After you have called the SWOT team on your personal brand
to raid it in a thorough and merciless manner, it is time to turn some
of that weaknesses into strengths and opportunities.
Now, soft skills are some of the most difficult competencies for
people to understand. We struggle with the challenge of defining,
demonstrating, and recognising soft skills. Here are some to hone to
assist you in attaining a ‘yes’ instead of a ‘no’ in your endeavours.
Hard vs. Soft Skills
The term ‘soft skills’ is often
difficult to understand. Soft
skills are also referred to as
transferable skills, interpersonal
skills, or social skills. Soft
skills are difficult to measure.
Hard skills, in contrast, are
those skills that are very easily
measured and defined. These
include abilities like accounting,
computer programming, or
dentistry. You can easily
obtain a degree or professional
certification in these areas.
Hard skills apply to very specific
professions. Web design skills
are not applicable to a career as
a surgeon. Hard skills lock you
into a particular occupation.
But soft skills are highly flexible
and serve you well in numerous
occupations and settings. They
take more effort and creativity
to properly demonstrate these
abilities, but are highly valuable
to any situation.
Professionalism
Some key skills of professionalism are selfmotivation, work ethics, and resilience. They are skilled in time management and possess the skills needed to overcome common challenges, such as patience and stress management.
Interpersonal Skills
Interpersonal skills are another important subset of your soft skills. These skills pertain to how you relate to others, both inside and outside the company. Demonstrating strong listening skills, emotional intelligence, and communication skills will serve you well no matter where you are. Those who are good at networking will reap the benefits of this valuable asset as well.
Leadership and Management Skills
While leadership skills are most
relevant to those in a business
management position, do not
think that you have to be at the
top of the pack to showcase
these soft skills. Demonstrating
that you are an effective leader
will serve you well in any
industry or position.
Good leaders (managers) are
skilled with problem solving
and project management. They
are usually good at performing
essential research and analytics.
Strong leaders also know how to
handle interpersonal issues that
arise with those around them.
They have critical observation
skills that help them identify
problems as well as conflict
resolution skills to help them
skillfully mediate disagreements.