Instilling A “Just Skill Me” Mindset at Your Company
While conducting interviews in preparation for an upcoming keynote presentation, I asked my standard question, “If you could ask your leader for just one change that would enhance your engagement and effectiveness, what would it be?”
One employee, Toby, quickly responded, “just kill me,” which seemed to be a dark answer to what’s normally an uplifting question. Buying time to gather my thoughts, I reiterated what I’d heard, and he quickly corrected my understanding, “not just kill me — just skill me.” After a good laugh, he went on to share how his role was changing and he didn’t have the data analytics or coding capacity that was needed — nor the communication competencies required to get ahead in the organization. He was deeply concerned about his future in the absence of skilling up.