The Classy Owl

As we all know, we need need certain skills to stand out and get ahead in life. That goes double for jobs and careers. Here are some of the most important ones. I strongly recommend writing these down and maybe even literally putting them up on your wall or creating a space that is for self improvement. Especially the ones you really need to work on. I don’t know about you but when something is right in my face it’s pretty difficult to ignore! And these are great for creating a very well rounded and skilled you. These skills will help you in all aspects of life but will be particularly useful in the employment sector. Let’s start nailing!

Communication

One of the most important, this is using those interpersonal skills to interact with other people. Being able to listen and understand other’s needs goes hand in hand with this as well. By listening you will better understand the situation at hand and be able to communicate more effectively. Learning the power of persuasion, being able to diffuse a bad situation like calm an angry customer or co-worker, getting your point across professionally without stuttering or fumbling over your words and repeating yourself will get you farther in life. That of course includes eliminating slang and talking like you’re a rapper “nah mean?” It’s ok to do this while hanging around your friends and family but no one will take you seriously if you show up at an interview ready to pound the interviewers fist saying, “What up dog.” You want to create a professional demeanor and honestly you will have an easier time adjusting to a professional speech pattern with fewer slip ups and more people will take you seriously even outside of work if you remove that style of speech from your repertoire. Practice how you pronounce words and if using big words make sure you are using them correctly. It is pretty embarrassing to get caught using the wrong definition of something. Also it is becoming more desirable to have bilingual employees due to the diversity our country has been developing so it would put you a mile above the rest just having a second language or more under your belt as well. Being able to communicate in different languages really comes in handy. Believe me, I know from experience. I worked in 2 companies that had mostly Spanish speaking workers. Management mostly knew English so I became a great middle man that helped me move up positions just on that skill alone. And I was only Intermediately advanced. You don’t necessarily have to be fluent but that is always the goal. Just being able to get the main point across helps a long way.

Practice communication by:

• Listening to others
• Understanding the situation
• Interacting with others
• Speaking out loud in front of the mirror or to yourself while doing other things
• Perfecting Pronunciation
• Persuading to get what you want or need
• Learn a new language

Leadership

People need a leader to follow. There is a leader in every situation. Your group of friends probably has one who most likely decides where you all go when you hang out. Even if you all agree they had the idea and you followed, maybe your the leader in that situation and always seem to be the one who has to make the decisions. This is being a Leader. Having the ability to make decisions that benefit the whole group or business is crucial. Employers need someone who is self motivated and doesn’t need to be baby sat the whole time. They want you to do your job and do it well. And it feels good to be the person everyone looks up to. Developing this skill will give you a much greater chance on moving up in your career from being a team leader, supervisor, manager to running your own business, leadership is an important skill. It is pretty amazing how quickly people tend to look to you for answers when you start using leadership skills. Many times at different jobs I was often newer than anyone else. But after learning the job well I spoke up and helped others when needed to do thier job. In no time I was the go to person in a matter of a couple of months from people who had years of seniority over me and even managers began asking my opinion on situations and for help accomplishing specific tasks. People began to notice me and they would talk about me among others how helpful I was and a good leader I was. This was great for putting me on the radar for upper management as higher positions were easier for me to obtain with all the recommendations. My manager literally said before he hired me he would be stupid to ignore me considering how many people referred me to the position. The same thing happened to my significant other when he started to develop his leadership skills. He began getting promotions and could easily ask for a raise when he needed one. This also helped us boost our confidence as a bonus as we became more and more comfortable leading, helping in many situations in our work and personal life.

Develop leadership by:

• Making more decisions
• Analyzing situations and creating solutions to the problems
• Sounding confident in yourself even if you are not
• Help others in need of direction
• Speak up and let yourself be known to people of lower and higher titles alike in a courteous and professional manner.

Teamwork

Being independent is a good thing but you also need to be able to work with others to accomplish tasks. Teamwork is being able to problem solve with a group. Being able to negotiate between peers and come to an agreement with each other. Help one another out in times of confusion or distress. Managers want people who can work on a team as it greatly reduces problems at work and helps to create an efficient, smooth operation. You often begin to develop these skills while in school working with others on projects. This in turn helps you learn how to problem solve when facing various challenges at work. For example. I was a QA for a while in the food industry. I checked the quality of the product the production personnel was putting out. When there was an issue with the quality I had to gather management and the personnel involved and come up with a solution to fix the issue. We would collaborate until we found a suitable solution that would still comply with regulations. There were many instances where we would disagree with each other, even on occasion getting into arguments. It was only when we decided to work as a team for the benefit of the company and the customer when we were able to come to a solution and agreement to the problem at hand. You may be faced with a projects at work where you need to come up with a presentation or have an assignment at work where each of you gets a task. I worked once in a warehouse as a part time job where we had to get orders of toys shipped out to different places. The job was very simple; unpack the toys, lay them out on the table in an orderly fashion, label them, re-pack them in a new box in the numbers needed then place them on the pallet. Everyone wanted to do the label because it was the easiest, least physical part of the job. I was the best at it; being able to do it fast enough to keep up with the packers but still keep the label perfectly straight. Everyone else would mess up the position of the label because they would try to be fast but going faster is much harder to keep accuracy. Luckily for me I worked on an assembly line as a labeler in the past so this was a piece of cake to me considering a machine was much faster than a non moving table. This job was mostly about speed. If someone was too slow at one task at either end it would back the line up. It was important to put people who were best at each task in their respective positions to reduce frustration and getting behind on the assignment. It is important to recognize everyone’s skills to see who is best at what task. The others would have to make a sacrifice to do the more physically demanding job in order to keep everything running smooth. And sometimes we would need to be willing to help out with various tasks with those who fell behind to get things back on track. Even if it’s not our responsibility it shows to help out those in need and be able to keep a calm, reasonable demeanor.

Build teamwork skills by:

• Negotiate between peers. Be able to come to an agreement without losing your temper. Use persuasion and reasoning skills to get your point across. Facts always strengthen your position.
• Choose to work with a team rather than by yourself whenever possible
• Compromise. Sometimes you need to be able to let go a little and find some common ground to be able to get the task done.
• Slowly build trust and openness between peers. When people trust you they are more willing to work with you and it becomes easier to communicate tasks and what’s needed.
• Help out whenever possible. Remember you have the same end goals in mind.

Organization

Organization factors into many aspects of your career and life. Not being organized creates chaos and confusion. To be organized you need to create a schedule for yourself and create an order in which you accomplish tasks. By doing this you stay on time by not getting behind. This includes getting to work on time as well as tasks. Everything gets done. You don’t miss anything and it gets done correctly. One of my jobs I worked in an office. My job was to check stacks of paperwork 2 feet high. After checking the accuracy and filling out things I needed to get any errors corrected. Once all error were corrected I had to file each paper in their respective folders. If something was misfiled, not complete or incorrect my job was on the line as this was how to company was able to keep their license when they got inspected. Whenever something went missing there would be a panic. Which was even worse when other people would go into the files and not put them back correctly or at all. I created a system in which I completed my tasks so I would not miss anything. I had an order in which I accomplished everything. If something through me out of that order something was bound to go wrong. I was hired for this position right after the company failed their first inspection. They had one more chance and 3 months to get their stuff together before they lost thier license. In those 3 months I was able to help them get everything together and have a system in place which everyone followed so they wouldn’t lose anything. This system also included banning everyone who was not management or me from accessing the files. If someone needed some information they needed to ask me, if I was not around they needed to ask management. They would view the file right there and it would not leave the room. when they were done it would go back into the proper folder. This new process with the organization implemented allowed them to pass the inspection and have their license renewed.

Become organized by:

• Creating an order for your tasks and follow it through
• Utilize the clock to know how long each task should take and how long you need and when to be done
• Have a schedule in place for when to do these tasks and stick to it
• Have an organization system and supplies to keep everything organized

Presentation

Presentation skills are typically for anyone in higher positions such as team leaders or managers. They are most common in sales environments particularly. It is vital to have this skill for explaining how things work to clients and co-workers alike. whether it is talking about a new product launching or ideas to drive sales, these skills are what get you heard and bring your thoughts to life. Having good presentation skills will get you noticed and on track to better positions and raises. You will notice there are a lot of building blocks from other skills that help create the foundation of being great at presentations.

Develop presentation by:

• Volunteering to speak at events or in front of the team about new products or ideas. Be the person that mainly presents in school projects if applicable to strengthen your public speaking
• Practice explaining how things work in detail. Imagine any questions that may be asked and come up with answers. If you don’t know the answer get back to them on it when you find out.
• Eliminate or at least limit any stutters or filler words such as “ummm” and “like”. Be smooth, utilize those communication skills to strengthen this area.
• Come up with plans and projects and have them organized.
• Learn how to put together a solid, professional presentation using software like PowerPoint. Slideshows and posters are great ways to grab attention and keep your audience interested.

Confidence

Confidence will open doors you never thought were possible. Studies show that an average Joe-confident person is considered more attractive than a super attractive person who doesn’t have much confidence. And that’s not just for love. It goes a long way in the work force and in every day personal life settings. You tend to get what you want easier and persuade people around you better just by using your confidence to sway them. Someone who exudes confidence appears to be more of a leader. They know what to do in situations and can break ice in conversations more easily. Just by stepping up to the plate people will follow you anywhere; including leaders alike. Don’t be surprised if they start asking for your opinions and giving you more responsibilities, which in turn leads to more money of course. And don’t be fooled into thinking if you don’t get more money in this position that it’s not worth the responsibility. You can take these new skills to another position somewhere else if necessary. “Move up or move out,” has always been my motto for success. And take all the skills learned and responsibilities given for a sparkly resume.

Gain confidence by:

• Getting yourself out of your comfort zone. Go places you haven’t or wouldn’t have gone due to fear and do things that you otherwise wouldn’t. (Morally of course 😉 )
• Speak with people more and hold up conversations, especially to people you haven’t met before or don’t know that well.
• Take care of your appearance. Stay well groomed and dress nicely. You will feel better and others will notice.
• Stay positive. Negativity throws confidence out the window and everyone runs away from it. Being positive makes others more drawn to you to soak up some of that good feeling vibe that’s going on without even realizing it.
• Accomplishing goals will help you boost that confidence in an amazing way. Big or small, doesn’t matter, just create them and do them. Then feel that sweet feeling of pride and accomplishment wash over.

Critical Thinking

With the ability to solve problems and make decisions you stand out from the herd. Being able to work under pressure and complete tasks you can mow down obstacles and come out on top. According to philosophy.hku.hk/think/critical/ct.php; “Someone with critical thinking skills is able to do the following : understand the logical connections between ideas. Identify, construct and evaluate arguments. Detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning. Solve problems systematically. Identify the relevance and importance of ideas. Reflect on the justification of one’s own beliefs and values.” This is where you gain the necessary skills to solve morally conflicting issues or help find common ground between opinions.

Improve critical thinking by:

• Not being biased. While in a situation you may feel obligated to see it from your own perspective or someone you favor, as well as a situation that seems more favorable. Try to see the situation from all points of view. Allow yourself creativity to see all the outcomes, you may be surprised with what you come up with if you stayed on one side of things.
• Consider consequences. Every decision you make can have a consequence. It can affect sales or even relationships. Carefully delve through all possibilities. If an issue does arise, analyze it to fix it or prevent it from happening in the future.
• Question everything, even authority. Don’t always assume that because it seemed to have come from a reputable source such as a news channel, magazine article, political figure or police officer means its true. Maybe, just maybe that crazy, drunk hobo in the middle of nowhere really did see a UFO. Or maybe, just maybe there really is a cure all for cancers around the world already and we don’t even know it. Though these maybe’s seem way out there there could be some truth or logic behind it. Trust your gut and do more research to formulate your own opinion. But don’t go getting yourself in trouble now. ; )

Academic Competency/ Commercial Awareness

You wont get very far if you don’t have the knowledge to do regular tasks in the position you are in or hope to acquire some day. Things like reading, writing, numeric skills such as graphs and statistics, IT skills using email, internet, word processor and spreadsheet software as well as anything related to your field are all important. Having knowledge of the business or industry you are in plays a critical role as well. Know who you work for and what they do, where they came from etc. I was surprised to find a lot of my customers were very curious about where the franchise I worked for came from and how they came about. The reactions I received before I knew much about it was pretty embarrassing. Once I picked up the knowledge they were much more impressed and saw me as more of an equal or someone more impressive depending on their personal situation. And of course I constantly studied things about my field even if it wasn’t directly related. As a pet groomer I basically cut hair and nails and gave baths and brush outs to pets. Seems pretty straight forward right? Wrong! Apparently and probably very similar with your hairstylist (which you may not have thought about) also came across various medical conditions such as dry skin, greasy hair, lumps and bumps, parasites, wounds, infections, etc. It became apparent to me it would be helpful to gain some more medical knowledge so I was able to better inform the owner about what was wrong or suspected of their pet. Though I made it very clear my advise was no substitute for a professional veterinarian diagnosis, at least they could be aware that something was wrong and what may be the cause as well as if it may be severe or not. If it was a mild situation I could give them some care advice for the issue as well. Most clients respected me more for this knowledge and preferred I stayed as their regular groomer as they felt much more comfortable having someone that knew what they were doing and was looking out for the best interest in their pet. The same could be said with a client of your own or upper level management. People want someone with knowledge, who they can trust. Who shows they are committed and can face anything. Even if I did not know they answer I did some research to find out what I could. It was as simple as doing a simple google search or making a phone call before entering the room and sometimes that’s all it takes. You don’t have to be an expert (although it helps), you just have to show some initiative and basic knowledge to get the respect and trust. Knowing a little bit about something is better than knowing a whole lot of nothing; if that makes sense.

Gain academic competency and commercial awareness by:

• Study the skills related to your field. Get a degree, certification or just learn about it via books or the internet, depending on the level of expertise needed.
• Never think you know everything, always be willing and ready to learn more about what you do. The industry changes over time and what you know can get outdated or become obsolete. Stay with the times or get left behind.
• Learn about the company and or industry you work in or want to work in. Learn their history, their motivations and beliefs. Where they came from and how they got to where they are now. What skills are needed? How many employees and positions and what types are there? Anything you can get your hands on will help.

Perseverance and Motivation

Last but certainly not least perseverance and motivation will get you through all the grinding and difficult times. Keep that “Get up and go attitude!”, “Get it done!” and “Get through this challenge!” mentality. Times will be difficult, you will run into obstacles and get two steps ahead and fall 3 steps back. Life happens. It will become monotonous and boring at times, but it is necessary. It’s ok to get caught up in it sometimes but make sure you remember where you are going and keep an eye out for all the opportunities and stay on task. As long as you are moving forward you will get there eventually. And if one day you realize it isn’t the path for you that’s ok too. It’s never too late to change and you are never too old. Yes it will mean starting over but sometimes it’s worth the shot if it means you will be better off and happier in the long run. Myself, my boyfriend, friends and other colleagues have started over many times to find the right path. And though we wish we knew what we really wanted or needed sooner we still learn a lot from the experiences we had. And we are so happy we made the decision to start over so we weren’t stuck in the same rut whether it be financial or personally rewarding or both.

Keep up perseverance and motivation by:

• Having goals. Big or small you need goals to keep you motivated. They don’t necessarily even have to be related to your career. Just have them and accomplish them. It will motivate you to keep going. And having small one in between the big ones helps a lot.
• Create mini milestones. Speaking of small goals, these can be great mini milestones that lead up to the big ones. Break down the big ones and create mini ones to accomplish them. It will make it easier and less daunting to get through them.
• Have a positive attitude. Positivity just like in boosting confidence can help you stay focused and not get lost on your way to success. Negativity will pull you into a downward spiral that can affect everything around you and everything you worked so hard for so don’t let it suck you in.
• Make yourself accountable. Tell your friends and family about it, talk about your dreams and goals and let them know when you accomplish the small ones even or how you are working on it at the moment. Give it meaning, for your child, spouse or future. Blog about it, create a YouTube video journaling it, join a group, etc. Studies show people who are held accountable tend to be more likely to succeed as they are more afraid to disappoint someone else than themselves. Whether we admit it or not, no one wants to be seen as a failure in anyone’s eyes. So it gives us more motivation to get it done. And people will admire you for it and you may even inspire others to do the same which has a nice feeling for motivation as well.

Well I hope this list gave you some clarity and a bit of structure for your future. It’s not an exhaustive list but at least it will give you a good start and has some of the most important ones to get you started. As you develop yourself you will find different paths life will take you and new skills to acquire. Let this be your stepping stone to success and expand from there as you grow. Please let me know if you found this article helpful and are there any topics you would like me to expand upon? What other skills do you find important to learn in the workforce?  Let me know in the comments below!