3 Professional Skills that Will Help You Get Ahead at Work  

Professional women want to develop, succeed and advance, but there hardly seems to be enough hours in the day. So what can you do? Focus on developing a few, key skills–the ones that make the most difference…because some skills matter more than others.

There is a wealth of expert research that proves that some skills are more helpful than others. Why is that? First, these skills correlate with high performance, so they help a person be successful today. Second, these skills are relevant at every career stage. Not only do they help today’s performance, they help advancement. Finally, these skills are rare and in short supply. As such, they make an employee stand out. If one possesses these skills, she has an advantage. Let’s think of these as “super skills.”

How would you like a reputation for being creative? Or strategic? Or motivational? These are three of the “super skills.” If an employee is known for having these skills, she will be in demand. And the good news is that anyone can develop them.

So what are you waiting for?

Let’s Get Creative!

Creative employees tend to have new ideas and bring alternative approaches or fresh perspectives. How can a person bring more creativity to work? Consider these two skill building ideas.

• Generate Options. Action orientation and pragmatism can be the enemy of creativity. People want to solve problems quickly and practically, so they look for the obvious. Often that is fine, but sometimes it gets in way of more creative solutions. Break this pattern by adopting this practice. For every problem or decision, identify at least three alternative solutions, generate three options or consider three different possibilities. It may end up with the first strategy being implemented, but this habit offers the possibility of coming up with something beyond the obvious. The person who is always trying to find new ways to approach problems and solutions will be sought after.

• Hit the Desk. Within Human Resources it is well known that it can be difficult to build a particular skill. For example, generating options to build one’s creativity might be tough for some. In these cases, people can work on building a different but compatible skill instead. For example, in addition to practicing generating opinions, consider honing in on research skills. Not all creative solutions have to be original. Read up on what other companies or industries have done, research benchmarks or best practices, and utilize journals or books related to the project. A wealth of ideas and solutions are available to everyone willing to hit the desk. These solutions may not be entirely new, but if applied in new ways, one can earn a reputation as creative.

What’s Your Strategy?

People usually associate strategy with senior leaders, but anyone can be strategic. Strategic thinking is about anticipating the future. It is about deciding what role an employee wants to play in that future and planning and acting on that now.

What helpful habits can someone build that will have others calling them “strategic”?

• Gaze into the Future. In the rush of the day to day, one can lose sight of the future, so a person needs to take time to contemplate her role and environment and how they might look different in the future. Think you are too junior in the organization to be strategic? Think again. Depending on one’s level, someone new might contemplate the next 12 months rather than the next decade, but in essence, the process of strategic thinking is the same. What will the environment be like in the future, similar or different? In what ways? Will the company be better off or worse? Why? And most importantly, what needs to be done now to prepare to be successful in that future? Thinking about the future and what it means for the workplace today, marks a strategic person. So make time.

• Have a Plan. After contemplating the future and identifying the changes needed to prepare for the future, then what?  Make a plan. Planning doesn’t need to be difficult. It does need to get done, so identify the action steps needed and track milestones to help keep the plan on track.

Motivate Me!

Motivating others is complex. Different things motivate different people. The good news is that there are three things that we humans can’t get enough of and which always help to motivate:

• Being Respected
• Understanding one’s contribution and how it fits into the bigger picture
• Believing in a positive future

So, how can a person be more motivational? Consider these strategies. 

• Communicate Your Big Picture. Practice including each of these three motivational elements in daily communication. Tell people how their support or role contributes to a bigger goal. Let them know how that goal contributes to a successful future. This positive approach connects people to a bigger, positive purpose, and it never fails to motivate.

• Ask for Their Big Picture. People often associate influence and motivation with speaking.  One doesn’t have to be a charismatic speaker whose words inspire others. Listening also plays a critical role in motivating others. When others are invited to contribute their ideas, alignment is built. When one leverages what is heard, solutions are being co-created.  This builds shared ownership. With alignment and shared ownership, the need to motivate others decreases. Why? They have motivated themselves.

Super Skills

Creative! Strategic! Motivational! Who doesn’t want to be described this way? By introducing small, achievable habits, one will build her own set of “super skills.” With daily practice, growth will occur through personal development and learning.  As a bonus, job and career will gain a well-deserved boost.