Becoming Your Best: The Overlooked Way to Survive the Economic Downturn

In an economic downturn, one of the first budget items to land on the corporate chopping block is employee training. Too often, executives focused on survival believe that they must minimize expenses. They reason that training must not be a necessity -- after all, employees have been able to perform their jobs adequately without the training so far.

Many people carry this type of thinking over to their personal life. Shaken by the dramatic downturns in the stock, housing and job markets, they try to hold onto every dime they have, refusing to spend money on anything that isn’t directly connected to basic survival.

Money management gurus might applaud such thinking and drastic efforts. After all, trimming expenses is certainly a smart way to conserve resources -- and a logical move if you truly can’t afford the expenditures.

But classifying education as an expense is a short-sighted position that prevents you from achieving your potential -- and your organization from achieving true success. Training is not an expense. It's an investment -- into yourself, your success and your future.

By improving your skills, you'll be able to better perform your duties. By mastering new skills and information, you'll be capable of assuming additional responsibilities... or even position yourself for a promotion or new job. Depending on what you do, your company's investment into your training can produce a positive return in the form of greater productivity and efficiency, reduced expenses, increased revenue and profits, greater market share or dozens of other payoffs.

But skills training is not the only -- or even the best -- investment you can make.

Your ability to do your best at work -- regardless of whether you receive additional training -- hinges on your ability to do your best personally. In fact, if you're not able to consistently perform at your best personally, any investment into your professional development will have a limited effect.

For example, the salesperson who has a deep-rooted fear of rejection will still find excuses to avoid making cold calls, despite learning new cold-calling techniques. The manager who hates conflict and wants everyone to be friends will still find it hard to effectively discipline employees, despite leadership training. The customer service rep who carries a lot of anger from an unhappy childhood will still be combative with customers, despite learning how to handle difficult callers. The administrative assistant who was teased as a teen when expressing opinions will still be hesitant about sharing ideas to streamline office functions, despite training on improving efficiency.

Becoming your personal best starts with identifying and connecting with who you truly are. It requires healing the emotional wounds of your past, rooting out the false beliefs you use to limit your success, and identifying the fears that are keeping you from fully expressing yourself and living life to its fullest.

When you're being your best, you approach the world with trust and optimism rather than letting fear about potential negative consequences stop you from reaching for the stars. You're authentic about who you are, so that customers feel like they're working with people, not faceless companies that think of them as numbers. You easily and willingly connect with others, so your coworkers, customers and vendors enjoy working with you as part of a team -- and so you can help them bring out their best.

Just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, a team is only as strong as its weakest member. Employees who can't or won't perform at their personal best weaken their departments -- and can endanger your company's very survival. The sharper your employees are, the better your company will perform. The sharper you are, the better you'll perform on the job -- and the better positioned you'll be for professional success.

Now more than ever, "survival of the fittest" is the rule of the corporate jungle. One of the best ways to boost your -- and your company's success -- is to invest in people. If you're a manager, help your employees develop their skills and expertise. If you want to be at your best professionally -- whether you're motivated to grow your own business, you want to move up the corporate ladder or you want to protect your job -- the best thing you can do during a recession is to strive to be your personal best.