As a general rule, everyone sees the value of continuing education for employees. But the higher people go up the corporate ladder, the less likely they are to continue keeping their skills sharp. Here, the author makes a business case for getting back to the books.
When some people reach a certain level in your executive career, they start to ... well, coast a bit sometimes.
Are you one of them? Be honest, now. Have you decided - actively or not - that you already know enough, and don't need to continue improving your skill set?
Call it a feeling of invincibility. It has its advantages in the business world, but it can have its drawbacks, too. Particularly when you start thinking about changing careers, and especially when you start thinking about moving into a different industry.
When you explore a new career, you're going to see two groups of folks: the people already doing the work you want to do, and the ones who aren't there yet, but want to be.
Not all of them are pursuing continuing education to make themselves better candidates for the management positions they're after.
But a lot of them are. And that's an extra point or two they'll have on you when you start sending out your resume to recruiters and headhunters and the like.
Now, that by itself may not be enough of a motivator for you. Real world experience is often a more powerful aphrodisiac to a hiring manager than a college degree at any level.
But it's also fair to say that 1) everyone can use a tune-up, and 2) academia often serves as a hot spot for research and trend-spotting in many industries. So don't dismiss the education thing outright.
Need a little present-moment way to look at it? Think of the people working around you. How much could they benefit from the increased knowledge your extra-educated self brings to a team? How much could your company improve? And then (to make it all about you again), how much better would your resume look when you've helped your team and your company make great strides?
Education isn't just a lark. If you have a company that helps pay for continuing education (most do), you know they don't think it's a lark. They know it'll only help their bottom line by keeping their people sharp. It'll help your bottom line, too.
So if you haven't gone through that course catalog yet, now's as good a time as any to start. Whether it's the local community college, a full-fledged degree program, your industry association's event calendar, or a trade group certification course, go for it!
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