Professional Skills that Really Count

Advancing your education is great.  Seminars, webinars, night classes, books... all can give you tactical skills and ideas that you can use to improve your performance.  But what skills are most relevant to success in today's competitive workplace?  It's not always the things you think.

Here are some soul-searching questions to ask yourself.  Your answers will largely dictate your ability to thrive in a new workplace reality.

1. How good am I at solving problems and making hard decisions?  Fundamental creative skills are in hot demand.  Assess your ability to attack a problem and devise multiple viable solutions.  Be honest about your adaptability and willingness to react to unseen events and unexpected barriers.
2. How good are my analysis skills?  Data is not in short supply these days.  What most companies lack is people with the ability to assimilate data and use it to make decisions.  Are you able to integrate logic with intuition and look broadly to recognize actionable trends and key indicators?
3. How good am I at presenting and communicating information?  You can't influence major change without the ability to stand and deliver a powerful argument.  Honest communication that wows people with your authenticity and smarts will get you ahead.
4. How good am I at managing conflict?  Harmony is counter-productive at times and diversity is the new watchword in business innovation.  If you can preserve healthy work dynamics and lead others through crisis and disagreement you'll find your skills in high demand in the coming years.
5. How good are my listening skills?  The ability to speak clearly and present ideas succinctly is wonderful, but individuals who can listen and adapt their responses to influence others possess a priceless gift.  Listening, not just for words but for context and emotion, is an invaluable skill to nurture.
6. How good am I at building trust?  Trusting relationships are an absolute requirement in today's cut-throat work world.  And trusting relationships naturally emerge from your ability to exhibit behaviors that earn respect and encourage open, productive interactions.
7. How good am I at demonstrating appreciation?  A lot of workers today waste a great deal of time and energy constantly telling everyone around them how great they are.  Here's a tip... if you have to tell other people you're awesome - you aren't.  Expend your energy building other people up, accentuating the positive and offering genuine gratitude to the team around you.  It will pay big dividends.