My Secret = Treat Everything Like a Skill ??

In this letter: 

We expand the conversation around skills. A lot. 

To start, we'll take a look at 3 examples of hidden skills — skills that are often overlooked by professionals because they're hard to quantify. 

- Career Growth
- Conversation
- Mindset

Then, we look at a 3-question process anyone can use to spot hidden skills and develop them in record time. 

More skills. More career growth. 

Let's go!        

Hanging with Hidden Educators

Recently, I was invited to join a community for career coaches.

Spending time with these experts reinforced something I’ve believed for a long time.

?? Owning your career requires specific skills.

The best career coaches are hidden educators. They help you navigate the world of job searching or leveling up your career. They teach you the often-overlooked skills of career growth.

But why are these skills overlooked?

Too often, we limit the “skills” conversation to two categories:

• Technical skills: computer programming, project management, digital marketing.
• Power skills (aka soft skills): communication, leadership, teamwork.

Most training programs are built around these two categories. Most degrees focus on them. And, in the process, we miss a lot of potential skill-building opportunities — simply because we aren’t thinking of our input as a skill.

So, today I’d like to expand the conversation.

Everything in Life is a Skill

Here’s a big, bold statement:

Everything in life is a skill. From the minute we roll out of bed in the morning to the minute we lay down at night, we deploy skills all across our life.

I’ve seen this time and time again.

In fact, I wrote a recent edition of this newsletter about a hidden skill that’s transformed my career: adaptability.

So, to back up this big, bold statement, I’d like to share a few examples of hidden skills we can all improve with skill-building tools like deliberate practice and daily development . Plus, a 3-question framework you can use to spot hidden skills (and build them with ease).

Ready. Set. Go.

1. Career Growth

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” - Milton Berle

Let’s start with a home-field topic.

This is Develop Daily, a newsletter about growing your career using the power of daily development. The reason I started posting on LinkedIn and writing this newsletter is because I fundamentally believe anyone can learn to grow their career.

It’s not an accident that some pros get ahead while others get left behind.

?? Career growth requires a distinct set of skills.

Consider, for example. . .

A job search

If you’re conducting a job search, you need skills to succeed.

• Resume-building
• Networking
• Interviewing
• Personal branding
• Time management

These are essential tools that will help you stand out in the job market and land your next role. Overlook them, and you’ll run into a wall of rejection.

And yet, many job seekers don’t take a skill-building approach to their search.

I suspect there are 2 contributing factors:

1. Confusing market signals. When the job market is strong, it takes fewer skills to land a new role. Companies lower the bar to bring in the talent they want. But, when the job market shifts — as it has recently — this leaves many professionals struggling to adapt and level-up.
2. Outdated skills. Job search skills change over time (just like every skill area). When professionals go years, or even decades, without searching, their skills atrophy. Their strategy becomes dated. If they enter the market with a this worked for me before mindset, they’ll face a brutal reality.

A skill-building approach

Here’s the good news:

If searching for a new job is a skill, then it can be developed with a simple system. Develop Daily.

That’s why anytime I talk to a job seeker, I offer them this framework:

• Clarify your goal.
• Block your time.
• Develop your skills.

If you’re casually searching, daily development works with as little as 15 minutes each day. If you need to land a role ASAP, you can add more skill-building logs to the fire.

The critical part: bringing skills current with the market.

Do this, and you’ll land a role regardless of hiring numbers. Do this and you’ll bust through any job search barrier.

That’s the power of a skill-building approach.

2. Conversation

“A conversation is so much more than words. A conversation is eyes, smiles, the silences between words.” - Annika Thor

Conversation may be the most underestimated part of business.

It’s the underlying skill behind networking, stakeholder management, team-building, and much more. If you can’t navigate a conversation, you’ll struggle to grow your career — simple as that.

And yet, I rarely hear professionals talk about developing conversation skills.

This is a big miss.

A personal story

In undergrad, I woke up to a startling reality.

?? I didn’t have the conversation skills to achieve my goals.

There were several factors behind this. I grew up in a quiet house. I’m naturally introverted. I often read more than I converse.

But the result was the same.

• I struggled to build relationships with classmates and professors.
• I swung and missed regularly at job fairs and networking events.
• I felt uncomfortable reaching out to potential contacts.

So, I started asking around.

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