Why Over-Investing in Web3 Skills Was A Big Mistake
Here’s what’s in today’s edition of The Technical Leader:
Keep reading for the full details and shoot me a reply when you’re done to let me know what you think?
Investing in Web3 Skills
Crypto cycles have been always felt chaotic.?
The massive run up of excitement, then the market correction that tends to feel like a rug pull for those who were late to the game.
But I think this downfall has been the worst yet because so many more developers focused their career path on unreliable footing (like fragile web3 projects without longevity).
But let’s backtrack to the end of 2020 when this last bull run began.
Everyone started investing (even my 70 year old aunt).
So yeah, given the hype, it made sense for devs to invest at least some of their money and skills towards blockchain development to explore what the fuss is about.
I did it too (but only after I had invested in the timeless and universal non-technical skillset).
I dedicated hours everyday to learn more about it.
But developers that had all their eggs in one basket (crypto) could face some serious trouble in the months (years?) to come.
Who knows how long this bear market will last?
As engineers, of course we have to stay on top of the latest technical trends, but it’s important to time-box things with an unknown value (like trendy technical skills).
Over the course of your career, new technical skills like smart contract development, and blockchain design are just temporary advantages that some people make serious bank off of... but it isn’t guaranteed to be stable longterm.
Investing in timeless non-technical skills is a great bet for any developer working with any technical stack in any sector, regardless of what the stock or crypto markets are doing.
You can never lose (no matter the market) when you invest in non-technical skills like leading and managing a team, better business acumen, and communicating with stakeholders.
So for me? I’ll always invest the most time and money in portable, non-technical skills because they’re timeless and actually multiply the value of my existing technical skills.
The Value of Storytelling
Why do people love stories so much?
Stories are everywhere and we can't get enough of them.. Books, movies, TV shows, talking with our friends, listening to talkshows, podcasts, social media, the list goes on and on.
领英推荐
They’re one of the best ways to give a lot information in a short period of time and most importantly, to make a connection with the viewer or the listener so they feel engaged.
But how good is your storytelling? And how good are you at telling your own story?
When Stephen Bates and myself are speaking to engineers, team leads and CTO's we often have to slow them down as they’re telling their story. We want them to tell us their story so we can get to know them better.
We really want to hear about who they are and the skills they have but more times than not, they don’t know how to tell their story for our benefit, and by that I mean in a way that we can understand their value and their experience.
More times than not, I have had to stop and ask “why did you book this call with us?”...
In fact, sometimes I have to ask that question several times before I actually know why they want to talk to us.
I'm not mentioning this to be critical, but I’m trying to point out how a lot of engineers communicate.
Most people who possess a lot of technical skills do a similar thing...?
They talk about what they're doing and how they did it without explaining why it’s important or providing a context where the listener can understand its importance.
Imagine your favorite movie without knowing why your favorite actor is behaving in that way.
Or, imagine there was a car chase but you didn't know why they were chasing somebody or why they were being chased, it’d be confusing wouldn't it?
But that's how many technically skilled people talk and tell their story.
People will only listen to your story when they know why it's important for them to listen.
And more specifically, if they don't know why it's useful to them to hear your story then they probably won't listen.
People are busy, they want to use their time wisely and frankly they'll listen to you because of the advantage your skills and experience can give them.
They will want to know why you are worth listening to before you give them the details of what you know and how you do things.
If you want to build your career reputation… storytelling is a skill you must master, especially if you want to move into a leadership role.
Storytelling is a core skill for influencing, negotiation and leading people.
If they don't know what's in it for them they won't know why they’re listening to all the details of your story.
If you want to build your influence, career and income, get better at making people wanting to listen to you.
When you learn to practice this skill you will be way ahead of most of your competition.
Well, that’s it for today!
Todd