I am a company

(http://www NULL.flickr NULL.com/photos/51035574447 null@null N01/2232738955/)Over at Life Optimizer, Donald Latumahina writes a great article on “How to Make Yourself Your Own Company (http://www NULL.lifeoptimizer NULL.org/2008/02/27/how-to-make-yourself-your-own-company/).”

It’s a great perspective. Most of us have, perhaps, thought of ourselves as “consultants” or “independent contractors” with our work, but I think that putting a “company” label on it offers up some good advantages:

1. A company has a mission more than a consultant. A successful company drives activities to the mission and is more proactive than a passive consultant.
2. A company has measures. Success or failure, there are measurements in place to evaluate progress against goals so that activities can change to meet goals.
3. A company has finances. An individual may not have “profit and loss,” but financial measures bring a new dimension to our work.
4. A company has projects. As individuals, we often don’t think of ourselves as having projects, only tasks. But companies have initiatives for the longer term.
5. A company reviews performance regularly. Top to bottom, how the company performs is reviewed — just like our work should be reviewed.

Check out the ten ways Donald provides for helping to see yourself as a company. It’s a good read.

Scot

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