Welcome to the Tero February eZine

Do you have an "edge" when it comes to achieving outcomes or promoting your capabilities? We often refer to successful individuals or businesses as having an "edge". Yet what does it really mean?

According to authors Alan Lewis and Dan McKone in their book Edge Strategy: A New Mindset for Profitable Growth, 1930’s ecologists discovered what they called the "edge" effect. The ecologists found quail, grouse and game birds were more prevalent in areas of transition from one agricultural landscape to another than in single habitats. Why? These environments clearly contained more vegetation and greater diversity, which led to greater survival and abundance of species. The idea was furthered in the 1950s and "edge" environments were labeled "ecotones", which is defined as the space between two or more diverse communities. The sweet spot between one landscape and another, rich with what each has to offer, a combination of the best of two worlds.

So what do ecotones or edge effects have to do with you, or the business you are in?

We all possess "edge" opportunities.

When setting out to achieve more, businesses usually focus too much on themselves, and ask questions such as "what are we best at?" Yet the "edge opportunity" is not solely focused on the business itself. What are the environments or people the business borders up to? Therein lays the sweet spot and potential for more. It could be the customer, or the shareholders, or the marketplace. To find the "edge", a business needs to ask what do they need, what solutions can we provide them and what assets do we have they may value and why? Rather than what are we best at?

In the case of you personally, your "edge" opportunity may be the shared spot between you and your team member, manager or employer. For example, to find your edge in a salary negotiation, rather than focusing on what you feel you're best at or deserve, you would be wise to ask: What does my employer need? What solutions do I bring to the table? What assets do I have that are of value? This way you are promoting your individual assets in a way that promotes shared value.

This month's eZine provides resources to use to not only determine your edge opportunities, but figure out what might be getting in your way of accessing them. The Q and A explores the "edge" in negotiating and also in working cross-culturally. The article addresses the inequalities in gender compensation. Identifying inequality can help us figure out the "edge" we need to focus on in negotiating. The development activity bridges the gap between the personal you and the professional you in how you prepare for your day, and the inspiration is not to be missed.

No man is an island. Luckily so. We all have "edge" opportunities and can develop an "edge" mindset. Like estuary waters that combine the beauties of salt with fresh, our edge opportunities are rich. What they contain and represent to us make for far more desirable waters in which to succeed.