I work mainly with professionals who pay much attention to developing hard skills in hopes of fast-tracking promotions.
Hard skills are essential, but if you want to venture into a leadership role, understanding your perception from others is crucial. As an executive coach, I’ve found that a growing number of organizations prefer leaders who possess sharp emotional intelligence, personal awareness and a sense of service. Sure, you can be the best accountant in your firm, but that will no longer guarantee you a leadership role if you struggle to collaborate with others.
A recent study by Google listed the eight qualities their top employees have in common, and hard skills, such as coding and math, came in last. The essential skills for success are soft skills. Among them are listening, coaching, excellent communication and critical thinking.
The work world is changing rapidly, and if you are serious about climbing the corporate ladder and becoming a leader in your organization, here are some of the skills that are being sought today.
1. Social Intelligence
Having strong social intelligence skills, or what I like to refer to as “street smarts,” is just as crucial as being book smart when it comes to advancing your career and guiding your company to success. Having the ability to deal with the potential difficulties of life in any environment is an essential skill. Leaders who have high social intelligence:
• Have strong conversational skills;
• Have the ability to read others;
• Build strategic partnerships with peers;
• Can navigate different social environments.
These skills will significantly improve your chances of creating meaningful and successful relationships with people in any organization. Three tips for increasing social intelligence are:
• Face stressful or awkward situations right on. Manage to get into uncomfortable situations; these will force you to get out of your comfort zone.
• Don’t be afraid to get different perspectives. Purposely looking for other people’s thoughts, advice and opinions will increase your perspective and give you a more comprehensive view of what others are thinking.
• “Do” different experiences, including finding hobbies, traveling or developing new skills. Activities that are different from your everyday life will complement your social intelligence. A former mentor once told me, “Do more. Make doing your ‘modus operandi.'”
2. Creativity
From my perspective, “creativity” is the most significant area of opportunity. Creativity is among the top skills hiring managers are seeking. I once thought creativity was only vital for professionals in fields such as architectural design or creative writing, but was I wrong. Creativity is a necessity for anyone who wants to improve at their job, artistic or not. If you’re going to get better at any job, be it finance, compliance, science, customer service, human resources, etc., invest the time to develop your creative skills.
Creative leaders can develop ideas and experiment with solutions to address everyday problems faster than non-creative ones. In my experience coaching hundreds of executives, the creative ones are not afraid of the unknown and can tolerate risk, which in turn opens the door to discover novel opportunities for innovation and growth.
The good news is that you are capable of developing creativity. You can learn strategies to become more creative. Simple activities like collaborating with others, asking for feedback, writing down your ideas or solving puzzles will give you a needed boost.
3. Digital Literacy
In 2020, I believe it’s time for professionals to stop saying, “I am not good with technology,” and expect to succeed. Gone is the era when knowing how to prepare a simple presentation is enough to get by in business. Today, technology is an ever-evolving skill that is 100% necessary.
The American Library Association’s Digital Literacy Task Force defines “digital literacy” as, “The ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills.”
Technology literacy is about maximizing digital tools effectively to solve everyday problems, be more productive, work collaboratively and remotely.
Improving your technical skills is not a matter of age; it’s a matter of mindset. Anyone can develop these skills, and an excellent place to start is at your local community college or taking an online course from home.
4. Working And Collaborating Remotely
Also known as virtual work, the trend of working remotely is rising. According to GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com, alternative workplaces (such as home or shared workplaces) have grown by 173% since 2005.
It’s imperative to prepare yourself for this growing trend by boosting your remote collaboration skills. Start by learning how to use tools such as video-call conferencing, project management software, instant messaging and interactive email.
5. Negotiating
Usually thought of as a skill that only sales professionals or corporate lawyers should master, negotiation is often overlooked as a critical leadership competency.
If you are a leader, you know you must be prepared to manage situations that involve mediating, contracting services, presenting new ways of working, complicated client relationships or even negotiating a new salary structure for your team.
The first step when developing killer negotiation skills is to understand negotiation dynamics:
• Assess the situation. You must understand the outcomes each party wants to see in the situation.
• Look for shared values and shared goals.
• Let the other party establish their case first. You will have a better feel for the conditions surrounding the situation.
• Don’t ignore small differences, and resolve them before they become a problem. It’s imperative to learn what makes your colleagues light up and what triggers them.
• Make it a priority to create connections and working relationships. You’ll find that in any negotiation, a strong connection enhances the chances of a positive outcome.
Soft skills aren’t hard to learn.
These represent just a few of the top soft skills you’ll need to develop to be successful in today’s business world and what I’ve found many employers now expect. If you want to improve your career or benefit your business, consider choosing one of the areas mentioned and dedicate one hour per week to its development.Are you ready to step up in your career in a big way? Let’s have a conversation. Contact me to schedule a complimentary consultation at HERE!
