Demand, Scarcity, Portability & Passion — 4 things that are crucial to changing your career path
Last time we looked at creating a Skills Map to visualise your skillset, and a model to help you analyse the shape and the implications of that skill set.
The purpose of this blog is really for people who want to break out of a career pattern, “a brick wall”, to move beyond this skillset and onto a new level.
The purpose of this blog is also to make you stand out. To be an individual. To take your learning and career progression into your own hands.
My main observation having worked with large organisations across L&D, talent, and recruitment, is that waiting for your company to train you in new skills is not going to drive career changing growth or progression!
Neither is sticking to what you do best…
A lot of career models tell you to play for your strengths.
“What do you enjoy?” “What do you like?”… “What do you not like?”… “Let’s find something that fits with your strengths, so you can do more of that.”
THIS IS WRONG.
Just focusing on your strengths is a lazy answer because it implies there is no work to be done. Improvement takes hard work, and often it involves learning and persisting with things we may not even particularly enjoy.
What you really need to do is find skills that amplify your strengths, and make you stand out.
I was talking to my cousin and her boyfriend a few weeks ago. They have both registered to start training to become professional nurses. It’s a pretty big commitment on their time, but when you look at the statistics, combined with their passions, it makes so much sense.
Nursing and more broadly speaking healthcare is a booming industry, and the need for qualified nurses is undoubtedly going to increase. Have a look at this article.
On top of this, my cousin is currently runs her own business teaching performing arts and dance to young kids, and her boyfriend is ex Navy. They both have a passion for two things — helping others, and travelling. Learning this skill is something that reinforces both of their passions.
Nursing as a qualification can be taken to most parts of the world, it gives them a combination of skills that is both unusual and desirable in their existing careers, and it will give them opportunities in the future to pursue their passions for travel in the future (nurses are required everywhere!).
This is how to identify an Amplifier skill
An Amplifier skill is something that creates multiple new opportunities to apply your existing skill set.
It probably won’t be in your company’s training budget. But the rewards, personal growth, and satisfaction are infinitely greater.
Amplifier skills have three things that underpin them:
1. There is growing demand
An Amplifier is first and foremost a skill that there is growing demand for.
Working on the skills will change the shape of your existing skillset, in a way that is aligned to demand.
In the same was as the price of gold or oil, the price goes up when there is high demand and short supply.
For example, there is growing demand for great managers in big businesses. It’s of course not for everyone, but one of the skills all companies are looking for is coaches — people who can demonstrate they can listen, understand their people’s motivations, and create a safe environment where they can perform at their best.
2. They are scarce
Scarcity creates value and will make you stand out.
For example, a corporate lawyer who has run their own company, no matter how big or small, has the empathy the truly understand their client needs.
An HR professional with qualifications in Agile methodologies and ways of working, or with a qualification in nutrition and wellness, is a scarce resource in fields that are growing in demand.
A computer programmer who knows two programming languages is valuable. A programmer who knows two languages, and creates compelling presentations to their colleagues and the rest of the business, is a potential superstar.
These individuals are scarce, and they are sought after, because they have a combination of skills that is unusual, but in line with market trends.
When choosing your Amplifier, think about how the skill combines with your existing strengths, and if that creates scarcity.
3. They have high “portability”
Great Amplifier skills have high portability across multiple occupations or industries.
Amplifiers make you more attractive to more people. So seeking out skills that have multiple applications is key.
Coaching — going back to the example before, is a great example of this.
The problem is that most companies to do not give their managers coaching training, they give them management training.
Management training has a “narrow portability” on the job market, as it is specific to the firm.
Coaching has a “wide portability” on the job market, as the skills can be applied to multiple roles, organisations and industries.
Critically, coaching is also a skill that enables you to take your career into your own hands. These skills help you to broaden your options in the job market, and give you a platform to act as an independent consultant, or create your own business, if you want to.
4. They drive your passion
A great Amplifier is something that enables you to pursue your passions.
Note here, not every skill that you develop has to be something you are passionate about.
But your Amplifier should combine with your existing skills in a way that drives your ambitions, your goals, and aligns to what you are passionate about and love doing.
A few years ago I did some research into Weight Watchers, one of the worlds largest and well known behavioural change organisations. If we take dieting as a skill that some people are good at, and some people are not, the practice of “dieting” in and of itself is almost never the reason why people diet in the first place.
There is always something greater that they are aspiring to, and most often they are rooted in family, lifestyle, freedom and personal growth — the things that actually matter.
If you’re going to choose to work on something, and to work hard at it, it needs to be clear how your success at developing the skill will take you closer to your passions.
These are the fundamentals of an Amplifier skill: Demand, Scarcity, Portability and Passion.
The idea is to identify ONE Amplifier that you can work on over a sustained period of time to jump out of your existing skill pattern, and create a new path for yourself.
We’ll look at how to make that decision in the next blog, and how to use the Skills Map we created before to inform your choice.
Tom
