One of my small peeves comes from when people confuse common sense with business sense. In my mind, this creates an major disservice for those with wisdom that others simply do not recognize. So as a reminder, and to prevent any further injustice, I will once again clarify the differences between the two:
Common sense is having the wherewithal that keeps us from sticking a hand in a pot of boiling soup or from ever attempting to punt a 16 pound bowling ball across a soccer field.
Business sense, on the other hand, only comes from bearing strong business acumen ... and since strong business acumen doesn't come in pill form, not everyone has it.
Unfortunately, for many of us, a high Business IQ is only acquired by attending the school of hard knocks, and corporate America is not a place that hesitates to prove how you must pay to learn. Very few bear the knowledge and keenness to quickly decipher complex business information and repeatedly execute on it with a favorable outcome. Do not be fooled. The ability to make effective strategic decisions once or twice is luck, where doing it on a sustained basis, throughout a long career, requires an absolute degree of business intelligence.
You may have heard me say that "in the business world there is no such thing as a natural". This comment was made for good reason! You don't just wake up one morning with an acute perception of the big picture of your organization and the many key dimensions that surround it. Acquiring such knowledge, and knowing how to use it, takes a great deal of time and hard work. It takes business savviness.
Business Intelligence + Business Experience = Business Savviness.
In the business world, every action has a reaction. Therefore it is imperative for decision makers to understand how their choices impact critical company objectives and align with the direction of the executive leadership team or other departments. This is nearly impossible for those who work in a vacuum to do. However, possessing such intelligence and awareness is a prerequisite towards making decisive decisions, a common act among business savvy leaders. Also required is a strong understanding of your company's strengths and weaknesses. This includes all of the financial data too.
Welcome to the Big Leagues was written to provide readers and new entrants to the business world with the key insights necessary to build a strong business professional and ultimately a business savvy leader. Of course, I cannot go into all of the details here, but understand that your continued growth requires the knowledge of many things. I created The Corporate Rookie Blog for this reason ... to provide a free resource, designed to expand across a broad scope, that will help you to thrive in the long run. So read it, share it, discuss it, and return to it. Like all forms of education, you'll learn more from getting engaged.
To conclude this article, I will leave you with three small tidbits of information that will immediately discredit and negate any possibility or chance of your business savviness. Consider each to be as telling as a pointed three-foot dunce cap resting at the top of your head.
1. Saying or believing "I Nailed It" - No matter how good you think you did or how great you think you are, you will never nail it. Saying these words sounds as pathetic as that quick-tongued salesperson who states "I had them eating out the palm of my hand" while sporting a cheesy smile. Your boss should be the only person to ever say you nailed it. Even then, your response should be to ask "what could I have done better?" Nothing is ever perfect or perfectly received, understand this and keep striving towards perfection anyway.
2. Saying or believing that "They Love Me" - This is another comment that shows a lack of executive maturity. Every time that I hear a colleague say they love me, and it does happen occasionally, I have to shake my head in despair at the disillusioned employee. If you seek love, phone a friend or family member. Do not think that it exists within corporate America. Your worth is based solely on those skills you bring to the table, period. Do not confuse respect for your talents as love. Even the best case of cronyism only goes so far, as not even CEOs are bulletproof. Remember that there will always be someone better and cheaper than you out there. The only way to obtain job security is by growing your skills.
3. Engage in or spread Gossip - Sure everyone may get this, but yet there are so many who still cannot wait at the chance to become part of the grapevine. Protect and govern every word that comes out of your mouth. If you feel compelled to begin a sentence with the words "don't say anything", then you should follow your own advice. When your astuteness reveals something that others do not see, there's a good chance you should protect the find as opposed to share it. Spend moments of free time researching market data, industry trends or other company statistics that will help to fuel better decisions, before ever wasting a minute on gossip or the rumor mill. Distractions such as these can distort your acute perception of the big picture; which is what we said was so necessary to begin with.
You already spent more than $100k on your education, what's another $20? http://t.co/botwnSZix6 via @amazon
— Carmine Del Sordi (@BigLeaguesBook) July 20, 2014
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