Leverage: Doing more with less

“Leverage” is a popular vocabulary word in the corporate world. Why is this? Because it is strategic and allows a single person to utilize all the resources around him or her most effectively and efficiently in order to have a positive impact on the bottom line.

What we leverage:

  • People or human resources – people are resources that can accomplish tasks or provide information that has already been gathered (research)
  • Research – from a known source or reporter such as Forrester or Gartner. Research could be gathered through various websites online, but they aren’t all “trusted” so be warned.
  • Capital – money doesn’t buy happiness, but it can be “leveraged” to create value for the customer or client
  • Ideas – derived from people and can be “leveraged” to create a successful strategy
  • Assets – aside from monetary means, assets could be classified as a location such as a house (place of ownership)

The bottom line is shaped and twisted from leveraging your surroundings. Those that can properly leverage their resources to accomplish tasks, will excel at a faster pace. It should be your goal to gather and increase the items listed above, in order to expedite the learning curve or advance in a given project.

Picture of Dan Schawbel

Dan Schawbel

Dan Schawbel is the Managing Partner of Millennial Branding, a Gen Y research and consulting firm. He is the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Promote Yourself: The New Rules For Career Success (St. Martin’s Press) and the #1 international bestselling book, Me 2.0: 4 Steps to Building Your Future (Kaplan Publishing), which combined have been translated into 15 languages.

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