Do Business Well

Now that you know the difference between skills, knowledge, and talents, you can use these terms to throw light on all the other words used to describe human behavior—words like “competencies,” “habits,” “attitude,” and “drive.” At present many of us assume that they all mean virtually the same thing. We use phrases like “interpersonal skills,” “skill set,” “work habits,” or “core competencies” so naturally that we rarely question their true meaning.

This isn’t just careless language. It’s careless thinking. It leads managers astray. It leads them to waste precious time, effort, and money trying, with the best of intentions, to train characteristics that are fundamentally untrainable.

So let’s look more closely at competencies, habits, attitude, and drive. Which of these are skills, or knowledge, and therefore can be changed in a person? And which are talents and therefore cannot?

Competencies

Developed by the British military during World War II to define the perfect officer, competencies are now used in many companies to describe behaviors that are expected from all managers and leaders. Although no one really believes that this perfect manager/leader exists, competencies can occasionally be useful if they help a company think through the ideal set of behaviors for a particular role.

But if you do use them, be careful. Competencies are part skills, part knowledge, and part talent. They lump together, haphazardly, some characteristics that can be taught with others that cannot. Consequently, even though designed with clarity in mind, competencies can wind up confusing everybody. Managers soon find themselves sending people off to training classes to learn such “competencies” as strategic thinking or attention to detail or innovation. But these aren’t competencies. These are talents. They cannot be taught.

If you are going to use competencies, make it clear which are skills or knowledge and therefore can be taught, and which are talents and therefore cannot. For example, a competency such as “Implements business practices and controls” is a skill—all managers can learn it to some minimum degree of proficiency. A competency such as “Calm under fire” is a talent—you cannot teach someone to be cool.

Habits

“Habit” is another potentially confusing term. We have been told that our habits are second nature. We have been told that we can all change this nature and acquire new habits. Again, this advice is well intended but inaccurate. Most habits are our first nature. Most habits are talents.

If you are habitually assertive or habitually empathic or habitually competitive, then you are going to have a tough time changing these habits. They are enduring. They make you You. It’s potentially disa_strous to suggest that the only way to become more effective is to try to change your first nature.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you cannot change some of your behaviors. You can. Over time, through reflection, you might change your values and so learn a more positive and productive way to apply your talents. You might choose to play to one talent more than another. You might combine your talents with relevant skills. You might learn to accept your unique combination of talents and so become less defensive or insecure. There is a great deal you can change.

But whatever you do, the beauty of this approach is that it relies on self-awareness, rather than self-denial, to help you become more effective. Some of your behaviors may have changed, but you haven’t been forced to contort yourself into someone else. You have simply cultivated your unique set of talents.

Attitudes

Many managers say they select for attitude—a positive attitude, a team- focused attitude, a service-oriented attitude. They are right to do so, because a person’s prevailing attitudes are part of her mental filter. They are created by the interplay of her unique pattern of highways and wastelands. Her attitudes are talents.

She may be cynical or trusting. She may be an optimist or a malcontent. She may be experimental or conservative. None of these attitudes are necessarily better than any of the others. None of them will prevent a person from playing certain roles extremely well—for example, the malcontent might be a powerful entrepreneur, driven by her dissatisfaction with the status quo. The cynic might fit right into a role in law, policing, or investigative reporting, anywhere a healthy mistrust is a prerequisite.

But all of these attitudes form part of the person’s recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior. Managers may be able to change someone’s mood from one day to the next. However, managers will always struggle to change that person’s prevailing attitudes. As Mick K., a manager in a large consulting company, describes it: “If I find myself telling the same person to ‘look on the bright side’ time and time and time again, I should take a hint. He’s not a bright-sider. He’s a darksider. I should stop wasting my breath and try to find a role where skepticism is key to success.”

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