about building competence - the mother of all competencies

The mother of all competencies

 

Tip number four is that there is one competence you should always build. It's the competence to build competencies. We are getting very 'meta' in this section. This is about meta-competence, or the competence to become competent. It is the mother of all competencies.

 

Alvin Toffler, the futurologist, once said:

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. ".

 

Whatever you select to be on your shortlist of competencies to build for your own good, for work or for society, make sure the first competence is the one to build competencies. Just like any other talent, it is something you can become good at through learning, doing and sharing. Regardless of your born abilities, it is vital in the network age that you can build, rebuild and unbuild competence. Schools call it 'learning how to learn', but its more than just that. Being better at building competencies than others is a valuable asset these days. You will need to find out how you best build your competencies.  I'll give you some tools and cover the various activities you have at your disposal in competence building.

 

Here is some advice:

 

• Be active: it won't just happen, the days of taking a passive role in your talent development are over. Act. Work on it. Work hard.
• Be pro-active: things don't last, keep your antennas open for what is happening around you and adapt
• Never lose your childhood curiousness: keep exploring and playing with new things
• Have patience: Rome wasn't build in a day. (And they are still building.) Set a realistic time horizon. Building competencies is not like following a course. It's a journey that takes time.
• Seize the opportunity when it arises
• Leverage your network of friends and professional colleagues. Networking is a key skill to have.

  

Key point: Tip number four is always to put the mother of all competencies (which is the competence to build competence) on your 'competence to build' list.