• Do you know what your critical success factors are?
• If so, are your people better and faster than your competitors at delivering them?
• If not, how much do you need to invest in performance coaching to hone and perfect their skills and capabilities?

In my role as executive coach I stress that critical success factors are what set your business apart from others. They are not fixed in stone and evolve with the lifetime cycle of changes which every business undergoes. They require discipline and need to be practiced daily – in the truest sense of the adage ‘Use it or lose it’.

What are the critical success factors in your business?

1. Closing sales?
2. Spotting trends?
3. Your supply chain?
4. Your bespoke software?
5. Your cutting-edge innovation?

My inspiration for this post was sparked in an unusual location – the museum at Nelson’s Dock Yard in Antigua where I picked up some tips on the art of beating the competition during a Caribbean cruise stopover.

The key to British naval success in the 1700s was prominently displayed in one framed document “The orders of the day for a British Man of War” – Gun Drill.

The curator explained how at 10h00 daily, every British ship’s gun drill saw gun crews practicing in different circumstances and scenarios. The simple aim (excuse the pun), was to ensure that the guns would fire faster and more accurately than the enemy – anywhere, any time and under any conditions.

As the curator pointed out: “Anyone can navigate and sail a ship, but the one key core competency in the 1700s was to disable or destroy the enemy and the gun crews played a vital role in this”. Through practice and strict drills the British out fired the French and Spanish by up to 30 per cent, giving leaders such as Admiral Nelson a distinct competitive advantage to exploit.

Contact me on Twitter @richcardwhatif or through Richard Bosworth at LinkedIn to get your core competencies working for you. Act now to avoid losing sales and missing opportunities.