listening and implementing feedback is your next step.
I heard a speech this weekend that helped me deepen my commitment to listening and implementing my coaches feedback. The speaker skillfully compared Amazon’s Day One culture with Microsoft’s learn it all culture. The Speaker then combined both cultures to unleash a theory of sustainable improvement over time.
In the speech the speaker showcased how Day One culture keeps you relevant by allowing you the space to try, to fail, and to implement feedback in a customer obsessed way.
No one expects you to know everything on day one and everyone gives you room to try and fail. What I learned was when success comes on day one. You double down for a big bet.
The speaker then showcased how to combine that with Microsoft’s learn it all culture to continuously develop. Being a know it all might make you a subject matter expert, but when the subject changes your expertise creates a lack of energy and consistency around improvement. Being a learn it all is the antidote to that.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella: It's better to be a 'learn-it-all' than a 'know-it-all'
www.geekwire.com
A learn it all is faces what he doesn’t know on a daily basis so continues to look for ways to learn by staying coachable, teachable, and implementing feedback quickly.
At the start of month two of my Professional Speaking journey I can say that I am coachable, I am teachable, and I will implement feedback while continuously improving. If you are on this journey, remember seeds planted today might not give shade tomorrow, but without planting new ideas, nothing will bare fruit.
Brought to you by BernardBergan.com Motivating and Empowering Veteran Leaders to Continue to Serve Beyond the Uniform.
