Your MVP’s

I recorded a webinar with Laurie Currell last week on the topic of Business Development. It was about how to create a culture of Business Development throughout your firm, and we got a fantastic question from a participant who has a person on her team who wants to participate in business development. Her question was: “I can’t see him successfully doing what I want him to do, so how should I deal with that?” Well, my answer in the webinar was pretty good, I think. I wanted to elaborate on it here because I have a little bit more time. So in the webinar, we talked about three things that need to be true for the people who participate in your business development process. The first thing is they need to know what you want them to do. The second thing is they need to want to do what you want them to do. And the third thing is they need to be good at what you want them to do. The way I see it, when somebody wants to do what you want them to do, they’re already two-thirds of the way there, and all you have to do after that is build their skills. Now, her question had to do with having a good sense of what this person’s strengths and weaknesses were. We do agree with the essence of her concern; not everybody can instantly get good at everything you want them to do. But it is incredibly valuable to have somebody who has what you want them to do on their radar and wants to do it. At that point, what you want to do is sit down with them, break down what you want them to do into simple concepts, and then talk through those concepts. The basic principles are the first thing for them to understand. Once they get the basic principles, they need to experience success. So after you put the principles in their head, maybe get out there and practice with them, mentor them, talk with them about the details of what they experience, coach them. Skill building isn’t just about putting information into people’s heads; it’s also giving them an experience of success applying those concepts, those ideas, and those principles. Consider this possibility: consider your most valuable team members as the ones who know what you want them to do and want to do it as well. And all you have to do after that is build their skills so that they can do what you want them to do well.