Business Development is a role; it is not a value judgment of you as an individual. One of the challenging psychological principles that individuals in Business Development have to accept is the separation of role-identity and self-identity. Individuals who equate role-identity with self-worth are significantly handicapped in the Business Development role. When you understand that Business Development has substantial, recurring and inherent risk, you quickly realize that individuals who equate role success with self-worth are by nature risk adverse and, therefore, struggle in this role.
The ability to accept your Business Development role with its inherent challenges, both personally and professionally, provides an opportunity for growth. Your success or failure in this role and your other roles in life does not make you worth any more or any less as an individual. First and foremost, self-worth is determined by what you believe your worth is. Reaffirming or re-establishing a healthy self-concept is critical for success in the role of Business Development.
All our roles in life have priorities which are different for each of us. As individuals, we all have inherent worth. Once we learn to accept ourselves, like ourselves and value ourselves as individuals, we do well in all of our roles. Role and self are two separate components of you as an individual; they are not one and the same.
Individuals who confuse role-identity with self-identity find it difficult to put themselves in the high risk situations that successful Business Development requires.
