[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/chameleonresumes.com\/when-realized-learn-most-important-skill-succeed#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/chameleonresumes.com\/when-realized-learn-most-important-skill-succeed","headline":"When I Realized I Had to Learn the Most Important Skill to Succeed","name":"When I Realized I Had to Learn the Most Important Skill to Succeed","description":"When I Realized I Had to Learn the Most Important Skill to Succeed People don\u2019t believe me when I tell them I was a quiet little workaholic in my 20\u2019s. Well, they believe the workaholic part\u2026 but never the quiet part. I was afraid of everything. And worked so hard to overcompensate for all these…","datePublished":"2016-05-27","dateModified":"2020-06-17","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/chameleonresumes.com\/author\/admin#Person","name":"Lisa Rangel","url":"https:\/\/chameleonresumes.com\/author\/admin","identifier":1,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d232d4d94c36a87067529574d8bf976cdcbe10988a09d79e9fbc2b75ce6cb95a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d232d4d94c36a87067529574d8bf976cdcbe10988a09d79e9fbc2b75ce6cb95a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Chameleon Resumes, LLC","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/chameleonresumes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Chameleon_FullColor-1.png","url":"https:\/\/chameleonresumes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Chameleon_FullColor-1.png","width":1000,"height":442}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/chameleonresumes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/most-important-skill-to-succeed.png","url":"https:\/\/chameleonresumes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/most-important-skill-to-succeed.png","height":"127","width":"222"},"url":"https:\/\/chameleonresumes.com\/when-realized-learn-most-important-skill-succeed","about":["Blog","Career Advice"],"wordCount":772,"keywords":["Chameleon Resumes","job promotions","life skill","lisa rangel","network","opportunity","sales"],"articleBody":"When I Realized I Had to Learn the Most Important Skill to SucceedPeople don\u2019t believe me when I tell them I was a quiet little workaholic in my 20\u2019s.Well, they believe the workaholic part\u2026 but never the quiet part.I was afraid of everything.And worked so hard to overcompensate for all these fears.I worked the longest so no one would think I was lazy.I worked the hardest so everyone would see me as a dependable “result dispenser”.I made sure I always had a solution since I wanted you to always know that I worked smart.But I never told anyone I worked the longest, or the hardest or the smartest.I just did it.And I expected my boss, co-workers and other managers to see that, well, I was rocking it\u2026 and recognize me.And they didn\u2019t. Well, they sort of didn\u2019t\u2026..When there was additional work to be done, I was always \u201crecognized\u201d (you know that feeling, eh?).And when there was a promotion available, I was not always recognized.#insertsadlisafaceI am not saying the person who got the promotion didn\u2019t always earn it on their own merits (sometimes they didn\u2019t deserve it, but other times it was a deserving person)\u2026But whether the person did or didn\u2019t deserve the promotion wasn\u2019t the issue.The issue is that it could have been me.If I had spoken up about my wins\u2026my working smart, hard and long hours\u2026 results I brought\u2026 that promotion could have been mine\u2026But I didn\u2019t speak up\u2026and the promotion was not mine.I was about 27-28 years old when I realized this.I realized I had to learn how to sell my abilities and influence others to my point of view\u2026no matter what I decided to do in life, I had to learn this\u2026I had to learn to sell\u2026.I realized, then and there, I could not depend on other people selling me\u2026even if they believed in me…Even if I did not stay in sales my entire life, I had to learn how to sell someone on my ideas, on hiring me, on joining my team, on giving me funding, on my way of doing something.I realized sales was a life skill.So I took a job where I had to learn how to sell or I\u2019d get fired.I took a job as a commission-based recruiter in a bullpen office environment with just me, my phone, and a computer at my desk.With my desk up against 20+ other desks with other recruiters making calls from 8am-6pm.Me\u2014shy, people-pleaser, do-what-you-ask-to-make-you-happy girl sitting in a bullpen with mostly aggressive recruiter dudes (and a few aggressive chicks) in a Wall Street financial recruitment office.And if I wasn\u2019t making calls, everyone saw it.And if I sounded like an idiot on the call, everyone heard it.And if I did not make my numbers, I would not have the honor of dialing for dollars at my desk with my phone and computer any longer.There were some days I swore I was on the brink of tears.But I would not cry in front of the recruiter dudes and chicks (I would save that for the short, infrequent bathroom trips). I was going to learn how to sell, damn it!\u201cI can do this,\u201d I would say to myself\u2026And I would listen to people make calls. I would listen to sales tapes. I would write my scripts over and over until I was comfortable using the tactics in my words.And I sold\u2026 I sold my face off\u2026And I got promoted – 4 times in the next 9-1\/2 years – maybe even 5 if you count the time I did 2 jobs simultaneously for 7 months until others were hired.Promotions (and subsequent new jobs) happened not because I never stopped working harder, smarter or longer than anyone else\u2026Promotions  (and new jobs) happened because I sold myself\u2026I worked my network to get opportunities to sell myself.I depended on my network for introductions, but I never depended on them to sell me.I sell me.And now I teach people how to sell themselves and how to create opportunities to sell themselves.No matter where you are in life, if you can learn how to sell you, you will create demand for yourself\u2026alwaysLet me teach you how to sell you:\u00a0https:\/\/chameleonresumes.com\/ghfYou won\u2019t ever look back \ud83d\ude42Be Well,LisaLisa Rangel – Executive Resume Writing ServicesChameleon Resumes "},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"When I Realized I Had to Learn the Most Important Skill to Succeed","item":"https:\/\/chameleonresumes.com\/when-realized-learn-most-important-skill-succeed#breadcrumbitem"}]}]