Three ‘must-have’ soft skills

I work with many smart and successful professionals. They are ambitious and keen to move to the next level. They’ve said to me…

• “I am ready for a bigger challenge, but I don’t know what else I need to do to secure my next role”
• “My manager has told me that I need to be more Strategic – how do I do that? What does it even mean?”
• “I’m told that my ideas are great but that I need to get better at Influencing so that I can be heard”
• “I’m stuck! I’ve tried everything and can’t get promoted”

This is where SOFT SKILLS can make a huge difference. Not just the foundational soft skills like Communication, Collaboration, Teamwork, etc but the ones that will give you an EDGE.

Leading workplace economists believe that we need to increase our focus on Soft Skills competencies into the future because ‘soft skill-intensive jobs’ will grow 2.5x faster than other jobs, with demand exceeding supply by 45%.

So what?

Well, there are three vital soft skills to master if you want to upgrade your career in 2021 and beyond.

You don’t need them in any particular order, but you need them to elevate your career to the next level.

Here is a simple and insightful 2-pager guide on the Three ‘must-have’ Soft Skills.

Get it now and start implementing the insights at work. You will be glad you took the time.

We’re all super busy.

The typical work calendar is blocked out with back-to-back meetings, huddles, workshops, town halls…so many things to attend.

And, because of this, the only time left in the day to do the work is after hours. This is the only time when you can slow down and find the space to do the thinking required to DO the work.

It’s a reality that can lead to burnout.

A recent Harvard Business Review article concluded that “burnout is a global issue”. The article is based on research carried out in 2020 with over 1500 respondents in 46 countries, across various industry sectors, roles and, seniority levels.

Two key findings that stand out are:

1. 89% of respondents said their work-life was getting worse
2. 62% of the people who were struggling to manage their workloads had experienced burnout “often” or “extremely often” in the previous three months

When burnout sets in, time for thinking declines and, the quality of thinking deteriorates.

If you’re a leader with a team, department or, an organisation looking up to you for vision, strategy, or leadership you must make time to THINK!

Creating this mental space has many benefits:

• Raising your productivity
• Increasing your creativity
• Enhancing innovation
• Increasing your problem-solving ability
• Learning and growing through reflection
• Evaluating the effectiveness of actions, results and, decisions

So how do you find time to think? Here are a few suggestions…

1. Do something physical like walking, swimming or running
2. Engage in free form writing or journaling
3. Practise thinking out loud by talking with someone
4. Take time away from your work or your desk
5. Using your commute time to think rather than catching up on work.

What will you choose?