“Technical Skills may get you the job, but Soft Skills can make you or break you as a manager.”
Regardless of designations, everyone who is associated with an organization needs to have developed or improve his or her soft skills, as they are vital for one’s professional development and success. Soft skills are nothing but one’s personal attributes that enable one to interact with others effectively.
It must be noted that as much it’s important to acquire hard skills, that is to say, gaining specific knowledge, education and abilities that are needed for doing a particular job successfully, as it is important to improve soft skills. If your hard skills help you climb the ladder of success based on your technical expertise, the soft skills aid you greatly in making a good impression among others by letting you get ahead based on your personal positive attributes.
Positive attitude must be regarded as one of the most important soft skills. Positive thinking and maintaining positive attitude at all times can be a valuable asset for an employee. Positive thinking can not only enable you to get through your tasks successfully, but it can also lead to get positive results in terms of your duties and responsibilities. On the one hand your positive attitude helps you face challenges that come your way, On the other hand, it enables you to succeed in your objectives. Moreover, dealing the situations on the basis of positive thinking becomes a good cause for mastering other soft skills.
Next in importance comes effective Communication skills. Communication means the exchange of information between people by means of speaking, writing and using a common system of behavior. Communication is one of the most important aspects of a business organization leading it in the direction of desired success by way of making others react with ideas, facts, thoughts and feelings. So, there is always a need for communicating better in the organizations. At this stage, it’s appropriate to mention that effective communication does not mean using bombastic words, that is to say, using more words than necessary to express something. Effective communication is a two way information sharing process that enables one to express his thoughts, ideas and facts in ways that are appropriate. Effective communication should produce the desire effect on the readers or listeners. It’s thus very much important to maintain effective communication, as it leads you to perform your duties effectively and efficiently.
There may not be all but many organizations arrange training and development programs. The purpose behind conducting management training programs signifies the application of human energy in leadership positions. You may be promoted to higher position where you need to develop your leadership skills. Leadership is the ability to guide, direct and influence your subordinates. It thus the ability to work in group well will lead you to manage your team effectively.
Self-assurance or a belief in your own ability to succeed in your objectives is yet another great way. It is such a soft skill which is of great help and assistance for you, especially, when there are tough situations. Self-confidence comes on the basis of your knowledge and skills. These are associated with your hard skills but become a great part of your soft skills that enable you deal with embarrassing situations successfully.
It is worth mentioning that while improving soft skills, the importance of developing hard skills should not be ignored. Both hard skills and soft skills are important in this day and age in which you need to have sound knowledge and strong skills as well as soft skills that have been mentioned above. It’s appropriate to say that you can become a knowledgeable and skilled person based on your hard skills, while on the basis of your soft skills, you can boost your career.
Written by:
K. A. Fareed (Fareed Siddiqui)
Writer, Trainer, Author, Blogger, Software Developer
BBA, MBA-Finance, MPhil-Financial Management, (MSc-Software Engineering)
(PhD-Management)
MA-English, MPhil-English
Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Applications and Programming
Certificate course in English language proficiency
Level 1 – Leadership and Management ILM – UK
Pursuing CMA-USA
Individual Member of Institute of Management Consultants of India
Professional Articles on Business & Management, Management Consulting, Software Engineering and Self Improvement 