If success requires more than knowledge, what does that mean for you and your career? This article will help you decide if you’re lopsided in the pursuit of a successful career.
Is More Knowledge Good?
The wonderful thing about our current lifetime – there are so many incredible ways to gain knowledge on your own. In addition, employers often provide knowledge opportunities in the form of trainings, certifications, or conferences.
Then there are the people you surround yourself with. Since others have their own filter through which they’ve experienced the world, all individuals possess knowledge that can be transferred to us. This is the idea behind mentorship/sponsorship, after all.
However, it can seem logical to continue knowledge-building in the name of a successful future. More knowledge, in the eyes of many employees, seems to be the panacea for successful career growth.
A word of caution if you fall into this camp: knowledge is great, but success requires more than knowledge.
Knowledge is a Start
Based on coaching many professionals in their career journey, my observation is that they tend to seek knowledge for a few reasons:
- it’s readily available
- it’s easy
- it offers a form of security
What do I mean by these 3 items?
First, knowledge is readily available in the form of the internet, books, magazines, and other ubiquitous free publications. Second, knowledge is easy in the sense that to some extent, you are capable of self-education. Last, knowledge seems to offer people a sense of empowerment, which raises self-confidence.
It seems as if people operate from a belief of “more knowledge equals more success.” But if more knowledge begets more knowledge and little else, this belief can be counterproductive.
The reason is because arming yourself with knowledge upon knowledge can only get you so far as it overtakes other learning opportunities.
Hence, many professionals hold themselves back in the pursuit of knowledge only.
Success Requires more than Knowledge
What some people forget about is the pursuit of wisdom. Wisdom is tricky, because you cannot necessarily pick up a book or watch a video to become wiser.
Wisdom includes abstract concepts such as:
- emotional intelligence
- self-regulation
- situational awareness
- open-mindedness
- discernment
- intuition
Wisdom allows you to take that knowledge one step further: apply it in a complex, confusing, uncertain world. Wisdom allows you to remain consciously grounded through the toughest situations with the most difficult people.
The question now becomes: how do I gain more wisdom?
The answer isn’t so easy, as everyone is in a different place in their career journey. You can start by reviewing the wisdom list above, note your areas of weakness, and let me know what you think! I invite you to hop on a call with me and we can explore your situation together.
Most anyone can gain knowledge at will. But success requires more than knowledge – it also requires the wisdom to apply that knowledge!
If you enjoy this content, I invite you to ask me about free career strategizing and follow me on LinkedIn!