(Great questions lead to great answers; weak questions, weak ones.)

 

“Am I still relevant?”

Coaching Point: You’re probably really good at something. Perhaps you’ve been adding value in your area of expertise for quite some time. Does the world (known as: your market) want it? Is what you are good at still relevant?

This question was posed by a friend as we reviewed and discussed the past and current year. While mine has been good, his has been his most productive in years. “It’s not our age,” he pointed out, “it’s whether ‘they’ still want you or not. It’s about your relevance.”

What this question brings to mind for me is to make sure I’m gathering useful data and looking at it clearly.

— It’s easy to let a reduction in business be brushed off as seasonal or cyclical, but is it?

— It’s easy to look at some new types of customers/client/buyers as pleasant and unexpected expansions of your base and not notice that your traditional ones have quit buying.

— It’s easy to stick to your old formats of delivery and reject learning and converting to the ways your markets want to receive things now.

If any of this resonates with you, it might be a good time to get clear once again about the value you bring to the market by asking yourself, “Am I still relevant?”

 

Copyright 2013 Steve Straus. All rights reserved.