Today’s specialised professions and education got their start in Napoleon Hill’s day. He used the order of the day to predict and guide his readers to a more efficient, profitable future.
Specialists Most Sought
“Particularly sought after by employing companies are candidates who have specialized in some field—business-school graduates with training in accounting and statistics, engineers of all varieties, journalists, architects, chemists, and also outstanding leaders and activity men of the senior class.
“The man who has been active on the campus, whose personality is such that he gets along with all kinds of people and who has done an adequate job with his studies has a most decided edge over the strictly academic student. Some of these, because of their all-around qualifications, have received several offers of positions, a few of them as many as six.
You’re More Than A Grading System
“In departing from the conception that the ‘straight A’ student was invariably the one to get the choice of the better jobs, Mr. Moore said that most companies look not only to academic records but to activity records and personalities of the students.
“One of the largest industrial companies, the leader in its field, in writing to Mr. Moore concerning prospective seniors at the college, said:
“‘We are interested primarily in finding men who can make exceptional progress in management work. For this reason we emphasize qualities of character, intelligence and personality far more than specific educational background.’
Growth Of A Specialty
This is essentially what gave birth to the state of careers today. We have benefited from the attention to specialisation and to the attention to developing a well-rounded workforce of people who not only know their craft, but have the personal dynamic to catapult that to success. This has given growth to numerous specialised opportunities, and the ability to create more for ourselves.
Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 – 2009
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Sean,
How clever is Napoleon Hill! For him to see that to specialize in a certain field of employment is more beneficial than employing someone that shows academic skills only. To also look at his social skills and favor someone who is able to get along with people is someone with wonderful insight, especially for those times. It’s an important attribute even today that a manager needs to be able to handle people and get along with his staff if he is to be good at his job.
Hi Sean,
Specialist knowledge is important but I agree that social skills are far more important. This is because no matter what field of business you’re in; you’re first and foremost in the people business.
Social skills are so valuable because people buy people not products. Someone who is good at building and maintaining relationships will create calmer and happier workplaces and better customer loyalty. I think happier workplaces are more productive workplaces. Customers who feel listened to and valued are more likely to return.
Again, this is something I’m going to spend some time improving.
I know Hill was writing during a time when men dominated the workforce and that’s why he writes from a very masculine perspective.
All this talk about “the man” seems so strange now in 2010. But that just goes to show how far women and society have come since then. I wonder what Hill would think now, about the advances in women’s rights and societal changes that have occurred since his time. I also wonder whether, if he were to write today, he would speak about wealth and riches in broader terms, to include for example, the success of family and parenting. Perhaps he did?
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Grades are only as good as the system that is giving them. And most of the time at school or Uni you learn the stuff that is already well known. So to bring added value to the company you will work for you need to combine this knowledge with other talents and attributes. And Mr.Moore obviously understood this already very well!
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