Stop Letting These Misconceptions About Professional Skills Hurt You

Image: by steve_a_johnson, via Pixabay

1. Self-control

There are tasks that we put off just because we do not feel like doing them. However, these assignments and activities are essential somewhere down the road.

Self-control involves knowing what tasks are essential in the long run and being able to do these tasks without your personal quirks, biases, and other distractions getting in the way. Literally, it means being able to focus on the task at hand regardless of our distaste for it.

But it's not as simple as it sounds.

There are many facets to self-control:

It also entails having a high EQ, or Emotional Intelligence Quotient, and willingness to learn from criticism.

And that's not all:

It means being able to grit your teeth just to see the project until the end. It will test your sense of humor, confidence, and awareness and your ability to handle stress and risks.

Self-control means getting the job done and working collaboratively, regardless of how much you are "feeling it" today.

2. Productivity

Or perhaps they finish, but screw up on some details.

Others get stuck on some problem.

And then there's this person:

Who has too much to do and isn't able to share the work with their colleagues. That lack of ability to delegate will cause them to be unable to get the job done.

When you do something, there is always a mix of vocational and non-vocational tasks. Productivity skills focus on moving the non-technical tasks along to help you finish the technical aspects of the work.

3. Wisdom

Wisdom also involves:

It also relates to mentoring and being able to resolve conflicts.

4. Perception

5. Influence

Being able to persuade others to act is an excellent example of skills that are related to influence. A competent worker should be able to assert themselves when it matters.

But that's not all:

This category also includes charisma and being able to communicate effortlessly. You should be able to inspire and lead at the same time.

It's when you can write for impact or have outstanding presentation skills. On the flip side: It's when you can lay down, and accept, constructive criticism without ego.

But wait, here is everything here in a nutshell:

Plus all the technical skills that you need in your job.

1. Learning skills: Just do it

One of the biggest booboos you can make when learning professional skills is to read as much material as you can.

For example, you want to learn more about selling more effectively.

You order dozens of books on Amazon.

Or, you search for the "best sales blogs" on Google.

Maybe you even...

join mailing lists that offer tips and tricks on sales.

Look, there's nothing wrong with all of these. That is probably why you're here reading this.

But be careful not to drown in all that reading.

The problem is:

You might get overwhelmed by all the things you are reading, especially when trying to learn new professional skills.

Most of the time, though, you find yourself not taking in any new information, and you have no idea how to apply all the stuff you have learned.

The trick is to practice. Or as that shoe manufacturer says:

Just do it.

Author Josh Kaufman had a TEDTalk on this. Kaufman says that you only need 20 hours of practice to learn a new skill.

You dive into the new skill and learn as you go.

Or you can observe

However, there are professional skills that we cannot dive into. For these skills, you can start by observing first.

Think about this:

If you want to be an excellent public speaker, you can attend talks and speeches and see what the speakers say.

More importantly, look closely at how they deliver their spiels.

2. It helps to break up professional skills into tasks

Professional skills are often made up of smaller components, which we shall refer to as tasks.

If you are learning graphic design, you might be better off learning how to use Adobe Photoshop first. Once you have mastered Photoshop, you can easily do image manipulation.

Then you go to the next step:

You can learn about the technical aspects of creating images. Do you know how to draw?

Do you know when you can legally use an image?

Once you have a project that requires graphic design, you will be able to put all of these smaller capabilities and see how they work together. The project will allow you to put to use all the tasks you have mastered over time.

3. Create something every day

Practice, practice, practice.

You know what they say:

For you to acquire a particular talent, you should make it a point to create something daily.

Keep this in mind:

It's not enough to just know how each tool in Photoshop works, try to do some image manipulation such as turning a selfie into a photograph that looks like it has been shot in the 1920s.

For tomorrow, you can learn how to crop images so that you can change the background.

Killing two birds with one stone: Learning soft and hard skills together

You don't have to prioritize one over the other, you can learn professional skills alongside the technical knowledge.

While professional skills are often described as "not taught in schools," learning these skills can become part of your academic training.

In other words:

You don't have to think of soft and technical skills as mutually exclusive concepts, and you can learn these alongside one another.

A great example comes from the Rigas Stradina Universitate, a medical school in Latvia.

And what they are doing will blow your mind.

The university has simulations for their students that allow them to learn how to perform various medical procedures, while also learning soft skills such as teamwork and communication.

When should you begin developing the professional skills you need?

The short answer to that question is:

As soon as possible.

You can never start too early when developing professional skills. It does require some things:

The thing with professional skills is that learning, developing, and mastering these take a lot of practice.

But you already knew that.

With technical skills, you pretty much wait for formal training. You can learn it during your time in college. You can acquire new skills through company-provided training or seminars.

Or you can get it on the job.

You don't have to wait with soft skills

With soft skills, you have more flexibility. You do not even have to wait for opportunities to learn. You can be creative and learn on your own.

Here what we mean:

This Forbes article illustrates that you can start learning how to be a good leader even when the company you work for does not provide leadership seminars.

Being creative and looking for hidden opportunities to learn is how you can get around that.

First things first:

Forbes suggests that you get to know your team and the company inside out.

One trait of an excellent leader is knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each team member, and you can learn this just by spending time talking to people.

Or you could do this:

Help a colleague out.

Offer a hand to a co-worker that has been swamped with work. Doing so can help teach you how to prioritize what's needed most, collaboration, communication, and other traits that great leaders share.

With soft skills, you have more flexibility. You do not even have to wait for opportunities to learn. You can be creative and learn on your own.

Or how about you just:

Take the initiative by doing more than what is asked will help you learn more about your workplace and the processes it has.

Employers love that.

Asking for more responsibility that you can take on without sacrificing your job is not only the best way to get noticed but also an opportunity to learn something new.

What's the takeaway of the whole Forbes article?​

You can practice your professional skills every day.

Even without formal training.