What is business acumen anyway?

In the weeks since I started this blog the question of “what is business acumen” has come up numerous times and from some surprising sources. One such question even came from a person who has an MBA degree! This really made me see that I should take a step back and describe business acumen and how I am going to use it as the basis for this blog so here it goes…

If you “google” business acumen there are 1.7 million search results. Clearly we don’t have time for that! I found a definition at CEO Online that really fits the intent of this blog: “Organizational business acumen is maintaining focus on business opportunity by building the capacity and motivation of staff to meet clients’ needs and maximize investor return.” This description shifts the focus away from strictly a financial view to a wider perspective. Often business acumen is tied to financial issues but a business’s lasting success relies on more than just numbers. My goal is to explore the wider perspective to highlight how we can make the most out of our business lives and I will use the aforementioned definition as a roadmap to meet that goal.

Why should we strive for business acumen? There are many aspects to this answer and I will cover many of them in the weeks to come. Until then, here are some questions to ponder:

As leaders, how can we expect our employees to serve the needs of our clients if we do not attend to their needs first?

What if as a leader or a subordinate, you don’t meet your own needs? Is that really going to move the business forward?

Are you so entrenched in your processes that you can’t see clear enough to take advantage of opportunities that are passing by?

Do you dread telling your staff about an upcoming change, knowing that you will be faced by negativity and resistance?

How often do you communicate your ethical standards to those around you and do you trust them to uphold those ethical standards?

These questions just scrape the surface of business acumen. If you have a staff of one or one thousand it is incumbent on you to ensure that they have the motivation and tools needed for success. AND – it’s not just for leaders to pass down! As noted in the CEO online article: “Staff who can demonstrate their business acumen are more successful in developing their career.” By sharpening our business acumen, we can add value regardless of our professional level! If you are an hourly employee or a CEO, there are benefits to be gained by honing business skills.

Just as I followed the theme of “believing” for a few weeks, as I write this blog I will continue to choose themes to sharpen our awareness of business acumen. Hopefully these themes will help us to answer the questions above and many more. To get you started, please check out the article I quoted in this post. It’s titled Building Business Acumen that Adds Value written by John Cleary of Blue Chip Consulting Group and can be found at: http://www.ceoonline.com.au/expert_talk/marketing/competitive_advantage/pages/id30001.aspx
It includes more questions you should ask yourself in judging your own business acumen. Please post a response or send me any questions about this or other business topics you might have.

Let’s all find our successes together!