Photo and blog by Sharman Dow
Engagement is a Guarantee
To be engaged in business is to bind yourself to the job at hand. It’s being committed. When you are engaged, you are bound to that project. Your talent and resources are utilized to their fullest extent. You have obligated your time to participate.
Being Engaged Takes Dedication
It relies on how deep your devotion is to your job. Are you connected to your job emotionally? Do you ask questions to gain a better understanding of what you are doing? If you are a manager, are you effectively communicating the project to your staff? It works both ways — for manager and employee. It sometimes takes a team effort to become engaged, but ultimately it is your responsibility.
Whatever way you look at it, communication is a key to successful engagement. Just watching any football game will show you how important an exchange of words and thought become. If each player on the team did not learn and memorize each play, then chaos would be displayed on the field. The quarterback calls out the play, and the team follows his instructions. Each play is rehearsed over and over again until game day, when it is performed. The goal (no pun intended) is to have each player engaged in the process to carry out his job. Whether the player is a wide receiver or tight end, they each have their job to perform. Their engagement is essential to the process. They must be committed to win.
If the quarterback is not engaged, then the team has a real problem. I remember going to the Super Bowl one year and watching the pre-game warm-up. I know this sounds funny, but I actually knew my team was going to lose the game by watching the quarterback. I could tell from his movements and gestures he was not engaged. I had perceived in his pre-game movements he was too distracted. My assumption turned out to be correct, as there were so many missed throws and balls caught. It was a sad day for us to have our team lose the Super Bowl, but it was a great lesson in business for me to see displayed.
For whatever reason, the quarterback was not engaged. We all know there are events and circumstances that many times will prevent us from being engaged in our careers. Something happened at home with your children, your identity was stolen, or your car was rear-ended. It happens to everyone, but the successful woman adjusts her thinking and gets back on track. She stays engaged to the job at hand.
When I started my own insurance agency, I was fully engaged. I did not allow distractions to dissuade me from my purpose. I was not going to fail. Failure was not an option. I was determined in my thoughts and actions to be fully engaged in becoming successful. At great sacrifice I gave up a lot of personal time for my business success, and it paid off.
There are other ways to be engaged in your business, too. Are you taking an interest in your company overall? Do you get excited at others’ accomplishments? Do you know your company’s mission statement or vision plan?
Being Engaged is Being Aware
I had learned this hard lesson very early in my career when I worked for a small company. It had been a while since I had received a raise. I rehearsed my words to sell myself to the owner of the company as to why he needed to give me a raise. It was a small company, and I reported directly to him. Because I was not engaged with the overall perspective of the company I asked for a raise the very same day he had lost a big account. Yikes!! Did you hear that? Talk about bad timing. My timing was off, because I was not engaged. I was only concerned about my well being and gave no thought to my company’s. We create our own barriers to success when we are not engaged.
Sharman Dow is the founder of the Empower Women’s Conference, coming October 22nd to Orange County. Register today!
