If you have any issues you would like to raise with Fiona Price, please send an email to fionaprice@aol.com Please note that neither Money Marketing nor Fiona Price can accept any liability for answers given to queries I don't know about you but perhaps because I have had my own business for most of my professional life, I have always been very focused on the tricky issue of growing something – myself, my business or both.
So it occurred to me early on that knowledge (the technical variety) probably only accounted for about half the “results”. Some of the rest is down to skills (tangible ones) such as organisational ability, time management, communication (verbal, non-verbal, etc), strategic planning and delegation. The rest is far less tangible and centred on how you handle yourself and the people around you.
Technical knowledge is the most available, of course. Skills-based training is around if you look but varies quite a lot while the subtle stuff is hardly even talked about, let alone taught. Yet, ironically, for me, this is the secret ingredient X which makes all the difference in terms of success and indeed happiness.
For instance, how do you pick yourself up off the floor when things go pear-shaped? Or better still, can you recognise when things are going wrong and do you know what to do to stop yourself? How do you resolve conflicts with colleagues? How do you deal with anger? How do you cope with the pressure from targets, promotions, mergers, relationships, not to mention the rest of your life?
Are you decisive? Can you spot a good opportunity when you see one? How good do you usually feel? Do you routinely blame others for things that happen to you? Do you feel grievances against others?
Would you like to improve aspects of your client relationships and be better able to handle difficult situations? Is the balance between work and play as you would like it? Do you believe you can deliver your goals and dreams?
We all deal with some of these issues every day – they are what make us human and they are the stuff behind our professional personae.
This new column is your chance to ask questions on all manner of things non-technical that affect your working life. I hope to surprise and even challenge you with some of the responses which will use a combination of my personal experience, business, and psychology training.
I will leave it to your imagination as to what you might ask – personal, professional, profound, sublime or just plain irritating are all fine. If it is means anything to you, it is OK with me. Email your questions (anonymously if you prefer) to fionaprice@aol.com.
And finally, here is are extract from Nelson Mandela's inaugural speech in 1992 for you to ponder. His words are better than mine in explaining the interest I have behind this column.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness, that most frighten us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
“Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child to God. You playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
“As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Everything we experience has the power to tell us something about who we really are, so dig deep, scratch off the surface of “what seems” and search out some “stuff” that will get us going.
I look forward to hearing from you soon. Don't be shy!
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