Are you Gladys Knight-or one of the Pips? And, what does that mean to your business?

It occurred to me that there are people that are talented, presentable and a good leader. Not unlike Gladys Knight-a very talented lady and one of my personal favorites! Then, there are others that end up as a Pip.

I think God puts us in certain positions at different times in life. In other words, you may be an innate leader and circumstances occur and you can’t be that leader- that star, anymore-someone like Gladys. What do you do?

You may see great things for yourself, but no one else can see your capabilities. You can’t get a job as the leader. You are offered a job as an assistant, as a Pip. How bad is that?

You see I’ve learned life does not stand still. Things change, YOU change and the life you’re living in may change. Maybe you have to move and start  No one seems to notice your talent, your education, your background or your potential. You find yourself having to take more of any entry level, learning position.

I don’t think that there is anything wrong in that. Your ego may suffer. Still, I believe that good leaders should learn from the ground up. A college degree and your work background are all nice and fine, but they don’t improve 

profits/productivity of a business. I love to learn and so I don’t mind going back to the basics if it will help me learn or refine my skills.

(I don’t mean when you’ve been a team leader and then are asked to work UNDER your former subordinate. That is usually something that tends to anger and bore me. I also don’t tend to learn anything new since I have taught them all they know! So, this is NOT what I mean!)

There are people in many different endeavors and positions that can take that lower level job, apply themselves in learning all they can and those skills can later become fantastic leaders. Why this happens is they utilize their time and work efforts to notice those qualities the leader has that they may lack. There may be skills they already have that need to be improved.

As an assistant, you can also notice what does NOT work. I suggest that you should make note of this and promise yourself NOT to do them. Don’t become a clone of bad activities/bad attitudes/bad work habits! Decide that you can do it better.

As you take the time to learn, keep your eyes and ears open to other opportunities. After all, your goal is to improve yourself into a crazy good leader, isn’t it? Make contacts when and where you can since you never know who may help you get a better position.  If you stay positive,  work hard and are open to learning more-people will notice. One of them may enable you to get that job you’ve always wanted.

Now, I’m using terminology about having and getting a job. But, it absolutely applies to running a business. In this day and age, it is always good to keep your options open. Sometimes you cannot start your very own team or business, but you have to start under someone else. The same situation applies in that you can finess your situation into a better one.

Keep it real. Keep it honest.  If you’re like me and trying to learn anything by listening to a long video (over 10 minutes) that is presented in a dry manner-well, my mind wanders.  Now, if you also include notes or a transcript that I can read as I watch and listen. I’m okay.  When I’m ruling the world/business/whatever, I don’t plan to forget my own distracted mind and so I’ll try other ways to train people.  Same thing applies if the person over you does something that may not technically be against the law, but it is against reasonable persons’ sensibilities, I would file that away and attempt to never do it myself.

Do I think I won’t make mistakes? Absolutely. Do I have to keep learning once I’m a leader? Absolutely.  As I said earlier, life doesn’t stand still. If we stand still, we may get mowed down! Keep learning, keep moving and keep open to seeing other  ways to do things. Don’t fear mistakes, that will enable you to make changes and make things better in the long run.

Wow! This was longer than I intended, but valid nonetheless.

I hope you find something of value in this article. I would love to hear from you, so please leave comments.

Till next time,

Frances Wages

PS: if you are trying to start your own business, let’s get to know each other.  Here’s how you can contact me:

My email: fwagesbiz@gmail.com

Twitter:  @franceswages

Facebook personal page: https://www.facebook.com/frances.wages

Facebook fan/biz page:  https://www.facebook.com/workonlineandprosper