Throughout my 20s, while I was finding my path and building my career, one aspect of my career that always eluded me (or perhaps I eluded it?) was finding a specialization. And not just any specialization – that would be too easy. I was looking for one that I could, first and foremost, do well in. I also wanted to find a specialization I could enjoy throughout the workday and avoid that impending feeling of doom on a Sunday night. You know, roughly around 9PM, when Good NFL Team #1 is playing against Good NFL Team #2 on Sunday Night Football. Around that time I would be watching the game while ironing my dress shirts for the week (or three) ahead.

While I always knew the importance of finding a specialization, I was grasping for how to identify and work towards building it. Looking back, I was probably expecting for one, through happenstance, to land on my doorstep. I would then simply get on my horse and ride into the sunset – that easy!

The reality is that identifying and creating your niche takes initiative. For a small segment of the population, their specialization was a known entity from a very young age. You know at least one kid when you were growing up that said, with the utmost certainty, that they would be a doctor, lawyer, basket weaver, firefighter…the list goes on. The odds are that, if you are reading this blog and are like me, this was not the case for you. And you know what? That’s perfectly fine! You are by no means doomed in finding your path and your specialization.

Why is a specialization so important?

I get this question more often that you might think. While there is data that argues the case for generalist skills – especially if you have your sights set on senior management in the future – you are unlikely to be thrust into that kind of role in the first quarter, or even half, of your career. To move up on the ladder, you are first going to have to make a name for yourself. So while I’m all for a strong foundation of generalist knowledge (having an MBA and BA kind of handcuffs me on that one!), you need to become a known entity in your industry through a specialization first. Once you merge the two, that’s where the magic happens.

What it really boils down to is consistent demand for your services. A generalist will have more variable outcomes in their career path because the value that they bring is much harder to gage for organization. And organizations do not like uncertainty when bringing on new employees. They want to know you can consistently provide a level of value to the organization without a blip.

This is not unlike our everyday utilities we take for granted. I don’t think about whether or not my lights will work in the morning or if I can draw hot water from the tap. I expect those things to be there. If they are not, it is a very unusual circumstance. Employers want employees that are like light switches. When they are “on” (at work), they will brighten the room (adding value) for as long as the switch isn’t flicked off (however long your workday is).

Be that utility. Specialize.

How did I do it?

I never thought you’d ask!

At my previous job, before I went to pursue an MBA, a new request management system called JIRA was implemented for managing our IT development work. As I was managing a business unit during a merger, I had to learn JIRA whether I liked it or not. Well, I actually ended up liking it quite a bit. I enjoy organizing information and making things work better. I thought it was a very cool productivity tool. My interest in a specialized tool sponsored by the organization led to enhancing departmental productivity in ways not envisioned by senior management - adding tremendous value.

It’s funny how life works out because, in my new role as an Agile business analyst, I was asked to generate user stories and put them into our newly introduced JIRA system. I had a strong handle on the application thanks to my previous experience and I soon became the JIRA guru for the team. When I was away for a week, the proverbial lights would flicker with JIRA since I knew it best and was the designated person to manage all of our user stories. When I returned, JIRA was as consistent as the lights currently illuminating my laptop. It's assumed by the team that JIRA will always be up-to-date and ready for presentation in our daily scrum meetings – because it always has been under my purview.

Today I was introduced as the JIRA expert for our project at work – that felt good!

Here are the four ways you can become the utility in your organization:

Embrace it

Some people inherently do not like the idea of specializing. Many of us, including myself, were given the message growing up that it’s important to be a well-rounded individual – above everything. I see that message comes from a good place but that doesn’t mean it’s correct. Any idea can be taken too far. I think it is important to shape your broader skill sets and abilities throughout your career. This allows you to better work through greater degrees of complexity and ambiguity that you will ultimately face as you climb your career ladder. Without a utility belt of specialized tools however, you can forget getting far enough up the ladder to reach those heights.

Embrace being a specialist.

Prioritize

To specialize, you need to accept that you can never max out all your skills to level 100. This isn’t the World of Warcraft. You need to pick a direction, not a plethora, that speaks to you. This path must, just as importantly, speak to the workforce. You can be the world’s greatest VCR repairman (for those of you born after 2000, look it up), but no one is likely going to care enough to pay you for your services.

Make it clear you are the go-to person

This is the other side of the coin to embracing your specialization. It is imperative to communicate to decision makers, and those you work with, that you are the go-to person in your capacity. Otherwise, someone else will be vocal in taking that lead. I like to stay humble and I also know how important it is that those around me are aware that I am the go-to guy when it comes to JIRA.

In a recent conference call with several other areas of the business, I was asked to present on Agile methodology and JIRA. I took this opportunity to give attendees a snapshot of the range of work I do and my experience with the tool. This was the perfect segue to offer training to other business analysts who will be engaging in Agile projects requiring JIRA. There’s no better way to show that you are the go-to than to offer unsolicited help with something residing in your wheelhouse.

Always be learning more to expand your scope

Never stop learning.

I’ll say it again in case you were skimming (tsk tsk!): Never stop learning!

There will always be more to learn and a next level to reach. Every master always has a new mountain to conquer. There are no exceptions.

And the beauty of learning is that you can do it at your own pace and your own way. Formal education is only one of many avenues. The rise of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), online communities and YouTube are just a few salient examples of this.

So there is no excuse. Continue to sharpen those tools in your utility belt, regardless of what they are and what you intend to do with them.

Be a Utility!

Last December I finished my MBA through the Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria (also know as UVic by the cool kids). But really, I finished up my degree far away from Victoria – at INCAE Business School in Alajuela, Costa Rica. Like most exchange students, my focus was not hitting the books – it was about making lifelong connections with people from around the world and having unforgettable experiences.

My first two terms at UVic were much different. Aside from the noticeably cooler weather – I liken Victoria’s weather to a veggie cooler – my two core terms in Victoria came with a mountain of group projects. I ain’t kidding! Every weekend would typically involve eight hours of teamwork on both the Saturday and Sunday. During the week, there would always be additional teamwork before, between or after our classes.

What I really enjoyed about Gustavson’s program was its international focus. Seventy-five percent of our cohort originated from outside of Canada. This gave all of us a great opportunity to really learn how to work people from other cultures and with different communication styles. To make sure we had this experience, the staff created diverse, balanced teams for us. This was a real Forrest Gump moment for me – I had no idea what to expect.

I felt during my first term, my team focused on bridging cultural and communication gaps between each other. My team consisted of people from Romania, China, India and Canada (moi). We made good progress on bridging these gaps. It reflected in our strong performance on our project work. However, it felt like we were spending an excessive amount of time executing. Sure, any MBA program worth its salt shouldn’t be a cakewalk, but this seemed beyond the usual MBA grind.

The problem we faced as a team is that we never sat down and discussed our strengths and areas of expertise. You would think this would be conversation #1 in a team. I think because we were so focused on finishing our next pressing assignment, we didn’t take a step back to figure out how we could best leverage our team strengths. This was most telling when one member of the team revealed very late into the term that he was a PowerPoint whiz. Beforehand, we had some of the weakest visuals in our presentations among our cohort’s teams. After we matched task to strength, our last presentation was lauded for its innovative use of animation and sound effects that were both engaging and professional.

Forming an MBA team is similar to putting together a Stanley Cup championship team. You need different skillsets to build a winner. More and more, the business world requires employees to specialize to get ahead. In business school, it’s no different. After giving it some thought, I’ve boiled it down to four roles that will make your MBA team an all-star team.

I'm sure this team had the franchise goalie and #1 centre it needed to win

I will outline these roles and provide tips on how to identify which team member is best suited to fill these roles.

1. The Panzer Tank (aka the Project Manager)

Every team needs someone to coordinate and oversee a project to ensure it is on track. In a smaller team this person is a grinder, someone that will fill in any gaps (and yes, there will always be gaps) to make sure the job gets done. Like a panzer tank, it will roll through the worst of elements to reach its destination. If this means pulling an all-nighter to ensure that 40-page business plan gets done – the Panzer Tank won’t think twice about doing it. This role is best suited for an organized, directive type of personality. Trust me, in an MBA team you will have at least one person that fits this mold – it won’t be an issue given the personality types that gravitate towards pursuing an MBA.

2. The Wordsmith Extraordinaire (aka the Writer)

Every team needs someone who can put ideas to paper. As the only native English speaker in my first term team, editing fell squarely on my shoulders. Not only that, the bulk of the writing (and rewriting) would often times find itself on my plate. I was completely fine with this. I knew by focusing on my strengths I could add value to the projects by expediting them and polishing them with my wordsmithing. While it’s always great to have a slick presenter, your written document will likely form the majority of your grade on your project so you better have a Wordsmith Extraordinaire on your team to tighten up your document. A native English speaker who has a sixth sense for the nuances of the English language would be a great choice. Someone with a background in copywriting or a Bachelor of Arts is also another great way of narrowing down who should take on this role.

3. The Quants Freak (aka the Statistician)

Over the course of a term, an MBA team will be faced with a project that relies heavily on math. This could be an accounting case where you need to demonstrate how transfer pricing works between a cost centre and profit centre. It could be projecting financial figures and calculating the NPV for an investment opportunity. You might be tasked with a big data project that asks you to conduct statistical analysis (I particularly liked the probability equations).

If any of these examples were lost on you, then you are going to have to identify the Quants Freak in the group. A spreadsheet to a Quants Freak is like a kitchen knife to Gordon Ramsey – they seamlessly use their precision to cut through data and provide killer analysis for your project. Look to someone with a background in Engineering as a starting point – they tend to be the most well rounded with numbers to tackle any quantitatively heavy subject matter. I also consider engineers to have a creative streak. It comes in handy when providing on point analysis.

4. The Picasso (aka the PowerPoint Expert)

Once you have leveraged the MBA trifecta that I’ve discussed above to create your project, you need to wrap things up in a glossy package. In the MBA world, that means putting together an unbelievable PowerPoint presentation outlining your project findings. You might be surprised that I did not list a great presenter as one of the four essential MBA team members. This is because a strong PowerPoint backed by well developed work will trump a presentation lacking substance led by slick speakers any day of the week. I’ve seen both. The latter is not something pleasant to experience, either as a presenter or as a spectator. Once the post-presentation Q&A by professors or an industry panel starts, it can get ugly.

MBAs are not renowned as creative or “outside the box” types but there are always exceptions to the rule. If you lack a creative spark in your group, you can fall back on whomever has the most advanced PowerPoint experience to put a visually strong presentation together for your project.

…And remember: above all, you need the ability to put your egos aside and work as a team.

There will never be a perfect MBA team. There will always be a project where a team is lacking in a certain capability. As long as you have established a strong foundation for your approach to working together and come in with a Team First mindset – gaps can be filled and project goals can be attained. There have been many supposed all-star teams that have fallen short. So while you should keep these roles in mind when initiating a project, your team can shine even if it missing a Picasso or a Quants Freak.

What does your MBA dream team look like?