Scott Charlton | Business coach, author, consultant

Business Coach | Author | Consultant
61 (0) 409 870 330

Publications

Partnering with Accountants
Your definitive guide to the ultimate referral destination

Partnering with Financial Planners
A guide to growth for accounting firms

Your Professional Headspace
Achieving career success and personal fulfilment as a professional in practice.

Follow ScottCharlton1 on Twitter

Friday, April 17, 2015

Befriending the Dragon

Picture the following scenarios in your busy day.

You have squeezed in an important client who has some urgent matters requiring attention. What needs to be done, whilst clear in your head, needs to be converted into a set of instructions quickly as the next client is moments away.
Happy days! Your social media activity has generated an incredible opportunity - a journalist from the Financial Review has sent you six questions in relation to an article she is filing today. Answers within the next hour please.
A new client (an engineer!) is looking for more detail regarding the advice you provided yesterday. However it’s 5 PM and you are due home by 6.15 to collect the family before going on to a school performance.

Or think about any number of situations where time is at a premium and your fingers just can’t go quick enough.

No matter how fast you can type, I guarantee you can speak many times faster.

Time to embrace technology and dictate!

Regardless of whether it’s inputting into Word, email or your CRM the best kept secret is that you can talk directly into your computer, with your words instantly appearing on the screen in front of you.

There is no particular skill involved and the accuracy is excellent, meaning you can power through the work. All this with inexpensive software which has been performing for years.

To get with the program, check out Dragon Dictate at www. http://australia.nuance.com/dragon.

Disclosure: Since 2006, the author’s extensive use of Dragon Dictate has assisted with the completion of an MBA, three books and more file notes than he cares to contemplate.

Custom Post Images

1. The most value that gets added to a professional services firm is when the owner is “In the Zone”. What a shame so little time is invested there.

2. The more days you as a major revenue earner of the firm invest with clients the more revenue the firm will earn.

3. You can't be in the sweet spot by trying to be all things to all comers. Focus on work you enjoy and are good at.

4. Don't try to be something you're not. For example, if keeping up to date with the latest tax changes is crushingly onerous or incredibly tedious then don’t masquerade as a taxation specialist.

5. Get real – do you have genuine management talent or would you be happier and more productive working with clients?

6. Let go. Jot down six tasks/professional responsibilities that you don’t enjoy. Come up with a plan to minimise your involvement with these areas and yet still get the job done. Better yet, find ways to engineer these out of your life. Do this today and repeat at regular intervals.

7. Specialise. Find a service niche which enables you to work more and more in areas that fascinate you. Aim to be the best in the world in this niche. Seek out other experts in this field. Subscribe and contribute to relevant publications focusing on this area.

8. Be passionate. It’s great to be really enthused about a subject. For some, this has proved to be a lifelong cause. Your passion will attract others and sustain you.

9. Articulate. Tell others about your talent. There are lots of great ways to do this - presentations, websites, blogs, articles, newsletters, e-mail, personal referral, business networks etc.

10. Look for opportunities to utilise your skills. Interestingly, the more you focus on developing your professional interests, the more opportunities open up to you in these areas.

11. Delegate, delegate, delegate. Work with others who have complementary talents to your own. This will enable you to focus on what you are good at.

12. Become more effective. Find ways to get more done in less time. The more you can achieve whilst you are "in the zone", the more discretionary time you will have.

13. People who are physically fit create a much better first impression. Prospects become clients, candidates become team members and audiences pay more attention when you exude the Zing! which comes from feeling terrific.

14. Periodically review your career, present role and current level of satisfaction. Are you on track or is action required?

15. Rarely are there winners in deteriorating partnership dissolutions. Cut the best deal possible under the circumstances quickly, gather up every bit of positive energy you can muster and move on.

16. It’s hard to be in the right professional headspace if your personal financial affairs are in a mess.

17. No one else has your unique combination of core purpose, skills and experiences. No one else is responsible for what you to choose to do with these. No one else is putting limitations on what you can achieve.

18. It's easier to maintain your current level of fitness than to regain it after a period of inactivity. Aim to do something active every day.

Email Link

Admin
©Scott Charlton 2014

PO Box 6020 | Fairfield Gardens QLD 4103