So True you Can’t Ignore it.

Book Review of “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” by Cal Newport: 

When I started my work in Career Services the concept of “following your passion” had become very popular. It makes more headlines and gets more clicks than, “skills and hard work build competence and career success.” It made sense to me on a personal level. My passion was career development and I had done a lot to follow that path, so it seemed right. Until one night, on a long flight, I read a book that caused me to question it all.

Heading out of town for a work trip, I boarded a plane with “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” in my hand. I read it cover to cover. I understood from the examples that passion is important, incredible and very needed. However, what was missing in the “find your passion” message is that passion doesn’t automatically manifest a skillset or competence. Passion doesn’t build credibility. It may be the passion that sustains you through the long hours, the learning, the failing and the growing, which do build those things. In the end, it’s the skills and knowledge you have that make you good, and certainly what will make you great.

Skills and hard work will build competence as well as passion.

I knew all of that, but I needed the words in the book to articulate it and really get my thinking critically about the idea. Steve Martin said essentially the same thing (very succinctly). When asked what makes someone successful in Hollywood, he said, “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” 

Although Steve Martin said it in a concise way, the stories and examples in Cal Newport’s book really made it come together. There were examples of people who gave it all up to follow their passion, but didn’t take the time to build up the credibility, th knowledge base and skills required to be successful in their new arena. Through his research and anecdotes, Newport makes the case that ‘following your passion’ is not the only key to success. Instead, he argues, it takes hard work, dedication and some luck to master your field. He claims that after this mastery comes the passion, which can build and grow from all of those things. 

The main points of this book support the idea that skills and hard work build competence:

1. Following your passion may not always lead you to success.
2. Mastering skills and building expertise will give you greater chances at achieving career satisfaction. 
3. Meaningful work cannot just be discovered but must be crafted through a lot of practice.

For all of those who have not discovered their “passion”.

If you haven’t discovered your passion, this might be a helpful read for you. I have worked with a lot of people who felt like failures because they hadn’t yet found their passion. It kept them seeking and chasing, rather than focusing on what they were doing at that moment. There is no guarantee of course that passion will grow as you build your skills and work hard, but it helps to know that you don’t have to find your passion in order to start building an incredible career. 

Newport recognizes that having a passion for something can be very beneficial and certainly can add to your level of dedication. However, for those who haven’t yet discovered their passion, this concept can feel very encouraging. If a person has reached a level of competence in their field then they can take pride knowing they have attained something valuable which no one can take away from them. They can take this wherever they go, no matter what they do.

The book also offers advice on how to apply this information when deciding on a career path or making a switch within an existing profession. He also emphasized the importance of people understanding their unique value. That stood out to me as something people need to focus on when starting and building their careers. It lines up with the self-assessment and awareness I enocourage. It’s important to know who you are and what you bring to the table, before making big career decisions. Building your unique skills and hard work toward those skills will continue to build competence and success over time.

Another sound suggestion was to surround yourself with people willing to provide honest feedback. He suggested being around those who can help you develop your craft and provide feedback as you grow and enhance your skills. 

Keep building competence, the passion will follow.

Overall, Cal Newport’s book was eye-opening to me. I have spent a lot of time reading, developing, taking courses, stretching myself, running workshops and many more things that made me grow as a Career Coach. Yes, the passion was there, but it was fueled by the learning, development and growth over time. I love the work, but that doesn’t take anything away from the fact that building skills and a lot of years of hard work have helped me to be competent. Hopefully, it makes me so good you can’t ignore me. I am confident that my desire to want to be that good will keep me moving forward, developing skills and always improving my service and my craft. My goal is to support you through a similar journey.

Let me know what you think of the book. This post includes affiliate links, where I earn a small commission if you decide to purchase this item (no extra cost to you). It helps the Career Cafe continue to grow and offer career development support and resources.