For those that needed a debrief on what exactly this phrase means, it’s a revision of “Taking care of business”.It really got my attention as I reflected and continued to reflect and plan for my year. Did you know.. planning doesn’t end when you make your new year resolutions or your quarterly targets. At least for me even menial duties and tasks are planned for, so planning professionally should also be a continuous exercise whether you are formally employed or not.
Elevating your career - What is that level of excellence you want to get to? Be it in quality interactions at the workplace where someone truly gains something from you/ your perspective at every meeting, or in material you deliver??
Embracing your entrepreneurial side - is there a service or product you can package and provide to meet an unmet need in the market? At your workplace? It could already exist but what’s your angle and what?are you going to do about it?
I mentioned could in my key question because if I believe in continuous planning, by default I believe in pivoting, being open minded and staying adaptable. Situations can’t be definite but at best the principles could be definite at least until you have some lived experiences then understand how your principles may need to be further adjusted for your ultimate benefit.
- Failing forward - Dropping the ball not once twice or maybe even thrice will happen but there must be a different lesson picked, recorded and absorbed from each experience. It could also be a recurring personal trait that is doing a disservice to professional growth but we can choose to just fail or fail forward with such character defects and areas of development if you’d like a softer blow in acknowledging people have their weaknesses.
- Consistency in delivery - Ownership Vs. Delivery; this topic needs a discussion all its own because the two are intertwined but not one and the same. When I “stand on” delivering, I am specifically referring to whatever is on my table I will run with it. It’s my baby and I just have to nurture it to the best of my abilities. It may not be personally important to me, I may not relate to it, but there’s a reason it’s on my table at this point in time and the best I can do is leave it better than I found for my own growth and to propel those depending on it’s delivery forward. I choose to believe it will add value to my toolbox of skills, networks and personal qualities (e.g. perseverance, creativity etc) and if I choose to positively frame why it makes sense for me to deliver excellence even when I don’t feel the need to go above and beyond, I’ll be able to actually just do it even ahead of deadline.
- Affirming boundaries - Note I did not say setting boundaries. Most of us have boundaries already set but we don't affirm and reinforce them + allow them to actually work. I am pretty sure in one of my previous articles I have talked about saying YES more often so I hope not to come across as sharing conflicting views on these two concepts; boundaries and saying YES. A boundary in the context I am thinking of means sticking to my professional ethos and what I can offer and cannot offer not just as someone in the Talent Acquisition space, but more so as Gathoni the TA specialist. There are many opportunities that have, may and hopefully will come my way but I need to know where to draw the line. Is every single opportunity beneficial for my growth? My budding business? My mental well-being? My client(s)? Or just my bank account?
Let’s see how the year develops as I try to “stand on business” with these guidelines for self I have shared. Are you planning on standing on business in whatever chapter of your professional life you’re in or moving into? I’d be curious to hear how so!
