Business acumen

(energetic music) - Business acumen starts with an understanding of the problem that your organization exists to solve. Who is it that you serve? And what value do you provide to them? All of the work that an organization does should tie back to achieving this purpose. And that's why it's important to keep strategy, tactics and operations fully aligned. - By understanding how your everyday actions impact the business and bottom line, you'll be able to build trust with stakeholders and truly make a difference in the organization. Business acumen is about seeing your work through the eyes of the leaders in the organization and from a business point of view. Aligning strategy to execution is what every executive wants their teams to do. - Spend at least two hours a month speaking with colleagues in other departments or other functions. Learn about what they do. Learn how their part of the organization contributes to broader performance. Do research on your public financial filings. Look at internal financial documents. If you can get copies of your strategic plan or any major documents that the leadership team is putting out, those will help you understand how the business is performing and how it's set up to be successful. It's that understanding that will enable you to contribute more to the organization than just your job description calls for. Matrix organizations give people exposure to functions and areas they might not ordinarily deal with in any depth. It's a great learning opportunity. In a traditional organization, someone might be responsible for product development, but only have a cursory knowledge of technology. In a matrix, that individual might be responsible for the product development and the technology used to create it. That type of learning builds business acumen quickly and effectively. - Business acumen plays an important role in structuring business data analytics. After all, data does not exist in a vacuum, and the context provided by your business clarifies and puts your analyses into perspective.