Archives - March 2012
“FULLY BAKED? YOU COULD BE GETTING STALE”
In the most recent edition of the book For Your Improvement – A Guide for Development and Coaching by Lombardo and Eichinger, the authors identify 67 work-related competencies. They include such capabilities as “Dealing with Ambiguity” and “Humor,” as well as “Learning on the Fly” and “Political Savvy.”
Performing competently the key skills and behaviors required to be successful in a particular career is the price of admission. Everyone in your field of practice should be able to perform adequately, or else he/she should – or will soon be told to, by the boss or by the marketplace – pursue a different calling.
A professional who is at the top of his/her game – or on the way to it – needs a full complement of sophisticated interpersonal skills. Some people are naturals when it comes to the behaviors related to excellent communication and relationship-building skills, business development, leadership and other competencies necessary to career advancement and on-going success. But few of us possess all of the interpersonal skills we need to perform masterfully. Most of us chose our fields because we were good at or enjoyed the technical skills they required – e.g., writing an analysis; drafting pleadings or a position paper; reviewing and assessing financial statements; performing legal or market research; speaking persuasively; etc. To continue to advance, more is required.
In a 2009 New York Times editorial, Thomas Friedman wrote about “The New Untouchables,” i.e., those workers who are skilled at routine projects required by their job descriptions, and then some. These are workers who are innovative, who communicate well, who are constantly visioning how to do things better; they also have the ability to engage others in their vision or solution and to bring them along. These “untouchables” are retained and promoted by their organizations. They stand out in the marketplace. They continually invest in their own success by resisting inertia – the Achilles Heel of the “fully baked” crowd.
Continually adding new skills and capabilities – especially those related to the higher level function interpersonal skills such as influence, persuasion, empathy, political savvy, leading change and innovation, to name a few – helps us stay engaged and energized in work especially when times are tough economically or otherwise. Over the next days and weeks of early Spring, think about the seeds of positive change and career development you wish to sow this year. Let go of stale thinking – e.g., “this is how things are for me,” or “I don’t have time to do anything new or different” – and let in the fresh breeze of possibility. Don’t view yourself as fully baked in terms of skills and capabilities. Not now – not ever.