Attitude, ability, and knowledge are three attributes that can be a determining factor in how successful we are and maybe even how happy we are.
If you are or aspire to be a Trusted Advisor in your respective field, these attributes are key to your success.
Knowledge is your depth of information. Your knowledge is likely partially determined by your level of intelligence and how much education you have. You can expand your knowledge by reading, researching, course work, etc. Knowledge is not something you are going to change overnight, and it is a reflection of the choices you made in the past.
Your ability is what you are capable of doing. There is some overlap with knowledge, but I have known people who seem to have a lot of knowledge but don't appear to have the ability to do very much. Your ability defines what you are mentally and physically capable of doing.
Knowledge and ability are both essential attributes, and if you are a Trusted Advisor, you must excel in both of these areas.
But what about attitude?
"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference." - Winston S. Churchill
What type of attitude do you have? I would be rich if I could figure out how to ascertain someone's true attitude during the hiring process. It is the silver bullet to knowing if someone is going to be a stellar employee and have the soft skills to be a good Trusted Advisor.
The challenge with attitude is that it is hard to change through traditional training methods. Knowledge and ability can typically be impacted and improved with hard work and training.
In most businesses, but especially technology, we want people that will jump in and figure out a problem, even if they don't know anything about it. You may have the knowledge and ability to solve a problem, but if you don't have the right attitude, you may not have the desire or perseverance to resolve the problem. I have found that people with a good attitude aren't afraid to dive into the issue; in fact, they enjoy the "game" of trying to figure it out.
If you aspire to be a Trusted Advisor in your respective field, a positive attitude is going to have a big impact on your relationship with your Client. And building that relationship is how we gain the trust and respect of our Client. The ultimate goal of a Trusted Advisor.
The best thing about our attitude is that we get to choose it. It doesn't have anything to do with how smart we are, what school we went to or our social circle. There are many things in life that we don't get to choose, but we have complete control over our attitude. Each morning, when we wake up, we get to choose our attitude. So when you wake up tomorrow, think about your attitude, and you make the choice.
"Choose your attitude, leverage your ability, enhance your knowledge, and watch what can happen!" - Julie Lintner
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