How Effectively Are You Managing Yourself AS a Business?

I recently watched an interesting video of an interview with Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, in which he made the following statement, “Every person today is a business, so the question is…‘How are you handling it?’”

I couldn’t agree more. His statement strikes at the heart of what each of us do every day—juggle a variety of relationships and interactions. Undoubtedly, you see yourself doing business, but do you see yourself as a business—or a brand—within your respective field? And further, are you effectively managing your personal brand?

If you understand the need to manage yourself as a business, then you probably understand how crucial it is to develop sustainability by providing value to others. It comes down to the quality of your relationships, not the quantity of connections you’ve made. It’s not only about the follow-up but also the follow-through when it comes to finding, keeping, and satisfying those we deal with on a business level.

In the process of managing your personal business brand, you’ll find it’s not just “who you know,” but often, it’s what you know about others that helps you land a job, sell an idea, or seal a deal.

We can connect with more people than ever before, but our old methods of remembering important details are inefficient at best, ineffective at worst. Consider the discipline and competence successful professionals demonstrate. Too many people fail to apply that same discipline to the relationship-centric aspects of their personal business. And that disconnect is often the difference between success and failure.

The crux of the problem then is implementing the right tools to manage your relationships. Failing to do so is mismanagement of you as a business.

Bottom line? You have a choice:  stay the same or improve. What’s it gonna be?