How do some people seem to glide from opportunity to opportunity advancing at each step and others get stuck doing the same work for years, or worse? One of the easiest ways to ensure you remain on a growth path is open to everyone: skill stacking.

Read on: blog.WednesdayWin.com​

Read time: 5 minutes

Skill stacking is the practice of identifying and building new capabilities that are distinct from your primary expertise.

Today, whether you work for yourself or are part of a small business or large enterprise, the demand for diverse skills is ever growing. While there are places for experts who have exceptionally deep knowledge of one topic area, the demand for such narrow skillsets can fluctuate wildly and one can transition from being highly in demand to no longer valued in an amazingly short time.

By adding new, complementary skills to your repertoire, you can stand out, grow into new opportunities, and have a more rewarding career overall.

Let's explore:

1. Why skill stacking

While not everyone can be among the best in the world in any one highly in-demand skill set, nearly everyone can achieve a top 25% level in two or more valuable skills.

As you start building a collection of capabilities, you become attractive candidates for teams that have emerging and dynamic needs. Start reading a large number of job descriptions in your industry and take note of how often thing like good communication skills, experience with certain software tools, and project or staff leadership are mentioned. Note how often domain knowledge is combined with these other skills in the description of the ideal candidate.

Companies are struggling to find these kind of dynamic contributors, but you can step up to fill these opportunities.

• Pursue both complementary and unique skill combinations
• Obvious examples might be building copywriting chops or social media experience if you are a marketer
• And rarer combinations might include building demonstrated skills in public speaking or event planning if you are software engineer

These combinations make you stand out and can open unexpected doors. I was hired at one role earlier in my career for a specific skill that made me stand out among the other candidates. I never was asked to do that in my years in the new role, but my hiring manager saw those extra skills as a sign that I could adapt to changing needs over time.

2. Good skills to pursue

Take a self-inventory of your strengths and experiences. You might already have some additional skills to build upon. What did you do earlier in your career? In school? In your community? What do you enjoy as hobbies?

After those, it pays to be strategic. What would make you stand out in your industry? In your company? What tasks are going undone or are under-served, but you could possibly address?

This is also a good opportunity to challenge yourself. I am always impressed when I see candidates who set out to learn something new. For example, sales and marketing staff who pursue some technical certifications or coding experience, technical staff who pursue leadership experience, or legal professionals who build mathematical and analytical skills. And in almost any role, learning to be an effective recruiter and interviewer will add significant value for you to the organization.

Some other evergreen opportunities to expand your horizons:

• Technical training and software and tool certifications
• Public speaking, writing, social media, and other communications skills
• Demonstrated project and people management experience

3. Easy ways to develop new skills

Great. So now that you want to start skill stacking, how can you do it?

The good news is that there's a role for both 'classroom' and experiential learning. Start leveraging all of the free and low cost training that's available. Udemy, edX, and other online college and graduate-level courses can be a good source. So can free training from large enterprises like these sessions from AWS and Microsoft. Find a Toastmasters chapter or join a civic organization like the Jaycees.

Look for opportunities to volunteer in your current business. What needs are going unfilled where your relative lack of experience wouldn't disqualify you from stepping in? And, seek opportunities to volunteer in your community. There are always needs in scout groups, religious communities, social organizations, and the like. Step in, help, and develop some new experience in the process.

• Take opportunities for free and low cost training
• Join organizations where you can refine and practice your new skills
• Align your volunteering to build up your portfolio

Be open to unique opportunities to learn. Be ready to step up and volunteer. You are building a long term future and sometimes that's going to mean giving up some chill time to build up your skills.

4. The most versatile skill to stack

Among all of these skills, one is the perfect skill to stack to nearly any job role: learn how to write well.

Writing well requires two things that will also add to your capabilities: read regularly and write regularly. Writing concisely and at a level that is easy for your audience to consume only comes through practice and experience.

Writing is one of the greatest employment super powers that is open to absolutely everyone. Being able to express ideas, information, and plans in writing in ways that connect with the right audience remains one of the easiest ways to have massive impact.

• Embrace the practice of writing regularly: a daily journal, project plans, or even short essays to share with friends. Explore ideas in writing
• As Jim Rohn frequently said, "All leaders are readers"
• Reading naturally improves your ability to express through the written word
• Every job role is better fulfilled by one who can write clearly

Action Summary

Skill stacking is the key to remaining at the center of your desired professional pursuit. Keep learning throughout your career and actively seek out new ways to discover, build, and demonstrate skills that make you uniquely valuable to the market. That will help no matter what kind of business you aspire to join or run.

• Be strategic in skill stacking, but also be open to where interest and inspiration take you
• Leverage free and low cost training and courses
• Raise your hand and join in as a volunteer to build demonstrated experience
• Make room to write and pursue it as the universal complement to your other skills

What do you think? Reply to this email and let me know.

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To your success,

Christopher

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