Can you be good at business and good at personal relationships at the same time? If you want to be a great (or even a good) leader, this is another Yin and Yang that you need to factor into your way of working.
What is business acumen? How would you describe it?
Let’s look at acumen first. The dictionary describes it as “the ability to make good judgements and take quick decisions”
So business acumen is about making good judgments and taking quick decisions related to the business and its future. Aligning what you work on with the business strategy. Getting the financials right. Understanding how those financials work in the first place so that you can make decisions accordingly. Those companies that work to quarterly results would also expect that leaders pay heed to shareholders’ expectations of a return on investment, so keeping turnover up and costs down. The problem is, this quarterly, short-term drive distracts us from what is best for the business – and those same shareholders – in the long run. But I digress….business acumen is understanding the business and acting in its best interest. How do you rate yourself in this area? What might you need to learn to get better at this? How could you go about that?
And personal acumen?
Making good judgements and taking quick decisions about oneself? Does that resonate with you? It starts with self-awareness, understanding ourselves and our motivations. Only then can we make good judgements and take quick decisions about our own needs and those of the people around us. We may think we are self-aware, but this is often a little lacking. If you were to sit back and reflect on how well you know yourself, how would you rate yourself? Eckstein wrote in 1969 about our blind spots, deaf spots and dumb spots:
Blind spots are those things we do not see in ourselves.
Deaf spots are those things we don’t hear ourselves saying, whether those are positive or not.
Dumb spots are the things we don’t share out loud, whether that is our intuition, a challenge or direct feedback from another person that could be useful to the conversation.
It’s quite possible that others see and hear and experience those things to which we are blind, deaf and dumb in ourselves. So we could shine a light on those blind, deaf and dumb spots by getting feedback from others as to how they perceive us. How do we show up? What do we do well? What could we do more of or less of? How could we be more useful to others? You may have other questions that you would like to ask. I suggest you keep it simple though. And don’t hide behind an anonymous survey. Get real feedback, honest feedback. Ask more questions to get clarification. Don’t be defensive. Simply say thank you. You can decide what you want to do with the feedback later, but for now, just listen and take it in. That’s how you make the invisible visible. Uncovering your blind spots.
There may be some things that you aren’t aware of about yourself and that others aren’t aware of either. Those are trickier to get to as they are not visible or hearable. Coaching can help, as that is a place to explore who you are and how you want to be. If you want to discover more about who you are and what is important to you, please do get in touch. I love to work with people who want to understand themselves better. Indeed, if any of the aspects of leadership that we have delved into feel opaque to you, get in touch and we can partner together to figure out how coaching might support and challenge you.
Balance
Whether you are a leader who sits alongside your team members, or a virtual leader, these two aspects of leadership form another Yin and Yang where we need to get the balance right. That’s not always a 50/50 split. Sometimes, business acumen will be more needed, and at other times personal acumen. But don’t let one overtake the other, such that you leave one unattended to.
