Just because we are out of school doesn’t mean we should be done learning. And one of the best ways to develop yourself and to stay ahead of the competition is to read books that will improve your personal as well as your private life. The Slight Edge is definitely one of the top 10 books for tourism professionals.
I first heard about it as a book suggestion for the online business coaching group I belong to. ( Yes, even coaches need coaches!) I borrowed an e-book version from my library because I didn’t want to invest money if it didn’t seem worthwhile. But 3 chapters into this book I knew I wanted it for my personal library and I ordered it. (Here is the Amazon link). I have since sent a copy to my daughter who is a millennial navigating the work world. She too has been an enthusiastic reader and calls me at night to talk about the ideas behind it.
The Slight Edge Principles
The slight edge doesn’t contain any magic formulas or impossible ideas to implement. As is often repeated throughout the book, the small actions you should take for success are very easy to do; but also very easy to not do. It is only over time that your good habits, mindset, and ways of working will show their true worth. And what I like about this book is that it is easy to see how the Slight Edge can help you at work and at home.
The Slight Edge for Tourism Professionals
The Slight Edge is all about incremental changes done on a regular basis and how they contribute to our success or our failure. At a tourist attraction, there are daily examples of how that works. Are the people who answer your phone trained in customer service? Do they have opportunities to learn how to keep those skills fresh? One call that has great customer service will not make you an overnight success. One customer who receives a terrible customer experience will not put you out of business. But those small elements, which will take place daily will eventually lead you to success or failure.
How about the operations and physical facility where you work? Clean bathrooms or messy bathrooms won’t make a big difference on a given day. But over time, your guests and your staff will have expectations. If your goal is clean facilities and you reinforce that with your staff on a regular basis (and they see you picking up trash or filling a paper towel dispenser) you will be giving your facility a slight edge. Guests will start commenting on TripAdvisor and Yelp that your facility is clean and that gives guests a good feeling about your attraction.
The Slight Edge in action in your personal life
Our habits at home can make our life better or more challenging. And while I am not a life coach, I do believe that following Slight Edge principles at home can make you healthier and happier. The slight edge habits are easy to do- and easy not to do. Since I have read this book, I have started doing 20 pushups and 25 situps a day. It takes a minute. And it would be easy to not do that, especially when I am traveling. But I know that if I keep this up every day, I will be stronger and will be able to do 50 of each in no time. I have also started listening to a podcast every day. There are so many topics and podcasts out there! I listen to ones on tourism, personal development, and side hustles. I listen while I am driving and I learn something every day. It’s only slightly harder than listening to Sirius XM during my commute, but it will makek a big difference over time.
For the visual learners out there
I have read that more than 50% of us are visual learners – if we see something, it is easier to grasp the concept. So this diagram was especially helpful for me. Especially at the beginning of a new task, or program you can see that there is no discernible difference between doing a thing, and not doing a thing. It is only over time that your efforts begin to bear fruit. So don’t give up!
And a parting gift for you
If you have read this far, you deserve a prize. In my research, I found that if you Google Slight Edge PDF, you can have free access to the PDF version of this book! So now you have no excuses for not taking advantage of this gift of knowledge and insight.
Let me know how you implement the principles from this book and I hope it helps you at work and at home.