{"id":98,"date":"2020-01-09T18:11:28","date_gmt":"2020-01-09T18:11:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/enlightblog.com\/?p=98"},"modified":"2020-05-12T12:44:46","modified_gmt":"2020-05-12T12:44:46","slug":"2-resolutions-that-will-make-you-smarter-and-more-successful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/09\/2-resolutions-that-will-make-you-smarter-and-more-successful\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Resolutions That Will Make You Smarter&#8230; And More Successful"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/depositphotos_161351868_xl-2015-e1547002215713.jpg\" alt=\"Multicultural business people discussing work\" width=\"450\" height=\"264\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a new year, and time to make resolutions for changing your ways in 2019 to achieve both personal and professional goals. \u00a0Whether you&#8217;re a CEO, a member of the C-suite, a mid-level manager, or an individual contributor, two simple New Year&#8217;s resolutions will make 2019 a business game changer.<\/p>\n<h2>Resolution 1: Understand Your Customers Like An Outsider<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Every week, set aside your corporate interests (increasing sales, raising prices, etc.) and become an outsider. \u00a0Take time to listen to and observe customers. Engage &#8211; really engage &#8211; with them about their business and priorities. \u00a0Use fresh eyes to understand how customers define success and what they value most.<\/li>\n<li>Gain a clear understanding of how your product or service contributes to their success. \u00a0Listen when you get feedback about your product or service. Probe to understand your product from their perspective. \u00a0Don&#8217;t make excuses or explain yourself; simply accept the client\u2019s point of view. Understanding and embracing their feedback doesn\u2019t commit you to act on it unless it makes sense for your business.<\/li>\n<li>Imagine ways you could better contribute to their success and explore those opportunities with customers over time. \u00a0Demonstrate that you are invested in their success. When they feel you understand their business and support their success, they\u2019ll become vested in your success. \u00a0This new relationship will uncover new ways to better serve their needs and drive profitable growth for your business.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For an example of how understanding your customers like an outsider can drive value for your business, <a href=\"https:\/\/mastersofscale.com\/julia-hartz-let-your-customers-be-your-scouts\">check out this podcast by Reid Hoffman<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Resolution 2: Understand Your Employees Like An Insider<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Take time each week to better understand employees. \u00a0Become an insider by getting to know what it&#8217;s like to work in your company. \u00a0What is the best part of the work? What are the biggest obstacles? What would make it a better place? \u00a0Listen to employees, learn from them, and involve them in problem-solving when possible.<\/li>\n<li>Treat employees as individuals. \u00a0Get to know their ambitions &#8211; at work and in life &#8211; and explore ways to help them be successful. \u00a0Supporting employees\u2019 goals often creates a win for them and a win for the business.<\/li>\n<li>Help employees gain knowledge of the business, the company\u2019s goals, and their role in corporate success. Explain difficult decisions and tradeoffs made by leadership. \u00a0Engaging with them as openly and honestly as possible demonstrates they are valued members of the team and provides you rich insight into attracting and retaining the best talent possible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you feel out of practice when it comes to active listening, <a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2016\/07\/what-great-listeners-actually-do\">Harvard Business Review has some useful tips<\/a> that apply regardless of your role in the organization.<\/p>\n<p>By understanding your customers like an outsider and your employees like an insider, you\u2019ll be well-positioned to make 2019 a game-changer for you and your business. \u00a0\u00a0As the year goes on, you\u2019ll be amazed by the insight you collect and the authentic relationships you build. Both will bear fruit in 2019 and for many years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s a new year, and time to make resolutions for changing your ways in 2019 to achieve both personal and professional goals. \u00a0Whether you&#8217;re a CEO, a member of the C-suite, a mid-level manager, or an individual contributor, two simple New Year&#8217;s resolutions will make 2019 a business game changer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9,11,22,31],"class_list":["post-98","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-competitive-advantage","tag-customer-insight","tag-long-term-value","tag-strategy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":304,"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98\/revisions\/304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enlightadvisors.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}