Developing the skills you need is one of the most daunting things about transforming your career (that and public speaking :-|). But in honesty it really doesn’t have to be. It shouldn't be an arduous ordeal for you to build the hard and soft skills your employer is looking and will pay for! I’m going to show you why.

Last time we spoke about how to discover what skills you need to learn (found here). Once you know what skills you need there is a simple 6 step method to start developing them. I am going to give you the keys to start right now:

1. Write down your skill on the top of a page or spreadsheet
2. Spend two 30min sessions diving into as much online information as you can find about that skill. Just follow the rabbit hole for 30 mins. Leave it for 2 days and then jump back in and learn another. By Thursday you have what you need
3. List out the 4 core aspects of what you want to grow within that skill. **2 aspects should be devoted to being better able to help others (helping yourself in the process). 
4. Spend a further 20 minutes researching the best ways to develop each aspect. There is so much amazing free content out there online you can find what you need to learn fairly quickly. It could be accomplished by a quick YouTube video or blog post!
5. Once you have a good idea, spend 1 hour a day developing an aspect. Rotate them, 3 days on, 1 day off. The 4th aspect is done on the 5th day. Giving your brain time to rest and absorb the new information is vital. Do this for 6 cycles and then rest a week.
6. Record everything you are doing, summarise what you are learning daily. Look back on them periodically to see how far you have come!

You’ll notice in these steps the power of research and recording your skills. Please, please don’t forget this part. So important!
Feel free to send us examples of some of the work you are doing via email or to ask any questions.

The greatest investment you can make is in yourself and your skills. Skills are what employees pay you for. They can be hard skills like construction, accounting, programming and web design. Or they can be soft skills like communication, emotional intelligence, positive influence, empathy and persuasion. Both have a powerful place in the workforce.

We all have strengths and weaknesses and the key is to not flounder on what we already know but to rather commit to being life long learners, constantly looking for new opportunities to grow and build the skills we have and incorporate new ones.

The world is always evolving and so should you if you want to build a career to be proud of!

Getting the skills your industry needs isn’t always simple but the good news is you already know what they are. This method works 9/10 times so let us know if you are having trouble and we can help you out (if you are in the 10%).

Below is a powerful method you can take to get the skillset you need. Starting with discovering what those skills are.

1. Draw up a table with two columns, use this template if you want.
2. List out your top 2 skills (hard or soft) which makes you a good employee.
3. Now list the bottom 2 skills you know you are weak in but wish you were good at them.
4. Look at the list side by side. Read first the top 2 skills and then the bottom 2.
5. Visualise for second you are as good at the bottom 2 as you are at the top. What would that feel like? It feels great!
6. Write down, below the table,  why you fear becoming good at the bottom 2 skills. You will know why you are scared of being good at these skills. This will be different for everyone. But it is what is holding you back. The answer you write down is valid.
7. Finally, cross out the statements of why you are scared to have those skills. Use the strikethough if on a device. So important!
8. Last step: Print the template out or make it your wallpaper on your computer or device
9. Last last step: Build a plan to gain the skill. Check out our next post where I will go through how you can do that.

 
Feel free to jump in here to access more free resources shorturl.at/kzMO9
or register on the website if you want to speed up your growth. shorturl.at/bgmxR

Sometimes talking through your specific set of circumstances can really help move your progress along. Often it just takes one answer to get the ball rolling.

Any other thoughts or questions just leave a comment below and one of the team will get back to you.

If you haven’t read Razor’s Edge, it’s a free book available on this very topic (download your copy here). It goes into a lot more detail.

But since you are reading this now, we’d like to share with you how you can start reviewing and digitising your business for 2021.

Most people think to digitise a business you have to have mounts of knowledge on technology, AI and global innovation trends. Technology is important but not nearly as much as you think; and that’s good news for most businesses. When it comes to transformative change its almost always 30% systems, 70% people.

Surprisingly the take home message is to focus on just 3 core meta-aspects: Systems, People, Processes
1. Systems – the equipment, tools and technology which multiple your businesses ability to create value. Software, reporting, websites, design tools, POS, CRM, Spreadsheets, forms/documents.

2. People – could be your staff, clients, and suppliers or just be you if you are just starting out. They are the ones doing the work and the ones you are going to have to rely on to create more value for your customers 

3. Processes – are where the magic happens. Synergising people and systems together, processes are where all the value gets created for your customers; and where you make your money. 
 
Whether you are a large enterprise, a SME or a sole trader there are several things you can start doing right now to get started on the road to the digital future. And none of them involve setting a up a social media account. With the 3 meta-aspects from above in mind jump into our 3 Point Review:
 
1. Review your Systems.
List out all the systems you have or want to have. Give them a frank appraisal. Are they working for your business? Trust your gut on this. If you have a big team then gather your staff and get them to do this with you. Everyone loves to beat up on a system. Once you are done lambasting them ask yourself and your team which ones they need to work to deliver the product. Remember these systems multiply your team’s ability to satisfy your customers. They should work for you, not the other way around.
 
2. Power up your People
You and your team are your powerhouses, you need to be geared up to generate value and earn your business money. Do they have the training and support they need? Most importantly though, are they in the right mindset. Sit down with some of them and start doing some bluesky planning sessions on. Build a roadmap to get from where you are to where you want to be. Getting them engaged early on the process builds buy in and gets them onside and turns them into advocates for transformational change.
 
3.  Perfect your Processes
Having people and systems work together is a beautiful thing. But unfortunately, as digital systems improve so most people become jaded and either become button pushers with no real idea of what they are doing or they end up creating their own workaround systems which waylay your business. Work with your team to see the systems and changes around them and powerful. Set up process review checkpoints. Include them in reoccurring meetings to embed them as a part of how you do business.
 
Wow that was quite a chunk to process but hopefully will give you better idea of how to start digitizing your business for 2021. COVID be damned.
 
If you have any thoughts or questions feel free to flick me a message or email.