Marketers — the future is in combining skillsets!
We live in a time of constant change. This poses many challenges and opportunities for people’s careers. How will your role develop? What skills will you need in three or five years’ time? What aspects of your job will grow or decline in importance?
In 2016, the Ireland-based Expert Group on Future Skills Needs indicated that ‘as the shelf life of skills is becoming shorter, engagement in lifelong learning for those in employment will be key to their continued employability’.
We all need to consider how we will respond to this new working landscape.
Combining skillsets
A great way to future proof your career is to combine a range of skillsets in interesting or innovative ways.
Howard Gardner, in his classic Five Minds for the Future, identified this synthesising mindset as “the ability to integrate ideas from different disciplines… into a coherent whole and to communicate that integration to others.”
Writer Robert Greene, meanwhile, states the key to success is based upon building up knowledge and skills and combining them in an interesting way.
Developing new skills
So what does this mean for marketers? In our profession, we regularly have to develop new skills. Over the past ten years, we have added digital and analytical skills to our repertoire. This has allowed us to generate a deeper understanding of our customers and their journey as consumers when they interact with brands.
The introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May means we must now add a requirement for competency in all aspects of data protection.
What new skills will we need to prosper in a future where artificial intelligence, robotics and similar technologies are the norm?
Keep learning and growing
Learning is a lifelong pursuit. Taking a positive approach to continuous education is key to developing new skills. One of my favourite quotes is from Carol Dweck, academic and author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. She asks the question, “Why waste time looking smart when you could be getting smarter?”
This is an approach all of us can apply to our lives. Often it is easier to accept the status quo rather than place ourselves in the more uncomfortable position of having to learn something new, having to admit that we don’t know something. However, this is vital for personal and professional growth.
Taking the example of data protection again, consider your current skill level and knowledge in this area. Reflect upon your approach to the use of data in your organisation. Are there opportunities to look at GDPR in a new light? It could be the gateway to developing truly qualified databases that provide real value to customers that want to hear about your product or service.
Take a self-audit
A great way to evaluate your skillset at the start of each year is to set out a list of your core competencies. Identify which of these are strengths and which need improvement. Set clear goals for how you will go about making these improvements along with timelines for each. Then check in regularly to keep yourself on track. Setting these milestones is key to assessing your progress and keeping on track.
Park your ego
Finally, accept that none of us will ever fully complete our journey. There will always be things we need to learn, aspects of our work that we could strengthen. By adopting a growth mindset and ‘parking our ego’ we can increase mastery of our subject areas. As Dweck advises, stop seeking validation and turn your attention instead to continually developing your skills and abilities.
This leads to increased autonomy, a sense of mastery and ultimately contributes to higher levels of satisfaction and happiness in our work.
Steven Roberts works as a head of marketing in the education sector and is a certified data protection officer.
