How To Future-Proof Your Career

brian smith-pld, Coaching, Entrepreneurship, Leadership Development, Management, Management Training, Mentorship, Personal Development, Professional development, Reformed Control Freak, Self-Help, Soft-Skills Training, Teacher, Uncategorized • Tags: , , , ,

Soft skills are people skills. They are your ability to communicate and interact more effectively with others. They are your ability to negotiate and resolve conflict, devise creative ways to solve problems and build collaborative teams. Soft skills are the new currency in today’s multi-generational and diverse workplace. Without them, you will have difficulty advancing your career, managing and leading others or getting that promotion.

Worth Remembering – Don’t underestimate likeability. Likeability is a soft skill that leads to hard results. – Mo Bunnell.

If you want to future-proof your career – start here.

Learn to be more patient. There aren’t dumb students, only dumb teachers. If the student didn’t learn, the teacher didn’t teach. Adults can learn new things, but not everyone learns the same way or at the same pace, especially if they are learning something for the first time. Be patient. Don’t hurry progress.

Be open-minded. There are several ways to achieve the same result. It doesn’t have to be just your way. Resist the urge to micro-manage. Solicit input from those on your team. A good idea becomes a great idea when others participate in the process.

Become more empathetic. Try to see things from their point of view. There may be things going on that you aren’t aware of. Ask open-ended questions and discover what’s happening behind the scenes before deciding on an action plan.

Communicate in a way that others will understand. If you don’t send and have them receive the message as intended, then whatever you say means nothing. Gen Z is the most wired generation and prefers to communicate virtually. Embrace technology and connect with them the way they choose.

Listen more than you talk. You won’t learn a thing if you keep talking; that’s why you have two ears and only one mouth. Give people your undivided attention. Ask great open-ended questions to promote dialogue, and sit back and really listen to the answers. You will be amazed at how much you will learn.

Worth Remembering: The quality of your working relationships determines your success and happiness. Stop leaving it to chance and start building the best possible relationships. – Michael Bungay Stanler.

You have the potential to work with four different generations at the same time. Each generation – Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z, the newest generation to enter the workforce en masse – wants to be included, not excluded. If you want to future-proof your career, make them feel important. Take the initiative and develop your soft skills. Learn to be patient, open-minded, a great communicator and an even better listener.

Copyright 2024. Brian Smith—Power Link Dynamics. Brian specializes in soft skills training and leadership development. To learn more about Brian and what he can do for you or your organization, visit his website: https;//briansmithpld.com. If you have questions and want answers about your challenges when managing and leading others, contact Brian at brian@briansmithpld.com. He is here to help.

This article was written by Brian Smith without AI assistance and may not be reproduced without permission.

Up Your Leadership EQ – Celebrating Emotional Intelligence Month

Management

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-yygyb-1727206
EQ – Emotional Quotient – Emotional intelligence / soft skills is the ability to understand, use, and manage your emotions positively to reduce stress, communicate more effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflicts. Sixty-seven percent of the competencies needed to manage or lead others are emtionally based. If you can’t make an emotional connection and establish a relationship with those on your team, you will be an ineffective manager or leader. If you want to retain and attract talent you need to up your leadership EQ. Listen to this episode of my Confessions of a Reformed Control Freak to find out how.

Celebrating Emotional Intelligence Month

brian smith-pld, Coaching, Entrepreneurship, Leadership Development, Management, Management Training, Mentorship, Personal Development, Professional development, Reformed Control Freak, Self-Help, small business owner, Soft-Skills Training, Teacher, Uncategorized • Tags: , , , ,

EQ – Emotional Quotient – emotional intelligence or soft skills is the ability to understand, use, and positively manage your emotions to reduce stress, communicate more effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflicts. Daniel Goleman said it best in his groundbreaking book- Working With Emotional Intelligence. ‘A new yardstick is judging us; not just how smart we are, or by our training and expertise, but also how well we handle ourselves and each other.’ Sixty-seven percent of the competencies needed to manage and lead others are emotional-based. If you can’t make an emotional connection and establish a relationship with those on your team, you will be an ineffective manager or leader. To retain and attack talent, you must up your leadership EQ.

One of the most important things about being a good manager or leader is to rule with a heart. You have to know the business, but you also have to know what is at the heart of the business – and that’s people. – Oprah.

We live in a hi-tech world, but your soft skills – empathy, patience, flexibility, open-mindedness, and the ability to communicate and interact with others- will play a more significant role in your success. For the first time in our lives, we have the potential to work with four different generations at the same time. Each generation – Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and the newest generation – Gen Z; communicates, interacts with others, manages and prefers to be managed differently. Each generation has different wants and needs. The successful manager or leader will be the one who can adapt their management or leadership style to build those all-important relationships and work with others the way they like.

Soft skills won’t guarantee a promotion, but not having them puts you at risk of not getting the offer. – Brian Smith.

Research conducted by McClelland, Goleman, Kouzes and others tells a compelling story about the link between an organization’s success and its leaders. Emotional intelligence / soft skills are the magic ingredient that separates the so-so from the exceptional companies. Senior managers and leaders with a high EQ component were 20 percent more profitable and had less staff turnover. People like to work with people who make them feel respected. People want to work with organizations that make them feel accepted and valued as an essential part of the team. How often do you leave your office and have a friendly conversation? How frequently do you sit in the lunch room talking with people and getting to know them better for more than just the work they do. If you want to build a collaborative team and retain and attack talent, up your leadership EQ.

Copyright 2024. Brian Smith – Power Link Dynamics. This article was written by Brian without the assistance of AI and cannot be reproduced without permission.

Are you searching for a training provider or keynote speaker for your next event? To learn more about Brian and what he can do for you and your team, visit his website at https;//briansmithpld.com or email him at brian@briansmithpld.com.

How To Manage Your Boss And Live To Tell About It

Management

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-rwcrn-16de78d
One thing you need to understand is that you are not going to change your boss. They’ve successfully managed and led others a certain way, so they don’t think they need to change. The key to managing your boss and living to tell about it is to work with them the way they like. How do they like to communicate and interact with others, receive information and manage their direct reports? Listen to this episode of my Confessions of a Reformed Control Freak Podcast to find out how you can manage your boss and live to tell about it