The secret of business success is not who you know. It’s what you know.
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Core process competencies are what differentiate one company from another. Organizational core competence is the same as an individual core competence or proficiency. We all have assorted abilities and skills – individual core competencies. Many are current and value adding while others are obsolescent and need to be updated. Our core competencies or proficiencies differentiate us from one another and add value in the marketplace much in the same way a company’s competencies do.
The organizational challenge is to communicate rewards and risks for us to maintain and update skills that reinforce the organizational mission and strategy. A new agreement is thus established between the organization and the employee. The organization communicates its present and future work requirements and offers us the opportunity to update our skills. If our skills add very high value or if the market doesn’t have skills that we offer, then we are offered incentives or we can sell our knowledge to the highest bidder.
Remember, there are a number of ways to develop personal competencies and be successful. It’s more than brainpower. More psychologists and others say that IQ is only one and may be the least important characteristic of success. Robert Sternberg, a Yale psychologist, believes that intelligence consists of three factors: 1. Analytical skills ensure high standardized scores such as on IQ tests; 2. Practical abilities or street smarts ensure that a person can adapt to new circumstances; and 3. Creative talent implies the ability to develop and innovate new products. Success becomes a matter of taking smart risks, thinking outside of the box, seeing opportunities around change, exploring alternatives, thinking non-linearly, and seeing new ways to solve problems.
Life Lesson Earned: Success in today’s markets is much more than technical or industry knowledge. It’s all about a person’s emotional quotient.