What are competencies?
Competence – a combination of three attributes: knowledge, skills and attitude.
Knowledge is the state of the information resources you have.
Skills are the ability to carry out tasks practically
Attitude is your attitude towards the situation, willingness to get involved in action
I KNOW + I CAN + I WANT
Each of these three elements is important to your overall score, so it influences what competencies you have.
Various combinations are also possible, i.e .:
You may have knowledge but not be able to use it (i.e. you have no skill)
You may have knowledge and skills, but “don’t want” to use them (i.e. you have a certain attitude)
You may want and know very much, but still not be able to
You may be able to do something and like it, but not be aware of exactly how it happens (i.e. you have limited knowledge)
The best example will be children starting to speak:
Sometimes the child knows the words (knowledge) and can speak (skills), but does not feel like it (attitude).
He can also speak a lot (skill) and willingly (attitude), but have no idea of the linguistic principles (knowledge).
We can distinguish many competences, incl
Soft skills, e.g. communication, relationship building
Language competences, e.g. in the field of grammar, pronunciation
Sales competences, e.g. understanding the client’s needs
Competence in cooperation, e.g. giving and receiving feedback
Managerial competences, e.g. delegating tasks
Analytical competences, e.g. collecting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions
In fact, depending on where we work, what we do professionally / or privately, we acquire such competences. We must remember two important things.
The first is that competences are not given once and for all – their condition is changing. The second thing we must remember is that it is worth developing competences!
How to find your competences?
Everyone has competences – it is enough to ask a few questions to define them, e.g. “I can do something”, “I know …”, “I can …”, “It comes naturally to me …”
Finding your competences is not the end – now they need to be developed. The balance of the three components of competence changes over time. We often acquire new knowledge, but we lack the opportunity to practice, so skills disappear.
Fortunately, nowadays there are many ways to take care of your competences so that they do not get too dusty. The enormity of webinars, online courses, articles, books or even applications allows anyone, regardless of their skills, to further self-improvement.
Because that’s what it’s all about – to be a better version of yourself.
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