Specialized Knowledge and Skills Activate 21st Century Professionals
SAN FRANCISCO: Have you ever said to yourself, "I would love to be an expert at public speaking" or "I would like to be an executive someday" or "I want to be an expert negotiator"? Whatever the desire was, it probably involved acquiring specialized knowledge and skills. The fact is that virtually any of us can upgrade ourselves by choosing first steps, even if not perfect, to create momentum.
Taking action is a champion habit. At first, it is just important to get started. This might involve watching a video, listening to a podcast or reading a blog. Getting familiar with what you are interested in is a great start to changing your life path and upgrading your knowledge and ultimately your skills. The key is to understand that we always have a choice to start. We may not have the money or the time to take a deep dive, but we can always start by using the K.I.S.S. principle. Dr. Michael Dunphy, Managing Partner at Perceptum Group, puts it this way: "We always recommend to our clients to take action, but to use the K.I.S.S. principle at first. This means Keep It Simple and Strategic! Take simple small steps to start but be sure your actions are strategically aligned with your end game."
If you have the time, resources and firm commitment to move forward, then engaging a consultant, coach or specialist may be feasible for you. If not, start simple, gain some new knowledge and basic skills and start creating the path forward. This is not just good advice, it is rooted in solid science. Our brains are organs of survival. Our senses gather data and our brain has the job of sorting through the cognitive and emotional meaning of the data to help us decide if something is important or not, a threat or not, interesting or not, etc. In addition to just living and experiencing life, we can be intentional about what we want to have as input, and this is vital because such opportunities often are differentiators in our life path.
Everyone wants to be happy, to know important things and to understand what is going on around them. Some people, however, also want to know not only what, but why and how, which takes extra effort and commitment. Self-motivation, an emotional intelligence trait, is fueled by small successes. Our brain is wired to seek more success (creating "success momentum") when we experience even a little step forward. Therefore, initiating action so we can successfully learn and build even basic skills is a great way to enhance our commitment to ultimately stay on the path to becoming experts.
The key to making this work is to seek out the proper sources of specialized information and tactics. For example, at Perceptum, we have spent decades honing and polishing our methods through research and many thousands of hours of applied experience to ultimately innovate with the Perceptum Transformational Learning System® (PTLS®) which literally revolutionizes professional development, especially for leaders and managers. Champions, even with years of experience, seek out Perceptum programs because we are specialists who can provide value in multiple layers and with solid ROI. It is amazing how effective true specialist can be. Do yourself a favor as you move forward in life. Seek out the best teachers, coaches, consultants and mentors. Champions are always polishing, upgrading and refining because they can.
Perceptum lives in San Francisco, California, but its clients are worldwide and service is available 24/7. To learn more tactics about developing and sustaining specialized skills, visit Perceptum's latest blog at https://medium.com/@perceptumgroup/perceptum-group-transformational-learning-system-blog.
