I first learned about the “Talent Stack” or “Skill Stacking” concept from author Scott Adams. The idea is to continually add skills, often unrelated, that will increase your value and efficiency. Often our culture promotes mastery and deep expertise as the way to get ahead, but this misses what is truly valued in today’s marketplace. Yes, expertise is needed, but there will always be uncertainty as to whether a given expertise will maintain its value throughout market shifts and technology evolution
This is where talent stacking comes in. Identify the things you are good at, or drive your curiosity, and continue to build on them. Instead of following your passion, turn your talents into your passion. Trust me, you will start to become passionate about what you are good at.
There has never been an easier time in human history to acquire knowledge. You could watch hours of YouTube videos on cloud computing, begin to learn a new language on a smartphone app, and enroll in a class on public speaking. TONIGHT.
If you are sales rep selling computer HW, medical devices, or advertising do you think expanding your talent stack in those three areas would make you more valuable? Damn right it will. If you want to be in the top 5%, you have to be willing to do what 95% of other people will not.
In a recent podcast interview Gary V said he started his now wildly successful journey into NFTs by watching hours of videos on YouTube, as he prefers that to reading. Time is your greatest asset, don’t waste it on Tik Tok.
"Free education is abundant, all over the internet. It is the desire to learn that is scarce." - Naval Ravikant
There is nothing more frustrating than watching talented people lack a broad set of skills. I once watched a successful sales rep use a calculator on their phone to add up values in Excel. NGMI.
I often refer to one of the most impressive CEOs I have every worked with as a “Five Tool Player.” In baseball, a “Five Tool Player” is a special (and extremely rare) type of player that rates above average in the categories of hitting for avg, hitting for power, fielding, throwing, and running.
Before he founded his company, this CEO had worn a pager in IT, worked at bank, and ran technical marketing teams, at multiple companies. This diverse background enabled him to get off a customer sales call and walk into a meeting with engineering, marketing, or finance with command and confidence.
Whether the competition had “better” technology was less relevant. I've seen CEO's that were incredible product builders, that you would never want to put in front of a customer or a potential investor. With his broad talent stack, this CEO set the tone for the company as they sought to out execute the competition with superior customer alignment, product development, sales, and marketing.
Regardless of what career or industry you are in, if you are struggling with where to get started in building out your talent stack, I will encourage you to explore these 5 focus areas:
Business Writing
Effective writing is becoming a lost art but is now more critical than ever in the era of globally dispersed work. There is no better way to force clarity of thinking than having to communicate your point through concise writing. Today, people send you either an overly verbose wall of text that no one reads, or they send you a juvenile text message style note. Master the written word and you will be ahead of the game.
Public Speaking
If you are afraid to stand up and speak to a group of people, conquer this fear ASAP. Techniques, courses, and strategies for this are well documented, find what works for you and implement it. Raise your hand when opportunities to speak present themselves, there is no better way to stand out from your peers.
Foreign Language
You want access to opportunities, learn multiple languages. The ability to communicate a new product/business to someone in their native language, instantly drives credibility and trust. For parents of children in multi-lingual households, do everything in your power to ensure you children grow up fluent in each language. As I am learning first hand, this is more challenging than you can imagine, but your child has been given a gift, don’t waste it.
Finance
Money makes the world go round. Understanding the basics of corporate finance will allow you to translate your skills and passion into what matters to your employer, making them more money. Or if you are entrepreneur, you will be able to communicate with your investors in the language they care about. If you are the product developer or “ideas guy” and can’t translate your passion for your new business into dollars and cents you will not get far.
Sales
My passion, and the most important. :) Everything you do in life is sales. No matter what your role is, you need sales to move ahead. Recruiting someone to join your team, proposing your marketing plan to finance, asking for that raise/promotion is all selling. There are countless books on this subject. Learn the fundamentals and techniques that will make you more successful in getting what you want through life.
You can become the Five Tool Player that everyone wants on their team. Make it happen!
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