Business Acumen

Ways to Develop Business Acumen

Reading business publications and watching specific business channels can provide current information about business trends, markets, or economic factors affecting various businesses and industries. Some of these include: The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, the Harvard Business Review, and CNN.
Joining professional networking organizations and associations dedicated to sharing business information with their members can offer networking events, conferences, and seminars.
Attending evening or weekend courses focusing on business topics can build one’s knowledge on matters such as understanding financial statements and P&L (Profit & Loss), cash generation, or revenue growth.
Finding a mentor with a strong business understanding is a great way to learn how businesses operate. The mentor can be a co-worker, a former boss, or someone who is a member of the same professional association.
Participating in task forces or committees responsible for developing the business can offer opportunities to work on challenging and exciting initiatives, such as improving quality, generating higher revenues, reducing costs, or process re-engineering.
Last but not least, finding an accountability partner can be extremely beneficial. He or she will not only provide support, but will also help track progress and keep the individual focused on their learning goals.
Although business acumen can certainly be developed by doing some or all of the things above, one of the best ways to learn is through hands-on experience with various business scenarios and challenges.

Opportunities to Develop Business Acumen
The following are just a few examples of scenarios that can help develop one's business understanding through the challenges they provide and the dialogues they encourage:

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