The Professional I Used To Be Is No Longer The One I Need To Be

When my daughters were young it seemed so easy to be a good parent. I had to make sure that I made them healthy meals, played hide and seek with them regularly and when they scraped their knees, I could kiss them to make it better.

Now they are in their teens and the skills that I need to be a good parent have totally changed. Most of the time they decide what they eat so I need to be coaching them on how to make good choices.

They are no longer interested in playing hide and seek with me so I am constantly looking for new ways to for us connect.

And when they are hurt, it is never as simple as when it was just a skinned knee.

Whether I wanted it to happen or not, my children have grown and changed. In so many ways for the better, but at times I really struggle with how to adapt and meet their changing needs.

In order to continue to be a good father to my daughters, no matter how successful at it I used to be, I need to continue to learn and adapt because they are changing and I need to change with them.

When it comes to the job of being a parent, pretty much all of the parents that I know recognize this reality and actively work to adapt, grow and change in their role.

This however, does not always occur in the professional world.

I recently did a tandem with a top performing sales rep. During our time together, I asked him what areas he was interested in getting coaching in. His response was that, being at the top of his game, there was really not much left for him be coached on. Maybe some computer skills?

It seems to typically come from experienced top performers, but I have heard this comment in different forms surprisingly often. People are doing exceptionally well at their job and don’t believe that there is much left for them to learn.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Try to think of a job that has not changed dramatically in terms of the skills and knowledge required over the last five years. Try to think of a customer who is not themself experiencing change and evolving accordingly.

You can be the best of the best today but the skills and expertise that got you there may well be outdated tomorrow.

Just like the job of parent, your customers and business reality are constantly changing. If you want to continue to meet the evolving needs of your customers, you had better be evolving with them.