12/12/06


Learning a new skill is often challenging. Given that we all want to have a unique set of skills to impress our employers, stand out from the crowd or just feel better about ourselves, it might be useful to get to know some general rules to streamline our learning.

Make sure you read How to Master a New Skill” and check out several useful tips on improving your learning and staying on top of your career!

 

Glossary

  • get ahead – progress
  • quest – long and arduous search for something
  • attainable = achievable
  • implicit – not openly stated/expressed
  • jazzed up – enthusiastic
  • upfront – in advance
  • accountable – understandable
  • nail it – understand something, get it
  • opinionated – conceitedly assertive and dogmatic in one’s opinions
  • willing – ready, eager to do something

 

Think about it

Based on the text answer the following questions. Leave your answers in the comments below!

  •  What two questions should you ask yourself before learning a new skill?
  • Why might your manager be unwilling to offer you support or money for training?
  • How can you identify your learning style?
  • What are the benefits of reflecting upon your progress?
  • In your words describe one of the case studies.

  

Practice makes perfect

In the sentences below replace the phrases in bold with the expressions from the original text. Leave your answers in the comments below!

  • After all, self-improvement is indispensable to making progress at work.
  • If your goal is not attainable and you’re not prepared to work hard, you won’t get very far.
  • Gaining a new skill is an investment and you need to know in advance what the return will be.
  • Still others need a practical experience
  • To move from experimentation to mastery, you need to think carefully about what you are learning.
  • Excel is not a central activity in a recruiter’s job.

  

Fill in the blank spaces with the correct form of the words in capital letters.

Mastering new skills is not ________ OPTION in today’s business environment. “In a fast-moving, _________ COMPETITION world, being able to learn new skills is one of the keys to success. It’s not enough to be smart — you need to always be getting smarter,” says Heidi Grant Halvorson, a _________ MOTIVATE psychologist and author of the HBR Single Nine Things Successful People Do Differently. Joseph Weintraub, a professor of management and _________ ORGANIZE behavior at Babson College and coauthor of the book,The Coaching Manager: Developing Top Talent in Business, agrees: “We need to constantly look for _________ OPPORTUNE to stretch ourselves in ways that may not always feel comfortable at first. Continual _________ IMPROVE is necessary to get ahead.”

 

Explore it more

 

 

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