Constantly improving and diversifying your skills is critical to lifetime success and employment. This may mean working with a coach or a mentor. Learning is key because of the rapid changes that are occuring in job descriptions.

In today’s world, jobs are changing so fast and require flexibility and a wide range of skills on the part of the worker. If you are not reading, taking courses, or surfing the web on a regular basis, then you are not keeping up with the demands in the workplace. You will be left behind in the informational revolution with skills and abilities suitable only for yesterday’s job.

At least every quarter, invest some time to review your skills with an eye toward the future. New Year’s Day is an ideal time for this activity. Identify two new skills to acquire, then take classes, study, or read books to master the new skills. Identify skills you have now and how you can develop those skills to the “Master” level.

I have observed and experienced that a time comes in our lives when we evolve to appreciate investing in knowledge and experiences to better ourselves and those around us. I believe that at this time going into a new year, there’s no better investment than in our personal and professional development.

First and foremost, get excited about your personal and professional development. There’s great payoff now and in the future.

What are your plans for personal and professional development?

As we approach a brand new year, what are your plans for creating your own opportunities in the rapidly changing business and workplace environment?

Business sustainability and job security are top-of-mind for my clients and their employees. The future of work is evolving. Each one of us must adapt and evolve or become extinct (in business and in the work we perform). I am recommending that my clients take specific steps supported by my feedback and guidance as they follow the ‘Seven Keys to Job Security’. Key #1 was Find Passion in What You Do.

Key #2 - Find Excellence in What You Do.

What are you really good at? This may include specific skills or more general attributes. You can be really good at fine-tuning something technical or in handling difficult situations with clients.

When you have identified your core competencies, you will feel good about letting others know that you love what you do and you are also confident in what you do. Your pride in your contribution and passion for your work with grow and show. You will be able to see how your competencies can transcend to other job opportunities as your job and your workplace change - and so it will.

I would be interested in hearing about your search for excellence in what you do and how you are opening the doors to new opportunities to thrive in 2009.

Our program Personal Quality and Leadership (90-Day Personal Quality Branding) has assisted many clients in setting standards of excellence and stepping up to the challenge of evolving and thriving in rapidly changing environments.

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Your comments are always appreciated.

Throughout November, I am blogging about the future of work and offering strategies for coping with job insecurity in the “New Economy”. As news develops regarding intervention to revive North America’s BIG THREE auto maker, people in small and large cities all over the continent are dealing with the uncertainty of employment and what the following months/year will bring. This week, the U.S. is celebrating Thanksgiving which traditionally kicks off the Christmas shopping season. Canadians celebrated Thanksgiving in October just as the economic news was hitting the bricks. Because of our cross-border shopping traditions, retailers on both sides of the border are bracing for the unpredictable reaction to the current economic shift (I refuse to use the word “meltdown”).

Thanksgiving is also a time for being grateful for what we have and therefore can be a kick-off point for introspection. I hope that the keys to job security offered over the next week will assist those who appreciate the time to enter serious introspection with the intent to counteract the negativity of the news. I recommend taking these steps with a coach or mentor who can help by providing honest feedback and guidance.

Key 1 Find passion in what you do. Choose work that you can get excited about. You do have a choice. Passion gives energy like no other feeling. When you have passion, you have purpose. You can speak about your work with enthusiasm. Discover on a more specific level what excites you. Find out what you really love doing in your work. Then on a not-so-good day, you can draw on the energy of passion.

“People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” [Dale Carnegie]

When I walk through the departure level of Toronto International Pearson Airport, I love to check out the Malton Airport Gallery. The black and white mural is a picture of the old Malton Airport and an old prop plane with luggage handlers manually loading luggage. The picture reminds me of the day I arrived in Canada as a five-year old.

The gallery is hosting a fascinating display of antique typewriters. The walls are lined with photographs of people working in offices and stores back to the early 1880s. A poster reads

“Gateway to the Information Age. Today’s keyboards provide an essential entry point for global communication and help define the personal and business technology of our “information age.” The original keyboards - typewriters - have largely been ignored as cultural artifacts but their impact on life in the 20th century was considerable. Along with other machines of communication, the typewriter helped create the modern world.”

If you asked a Gen X, Y, or Millennium to describe a typewriter, many would give you a blank stare. Nor would they believe that their communication technology sprouted from this antique machinery.

Babyboomers who learned to “type” were fortunate to be able to transfer their skills from the mechanical typewriter to the latest version of the keyboard - even the miniature versions on Blackberry’s and other handheld devices. Other shifts from machines to technology have not been able to preserve human labour - an interesting observation. I still value typing or keyboarding as it is now known as the most valuable and transportable skill that I ever developed.

The gallery display also chronicles the story of a typewriter repairman who made his fortune walking from one office to another, then by car. When typewriters when Selectric (IBM), his business adapted. When typewriters moved towards obsolescence, his business adapted. He noticed that computers spawned printers. He didn’t stay ahead of the curve, but he certainly kept his eye open for opportunity as technology changed. His competitors became obsolete just like the typewriters that they serviced. More market share for him.

In this time of technological and enonomical shifts, are you seeing the opportunities or are you wallowing in obsolescence.

If you cannot make to the MALTON Airport Gallery, you can read more about early typewriters at www.antiquetypwriters.com .

All typewriters and accessories on display in the gallery are from the Martin Howard Collection.