Let’s continue the conversation on breaking down the components of competency from my muse on October 16th, 2021. In that article we defined the word “competency” as being composed of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and abilities. Here, I want to drill deeper into the difference between knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

This morning, we’re going to continue our conversation around skill portfolios and developing skill inventories within your business. As I’ve looked back on previous posts, I noticed that we’re missing some key set-up logic and definitions.

When I was entering the job market after completing my time as a graduate student at University of Iowa, my mentor, Carl Schweser, asked me a question that has stuck with me ever since.

"Be Good to Yourself" by Journey is one of my favorite songs. The message really resonates with me.

During the construction of the annual budget, we develop highly detailed estimates for capital expenditures, payroll, operating costs, new product development, etc. Then when planning turns to implementation, we often don’t see the results we hoped for because of human capital misalignment - we don’t have the right people in the right roles with the right skill profiles.

In the U.S., Labor Day marks the “unofficial end of summer” and, according to the U.S. Department of Labor website is the “annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers.”

Everyone seems so angry these days. Maybe it’s due to the proliferation of one-way, anonymous communication tools where one can spit vitriol with no consequences or repercussions. Embedded within this anger is a deep feeling that rights and personal freedom have been infringed. Through my lens, it seems as if the concept of “freedom” has somehow been uncoupled from that of citizenship.

We live in a highly polarized society in which we routinely place labels on individual citizens and categorize issues as black/white or right/wrong depending on our political and socio-economic leanings. However, if you look past the headlines, most people and issues don’t fit neatly into the boxes we’ve assigned them to.

If you manage a customer service team, add this story to the list of examples you use on how NOT to treat your customers.

Email might be the last place you’d look to hone your emotional intelligence skills, but in my opinion it should be at the top of the list. Why?

I used to keep a lot in my head - believing that I could remember everything I needed to do in our pre-show routine - only to be burned on multiple occasions.

You’ve heard the phrases before and I’ve used them myself. “I’m having a senior moment,” or “I know I’m dating myself here, but…,” or “I’m an old dog and it’s going to be hard to learn a new trick.”