Much is written about knowledge being power and that is still true. Yet, if individuals and businesses in today's knowledge driven economy truly wish to be successful a shift is required to being able to apply knowledge.

One of the most frequent challenges that I hear from potential and current clients whether they are small business owners or multi-billion dollar corporations is implementation or the inability to take action. These individuals have a tremendous wealth of knowledge, yet their efforts are brought to a screeching halt because of the inability to implement or to apply knowledge.

The question then arises how do you bridge this challenge. From my experiences this answer is two-fold. First, individuals need to change their belief systems that knowledge is power to applied knowledge is power. This is not easy because of the F.E.A.R. (false evidence appearing real) of failure. No one likes to fail. . However, to improve our performance (the application of knowledge) requires us to learn from our past mistakes and to move forward. John Maxwell provides great insight into overcoming the fear of failure in his book entitled "Failing Forward."

Secondly, a process needs to exist to ensure that the knowledge is applied. From my perspective, I recommend goal planning and goal achievement through a proven tool. This tool, a goal sheet, takes the knowledge and provides both a structure and a process to implement or to take action. Many individuals have a long list of dreams and goals, but far fewer consistently achieve their hopes and desires.

With the end of the year coming to an end, possibly now is the time to assess if you need to shift your paradigm to one where applied knowledge has greater power. If you haven't achieved your goals or dreams from taking that cruise to increasing sales by 50%, then ask yourself is this because of a lack of knowledge or because of the inability to apply knowledge?

Copyright 2005(c) Leanne Hoagland-Smith, www.processspecialist.com

This article may be freely published. Permission to publish this article, electronically or in print, as long as the bylines are included, with a live link, and the article is not changed in any way (grammatical corrections accepted).

Leanne Hoagland-Smith

Good Day. Thanks for visiting. I hope that you have enjoyed my articles. In 1999, I founded ADVANCED SYSTEMS because I saw that performance could and should be doubled in warp time. Individuals, small and large businesses could not afford expensive solutions that may or may not deliver improved results in 12 months.

From my corporate, small business and education experiences, I recognized the individuals must have opportunities for connecting their passion to their purpose to secure the desired performance results, but many lacked the necessary skills, strategies and tools.

With over 20 years in sales management and 10 years in education, I understand how to unite productivity with profitability by developing a proactive working culture. My previous experiences resulted in cost savings through one of the first implementations of a computer software in a wholesaler distributor to the creation of a vendor performance assessment.

Since facilitating over 500 sessions, developing and editing over 25 training programs and writing numerous articles focusing on performance improvement, I bring a results focused approach to my clients. Also, I am proud to be one of the first five nationally certified facilitators of America’s Rising Stars (a Student Leadership developmental curriculum).

My passion is to help others connect their passion to their purpose to double performance. As The small business coach in Chicago, my clients have easily doubled their performance. Since our greatest resource is our young people, I am now working with large urban schools to generate the same results.

Education Background

• Graduated with honors from Purdue University with a B.A. in Education
• Earned M.S. from Purdue University in Instructional Design and Curriculum
• Published in the national trade journal, The Supply House Times, and numerous national newsletters
• Developed seminars and training on diversity, communication, leadership, sales, effective trade show behavior, networking, knowledge management, goal setting and improved educational outcomes
• Co-authored M.A.G.I.C.A.L. Potential: 7 Capicities for Living an Amazing Life Beyond Purpose to Achievement, to be available in 2006
• Working a another book focusing on performance in public education
• Speaker in a national bureau - Resource Associates Corporation