In a conversation with a friend who is in the midst of building out a team, I asked about the the top skills he was looking for. Two observations –
1. The top three skills that he spoke about at length were – attitude, mindset, and self awareness (especially about blind spots).
2. We spoke about a few skills which were contenders. But, not one was a “hard” skill – analytics, problem solving, etc.
I was reminded of a post by Seth Godin to stop calling skills “soft” just because they weren’t easily defined. This conversation reminded me that it is these “real skills” that matter – they make great organizations and noteworthy careers possible. Or, as Seth put it –
Imagine a team member with all the traditional vocational skills: productive, skilled, experienced. A resume that can prove it.
That’s fine, it’s the baseline.
Now, add to that: Perceptive, charismatic, driven, focused, goal-setting, inspiring and motivated. A deep listener, with patience.
What happens to your organization when someone like that joins your team?
A Learning a Day 