如何取得职业的进步?

如何取得职业进步？

（原文后附）

在过去7年里，有一个公式帮助我build 自己的简历, 职业和我自己的生意，这个就是SKAR Formula. 这不是一个可以取代勤奋努力的捷径，而是一个地图，告诉你该怎么投资你的精力，从而使你的投资收益最大化。

SKAR Development Formula

代表： Specialized Knowledge + Authority positioning + tangible Results = huge growth opportunities and faster development within your career or business.

专业知识+权威定位+显性结果=职业/生意的机会与成长

分类介绍：

A ．专业知识: 是指那些实际的，有用的，在你所从事的某一细分领域/行业没有它们就不能perform well 的专业知识。不管你是飞行员，hedge fund 分析师还是第三方，你都可能拥有专业知识。有没有专业知识的区别在于：没有专业知识的要用18个月完成一个项目，而有专业知识的只需要3个月，并且建立的长期的客户关系。那应该怎么做呢？

1. 每月阅读2本书，保持这个习惯至少2年。这些书应当是有助于你职业/生意的专业知识类书籍。

2. 订阅3个最好的业内博客/行家更新。只阅读新闻，你什么都学不会。要阅读新闻背后的想法，分析和白皮书。每个行业都有最少2-3个的免费站点。

3. 完成你所在行业的专业资格证书/考试等。拥有第三方的证明，比自己宣传阅读了多少书要更可靠。

4. 将你学到的东西写出来。一开始可以总结，综合，最终得到你自己的原创想法。(亲，要匿名哦！)

B. 权威定位：在你和你的公司内，建立这样一种structure ，使得你的知识和能力得以被展现，并将你自己在属于你的领域内，定位成一个专家。两个拥有同样多知识的人才，一个可能出版了5本书，一年完成了50个press interview ；另一个呢只有一小撮客户。对自己定位更加正确的专业人士，将拥有更多的机会。（此处省略几个励志故事）怎么做？

1. 定期更新你的主页或博客。哪怕你更新的一点也不频繁，但是拥有这样一个东西很有必要。

2. 采访业内人士，并将内容发布在你的博客里。采访业内人士是获取专业知识和权威定位的捷径。知识告诉别人你曾经采访过20个业内顶级专家，你人士A ，B 哦天哪你还人士C ，就非常厉害了。记住，你在专业知识上越努力越与见底，别的专业人士就越喜欢搭理你，你的问题也越有深度。不要问google 上也能找到答案的问题。

3. 将你的博客出版成一本书，任何人通过lulu.com 都可以出版一本单倍行距的60-80页的书。这本书可以帮助你的权威定位。

4. 将你过去的客户列表，做成pdf.

5. 在各种会议上讲话。 许多专业人士都在寻找拥有独特观点并愿意分享的人士，去交流意见，学习心的东西。

显性结果

显性结果的重要性不言而喻。然而，在服务业，资产管理行业里，和一些需要极度保密的行业里，拥有显性结果却非常的艰难。一些显性结果包括：

1. 一个文本文件，讲述你的某项产品/服务带来的最终效果。

2. 以前客户的推荐信/表扬信

3. 向客户提供你的产品/服务免费试用期

4. 你为过去客户/老板所工作的多样化案例。这证明了你可以为不同需求的公司，提供不同的solution 。这可以帮助读者想象你帮别人解决问题的画面。

5. 给潜在客户一些快捷的小的tips ，让他们获得立竿见影的收益。

最后我想说的是，在这个formula 背后，最重要的是：正确的习惯。研究表明，习惯构成了我们每天行为活动的96%。 我们总是倾向于吃一样的东西，走同样的路，看同样的节目，看同一个类型的书。。。。。（励志的话就不翻译了吧）

SKAR Development Formula There is a formula that I have used over the past 7 years to help me build my resume, career, and now my own small business, that is the SKAR Formula. This is not a way to shortcut the hard work it takes to be successful, but rather a map as to where invest your energy to increase the results you get in return for your investment.

SKAR Development Formula

Specialized Knowledge + Authority positioning + tangible Results = huge growth opportunities and faster development within your career or business.

Definitions Specialized Knowledge = Specific knowledge that is practical, functional and very niche specific to the area within you work or the skill or ability you rely on to perform well. Specialized knowledge exists whether you are an airplane pilot, hedge fund analyst, or third party marketer. The difference between having specialized knowledge or not could mean the difference between spending 18 months to complete a task or project or being able to development strong client relationships and complete the same task in just 3 months. It lets you identify more opportunities, move more quickly on them, and execute with efficiency when once multiplied over several years puts you within a different league of competition. Some ideas on how you can further develop your specialized knowledge include:

1. Read two books/month for the next two years on the area of specialized knowledge which is going to benefit your business or career most.

2. Subscribe to 3 of the best newsletters from blogs or experts in your industry which are NOT re-hashed press releases and garbage news. You learn close to nothing from reading the news - read insights, analyses and white papers within these newsletters instead. There are at least 2-3

valuable free newsletters in each industry.

3. Complete a niche training and certification program specific to your area of specialized knowledge. Having a third party verify that you have obtained a certain level of specialized knowledge is ALWAYS going to be more credible than, I like to read books and email newsletters, here is what I have read lately. Seek out an online certification program and start one within 6 months, this will force you to read and learn more within your niche. 4. Write one article a week on your thoughts, best practices, and lessons learned within your niche area of practice. Write anonymously by creating a free blog at Blogger.com and start synthesizing what you are learning and combining other ideas to create your own original concepts (such as this blog post).

Authority Positioning = Creating structures around your firm or self so that your knowledge and abilities are communicated in a way that positions you as an authority in your niche area. Ideally this area lines up 1-to-1 with your area of specialized knowledge and it can be the result of gathering this knowledge. Two professionals can hold the same knowledge though, while one write 5 books and completes over 50 press interviews a year the other may be an arm chair critic with a small group of 5-7 consulting clients. The more well positioned professional will reap rewards from new opportunities coming towards him instead of the other way around. I was a competitive swimmer earlier in my life and the best book I read on swimming was called "Swimming Downhill" it was a way to swim so that your body is tilted forward and you literally cut continually downwards into the water. If you get Authority Positioning right it will be like you are swimming downhill. Jeffrey Gitomer is a great study of authority positioning, he started writing 8 pages a day when he was 46 years old, now in his fifties he has over 10 best selling books, and charges more than Colin Powell for speeches - the real important detail though is he NEVER cold calls anyone and never scrambles for new business. His phone literally rings off the hook with new opportunities, clients, and join venture partnerships due to his positioning, he is swimming down a steep hill. 1. Publish your own newsletter or blog - even if you only publish something once every 2 weeks, having it and building it over time is what is important. 2. Interview one professional each month for your own blog or newsletter, tell them that you can't compensate them but as your website becomes more popular they may get some exposure and they can have a copy of the recorded phone call transcript, Mp3 file or document which you type up. Interviewing experts is a shortcut to gaining specialized knowledge and authority positioning quick. Simply telling others that you have interviewed 20 of the top experts in the industry and overall you found A & B and most surprisingly C is very powerful. Note, the strong you have fulfilled your work in building specialized knowledge the more willing these experts will be to connect with you and the more pointed and refined your questions will be. Ever done an interview with a journalist who has never worked in your field? Not always fun or fulfilling to answer the basics which can be looked up on Google in 3 seconds.

3. Take what you have written within your own newsletter or blog and self-publish a book, with 60-80 pages of single spaced text anyone can do this for $15 at Lulu.com. Very simple, no more

excuses that you do not have a book deal. I got my second big investment marketing contract partially because I had a self-published book in hand and someone gave me a chance based on my dedication to the niche. The book positions you as an authority. 4. Create a 1 page PDF list of all of your past clients. This can show depth, experience, and respect that others have given you by paying for your services and time in the past.

5. Speak at conferences. It is relatively easy to land speaking spots at conference, networking events and seminars. Lots of professionals are looking for others with unique ideas and lessons to share, and again teaching what specialized knowledge you have gained helps you connect and synthesize these ideas. If you are speaking to a crowd you are within an authority position and when you mention your speaking it adds credibility because others have stopped their business days and invested their valuable time to listen to what you had to say.

Tangible Results: The importance of showing real tangible results cannot be over-stated. Finding ways to do this within service businesses, the fund management industry, or within certain areas of extreme confidentiality is challenging. Some types of tangible results that can be shared include:

• An actual printed out version of part of the service or end result of the product or service • Video or text (not as good) testimonials from past and current clients, the more specific to the immediate need or concern of your potential client or employer the better...the more numerous the testimonials the better.

• The first 15-20% of the product or your service given away for free on a trial basis. $1 first month trial, 4 weeks of free work or time so we can prove our worth to you, etc.

• Diverse and numerous case studies of past clients or employers, this proves that you work with firms with various needs and have found solutions for them, it allows the reader of these case studies to imagine you solving their problem

• A little tip, quick take away or lesson within your sales letter or website which provides the potential client with immediate benefit. This proves that you have the goods, are an authority and do have their best interests in mind.

Another related topic that I don't have space to go into here is that underlying all three of these items are having the right habits. Habits have been shown to form 96% of what we do every single day. We tend to eat the same things, walk the same way, watch the same shows, and read the same types of books. As the quote goes, "first you form your habits, and then your habits form you." What business habits are you forming? What elements of the SKAR formula are you using each week? When you read this type of advice are you thinking "I already know this stuff" or "how good am I at that, and where could I improve?"