Building your super-skills
We all know that university is about gaining knowledge, but it's also about building up skills.
I wrote some months ago about the changing world, and the skills that the World Economic Forum believes will be crucial in the near future (see here). But are there such things as universal skills; transferable skills that will always be useful, regardless of the economy, AI and changes in the environment?
I think there are, and the closest thing I have found to it is a simple list of ten skills identified a couple of years ago in the careers section of indeed.com. The article has long gone from their webpages, but I wrote the list down at the time as it was probably the simplest breakdown that I had seen of universal transferable skills, and why they are useful.
The thing about these universal transferable skills is that they can be applied across industries and across roles. They are important to employers because they help the organisation to be more efficient and productive and they help strengthen working relationships.
And for you they show that you can take on new responsibilities and adapt to new challenges, regardless of where you are in your career.
So what are these skills?
Dependability
To be reliable, trustworthy, punctual, accurate; to be responsible and organised.
I would add good moral judgement to this list, and would argue that this is the most basic ‘skill’ of all.
I for one, would not hire any individual without dependability!
Leadership and team management
To be able to lead a group task, start to finish. To manage, delegate, organise and collaborate.
Clearly these are skills that different people need at different stages of their careers, but I would argue that it is never too early to start!
Problem-solving
To accurately assess a challenge or problem, and come up with an effective solution (making use of other soft skills such as critical thinking, research and communication).
To me, this goes hand in hand with teamwork (interestingly not on this list), as problems are almost always solved most effectively through strong teamwork with others who bring different perspectives.
Data analysis
To be able to find, manipulate, analyse and present data, drawing conclusions that will support business decisions.
I’ve lost count of the number of times the question ‘but what does the data tell us?’ was asked in my working life. From digital marketing, to traffic management, to public health, you need to know and understand what the data is telling you.
Communication
To be able to write effectively and appropriately across different media such as reports, emails, memos etc.
To be able to speak and communicate your thoughts to colleagues up, down and across your business.
To be able to actively listen so you hear and understand what is being said, what is being asked or what is being questioned.
To be able to present confidently to different groups, using appropriate visuals.
You may or may not ever need to present to 500 people, but you will all speak, write and listen to your colleagues. Effective communication is a must.
Time management
To be well organised with your time. To be able to focus and prioritise your time and monitor progress towards goals.
I’ve worked with a handful of people who are in a different league when it comes to time management and prioritisation, and whatever their other strengths and weaknesses, they have an amazing habit of getting stuff done. Period.
Empathy
To be able to understand another’s thoughts, position, ideas and background. To be able to see things from multiple viewpoints.
I’d like to think of this as one of my own super-skills. It really helps when dealing with conflict, and building strong teams where everyone’s strengths are recognised.
Adaptability
To be able to adapt skills to undertake new projects, work with new people and address changing problems.
I think this is probably my other super-skill, and it comes from just having the confidence to try something new and find that it's OK. Even if you don’t know anything about it to start with, you can learn.
Technological literacy
These are the skills to learn, operate and perform basic troubleshooting on computers and other technical equipment, and to be able to learn new software and new technology quickly.
This is partly about not being that person who always has to find help when the sound on Zoom goes on the blink, when the photocopier is out of ink, or when they are handed a Mac when they are used to a PC.
But it’s also about being the person who goes and finds the best software for the task, learns how to use it, and gets all their colleagues on board too.
Organisation
To be able to proactively plan out projects, tasks and goals, for yourself, and for a team or business.
This is the masterskill for any manager; whether of people or projects. Taking something complex and breaking it down into a series of tasks that everyone can understand and get behind.
If you have these skills, you will be indispensable, almost anywhere.
Why are these skills so important?
The point about these transferable skills is that they are more or less universal. Pretty much every organisation on earth will want to have people with these sorts of skills. And for you to flourish in most jobs, you are going to need to have at least some element of each of these skills.
Sure, some of these skills will come more easily to you, while others will be more challenging. Some of these skills will be critical to a particular workplace or role, but will be less important to another role.
You won’t be brilliant at them all, and that’s OK, but while you are at university, you should at least have a go at developing some level of competence at each of them. So whether it’s through working on projects or academic assignments, part-time work, professional placements, volunteering or clubs and societies, take every opportunity to build up as many transferable skills as you can.
The real secret is to balance improving what you are more naturally good at, with getting a basic level of skill for the things you don’t find so easy.
Find your super-skills
I am a big believer in a strength-based approach. You can’t be amazing at everything, so work out what your strengths are, dig deep, and build on those. Take the things you are good at, and through hard work and application, become exceptional, turning them into super-skills.
I have seen very different skill-sets in each of my colleagues, and as a manager, I know that if you want to create the ideal team, you want to see different super-skills from different members of your team.
Whatever your super-skills are, you’ll be able to find your place in the ideal team!
But don’t be afraid to challenge your weaknesses
Both school and university are also great places to discover new strengths, and of course to make mistakes that you can learn from. And remember that these skills are universal, so you will be more employable if you have a few different transferable skills you can demonstrate.
So… if you think there are a couple of these skills that you might not be so great at, then while you are still at school or university, make the effort to push yourself out of your comfort zone and find ways to test and improve these skills.
You might find a new super-skill, you might find that you are not quite as bad as you thought, or at worst you might just get slightly better at something that really isn’t your strength.
Either way, it’s a win!
