Behave Like You’re In Business For Yourself

Your employer wants more than your body, more than just your arms, back and brain. Your employer wants you to act like an owner.

Why is this? What does it mean?

Organizations are reshaping themselves in an attempt to become more entrepreneurial. They want to get closer to the customer. They want decisions to be made by people who are closest to the information. They want to be able to move faster. The idea is that only small units are agile and adaptable enough to thrive in today’s world of high-velocity change.

So now we’re seeing a lot of self-destructing teams. “Empowered” employees. The management ranks are shrinking rapidly, and this means more power, information and responsibility flow through to you.

You’ll need to assume more personal responsibility for the success of the entire enterprise, rather than focusing narrowly within the boundaries of your old job description. To act like an owner you need a sense for managing the whole. You need peripheral vision. If you’re going to be of value to your company, make yourself valuable. I once worked for a company where the Vice President would always look to me for information he needed. Why? Because he knew I would have it. You cannot be in an upper management position and think all you have to do is manage the people under you. You have to manage your career also. Knowing where the company is headed is one key element. Once you know that it is your job to find ways to achieve the company goals. This makes you a value to the organization. A value that they appreciate. Now if you’re doing it just for yourself, to get ahead that’s not the way to go about it. You have to really want to improve your company. When that happens you will be rewarded.

Consider how you personally can help cut costs, serve the customer better. How you and your group can add directly to the financial health of the organization.

This could prove to be more “freedom” than you prefer. For example, if you’ve found comfort in “working for somebody else”, having other people call the shots, supervise you and stand accountable for problems and results—you may start to sweat. On the other hand, behaving like you’re in business for yourself gives you the chance to really shine.

Besides all this, though, thinking of yourself as “self-employed is the mindset that serves you best in the years to come. Much like an independent contractor, you have to “build your business,” uphold your reputation, and satisfy the people who pay for your work.

So operate as if you’re self-employed, and carry personal responsibility for your own career mobility. Whether you look at it from the perspective of your employer, or from the angle that you’re a one-person show, it pays to behave like you’re in business for yourself.

Order yours today