Work Skills - Broken Down to The Main Functions...
 

Job skills
If you were to boil down the main ingredients needed to be successful (beyond ambition) it would be to:
1) Wrench Well (understand mechanical, have hand-eye coordination)
2) Write Well
3) Speak Well (includes public and private)
4) Crunch Numbers Well (be able to understand math and use it to solve problems)

If you can master 2 of the 4, you will have no issues, 3 or more and life becomes very interesting and fruitful. Master all 4 and you can write your ticket!

With this is mind, I am actively trying to develop all those skills as well as have our kiddos master them upon adulthood. If they can become highly proficient in all 4 areas, I think that they will have fine lives with little worries concerning jobs or hobbies.

No? Yes?

The ability to see a problem and the knowledge on how to correct it.

All of the above.

Add to those skills the ability to 'read people'.

No matter what you do in this life, you have to deal with others. Writing and speaking well does not automatically ensure you will be communicating in terms which relate to the people with whom you must get your points across in order to succeed. It may have been implied in your post, but to me they seem to be separate skills.

Good luck!
Les

- Work under pressure, if you can't do that wave goodbye to 1 through 4.

- 1. is not critical, unless you don't have 2. through 4.

- Get along with your boss almost all the time, and others when necessary.

+1. In fact, if you are really good at that, you really only need 1 or 2 from the above list of four to succeed. 3 or more from that list with "reading people" and you're the CEO.

angela

Funny, had a long conversation with a young guy here on Friday.

He's not in my group but I like the kid. Has tons of potential but like most people his age/experience level is missing the people skill component.

He sent a poorly thought out email to his new report and it caused a bit of an issue for him. Apparently she is having trouble grasping a couple of key things in her new role. Things that he excels at. It's not that she is not capable of acquiring the skill it's really that he has forgotten what it was like to not have the knowledge. He is evaluating her on his experience level, not hers.

He's stuck in the "it's faster if I do it myself mode". He also perceives it as an issue unique to her.

Told him that he will have peers, reports and supervisors anywhere he works that will create the same types of situations for him and doing their job for them is a band aid. He needs to learn how to evaluate strengths and weaknesses then develop strategies to eliminate the weaknesses.

End of day she is on his team and he has to go out on the field with the team that he has on gameday. You can't throw a 50 yarder to yourself. But you can put the ball in a place that gives your receiver the best shot at catching it.

When S-monkey talks, people listen....

Well done, sir.

The most important one is not listed:
Be a positive influence on those around you and contribute to their success as well as your own and the company's.

Ambition without initiative is a waste of energy. Be the person who steps up.

Independent thinking.

Ability to act on your feet.

In this day of age and business culture, I'm surprised to not see "Brown Nosing/A$$ Kissing" not listed yet.

In addition to being able to read people, you should also be able to get along with a number of personalities without allowing yourself to be trampled or trampling others.

Thats all part of private speaking isn't it?

Get others to work for you and like it.

huckleberry finn

solve problems

Not just the math kind.

Mike,

I'm not sure what you mean by private speaking (I did a google search and came up with something that seems to be all about projection and capturing attention) and I apologize for not saying it more clearly.

People learn in different ways. Some lean more toward the auditory or visual conduits. Also, one will be able to learn something faster or grasp a concept (or be willing to take a risk) if they have some experience with the subject or feel they understand what the speaker is saying.

Successful communication relies in part upon the communicator's ability to recognize when their receiver is 'getting it' and go from there. If the signal is getting through, fine. If it is not, you have to recognize where the problem is and address it. If you don't: communication doesn't happen and you lose out. Riveting their attention helps, but you have to understand the feedback people give when you talk to them to know if the message is getting through.

You may have the best ideas in the world, but if you can't sell them to the person or people who will help you achieve your goals, you are doomed. You can't do everything alone.

Hope that makes more sense.
Les