Skills Vs Reinvention, What is More Important?

In this economy, it definitely pays to have skills and experience.

But what kind of skills and what kind of experience?

There are basic skills that are always in demand inorder to earn big salaries. It is hard to beat graduate school skills in business, science, engineering, computers, human resources, finance, law, accounting, and medicine.

There are basic skills which every economy and country need like mechanics, truck drivers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, nurses, entertainment industry behind the camera skills and of course many more. Then there is the irreplaceable need for leaders in business, sports, government, and non-profits.

Most of these skills are not gained by reinventing unless the reinventing includes educations, apprenticeships, or lots of years.

What kind of skills and experience do college graduates have or someone who was perfect for their company until it closed or someone laid off  in their 50’s after 30 years with one company?

I had 35 years of skills working in real estate. I had been a very good sales person, a very good manager, and even a good high rise condominium sales manager. When the mortgage market melted, none of these skills seemed to be valuable.

What kind of skills did I have that could be applied to another industry while in my 50’s? First of all, age can be a negative when applying for a job. Secondly, any business I entered, I had to learn a new industry. Thirdly, most industries that are willing to hire non-experienced sales people, these days are placing them on 100% commission.

I had a choice to make. Do I want to work for $12 and hour, work on 100% commission until I find a sales position that I like, or what? I did not want to work for $12 an hour because that seemed like a ticket to no where. I tried three 100% commission routes giving each one my full effort.

But, determined that finding my own place rather than filling out 1,000 resumes would be more efficient and rewarding, I pursued finding a self employed industry to which I could contribute.. Finally I found a niche. I felt like the internet had no ceiling and was in fact becoming more important daily. Online marketing is very competitive. I looked at everything I could to learn online marketing skills and found that E-Commerce is open to everyone and yet extremely competitive.

I then discovered that I had learned a lot about what makes a company successful online and how companies could compete against other online companies. At that point I started investing 10 to 12 hours a day seven days a week for a few months until I burned a path to several realizations. My realizations were important to the reality of companies competing online.

I then found I could impart these realizations to others and started honing my message and the message so that it had impact. Each day brought about new realizations for me as to what people thought was valuable and how the information might help them.  My reinvention was born.

Did I use my previously learned skills to reinvent myself? Yes, all of them. Did I learn what I know now in school or in my previous job? No, hardly any of it. So what happened?

I just read an article this morning by David Carr on how Sarah Palin has reinvented herself as a national brand. She took her popularity as a personality and dropped her failed career as a politician. She leaned her strengths and maybe her weaknesses. She found someone that wanted her. She certainly has an “aw shucks” about her that a lot of people cannot abide, but she follows her strengths and her goal of making a difference. It is a testament to her drive.

One good message that blogger Seth Godin has mentioned. Don’t try to sell something the world doesn’t want. Find what the world wants and offer it.

A second crucial ingredient is something Donald Trump said when asked when addressing an audience that if he had one thing to say what would it be? “Never Give Up” he said. You have to have a will to triumph that defies defeat even if you have to fail 20 times to find your place.

A third crucial ingredient that is close to the maximum of Donald Trump is the drive to succeed. This is a need to be important and be recognized for making a contribution regardless of who it is that gives you the recognition. Even if it is yourself.

Drive is not learned in school. There could be a long discussion on the source of drive that I will address later, but drive is what drives you to continue even after failures. To a person with drive, failures are someone else’s loss in not recognizing your value.