Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2020 - 39

Everyone's talking about the future of
business, and conversations continually
center around transformation and
change. It may go without saying
that talent management has never
been more important. Leaders across
business functions will benefit greatly
from solid guidance on a popular term
with many definitions: business acumen.
The cultivation of business acumen
contributes to the creation of future-ready
companies - companies that can operate
in an increasingly competitive market.

WHAT IS BUSINESS
ACUMEN?
If you ask 20 people to define business
acumen, you'll likely get 20 different
responses. It's a term most business
professionals feel confident in their
interpretations of. However, to minimize
any further variability, let's start with
a definition:
"Business acumen is a portfolio of
skills, behaviors and capabilities

needed to support an organization in
the achievement of its financial and
strategic goals."
Consider business acumen a skill set
that is cultivated as in the trade-craft
tradition. This is an important way to
think about business acumen, because
everyone comes into an organization
with varied functional experiences and
paradigms. Employees, regardless of
function, need to understand the big
picture of the business and how various
dimensions of the business operate in
collaboration with one another. They
also must be able to consider a host of
business dimensions as they collaborate.
With this, I strongly advocate that
leaders take a more active role in the
cultivation of business acumen across
the enterprise.
Even in companies where functional
leaders carry out routine development
of employees, it's often not to
improve business acumen. Leadership
development programs add value
by helping people across functions

be better in leadership. However,
based on research for my book, "The
Business Acumen Handbook," these
development efforts are not instilling
the business of business in the minds
of employees who have an opportunity
to help the organization achieve its
goals. That responsibility often falls on
high-potential employees and those in
leadership training. A more granular
approach is needed. There's the "what"
to develop, and then there's "how" to
develop it. Let's talk about the "what"
first, using a visual model called, "The
Business Acumen Canvas."

THE BUSINESS
ACUMEN CANVAS
The Business Acumen Canvas was
created to highlight three dimensions of
business acumen shown in Figure 1:
1. External orientation
2. Mindset
3. Capability

FIGURE 1. THE BUSINESS ACUMEN CANVAS
EXTERNAL
VALUE PROPOSITION

MARKET SEGMENTS

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

REVENUE MODEL

MINDSET
THINKING
STRATEGICALLY

BUILDING INTERNAL
RELATIONSHIPS

CULTIVATING EXTERNAL
RELATIONSHIPS

CAPABILITY
UTILIZING TEAMS
AND INFLUENCING
PEOPLE

USING PROCESSES
USED TO GET
WORK DONE

MANAGING PROJECTS
TARGETED AT
GOAL ATTAINMENT

UNDERSTANDING
THE PRODUCTS
SOLD BY THE FIRM

UNDERSTANDING
FINANCE AND
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

FORMULATING
GOALS AND
STRATEGIES

ANALYZING DATA
TO SOLVE
PROBLEMS AND
MAKE DECISIONS

ASSESSING
BUSINESS
PERFORMANCE

BEING OUTCOME
DRIVEN
DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS

TAKING
ACTION

ASSUMING
RESPONSIBILITY

GLOBAL PRESENCE

EARNING
CREDIBILITY

INDUSTRY/SECTOR TRENDS

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MAGAZ INE - BUILDING A GREAT TRAI NI NG ORGANI ZAT I ON I WWW. T RAININGINDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE

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Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2020

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