Some things never go out of style
You might be noticing the pace of technological advancement these days.
It’s so rapid it can be overwhelming.
The half-life for many technical skills is now below 2.5 years.
According to Gartner, over 30% of the skills needed three years ago will soon be irrelevant.
Perhaps you have experienced this first-hand as skills that were once relevant to your job are no longer needed.
Undoubtedly, we will all need to continue to update our technical skills to keep pace with advancements in the field.
But you know which skills will never go out of style?
Human skills.
Photo by mali maeder on Pexels
Skills like leadership, communication, influence, empathy, perspective-taking, building trust, and emotional regulation.
Harvard Psychologist, Susan David, Ph.D., says that human skills are the cornerstone of resilient, thriving, successful organizations.
Just being human doesn’t guarantee that you have developed your human skills, unfortunately.
Human skills can actually be some of the most challenging to learn and embody.
And perhaps it is precisely because they must be embodied that they are not “easy” skills.
The capacity you have for these human skills almost always come from modeling.
Someone in your life modeled for you how to communicate, what a leader does, how to be empathetic, etc.
And often times these models used more authoritarian approaches, lacking the human connection we all need to be at our best.
The good news is that no matter what models you had for this, you can always grow in your capacity to develop human skills.
It often requires inner work, and an understanding of the stories that have shaped you.
Once you know the stories that drive you, you can begin to question their usefulness in your life and career, and adopt new stories.
How are you expanding your capacity to bring human skills to your workplace?
If you would like to develop your human skills, we should have a conversation.
I’ve helped countless clients expand their capacity to bring human skills to the workplace.
And bonus: it not only makes for a better professional life, but a better personal life as well.
Love,
Audrey
