In today’s economy, with the unemployment rate at nearly 10%, it is important to be a stand out professional. As an employee, consultant or business leader, you will stand out among the rest if you are strategically minded, have the ability to identify a root cause and bring a team together to problem solve root needs and meet the goals.

Being strategically minded means clearly understanding a company’s goals, department goals and the initiatives needed to meet those goals. It also requires the ability to not treat symptoms but the root cause or need that lies beneath the surface of these symptoms. When we treat the problem at this level, we are able to create a positive trickle effect in the most efficient and effective way. Of course none of this analysis would even matter if we weren’t able to get buy in from our team members who are going to implement the goals, the findings and the initiatives that need to happen. This requires a collaborative style of relating that gets people emotionally engaged and passionate about creating results. When looking at this description of a professional, how do you measure up?

In order to become a more professional consultant, here are 5 things you can do:

1) Before moving forward on a project, ask yourself what company goals does this project fit into to add value.

2) Do a root cause/need analysis (Create a mind map naming all the symptoms and then ask yourself what is the common missing piece that would solve these symptoms.)

3) Engage others in the process of naming the symptoms and agreeing on the missing piece or root cause/need; This will be a collaborative process that will get buy in.

4) Clearly chart out what needs to be done: action steps, who will do them, by what date and what is the expected standard.

5) Finally, set a follow up date to benchmark and hold people accountable to the progress.

Whether you are a professional leader of a company, professional consultant, or an employee who wants to be more professional, this 5 step process will help you to be more strategic and therefore create better results in your life. How are you doing in regards to these 5 areas?

In today's economy, companies are lean-sizing and employees seem to be running frantic to get their tasks done, anxiously trying to keep the business or job they have. This can lead us and our employees, to working harder, not necessarily smarter. In my new book release, P.A.U.S.E. Take Control of Your Life, I discuss the value of slowing down long enough to get clear. Clarity helps us to know what to do next. As a business person it is important to P.A.U.S.E. with our senior team to get clear about company goals; to P.A.U.S.E. with our department managers so they are clear on day-to-day opportunities to bring clarity to their team and show them how they can add value to these goals through focused projects and initiatives. Pausing long enough to get clear, so we can be smarter and more efficient in our choice of action, is the antithesis of busyness.

What are you doing to work smarter, not harder? Perhaps for you it begins with pausing long enough to ask yourself the question: "What do I really want to create in my life?" "What is my purpose/personal mission statement?" and "What are the goals and actionable steps to help me get there?" So many times we spend our days in a reactive mode, returning e-mails, phone calls and responding to the requests of others, instead of going deeper with ourselves to find out the answers to these questions.

When we P.A.U.S.E. and take a deeper look at the reasons behind our choices, we often see our fear of success or failure. The fear of success is our limited thinking and belief that if we were to attract the abundance we say we desire, we might not be able to handle it, wouldn't enjoy the responsibility, or would suffer potential consequences we imagine in our mind like losing friends who may envy our success or who cannot relate to it or us anymore.  We fear being lonely and overwhelmed at the top. The fear of failure makes us believe that even if we are clear about our purpose and our mission, we will never be able to obtain it because deep down we believe we are not enough: smart enough, energetic enough, young/old enough, educated enough, resourceful enough, etc. In order to work smart and not hard, we need to P.A.U.S.E. not only to get clear about what we want but to “clear-out” any self-sabotaging belief systems that are keeping us from being calm and confident enough to manifest our dreams.