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Self Improvement. Make Yourself an Expert. “I don’t know what we’d do without him!”

Make Yourself an Expert

That’s what an executive in a Fortune 100 company recently told us about a brilliant project leader. We’ve heard the same sentiment expressed about many highly skilled specialists during the hundred-plus interviews we’ve conducted as part of our research into knowledge use and sharing. In organizations large and small, including NASA, the U.S. Forest Service, SAP, and Raytheon, managers spoke of their dependence on colleagues who have “deep smarts”—business-critical expertise, built up through years of experience, which helps them make wise, swift decisions about both strategy and tactics.

These mavens may be top salespeople, technical wizards, risk managers, or operations troubleshooters, but they are all the “go-to” people for a given type of knowledge in their organizations. Core Competence Analysis - Problem Solving Techniques from MindTools. Building Sustainable Competitive Advantage What makes you stand out from the crowd?

Core Competence Analysis - Problem Solving Techniques from MindTools

© iStockphoto/abzee The idea of "core competences" is one of the most important business ideas currently shaping our world. This is one of the key ideas that lies behind the current wave of outsourcing, as businesses concentrate their efforts on things they do well and outsource as much as they can of everything else. In this article we explain the idea and help you use it, on both corporate and personal levels. By using the idea, you'll make the very most of the opportunities open to you: You'll focus your efforts so that you develop a unique level of expertise in areas that really matter to your customers.

Explaining Core Competences: The Value of Uniqueness The starting point for understanding core competences is understanding that businesses need to have something that customers uniquely value if they're to make good profits. Using This in Your Business and Career. Professionalism - Career Development from MindTools. Developing This Vital Characteristic.

Professionalism - Career Development from MindTools

How Good Are Your Project Management Skills? - Project Management Tools from MindTools. Project managers need a broad range of skills. © iStockphoto/ez_thug Whether or not you hold the official title of project manager, chances are you'll be called upon to lead some sort of project at some time.

How Good Are Your Project Management Skills? - Project Management Tools from MindTools

From initiating a procedural change in your department to opening a branch office in a different city, projects come in all shapes and sizes. As the complexity of your projects increases, the number of details you have to monitor also increases. However, the fundamentals of managing a project from start to finish are usually very similar. This short quiz helps you determine how well you perform in the eight key areas that are important to a successful project. How Good Are Your Project Management Skills? Instructions For each statement, click the button in the column that best describes you. Your last quiz results are shown. Entrepreneurial Skills - Career Development from MindTool. The Skills You Need to Build a Great Business © iStockphotoboboling What skills do you need as an entrepreneur?

Entrepreneurial Skills - Career Development from MindTool

What makes someone a successful entrepreneur? It certainly helps to have strong technology skills or expertise in a key area, but these are not defining characteristics of entrepreneurship. Instead, the key qualities are traits such as creativity, the ability to keep going in the face of hardship, and the social skills needed to build great teams. If you want to start a business, it's essential to learn the specific skills that underpin these qualities. In this article, we'll look at the skills you need to be a successful entrepreneur, and we'll explore resources that you can use to develop the traits needed for success.

Science & Nature - Human Body and Mind - Mind - Careers. Architect (role variant) The Architect Rational is one of the 16 role variants of the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, a self-assessed personality questionnaire designed to help people better understand themselves.

Architect (role variant)

David Keirsey originally described the Architect role variant; however, a brief summary of the personality types described by Isabel Myers contributed to its development. Architects correlate primarily with the Myers-Briggs type INTP.[1] Architects are logically and verbally precise. In casual conversations, they may be tempted to point out errors the other speaker makes, with the simple goal of maintaining clarity within the exchange. In serious discussions, Architects' abilities to detect distinctions, inconsistencies, contradictions, and frame arguments gives them an enormous advantage. Architects tend to analyze the world in depth. Credentials or other forms of traditional authority do not impress Architects. According to Rational Role Variants, by David Keirsey: Healer (role variant)

The Healer Idealist is one of the 16 role variants of the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, a self-assessed personality questionnaire designed to help people better understand themselves.

Healer (role variant)

David Keirsey originally described the Healer role variant; however, a brief summary of the personality types described by Isabel Myers contributed to its development. Healers correlate with the Myers-Briggs type INFP. Healers are introspective, cooperative, informative, and attentive. Their tranquil and reserved exterior masks a passionate inner life. Healers care deeply about causes that interest them, and they often pursue those causes with selfless devotion. Healers tend to be private individuals who have a strong sense of right and wrong and an idealistic worldview. Healers are often misunderstood as children.[1] In practical minded families, their devotion to idealism may be frowned upon and may even be punished.

Career

Project management. Leadership.