Everyone is born with a talent unique to them! However, too few develop that talent to its fullest potential. Simply because they never grasp the concept, “Your talent is your authority.”
Consequently, by not developing their special talent, they pass their allotted time on earth NOT becoming who they were born to be.
Moreover, they never become an authority in a particular field, by developing and utilizing their unique gifting to the max. The unknown author of the book of Hebrews exclaimed, “By now, you ought to be teachers!”
Martin Luther King Jr. said it this way: “Not everybody can be famous, but everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service.”
Notice Dr. King added, “ … by service.” As a person works to maximize their talents, they gain further knowledge in service to others. Serving others and sharing those special talents — gifts from God — keeps the mind engaged and skills sharp.
Natural-Born Talents Also Need Improvement
In college football, you often see highly gifted athletes who are sensations at their positions. However, when drafted into the world of professional athletes, i.e. NFL, they may appear NOT so gifted.
The truth is, some college athletes have so much natural born talent they don’t have to work as hard as others to rise to the top. However, when competing with professional athletes with similar talents they soon realize they MUST work more diligently to develop their talent, or lose their job.
Business owners should apply this same analogy to their business.
Why Become an Authority in Business?
Most small business owners who start up or acquire an existing business do so, because they plan to use their special talent in the new business. For example: skills as a salesperson, a technician, or in management.
However, as a new business owner, many soon realize they must step up their game. Like the non-professional college athlete mentioned above, they are now competing with other business professionals with similar and/or more developed skills. Therefore, they must work harder and smarter to compete and grow their business.
The good news is, as owners work ON their business, for continual improvement, over time the work can become easier. In fact, it can become fun!
Otherwise, if they don’t work to download the vast information for how their business operates, they will only grow to a certain level. Not to mention, the work becomes harder.
Taking this into account, downloading their knowledge for how their business operates into written form, owners will discover the holes/gaps in their Standard Operation Procedures (SOP’s).
By fixing those gaps, one system at a time, their business will run more smoothly. More excitingly, by giving employees access to their knowledge, gained though experience, owners are serving, and at the same time becoming an authority.
Moreover, owners discover they have more time to continue developing their own special talents, while encouraging others to develop theirs.
How Do We Know?
As it happened, by utilizing the continual improvement method in our own business, we became an authority in business systemization. In fact, it launched a new career, not to mention a new business that now serves businesses around the world.
Did I mention? Great system work!
Philip Beyer, founder/president of Ebiz Products LLC and founder of Beyer Printing Inc. in Nashville Tenn., is a chronic entrepreneur, business systems analyst and consultant. Author of "System Busters: How to Stop Them in Your Business" and recipient of an InterTech Technology Award for the design and development of System100 business process management software. Beyer speaks to business owners across the country on how to bring lean, sustainable order to their businesses. Contact him at (615) 425-2652.