One of the things I have had to get accustomed to as a new business owner is....I am not surrounded by the supports I had in my previous role. I can honestly say that I did not take those supports for granted. I knew my weaknesses and came to rely on others to support me in those areas. I was sure to acknowledge their support often and in a genuine way. And I was able to poke a bit of fun at myself. We enjoyed the back and forth involved with making sure to "take care of Kelly".
My family will agree, my attention to detail can be problematic at times. Consider walking into an elevator that was broken and riding it down a couple floors, creaking and cracking the whole way. Or, missing a flight because I was so engrossed in a podcast that I let every other passenger leave the gate without noticing. Oh my.
My supports while with Strathcona County allowed for me to really concentrate on being that visionary big-picture thinker that was required in my role. I was confident that no small detail would be missed by those around me. They were very good at it. I have no doubt they still are and will continue to be.
Back to my current situation. I have found myself needing to improve in those attention to detail areas. I best be checking my calendar more often, doing some research on that next potential client, scheduling in travel time for meetings because no one will do that for me. What has been tremendously helpful has been thinking back to what others did for me in my previous position. Whether it was sending me timely emails, buying me small notepads or leaving strategically placed post-it notes I came to rely on these queues and have replicated them in my new world. You might find it interesting that just thinking of the people in these support roles triggered me to think of what they did that I would be missing. Person first, not function.
I guess the point here is to make sure to be aware of what is happening around you. Your successes are not an accident. Nor are they achieved in isolation. You have been influenced and supported by someone else. Everyone around you has added value to your current situation. You have learned something from them. You may not know when this learned experience will come in handy but believe me it will. Treasure it. Your future success will be impacted by how good you are at learning the value of others.