I attended an all-day training for my certification last month, regarding data analytics.

These events normally take place in hotel ballrooms where two to three guest speakers spend the day presenting to a number of professionals in a particular field; networking and dining ensues between the committee members around lunch time, then you spend the back half of the day just trying not to fall asleep.

Towards the end of the event, as I pondered to myself, “When did memes start becoming a staple in PowerPoint presentations?”, the presenter began to speak on one of my favorite topics:

Upward Mobility.

The final presenter piqued my interest, standing on his soap box going on about progression in the Corporate America where he ended his tangent with a simple phrase:

“To move up, you need to specialize in something.”

I thought back to my days as a mid-level accountant, performing journal entries for the revenue producers of the bank.  I felt entitled to more, I felt that I was worth more than I was being paid and I’m sure the other individuals on that team felt they deserved to be handsomely rewarded as well.  However, we often summarized the work we did as, “so easy a monkey could do it.”

I’m sure upper management felt the same about our roles as well.

Gentlemen, we must understand, preferably at an early age, that specialization is CRITICAL to the path of becoming a High Value Man.

I understand that the lot of us clock in to our jobs everyday and work hard making an honest living.

But we must ask ourselves how difficult is the profession?

Is there room for mobility in this field?

How can I specialize and is there a demand for it?

Gentlemen, I never want us to give ourselves the illusion that we have peaked professionally.

Understand the economy and specialize accordingly.

I was fooling myself that I could take the easy way out, yet still achieve dreams that required an increase in income.

Specialization requires action others are not willing to perform.

Specialization requires sacrifice; the willingness to go the extra mile.

We often question why teachers and emergency service personnel do not get paid more.

As I alluded to in prior blogs, no one is paying $200 a ticket to watch you enable macros in a spreadsheet.

Specialization in a field of high demand is what takes you over the top, and so many of us are not willing to put in the extra hours to get there.

What is your routine when you get off work? I guarantee that will tell you everything you need to know about where you are in life.

Once the training event ended, I looked out the ballroom window at the city skyline.

Thankful to have heard a message of conviction, that reminded me that everything was still out in front of me for the taking.

As long as I am willing to specialize, and become High Value enough to reach it.

 

Weather Your Storm, Maintain Inner Reign -E