7 Key Steps to a Successful Career and Business

In your business and in your life, intentional growth takes effort and focus.Sure, you may have a so-called business plan or even personal goals. You may even have them in writing. Moving from ideal to action, though, takes very specific attention to three areas of detail. Here's where some people get lost when they decide to skirt territory that may seem a bit touchy-feely. Don't be fooled.

Defining and addressing your Core Values , Core Essence, and Core Business is not for the faint of heart. Doing so and being consistent about it demands the very best you've got to offer. It takes grit and guts and, yes . . . heart.

To address these three areas, you need to first understand what they are and what they mean to you and to building work that you love, which is integral to who you are and the way you conduct not only your work but also your life.

Core Values: 

What do your clients expect from you? How do your employees fit into the grand scheme of your business? How do you implement a strategic plan? The answer to any of those questions rests on your core values. These values are the guiding principles that help you make decisions on a daily basis and define what you stand for as a company. They are the essential, enduring tenets on which you stand. You can spend a lot of time haggling over what they are, but that what really matters is that you have them and that you allow them to guide you. Walt Disney's core values, for example, were imagination and wholesomeness. It's easy to see how they continue to play out.

Core Essence:

What is it about you that remains consistent through fads and changes in public demand that determine where your product or service line is headed? Beneath it all, there is a thread of consistency. That consistency is your essence, steadfast and true. You may think of it as the combination of your core values and your purpose.

Core Business:

Quite simply, it's the thing that you do best. Your company may do a lot of things, but it probably does one thing better than all of the others. Coca Cola, for instance, makes all different kinds of soft drinks, but good old Coke is an undeniable classic and without it, the company would probably not survive.

Address the Questions: Getting to your essence is a simple concept, but you'll have to take an intentional path. Addressing these seven specific questions will make the journey quicker and more fun.

1) If you had to dump all of your products and services with the exception of the one that is most important to the sustainability of your business, which one would you keep and why?

In answering this question, don't confuse what is most important to you with what is simply a comfortable habit. Frequently, growth is uncomfortable for a time. Go with that feeling and you'll reward yourself later with tangible results.

This article is written by  Bea Fields, who is the President of Bea Fields Companies, Inc. and the Founder of Five Star Leader Coaching and Training, a leadership consulting firm currently serving over 800 clients world-wide.  This month, she will be hosting various free teleseminars on leadership.