Reassessing Professional Relevance for Extraordinary Times

Wondering how to spend your time when it comes to professional development?

You have an opportunity of reassessing your professional relevance during these extraordinary times. So, perhaps it’s time to pause. Consider how your own professional behavior and actions impact more than making your own numbers or fulfilling your own KPIs.

Because colleagues, employees and clients look to you for relevant and valuable guidance and direction. Regardless of your job title, pay grade, level of education, generation or professional discipline.

Yet, the guidance, relevance and value they seek is not epic. Rather, reassessing professional relevance is grounded by providing common-sense, simple directions. Or, reassurances as you reach out to people, even when there is nothing to sell or engineer or deliver.

By reassessing professional relevance, you communicate and collaborate differently.

As I spoke at meetings and conferences throughout February, my message always remains the same. Sometimes, in spite of your best efforts to hunker down in comfortable professional habits and mindset, scenarios present themselves. While you feel you have the luxury of two choices, stay put or move forward, in reality there only is one choice. Because, either way, these scenarios move all of us one millimeter forward: into the unknown, uncharted and uncomfortable. And there is no going back to the way things were.

Moving forward, I made changes, as the pace and cadence of how we do business is disrupted hourly. My keynotes, workshops and consulting programs now are offered virtually. 

Our lives are disrupted, there is no denying that. At this point, the majority of you (myself included) work from home. As a result, where feasible, your meetings become virtual rather than in-person. Initially, this shift in how you are comfortable communicating may make you professionally uncomfortable. Yet, as you overcome your own change-reluctance and adapt to changing times, you grow your professional skill sets.

Today, tomorrow and moving forward. Because we are always moving forward. Together. One millimeter at a time.

I recommend reassessing professional relevance at every opportunity you have to communicate and collaborate with others.

• Perhaps you bring relevance by setting up a once-a-day text-message check-in: for colleagues, team members, clients and, yes, family members. Either things are all-clear or someone needs help.
• Or become available to deliver daily virtual solutions and pop-up collaborative conversations. So, together, you maintain daily professional discipline and simple conversations.

I wish every one of you all the best, as we go through these extraordinary times. Together. One day, and one millimeter, at a time. I am only a one millimeter email away, if you have professional concerns or questions.

Thanks for visiting my blog. I’m glad you’re here. My One Millimeter Mindset™ Speaking Programs & Consulting leverage design-driven storytelling strategies to translate across communication disconnects between people and professional disciplines to build Trust. Together, we optimize the strategic business and human capital value of your people and your organization.

• Contact me here.Let’s storytell. Let’s get to where you need to go. Together. One millimeter at a time.
• I have some great tools in my book, Do YOU Mean Business? to help you discover the untold stories living somewhere in your organization.

Image source: Adobe Stock