Do you know the difference between these two words?
If I ask you: “…..hey, how knowledgeable are you about buying a home in New York State?….” ; what exactly is your knowledge on that set of information?
If I ask you: “…..hey, how skilled are you at buying a home?……”; your answer may be very different.
According to the dictionary on line: “Knowledge” means: the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association.
While the word “Skill” means: to make a difference, to matter, to avail.
One of the topics you will hear again and again in business seminars and workshops is the fact that we each have our own “toolbox”, and inside the toolbox we carry a myriad of things, such as: knowledge, skills, processes, procedures, etiquette, relationship knowledge, protocol, equations, timetables, and on and on. We also learn where our strengths and weaknesses are in our professional lives and sometimes in our personal lives. We are many times questioned to the point of death by 100’s of questions to the point that we don’t know who we are or what we actually think.
Have you ever felt like this? I sure have. The purpose of the assessment, carrying around my toolbox which is so full is to what end again?
I for one am tired of being boxed up and labeled. Each and every one of us is unique and there is not another one of Y-O-U around. You are a one of a kind. Yes, you can be generalized, labeled, boxed, categorized and pigeon holed, but who does that benefit in the long run?
You may be fighting for a cause, a disease, an injustice, perceived or otherwise, but whom does that serve if you do not have the knowledge and the skill to make something happen?
My point here is that like every thing else in life you really have to know (in other words: “have knowledge”) what it is that you believe in.
You must be skilled at educating those that you are trying to educate by using several different sources (and not all from the Internet).
You must actually know why it is that you believe what it is that you believe. This means that you have been under the steady “influence” of some one or some thing, and that you have seen this demonstrated to you in your lifetime through a role model that you admire and follow. Who is that?
Why do you follow them again? No….I mean exactly what is it that persuades you to follow and believe?
Knowing these things and being able to discern and stand up and articulate what it is that you want to say will serve you for a lifetime.
