mikelally.net

Over the last week, our intern and our receptionist left to go back to school. MBA and undergrad respectively. Neither school was teaching either of these smart, high upside, people the skills that they need to be developing and nurturing TODAY.

To me, those skills are:

• Networking.
• Personal Marketing.
• Skill Evolution and Development.

Networking – Its not about making friends. It is about gaining and spreading influence. You HAVE to get out there and meet people. Opportunities are everywhere. You must have a deliberate plan to expand your circle of influence.

Build Relationships! Leverage your network. This doesn’t need to be some kind of nefarious, Dr. Evil type plot. You should be doing this genuinely. Not simply stepping over people to get to the next circle of influence. You will get a reputation. Quickly.

Marketing. This should probably go first on my list. I love the Seth Godin approach. “If you can’t describe your position in eight words or less, you don’t have a position.” LOVE IT. Tom Peters loves it so much he has officially named it the R.POV8. Remarkable Point of View In 8 Words or Less. You must know yourself. You must have a home base like Chris Brogan advises where you can send people to learn more about you. (For me it is this blog). You have to stand out. You have to be constantly tuning. Tinkering. Fiddling. FINE TUNING. Not re-inventing yourself every day. Being a hammer as Harry says.

Skills to Pay the Bills. You have to be CONSTANTLY updating your skills. Along with marketing, you have to know who you are. What are you the BEST at doing? Tom Peters – every project a WOW! project. Keep current. Think globally. Having trouble with that? Read “The Economist” religiously. It will scare the pants off of you. And hopefully motivate you. You are being outworked. Right now. This very second. There are people in China, India, Brazil, Russia, and countless other places that are sacrificing more, working harder, learning more and they are coming for YOU.