Just as a company requires core competencies to survive and
thrive, both in the present and in the future, so do you. Identify
your special talents and skills. What are your natural abilities
and interests?
What is it that you are good at? Even more
important, what is it that you could be good at if you set it as a
goal, made a plan, and worked on it every day?
Knowledge and know-how are the keys to success in the
twenty-first century, and your skill set is becoming obsolete
with every passing year. Whatever got you to where you are
today is not enough to keep you there.
You must be continually
thinking forward, into the future, and identifying the skills
you will need to be able to make an excellent living in the
years ahead.
Ask this question regularly: “What one skill, if I developed
and did it in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive
impact on my career?”
Whatever your answer to that question, make a plan to
acquire that skill or to improve in that area. If you are not sure
what that key skill might be, ask your boss.
Ask your co-workers.
If necessary, take tests to measure your level of competence in
the important parts of your job. Your ability to ask and answer
this question correctly will largely determine how much you
earn and accomplish in the years ahead.
