10 Skills You Need To Be Successful
DEC. 17, 2014, 12:52 PM 1,182
Success comes from the mastery of a core set of skills that can be applied to any position, field or company. When you practice and strengthen these skills in your work, you'll rise to the top. Read on to discover the crucial talents you need to launch your career:
1. Sales skills. Sales is the basis of all business success. You are always selling, even if your role does not include sales in the job description. You sell during marketing activities, team meetings, customer service, product management, conferences, business development, engineering, user experience and more. A solid foundation in how to sell can give you a wide advantage over your colleagues and competitors.
No sales experience? No worries! If you've worked in retail or fundraising, or convinced a neighbor to let you babysit, you already have the sales foundation you need. For a great primer on how to use sales to your advantage, check out "To Sell is Human," by bestselling author Daniel H. Pink.
2. Transferable skills. Transferable skills give you the ability to see your past experience in a new light. That experience can be as varied as volunteer work, to a full-time job, to your weekend hobby to a waitressing gig. During each experience, you acquired skills that can be applied to your career success.
For example, as a waitress, you likely learned critical people skills, such as crisis communication, customer service and teamwork. That interpersonal expertise can be applied to your next job in public relations, and indeed, should be highlighted in your cover letter and résumé when applying for the job.
3. The ability to ask. The ability to ask is the easiest, most underutilized skill to catapult your career. The old adage is true: "If you don't ask, you don't receive." Many careerists don't ask to pitch their idea, for a raise or promotion, a bigger sales deal or to take on more responsibility. When this happens — or doesn't happen, rather — you're far less likely to find challenge, meaning and reward in your work.
If the thought of asking makes you break out in hives, try practicing in non-work related contexts. At the farmer's market, you could ask a vendor for a lower price on the asparagus; at home, you could ask your partner to attend dance lessons; on the street, you could ask a stranger, "how are you?" The more you put yourself in uncomfortable situations, the more likely you'll decide they're not that uncomfortable after all.
4. The ability to code. You don't need to know how to build the next Facebook, but a basic understanding of how the Web works and how software and apps are built can be a game-changing advantage. An increasing number of positions require technical knowledge, but even if your job never requires you to be technical, you should know what's happening under the hood. The knowledge will help you interface with development and engineering teams, as well as hold more realistic expectations.
Try doing small side projects to familiarize yourself with programming concepts, like building a blog. Or choose one of the many free online classes out there, like Codecademy.
5. Communication skills. Both written and oral communication skills are basic, but that doesn't mean they're not difficult to master! Think about ways to challenge yourself and tweak how you write an email or behave in a meeting.
For example, don't hit "send" immediately after composing a note. Instead, give yourself a beat or two, then reread the email, make edits and then hit "send." Or during your next team meeting, resist talking about your idea or opinion right off the bat. Instead, count to five, and if you still feel like you have something relevant to contribute, speak up. On the flip side, if you're shy, challenge yourself to say what you're thinking, instead of remaining silent.
6. Interpersonal skills. The ability to be a team player is so fundamental to your work that there are few better things to focus on. Interpersonal skills are just a fancy way of saying how you get along, relate and communicate with others. Employers hire people with domain expertise, of course, but mostly they hire people they like and can get along with.
Think about how to become more likable. You might try mimicking the body language of the people you're talking with, repeating their ideas and opinions back to them and really listening. But keep in mind that all the tips and tricks in the world won't help if you don't have genuine interest in and empathy for your fellow team member.
Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design/flickrLearning how to break down a project will always be a useful skill.
7. Project management skills. Can you see the big picture and break it down into small, manageable and action-oriented steps? Then you have undeniable value. Many employees consider themselves "idea people" but don't have the ability to execute on those ideas. If you have the ability to prioritize and get things done, you'll be able to lead a team in no time.
If you find project management difficult, try taking a project that's already complete and work backward. What are the tasks and assignments it took to complete that goal? Write them down in detail to get a better picture of a the project road map.
8. The ability to be a self-starter. Do you have an entrepreneurial drive? Apply it to the workplace. Employers increasingly value folks who can take initiative and own a project from start to finish. As a creative self-starter, you should take calculated risks, brainstorm new ideas and execute with precision.
If you're not sure of what problems you should help solve, start by looking for the roadblocks your co-workers repeatedly run into or issues your customers continually face. Still stuck? Simply ask your boss for a side project to work on when your normal responsibilities are complete.
9. The ability to be curious. To really stand out in a company, you should always be looking to improve, both individually and company-wide. Hone your inquisitive thinking skills by asking questions like "why?" and "how?" to your employers, your customers and yourself. Everyone will appreciate your interest and thirst for knowledge.
While it may be difficult to open up initially and admit you don't know it all, curiosity helps strengthen self-confidence. As a result, you will learn new ideas and job skills that will stay with you throughout your career.
10. The ability to drive results. Through it all, you should know what your goals are and how you are going to achieve them. This skill requires you to synthesize many of your other skills and layer on an intense passion and focus. Results-driven individuals are metrics-oriented and can quantify outcomes to motivate themselves and their teams, all while contributing to the bottom line.
Write out your personal and career goals to keep your eye on the prize, and try forming a partnership with a friend to hold you accountable, help you stay driven and keep you on track.
As you cultivate and master these core 10 skills, you'll create the career you want — for now and for the future.
This article originally appeared at U.S. News & World Report. Copyright 2014. Follow U.S. News & World Report onTwitter.
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