2020 has brought a lot of unexpected twists in turns in our life, not only in the aspect of health and well-being but also in the career industry. While many businesses have shut down, some companies achieved their business continuity by promoting a work-from-home set up, enabling their employees to continue performing their tasks right at the comfort of their own homes.
While we’re still struggling to go back to the traditional way of doing office work, it is best that you be ready for whatever new challenges the new year will bring. Here are 5 modern skills you have to develop in 2021 to ensure that you can cope with the ‘new normal’ way of career development and advancement.
Growth Mindset
Having a growth mindset is believing that you can achieve anything when you work hard for it and put your heart and mind on a particular task. Knowing that your talents and skills can be further developed can help you achieve success in the workplace. It’s like telling your bosses and managers that you are willing to learn more in order to take on more challenging work for the benefit of the company. Therefore, cultivating a growth mindset can help you get an edge in your career in the coming years.
Influential Leadership
It’s not enough having the potential to lead. You need to strive to be an influential leader to create change and make a difference in an organization. If you want to accelerate your career in 2021, you need to develop a powerful influence that achieves effective result because your people trust and follow you.
To become an influential leader, you have to work on your persuasion skills, transparency and collaboration, and strategic but emphatic control. You have to show that you can lead strongly and effectively without implementing force or power.
Emotional Intelligence
Having a high level of emotional intelligence (or EQ) is considered a valuable skill in the workplace because it helps improve communication, collaboration, problem-solving, decision-making, and relationship building within the organization.
People with high EQ generally have greater self-awareness and practice self-regulation, which enable them to manage and control their emotions even during tough situations.
Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is the ability to assess ideas, evaluate arguments, and solve and address complex problems in the workplace. Critical thinkers are known to be reflective, competent, and independent. They are considered a valuable asset in an organization.
Flexibility
Flexibility is another skill that many employers value from their people. When you are flexible, you have the ability to deal with sudden changes and unexpected challenges that arise in the workplace calmly, quickly, and efficiently. You don’t find it difficult to adjust. Instead, you go with the change and thrive on it.
Developing new skills and acquiring new knowledge are important to gain advantage in life and in career. For courses designed to help you develop soft skills in the workplace, visit my Courses page.
