Free Promote Yourself by Dan Schawbel
Authors: Dan Schawbel
intelligence, youâll become the person everyone wants to work with. Youâll become an influencer and a leader. Youâll also be very much in charge of managing the way youâre perceived by others. Donât wait to be judged by others. Instead, focus on highlighting your abilities in a way that clearly demonstrates (as opposed to you having to say anything) the skills you have and the value you and those skills bring to your team and your employer.
The difference between hard skills and soft is kind of like the difference between a single computer and a network. You can do a lot of stuff with the computer, but the network allows you to communicate with other computers, access the companyâs intranet from home, and print a document from the other side of the building. One computer gets the job done, but the network lets you get so much more out of every device thatâs connected. I asked a number of managers at Fortune 500 companies to tell me about the soft skills they think young employees will need if they want to move up in their careers. Hereâs what they said:
⢠Strong work ethic
⢠Optimism/positive attitude
⢠Good communication skills
⢠Good conversation skills
⢠Storytelling abilities for presentations
⢠Time management abilities
⢠The ability to listen and to speak to the âhuman needsâ of coworkers and customers and make them feel understood and respected
⢠Being good at reading people
⢠Ability to build relationships and connect with others on a deep level
⢠Exercise tact when delivering a message
⢠The ability to propose solutions to problems, not just talk about problems
⢠Meaningfully contribute to brainstorming
⢠Ability to write well
⢠Problem-solving skills
⢠Team player
⢠Being likable
⢠Self-confidence
⢠Can accept and learn from criticism
⢠Flexibility/adaptability
⢠Can work well under pressure
⢠Empathy
⢠Integrity
⢠Sense of humor
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How Important Are Soft Skills?
To be perfectly blunt, people with hard skills are a dime a dozen. A high school kid can probably learn most of the hard skills that would be required to do just about any job, but itâs doubtful that he or she would have the emotional maturity and people skills to make it in a Fortune 200 company. In Chapter 2, we talked about how important it is to stand out. Well, nothing will make you stand out more than the ability to bring out the best in yourself and others. So how important are soft skills? In a word, theyâre critical.
âSufficient soft skills enable the employee to learn the hard skills: they see the value, and they see the bigger picture,â Susan Langill, Food & Nutrition Director at Sodexo, told me. âA successful employee has enthusiasm, drive, social filters, interpersonal skills, and an eagerness to learn and succeed. This employee will advance your team and your organization and with these transferable skills is capable of learning most or all the hard skills needed to perform most of the job tasks within an organization.â
Let me give you a few more examples:
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⢠71 percent of employers say they value emotional intelligence over IQ, according to CareerBuilder.com . Fifty-nine percent would not hire someone with a high IQ but low emotional intelligence.
Â
⢠When my company interviewed employers about the most important traits they look for when hiring students, 98 percent said âcommunication skills,â 97 percent said âpositive attitude,â and 97 percent said âteamwork.â
Â
⢠89 percent of people who get fired within the first eighteen months on the job are let go because of attitudinal reasons; only 11 percent because of a lack of skills, according to Mark Murphy, founder and CEO of Leadership IQ.
Â
⢠When evaluating an employeeâs performance, 32 percent
The difference between hard skills and soft is kind of like the difference between a single computer and a network. You can do a lot of stuff with the computer, but the network allows you to communicate with other computers, access the companyâs intranet from home, and print a document from the other side of the building. One computer gets the job done, but the network lets you get so much more out of every device thatâs connected. I asked a number of managers at Fortune 500 companies to tell me about the soft skills they think young employees will need if they want to move up in their careers. Hereâs what they said:
⢠Strong work ethic
⢠Optimism/positive attitude
⢠Good communication skills
⢠Good conversation skills
⢠Storytelling abilities for presentations
⢠Time management abilities
⢠The ability to listen and to speak to the âhuman needsâ of coworkers and customers and make them feel understood and respected
⢠Being good at reading people
⢠Ability to build relationships and connect with others on a deep level
⢠Exercise tact when delivering a message
⢠The ability to propose solutions to problems, not just talk about problems
⢠Meaningfully contribute to brainstorming
⢠Ability to write well
⢠Problem-solving skills
⢠Team player
⢠Being likable
⢠Self-confidence
⢠Can accept and learn from criticism
⢠Flexibility/adaptability
⢠Can work well under pressure
⢠Empathy
⢠Integrity
⢠Sense of humor
Â
How Important Are Soft Skills?
To be perfectly blunt, people with hard skills are a dime a dozen. A high school kid can probably learn most of the hard skills that would be required to do just about any job, but itâs doubtful that he or she would have the emotional maturity and people skills to make it in a Fortune 200 company. In Chapter 2, we talked about how important it is to stand out. Well, nothing will make you stand out more than the ability to bring out the best in yourself and others. So how important are soft skills? In a word, theyâre critical.
âSufficient soft skills enable the employee to learn the hard skills: they see the value, and they see the bigger picture,â Susan Langill, Food & Nutrition Director at Sodexo, told me. âA successful employee has enthusiasm, drive, social filters, interpersonal skills, and an eagerness to learn and succeed. This employee will advance your team and your organization and with these transferable skills is capable of learning most or all the hard skills needed to perform most of the job tasks within an organization.â
Let me give you a few more examples:
Â
⢠71 percent of employers say they value emotional intelligence over IQ, according to CareerBuilder.com . Fifty-nine percent would not hire someone with a high IQ but low emotional intelligence.
Â
⢠When my company interviewed employers about the most important traits they look for when hiring students, 98 percent said âcommunication skills,â 97 percent said âpositive attitude,â and 97 percent said âteamwork.â
Â
⢠89 percent of people who get fired within the first eighteen months on the job are let go because of attitudinal reasons; only 11 percent because of a lack of skills, according to Mark Murphy, founder and CEO of Leadership IQ.
Â
⢠When evaluating an employeeâs performance, 32 percent
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