I get asked this question a lot, from clients, friends, and even my own kids. I used to ask it myself and at one time I blamed my own problems with success on my lack of a degree. Then I started learning about very successful people who never finished college (and in some cases not even high school). People like Bill Gates, Paula Deen, Ralph Loren, Ellen DeGeneres, and many others. It’s amazing how many well known people are on that list and you can read about a lot of them at: www.collegedropoutshalloffame.com/
But what about the average person? What about YOU? Must you be educated in order to be successful?
Let’s cut to the chase…
YES - you must be educated to be successful.
NO - it doesn’t necessarily have to be any sort of formal (college) education.
No matter what you do, if you want to be successful you’re going to have to learn to do it well. And that requires education and lots of it! But it doesn’t have to come in the form of syllabi or formal courses of study. A lot can be learned on your own through life experience (if you pay attention) with targeted education to fill in the gaps.
Not sure how this applies to you? Here’s an example to get those mental wheels turning:
You want to own a restaurant but you didn’t go to culinary school or major in restaurant management.
Your education? First and foremost, you immerse yourself in the restaurant business. You get a job at a restaurant, or several. While there your eyes and ears are wide open for every type of information you can soak in. You are eager and enthusiastic and your bosses all love you. You do everything from washing dishes and taking out trash to waiting tables, running the register, and learning the administrative part of the business. You get chummy with the staff, management, suppliers, maintenance people, government inspectors, and customers because you know they’re all potential contacts for the future.
You do everything with the intention that this is your “restaurant education” and you take it seriously. You don’t limit yourself to one restaurant, but work in several different restaurants to get a feel for different management styles and ways of doing things.
You do research, read related books and publications, and perhaps even take a targeted class or two. Not toward a degree per se but with the intention of filling in the gaps and giving yourself a more complete picture of the whole “restaurant story.”
When it’s all said and done you’ll end up with is a composite “blueprint” from which to start your own gig. By the time you’re ready to open your own place you’ll be miles ahead and have a solid foundation from which to launch your own successful restaurant. And all without a formal piece of paper from an accredited school.
What you’ve done is created your own curriculum
for what I call your very own, highly targeted, “degree of me!”
But what if you don’t want to be an entrepreneur? What if you just want to work in a specific industry? While the corporate world is very degree oriented (and unfortunately they do miss out on some very good employees because of that), and there are some fields for which a degree is required and a very good idea (doctors, attorneys, etc.), it still is possible to become successful without a degree. The key to success here is experience.
For instance, a bookkeeper with 20 years real world experience is probably just as good if not better than a CPA fresh out of college. Someone who’s been building custom cars in their garage for 20 years can run circles around anyone fresh out of mechanic school. And a non-degreed medical assistant who’s been working in a busy doctor’s office for many years can do the job of several “fresh out of school” people.
Are you getting it? The more experience you have the more qualified you are to do a particular job. And truly age matters here too. When I was in my 20s everyone wanted to see my college transcript. Now in my 40s no one even asks where I went to college.
So how do you get that experience, especially if you’re just starting out? You do as I did… you start at the bottom and work your way up (yes this still works). Do every job eagerly with plenty of energy and attention to detail. Take the initiative and keep doing a little more and more, even if you’re not getting paid extra for it. Be a “company person,” letting the higher ups know you’re ready and willing to take on more responsibility. If you need a class to advance then take it (and see if your employer will pick up the tab). Be a team player and do everything with the intention that your contribution helps the entire company succeed.
Avoid back stabbing and politics by making your boss shine and becoming an indispensible part of his/her own success ladder (people feel threatened if they think you’re trying to take their job but will help you immensely if they think you are trying to help them move ahead).
And if you realize (and you’ll know within a few months to a year) that the place you are at won’t take you where you want to go then learn everything you can and then take your skills and move on. If you do this correctly then everyone will be sorry to see you leave and you'll have great references and contacts for the future. Keep learning, building your skills, and nurturing professional relationships everywhere you go, creating your own personal skill set and circle of influence that will become invaluable in the future.
The bottom line is keep learning and practicing what you learn until you become an expert at it! Then use that knowledge in the real world to build your own business or career – even without that piece of paper.
So to sum up….
Education – Super Important!
College degree – Not so much so.
Now get out there and start building your success!
