To grow in your career, there is no other way but to increase your value. The more value you have, the more value you can provide to others and the more reward you will get in return (both financially and in other forms). That’s why it’s essential to invest your time and money to increase your value.
There are several ways to increase your value, but here I’d like to focus on six roles that can help you do that. Three of the roles come from The Tipping Point and two come from The World Is Flat. I may miss some roles (feel free to share your thoughts in the comments) but I believe these six roles can give you competitive advantage in your career. Here they are:
1. Maven
Mavens are the people who know practically everything about their fields. They are the masters of knowledge. A maven is the go-to person when people have questions regarding the field. To be a maven, you should have deep curiosity and deep desire to learn. You should also have the discipline to keep learning even when you don’t feel like to.
2. Connector
Connectors are the people who know a lot of people. They are the masters of networking. They are the people who seem to know everybody. As a connector, your connection is the value you can provide to others. When someone has a need, he may get the solution through your network.
3. Salesman
Salesmen are the people who can persuade others. They are the masters of persuasion. They can convince others to buy from them or to do something they want. Of course, a good salesman will deliver real value without being manipulative.
4. Synthesizer
Synthesizers are the people who can connect different fields and come up with fresh ideas. They are the masters of ideas. Synthesizers live in the Intersection (a term from The Medici Effect) where ideas from different fields collide and form new ideas.
5. Explainer
Explainers are the people who can explain complex concepts in simple ways so that they can be understood easily. They are the masters of transferring knowledge. They may not know everything, but they can make whatever they know easily understood by others.
6. System builder
System builders are the people who can create systems around what they are involved in. A system builder can organize something so that it works independently without his intervention. The system can keep providing value while the system builder works on creating new systems.
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Which role do you think is best for you? In practice you may have more than one role but you should choose just one as your core competence. Spreading yourself too thin won’t do you good. To increase your value, choose the role in which you have personal strengths.
Photo by hashmil
译文:
自我增值的6個方法
要想在你的職業生涯裏不斷地取得進步，自我增值是唯一的辦法。你擁有的個人價值越高，你為他人創造的價值就越高，因而你得到回報（經濟上的或其他形式的）就越多。這就是為什麼你需要花時間和精力來提升你的個人價值。
你可通過多種途徑實現自我增值，但在這我只想集中談可能對你有幫助的6個角色。其中，3個來自《引爆點》，2個來自《世界是平的》。我也許漏了一些角色（隨時分享你對此評論的想法），但我相信這6個角色能給你在職業生涯中帶來競爭優勢。它們如下：
1. 專家
專家是一類對自己所研究領域幾乎完全瞭解的人，他們是知識的主人。當人們對某個特定領域有疑問時，該領域的專家總是他們要找的人。要成為一名專家，你得時刻保持好奇和好學的心態，而且即使你不想學也要遵守不斷學習的準則。
2. 聯絡人
聯絡人結識很多人，他們是人際關係網的高手。他們看起來好像認識每個人。作為一個聯絡人，你提供給別人的價值就是你的溝通聯絡。當某人有需要時，他可能要通過你的關係網來解決問題。
3. 推銷員
推銷員是具有超強說服力的人，是遊說他人的高手。他們可勸服別人買他們的東西或者做他們要求做的事情。當然了，一個好的推銷員不用擺佈別人就能創造真實價值。
4. 綜合者
綜合者是可以把不同領域的資料聯繫起來並得出新想法的人，擅於出出謀劃策。他們身處交叉路口（《梅迪奇效應》裏的一個術語），在這個路口上，來自不同領域的觀點相撞並形成新的觀點。
5. 解說員
能把複雜的概念用簡單的方式解釋出來，使其便於理解的人就是解說員，傳遞知識的強人。他們也許不是百事通，但他們能讓旁人輕易理解他們所知道的一切事物。
6. 系統建造者
系統建造者能在自己參與的事物周圍建立系統。他們擅於把事物組織起來，形成沒有他們的干涉也能獨立運行的系統。這些系統能在系統建造者不斷地組織新系統的過程中不斷地創造價值。
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你認為哪個角色最適合自己呢？實際上你可能會有不止一個選擇，但你應該只選一個來作為你的核心技能。精力分散面太廣對自己沒有好處。為達到自我增值的目的，選一個你有個人專長的角色吧。
摄影 hashmil