A wingman is a trusted person that helps you. It could be in business or your personal life. It doesn't matter. If someone considers you his/her wingman, you are someone that fulfills the top 5 characteristics:

1. Valuable (you think in terms of their success)
2. Accountable (you will deliver on your promise within the right time frame)
3. Non-Judgmental (you are willing to listen from their perspective)
4. Trustworthy (keeping things confidential)
5. Respectful (acknowledging their strengths and weaknesses. Filling in for their weaknesses while never exposing them to anyone).

You can be anyone's wingman. You are probably a wingman to your spouse, your coworkers, colleagues, friends, and/or boss. You just don't become elected or promoted to wingman. You have to earn it over a period of time. This means, you can't just wing it. It takes time and requires consistent quality activity to earn someone's trust. You can not just offer trust and have him or her automatically accept it. Once it is accepted (and you keep up quality activities) you will have opportunities provided to you forever.

Lt. Col. Rob "Waldo" Waldman (yourwingman.com) has five key activities to strengthen your wingman skills.

• PREPARE diligently for every mission.
• FACE challenges with courage.
• BUILD more trusting relationships.
• LEAD with integrity and compassion.
• MAXIMIZE potential both in business and life.

Are you a wingman to your business contacts? If you want to succeed in your profession and stay employed (or contracted), you had better be! In fact, the more business people that value you as a wingman, the chances for greater success.

One of my clients, John, previously worked for a contract firm that helped build pieces of Apollo 13. Correctly depicted in the movie by the same name was the fact that not only did the astronauts not land on the moon, but it almost took their lives. Every member of the crew came home alive. They knew it because of the work done by everyone. Yes, everyone! In the movie, Tom Hanks concluded by saying something like "I realize the thousands of people it took to get me into space and bring me home alive."

The crew made the effort to go to EVERYONE involved on the Apollo 13 project and shake each individual's hand, even the cleaning people. The crew knew that they were alive because of the work done by everyone on the Apollo 13 project. Each one was a wingman to the astronauts or a wingman to one of the astronauts wingman.

John was in Information Technology. In the big picture, he had a small part in the Apollo 13 project. Yet his work was valued by the survivors of Apollo 13. John would tell this story occasionally. He would express it to people that may not realize that they are valuable wingmen. The lesson John is teaching is that one must always act as a valuable wingman all the time. Although you may not realize at the time, your efforts may save the life of an individual, save a customer, save a project or product, save a career, or save the business.

It means that you must always prepare to be the best at what you do. It means being the best at becoming not only a good developer, architect, analyst, tester but to go the next step. Become a wingman to individual business people. In time of crisis, you do not want to be discovered as someone that is not a wingman.

Like the astronauts of Apollo 13, your business contacts need the support of IT. Whatever you do for the business, (whether or not your business partners realize it) you are important to the business. The business may not know it until a disaster occurs. That, my friend, is a wingman. You do what you do to help the business so they do not crash or have to deal with any other type of disaster. If disaster does strike, you will be the first called to help.

Now, are you a real business contact wingman or just doing your job? Let's go back to the characteristics of a wingman:

1. Valuable: What does the business deem valuable? How does the work you do relate to creating that value?
2. Accountable: Can the business individual count on you to deliver quality product on time? Do you deliver what they deem valuable?
3. Non-Judgmental: Do you do your best in what the business community wants even if it isn't the sexiest thing to be working on or in your area of responsibility?
4. Trustworthy: Can the business contact describe his or her vision and approach without you spreading the word before he or she is ready? Are you there to prevent mistakes or help correct them without spreading the word?
5. Respectful: Are you respectful of the business contact's challenges and work style? Do you alter your approach and workload to meet the contact's challenges?

Do you perform your job in terms of helping the business contact achieve his or her goals?

You can but you need to enact Lt. Col. Rob "Waldo" Waldman's (yourwingman.com) five key activities to strengthen your wingman skills.

• PREPARE: Be the best at what you do that helps deliver the value to the business person and community.
• FACE: Take each new business contact as an opportunity to do good. Do not let the uncomfortable feeling of talking with someone out of your rank, expertise, or circle of contacts stop you from facing the new opportunity. You will never truly know the opportunity that awaits you until you get to know the business contact.
• BUILD: Grow your network with more trusting relationships. Be trustworthy and a person of value to everyone you meet. Become a trusted advisor to the business community. Find your own wingman you can call upon when needed.
• LEAD: Stop being the follower! You are the best (or are working to be the best). You have the ability to learn what is of value to the business community. Find it and share it with others on your team. You will become a leader with integrity and compassion.
• MAXIMIZE: Know what you know and don't know. Know how good you are at each skill you want to have in your quiver. Use the best methods, approach, tools, or techniques to help others. Use your weaknesses as indicators to find opportunities to practice and become the best. Know how each skill will help each business individual in the business community reach his/her goals.

Be a valued wingman...one from whom the business will continue to elicit help at every opportunity.

SBDi speaks both Business and IT languages. Bring SBDi in to help communication between both organizations. Let us help you find the right flexible solution that will help business increase revenue.

Pat Ferdinandi, Chief Thought Translator