I remember seeing a car that had broken down in heavy traffic, on Times Square, in Manhattan.
The driver was frantically trying to restart it, whilst the man in the car behind kept sounding his horn.
The harder the driver tried to restart her car, the noisier the guy behind became. Suddenly, the driver of the broken down car got out, went up to the noisy guy behind and made a suggestion:
“Tell you what – How about you try getting my car started, whilst I sit in your car and make noise like a jerk for you?”
In a situation like the one above, people fall into 1 of 3 groups.
- Those who sound their horn and make things worse.
- Those who notice there’s a problem, but do nothing.
- Those who notice there’s a problem, then look for a way to help or contribute.
That first group is (thankfully ) fairly small.
The second group is by far the largest.
The third group is rare. This is also where the gold is.
The world loves and rewards problem solvers. The marketplace does too, which is why we always need to be focusing on contribution. More than this, we need to proactively increase our problem solving skills; because the bigger the problems we can solve, the greater the marketplace will value us.
Look at the products or services you provide as answers to the marketplaces problems. Now, what can you add to your current offering, which will allow you to be of even greater help?
What problem does your service or product solve for people? Me? I help small and medium sized businesses make more money and attract the kind of clients or customers they have always dreamed of working with.