10 Skills You Need to Succeed

Having the technical skills and knowledge to successfully execute your job duties is only one part of being the best you can be in the workplace. In addition, we also need those skills that will allow us to effectively work with others. No matter what your position, organization, or industry, you work with people. Uncover the top 10 skills you need to succeed.

1. ADAPTABILITY 

Gen Y will change jobs on average 9 times during their career.  According to a recent Millennial Branding report, 45% of Millennials will choose workplace flexibility over pay. An openness to change is standard for the 21st workforce and there’s no going back.

TIPS AND ACTIONS

  • Be open to alternative solutions when your first suggestion does not go over well or succeed.
  • Be willing to take on new roles, even when they are a stretch for your skills.

2. POSITIVE ATTITUDE

A positive attitude breeds productivity and resilience. Optimists handle stress better than do pessimists (Michael F. Scheier, a psychologist at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh.) Underpin it with a strong work ethic and goals suddenly seem that much easier.

TIPS AND ACTIONS

  • Take time to clarify what your personal goals are – care for your self
  • Outline clear group goals – care for others
  • Communicate honestly and value transparency

3. COMMUNICATION

Modern communication is complicated. Verbal, nonverbal, body language, music, art, emails, SMS, posts…no wonder we don’t always get it right.

“Wise men speak because they have something to say. Fools because they have to say something.”

PLATO

TIPS AND ACTIONS

  • Brush up on your body language – 70% of communication is non-verbal
  • Use “Active Listening” – stay focused on the present and reflect back to check you really have been listening rather than focusing on your reply

4. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

“The ability to recognize and manage our feelings so that they are expressed appropriately.” Easier said than done. We can choose our friends but not our family nor our work colleagues.  That’s life. Buy some wood, build a bridge and get over it. When you get to the other side, work on the big 4.

THE BIG FOUR TO PRACTICE

  • Self-awareness: The ability to recognize our own feelings and motivations
  • Self-management: The ability to appropriately express (or not express) feelings
  • Social awareness: Our ability to recognize the feelings and needs of others, and the norms of a given situation
  • Relationship management: Our ability to relate effectively to others

5. NETWORKING

“Instead of telling the world what you're eating for breakfast, you can use social networking to do something that's meaningful.”

EDWARD NORTON

Networking is not just a connect on LinkedIn, although that’s a start. Networking is all about mutually beneficial links. If you are not reaching out to others to help leverage goals, then you will only ever achieve one speed.

6. PROBLEM SOLVING

Whatever the industry or role, problem-solving is part of the job. Whether you use euphemisms such as “challenge” or “exciting opportunity”, problems are part of growth as sure as night and day.

TIPS AND ACTIONS

  • Look out for problems
  • Understand them
  • Create networks to help find solutions.

7. PROFESSIONALISM

Not just what you wear. Not just what you say.  Professionalism is the ability to conduct yourself with responsibility, integrity, accountability, and excellence. Civility in the workplace is a simple bookmark.

8. SELF-CONFIDENCE

The single greatest thing you can do for your own success is to learn to show self-confidence. Self-confidence is not arrogance; it is believing that you know what to do and how to do it and that you can handle whatever comes your way.

TIPS AND ACTIONS

  • Value finding out what is right more than you value being right
  • Listen more than you speak and share the spotlight with others
  • Ask for help when you need it

9. TEAM WORK

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.”

MICHAEL JACKSON

Assigning a team member work that is completely outside his or her skill set is a recipe for failure. On the other hand, leveraging all the diverse capabilities, skills, and talents on your team helps you achieve the maximum results.

TIPS AND ACTIONS

  • Know your own skills and strengths
  • Know the skills and strengths of those around you

10. TIME MANAGEMENT

We all know about time management and the usual response is “I don’t have time to apply time management.”  10-12 minutes invested in planning your day will save at least 2 hours of wasted time and effort throughout the day –  “Eat the Frog” by Brian Tracy. This is a skill you need to get to grips with, end of story and you can then comfort yourself with this fact:

“Taking 5 minutes per day, 5 days per week to improve one’s job will create 1,200 little improvements to a job over a 5 year period.”

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