You’ve probably read the quote about sharpening the axe that’s been wrongly attributed to Abraham Lincoln, beloved 16th U.S President. If faced with the task of chopping down a tree, he stated that he’d use four hours (out of the given six hours) to sharpen his axe.
Although the popular saying was never uttered by the renowned statesman, the metaphor—sharpening the axe—is something professionals should consider in the competitive corporate jungle.
Now similar terms exist, such as self-development, lifelong learning and honing one’s skills. But whatever slogan that resonates with you, take the advice of career coaches and update your skills.
Taking stock of my professional experiences this year, I’ve realised that the situations that I was anxious about were the most rewarding experiences. For example, when I was called upon to deliver on tasks, the positive feedback I received, as well as advice on what I could improve upon, were invaluable.
Make no mistake: I worried about the assignments. I prepared the content, cross-checked my references, rehearsed, and repeated the process. Whether it was a presentation to an accomplished audience (faculty) at a globally ranked business school, or seminars to experienced executives and business owners, or a two-day in-house business writing training workshop, preparation was crucial to delivering audience-centric programmes.
But what makes me better equipped to take on tasks whereby I sometimes feel out of my depth—and we sometimes suffer from the impostor syndrome—is my habit of continuously honing my communication skills.
In season and out of season, if any insight, research, innovation or technique is related to effective communication, I’m compelled to read and learn about it. Then, if applicable, I use it in sessions, or store the information in my brain for future retrieval.
In a sense, I continue to sharpen my axe because it not only fuels my passion for business communication, but it enables me to continue to improve my capabilities by learning new things.
So, as the curtain slowly closes on 2018, be your own advocate and set yourself up for success.
Below are tips for sharpening your axe for the year ahead:
1) Become proactive in your learning
Don’t be a passive learner.
Attending workshops, seminars, conferences, or taking courses will do nothing to improve your skills, if you don’t actually do something afterwards.
If you think you’d just remember practical recommendations, try learning two or three new words and don’t use them a few days later. You’d find that you’re unlikely to recall their meanings.
Learning new things and not putting them into practice will not advance your career or boost your business. It would also be a waste of your effort and finances.
Be kind to yourself.
2) Do the things that scare you
It may seem counterintuitive but you learn best from situations whereby you did something completely outside your comfort zone. Whether the outcome was positive or negative, the experience gleaned is the best teacher.
Furthermore, completing the project will empower you to take on more challenges, and would lead you to learning new things.
And on the cycle goes.
In the process, you’d uncover hidden talents. You won’t know what you’re capable of achieving until you’re pushed to try. So take that giant leap.
You’d surprise yourself.
3) Read every day
I regularly challenge anyone who is desirous of improving business writing skills to read some well-written content every day. However, this advice is useful to professionals seeking to improve skills in general.
Reading something related to your field is crucial to staying abreast of current trends.
However, reading outside your field opens you to new ideas and enhances your knowledge. Moreover, the inspiration to do remarkable feats might come from unlikely sources.
Even the most modest effort at reading good content every day—and you can spare 10 minutes—leads to accumulated knowledge and awareness.
Successful people, including millionaires such as Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg, are voracious readers.
Therefore, cultivate the habit of reading regularly and widely to sharpen your cognitive abilities.
You won’t regret it.
Conclusion
Whatever rung on the career ladder that you find yourself, you’d benefit from purposefully sharpening your axe.
Note this however: the goal is not to emerge with a razor-sharp, gleaming axe to be put on display for all to admire.
To take advantage of the doors that would open in 2019, you’d need to commit to the process of axe-sharpening, so that your skills are continually improved, refined and then used. The goal is thus the journey and how you improve yourself along the way.
It would take incredible discipline to commit to this seemingly unending process. Nevertheless, stay the course.
The results will be worth the effort.
And now over to you:
In what other ways do you sharpen your axe?
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Need help with improving your communication skills?
Hire me for:
vCommunication training and sessions for your staff and executives;
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vSpeeches and keynote presentations at your events;
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Contact me:
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N.B:First image are courtesy of Becris, via freedigitalphotos.net. Second image is courtesy of Sira Anamwong, via freedigitalphoto.net. Last image is courtesy of Stuart Miles, via freedigitalphotos.net.