Street Smart

I love this definition: “Having the experience and knowledge necessary to deal with the potential difficulties or dangers of life in an urban environment.”

So, you may ask, how do Street Smarts apply to a business setting? How do I know if I, or my co-workers, are Street Smart? I think we can give you a general idea of what to look for and expect.

Street Smart professionals:

• know what works, what doesn’t, and what they need to do or learn to make things better…because they’ve been through some things;
• put in the time and hard work necessary to get a real payoff — meaning they “hustle”;
• make mistakes but definitely learn quickly from those mistakes;
• focus on their goals.

You’ve heard the saying “Book smarts versus street smarts.” Book smarts are great, but having the street smarts to take tangible action on all that knowledge in your brain, and get results, is a trait worth its weight in gold for some, if not most, companies. Very similar to The Go-Getter but with a little more dirt under their nails ;)

Harley

Not everyone at work was able to get that Ivy League degree. In fact, some people finished high school and decided to get right to work instead of seeking a four year degree. I’m not knocking a college degree, but there is something to be said for people who jump right in to the workforce to really figure out what they want to do when they grow up. On the flip side, there are those people who did go to college but their experience came from outside the classroom.

“Harley” is a great example of that co-worker who did go to college but spent a lot of time outside the classroom, either working, partying, shooting hoops or volunteering around town. It’s not that she was a terrible student — she could read and understand any lesson put in front of her. But her passion was getting out and learning from real world experience, from real people who were grinding away to make a living for themselves and their families every single day.

Flash forward 15 years and Harley is a Director at her company. She oversees a team of 10 and her group has been one of the most successful groups in the company’s history. Why you may ask? Harley and her street smarts, that’s why.

Before she took over for her boss, her group was less successful. They were weighed down by pointless meeting after meeting to argue round and round about how to solve a problem. Her boss was smart, no question there. But his experience was just that, knowing a lot of information related to their work. Unfortunately, he found it very hard to take risks and try new things in order to overcome obstacles. Instead he wanted to sit around a conference room table and work it out on paper for hours until the one right solution presented itself.

Needless to say, he was asked to “retire.” Here comes Harley, rubbing dirt into her hands, sleeves rolled up, ready to go. And her street smarts paved the way for less meetings, more action. Harley had her sights set on becoming a Director, and that fervor and passion kept her focused, even in times when most people would want to pull their hair out. For Harley, it was a time to learn absolutely everything she needed to learn to step right into her new role and hit the ground running. She knew that’s what she needed to do to survive.

Street Smarts are a valuable element of any persona. Is it one of the top three traits of your most successful co-workers and employees? Do you know the answer to that question? Maybe it’s time to find out.