How to make the shift from tactician to strategic advisor

If your goal is to advise leaders and clients, become a CCO or agency head, mentor others and earn a higher salary, learn as much as you can about business and finance.

Resist the urge to say, “I’m not good at numbers.” This is a lot like learning a new sport. You start with a genuine desire, some dedicated time to practice, and a goal to keep improving. The payoff for building your business and financial competence? You’ll develop more result-oriented communications and increase your value to your organization and clients.

Not only that—you’ll have an even more successful career.

Here are three things to consider as you start to build your business/finance IQ.

1. Measure what matters.

In an article for IABC’s Communication World, Jim Shaffer noted that traditional communication functions measure things like tweets, channel usage and page views. He stressed, however: “If you want to get off the sidelines and influence what’s important, try measuring against business objectives.”

Shaffer, an IABC Fellow and author of the book, “The Leadership Solution,” is a widely recognized expert on communication measurement. His advice: Measure what matters and direct your communication activities to improving results and adding value.