The Ultimate Soft Skills Of Truly Successful People
2 July 2021
The Ultimate Soft Skills Of Truly Successful People
Colleges and job training programs tend to focus on the hard skills you need for a particular career – how to use specific tools and programs, the knowledge needed to complete your tasks – but there are other skills, so-called “soft” skills that are perhaps even more important for a truly successful career.
In fact, there’s nothing soft at all about soft skills; they can be difficult to master, but if you do, you’ll be employable in practically any field. No matter what your industry, position, or current employment, the following seven skills are vital to success in any chosen field.

High EQ
EQ stands for emotional intelligence quotient, and your emotional intelligence determines how well you relate to other people, your ability to put yourself in other’s shoes, and your ability to build rapport. It’s important when you’re managing or working with a team, in networking, in understanding workplace politics and really any time you need to interact with a co-worker or client. In other words: it’s invaluable to develop these skills. You can improve your EQ by mindfully practicing putting yourself in another’s shoes, for example, to practice empathy and understanding.
Communication Skills
You might have the most brilliant ideas in the room, but if you aren’t able to effectively communicate those ideas, you’ll never get anywhere. Being able to communicate clearly is vital to working with managers, teams, and clients. You can start improving your communications skills by studying the words and phrases you should never use, and paying more attention to what you say.
Decision Making
A decisive person is going to be desirable in any position, at any level, and the ability to make decisions is especially important the higher up you climb on the ladder. Taking forever to decide, procrastinating by doing unnecessary research, or avoiding making decisions altogether aren’t a good way to get ahead anywhere. Practice being decisive and demonstrating your decision making abilities to get ahead.
Integrity
Integrity at work means owning your mistakes, doing what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it, acknowledging when new information means you’re wrong, and being willing to say, “I don’t know.” People will respect and trust a person much more who has a reputation for integrity than someone who never admits he’s wrong or always puts the blame on others.
Drive
Having drive doesn’t have to mean working 80 hours per week or volunteering for every extra project. Instead, demonstrating that you have drive could mean consistently working hard while you’re at work. It could mean having the initiative to continue your education in your field or go the extra mile for a project. It demonstrates that you’re committed to your work, and that’s very attractive to employers and managers.
Focus
Maintaining focus is an extremely important skill, whether we’re talking about focusing on a single task at hand or on your long-term objectives. It also means not getting sidetracked by “shiny object syndrome” or by what seems easy or expedient.
Balance
Perhaps most importantly, the key to a successful career in any job is maintaining a healthy balance. Only you can determine what makes a healthy balance for you, but it’s vital to balance your career with those things that will make you truly happy.
Related Articles
The Future Of Work: Are Traditional Degrees Still Worthwhile?
Jobs and the world of work are changing. This raises one very important question: As many roles become increasingly focused on specialized skills and on-the-job experience, are traditional degrees still valuable to employers?[...]
Will ChatGPT Put Data Analysts Out of Work?
If your work involves analyzing and reporting on data, then it’s understandable that you might feel a bit concerned by the rapid advances being made by artificial intelligence (AI)[...]
The Real Reasons For Big Tech Layoffs At Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon
Between them, some of the world’s biggest tech companies have collectively laid off more than 150,000 workers in recent months.[...]
How Dangerous Are ChatGPT And Natural Language Technology For Cybersecurity?
ChatGPT it the hot artificial intelligence (AI) app of the moment. In case you’re one of the few who hasn’t come across it yet[...]
How ChatGPT And Natural Language Technology Might Affect Your Job If You Are A Computer Programmer
If you’re a computer programmer or software engineer, then you may have been alarmed by the capabilities demonstrated[...]
12 Easy Steps To Build Your Personal Brand On Social Media
Building and maintaining my personal brand is an important part of my job. But it's becoming important in so many professions[...]
Stay up-to-date
- Get updates straight to your inbox
- Join my 1 million newsletter subscribers
- Never miss any new content
Social Media