the 3 domains you need to master to educate yourself in the 21st Century

Have you ever thought about what kind of education you really need? The rational idea is that you need “knowledge” to be successful but that’s like thinking you need oxygen to have life. It’s important (true that!) but there’s a lot more to life than just oxygen. And in the same way there is a lot more to education than just learning stuff out of books. To educate yourself and be successful you need to master the following 3 domains:

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CHARACTER

Character is about who you are, where you are going and how you get there.

1)    WHO you are. You need to understand what makes you, "you". This means being aware of your belief systems, value frameworks, culture, history, strengths, weaknesses, etc. It's very important that you are authentic to yourself, be true to who you really are. 

2)    WHAT your goals are.  You are defined by the goals you set yourself. Create goals that challenge you to use your strengths to be your best. It's important to understand that self-awareness and goal creation go together, you cant first know yourself then create goals,  you need to do both at the same time. 

3)    HOW will you realize yourself. You need to create a clear education plan for yourself that allows you to achieve your goals. Do not be naive in simply following the existing education system because the existing system is not designed to make you be at your best. Focus on your goals and search for the right experiences that can develop you in a way that is best for you. 

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Competence

Competence is the ability to do something successfully because you have the right combination of knowledge, attitude and experience. There are 3 fundamental skills that all 21st Century leaders need today:

1)    Communication - The ability to communicate effectively with different people from different generations. An educated leader is able to understand different points of views and unlock people’s beliefs system in order to influence them to achieve goals. Communication skills are not for chatting, they are for ensuring that goals are achieved in the right way. Advanced communication skills is what you need. (hint: Leadapreneur’s premium digital course on “Advanced Communication Skills” will be released in 2 weeks! Stay tune by signing up here).

2)    Collaboration - The capacity to work with other people effectively. If you can’t work well with others, you’ll make it very hard on yourself  to achieve anything.  

3)    Creativity - Collaboration is the engine of creativity and communication is the fuel. You need creativity to find new and better ways of doing things .To be a creative leader you need to fuel your mind with new and different ideas. You can’t continue to do the same things over and over again – remember what got you here won’t get you there. Creativity is a skill that can be developed, you don't need to be the most creative person on the planet, you just need enough creativity to do the job well. 

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CAPITAL

It is not the smartest people who are truly successful as there are many important factors that come into play. And these are probably the most important ones you should focus on:

1)    Social Capital. You are correct: it matters who you know. A lot.  It's not just the size of your network that matters, the quality and diversity are also important. It is not enough to know the right people. You need to invest in building the right authentic relationships with the right people. To measure how authentic your relationships, ask yourself these 2 questions: “do I know and trust this person? And, does this person know and trust me?”

2)    Economic Capital. Money matters. It always does. The ability to access money to find ways of creating, developing and growing your projects is key.

3)    Technology. Accessing the right technology assets will allow you to achieve your goals. You can't build your reams if you can't access the right machines.

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Without these we do not believe you can be successful in the 21st Century. Put in the time to develop the character, competencies and capital you need to achieve your goals.