Vanya Wryter Consulting Services

5 Soft Skills that Will Advance Your Career

Updated in 2022

How important are soft skills when it comes to advancing your career, getting a raise, or showing your employer that you deserve to take on more responsibility?

Soft skills are just as important as job-specific skills. But before we get into why or how they are vital, let’s look at why now is the right time to hone your soft skills.

Recent events during the pandemic changed the lives of millions, and many have changed careers, jobs, or where they work. The pandemic has brought much uncertainty, with people fearing the stability of their jobs and finances, especially with the escalating prices.

Forget vacations or even splurging on a new pair of shoes: now some people aren’t even sure if they can afford their groceries. So what can you do to increase your chances that you can keep your job, or get a job when a crisis like this occurs?

You can work on your job skills (your hard skills) and improve your career-related knowledge. Or you can start a side gig. Another possibility is to improve your soft skills.

Soft skills are skills that can be learned and developed but not taught. Examples of these skills are communication, dependability, and leadership. They are transferrable from job to job, and industry to industry.

Employers look at your soft skills when considering you for a job, a raise, or more responsibility. They are the bread and butter of your career mobility.

Soft Skills Give Your Career a Strong Foundation

In this pandemic, one question often asked is, “Is your job safe?” And if you’re working now, will you be working tomorrow?

If you used to commute to work, then it might have been a major adjustment to find yourself working from home. Or you might have lost your job because you used to wait on tables, or book vacations, or any of the jobs that aren’t so essential now. What do you do with your time?

If you can put in the time, work on your soft skills. Automation is replacing jobs, but artificial intelligence (AI) won’t be replacing soft skills any time soon. Developing skills such as leadership and self-motivation will give you an advantage in the workplace. Just what type of advantage will it give you? Let’s take a closer look.

1. Self Motivation

The first soft skill that could take you to the next level in your career, or lead to a pay increase, is your ability to set goals for yourself. How motivated are you?

Some people found themselves with extra time on their hands because self isolation or quarantine changed their normal routines. A survey found that the top five activities during the covid-19 outbreak were:

1. Watching TV Shows and Movies
2. Reading
3. Working Out
4. Arts and Crafts
5. Board Games

Are any of these activities on your list? If so, what have you been watching on Netflix? How long are your workout routines? Which board games have you been playing?

If you’re reading books and watching shows, you could take this time to learn a new language, learn a program (such as Word or PowerPoint), figure out how to do that home improvement project, or learn a new dance step. The possibilities are endless with all the resources available online.

Think about it. There must be some new talent you’ve been itching to learn. It only takes 10 to 15 minutes to discover a new skill. Is there something you can learn that will improve how you do something at work?

What new skill could you add to your résumé? I’ve been watching 5 to 20-minute videos to learn how to use a new computer program. It just takes a little commitment. Start with just a five-minute video to learn something… anything.

Self motivation is the key to making self improvement. Be your own boss, set your own goals, and become Version 2.0 of the new you in a month. With a new skill, you can take on new responsibilities, try out a side gig, or slowly ease your way into a new career.

Next, overcome your fears with the following soft skill.

2. Communication Skills

For many people, public speaking is a major fear, ranked up there with spiders, snakes, and haunted houses. About 25% of people are afraid of speaking in public. However, your ability to communicate clearly and speak in front of a large group is what will give you leadership and management opportunities.

Now, you might be happy where you are, working on your own and not leading a team. But being able to communicate is important too. Strong communication skills are powerful to have if you want to sell your boss on your idea or convince a prospective employer on why they should hire you.

Any speech you make, from the 30-second elevator pitch on why the team should vote for your idea, to convincing your boss to give you a raise, is about winning the listeners over and getting them to agree with you.

But what if you’re not good with words? What if they become a tangled-up mess before leaving your mouth?

Joining a Toastmasters club is a great way to work on your speaking skills. However, with covid-19, these clubs are not meeting in person anymore. They have resources on speech making and public speaking that you can still access, and work on practicing even now.

Another reason for having strong communication skills is you will have a talent that’s hard to replace. Technology is becoming more advanced, with chatbots answering customer questions and the increasing availability of self checkouts. A good communicator, however, is hard to replace. A good communicator can sell you on an idea.

According to LinkedIn, “The ability to communicate is the foundation skill of a salesperson. Many things can be outsourced or automated, but conversations can’t be.”

Strong communication skills are also necessary for leading a team. You need to be able to clearly articulate project objectives and keep communication clear to prevent mistakes.

Clear communication is also handy when you need to solve problems that arise.

3. Creativity/Problem Solving Skills

Can you think of the last time you had a peaceful, perfect, workday? I can’t. There’s usually some challenge or problem to solve because let’s face it: if life were perfect, work boredom would put you to sleep faster than the fastest drying paint.

Each day, you always have some obstacle to face. Sometimes that problem is routine, other times it’s a situation that becomes a war story in your career.

You’ve heard it before at a job interview, when they ask you, “Tell me about a time when….”

Your prospective employer wants to know about your ability to problem solve. How do you get along with teammates if a disagreement arises? How do you resolve it?

Can you think critically and logically when making a judgment about something? This is your moment to show that you can take on responsibility.

When faced with a new challenge, will you look at it from more than one perspective? This type of creativity shows your ability to take charge and become a leader. Entrepreneurs have strong problem-solving skills and often take the initiative to find a new solution to an ongoing problem.

For example, according to Inc.om, Brit Morin, founder and CEO of Brit + Co, discovered a need in the marketplace. Young women liked her DIY projects and wanted to learn to do what she was doing. She founded her media firm that “included a community of experts in topics like beauty, fashion, food, and home to teach young women the skills they want.”

Also according to Inc.com, Katie Keating and Erica Fite co-founded their agency Fancy. They noticed a need for customers who wanted to be treated as equals. Their target audience was women… who they saw as both “colleagues and as consumers.” Their work was described as “empowering, certainly, but still fun.”

Now, you might be thinking that if you do spend time now to work on your soft skills or find a problem that you could solve while you’re at home, how will you have enough time left over to take in a movie, or have a Zoom house party (if you’re still cautious about meeting in person).

The next soft skill, time management, is crucial for helping your keep yourself organized.

4. Time Management

How can you be efficient with your time? Now that we’ve spent more time at home, it’s tempting to see what everyone else has been up to by looking out your window at the neighbors or checking social media for the latest posts from friends and family. A half hour to several hours can easily pass you by.

It’s time to take control with time management. One way to do this is to get a clock, a pen or pencil, and a piece of paper. Yes, there are a lot of planning apps out there. But there’s something more visceral and committing when you’re holding a pencil to paper.

You’re more involved when you handwrite a list of 3 major goals for the day and what you’re going to do to achieve them.

Successful businesspeople like time blocking. They block out their day in increments. Elon Musk schedules his day in five-minute increments. I find those are too short to get a decent amount of creative thinking done, so I like 30-minute increments.

Choose whatever works best for you, by time blocking how many minutes you want to allot to each task. So when you’re ready, take that pencil and start writing down what you want your schedule to be.

When you watch the clock so carefully, you become much more aware of how efficiently you’re using your time. And (quite possibly) you’re more aware of how much time you’re wasting each day on unimportant activities. Richard Branson, for example, believes in keeping meetings to the point. Meetings don’t need to drag on needlessly for hours.

He says, “One of my favorite tricks is to conduct most of my meetings standing up. I find it to be a much quicker way of getting down to business, making a decision, and sealing the deal. When given the opportunity, I often like to take things a step further–literally, with a walking meeting.”

How fast do you think you’ll get to the point when your entire meeting is done standing up? Take control of your time. Be effective!

Take advantage of this recent change in our schedules, if you can, to improve your habits. And lastly, develop your skills as a leader.

5. Leadership Skills

Leadership is the fifth soft skill on this list, but it is one of the most important. Leadership is showing initiative and taking responsibility, whether it’s for your own actions or for a team.

Strong leadership skills can motivate and inspire a team. You can keep people on track when under pressure from tight, looming deadlines. Especially when nearing the end of a long and exhausting project, your team may need your encouragement to give them that final push to get to the finish line.

As a leader, you may need to make decisions that affect the team or the project budget. How do you tell someone that they’re not doing a good job and they need to redo their work? What will you do when you realize the project is going to be over budget?

Here’s where communication skills and emotional intelligence come in handy. Emotional intelligence is about your ability to recognize your own emotions and the emotions of others.

Can you show empathy? How can you give criticism that is constructive? And can you take constructive criticism in return? All these are important to good leadership.

Strong leaders build morale and provide guidance to other members of their team. You’re also a constant learner. How can you improve yourself?

There are several resources for working on your speaking skills, such as taking courses to learn new skills (like project management), reading books, or finding yourself a mentor or mastermind group.

Is there a leader you admire? What can you learn from them? For example, Bill Gates is an inspiring business leader and philanthropist. Oprah Winfrey is an inspiration with her media presence and charity work.

The under 20 age group also has influential leaders, although they may not be world renowned yet. Tania Speaks, for example, is an entrepreneur who launched a product because of personal pain. She founded Brow Boost and “grew the business by 60% in less than half a year”. She also speaks at elementary and high schools about her journey and increases awareness of bullying.

What can you learn about leadership from the leaders around you?

Summary

Your soft skills impact your work life. They can change your responsibilities, your work advancement, and influence your social life. During the pandemic, while we grapple with changes in our lives, we can take the time to re-evaluate who we are and who we want to be when things return to “normal”.

If you’ve got the time, it’s your opportunity to work on your soft skills and make a new you.

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Why Editing Is Important

Updated for 2022

You may have heard the story about how a minor edit made the difference between a family dinner and the disappearance of grandma. If you haven’t, then I will explain in a minute why editing is important, whether you run a business or you’re looking for your next employer.

Minor typos can financially impact your business or professional reputation.

Just look at the difference between “Let’s eat, grandma” and “Let’s eat grandma.” Most people would rather enjoy a meal together with grandma than have her on the menu. And all it takes is one comma.

Some typing or grammar mistakes are small, but other errors can have an immense impact.

How big of an impact can it have? The cost can be as severe as $620 million to the deaths of several people. Something this disastrous is rare, but the point is that careful editing can make you look smart and professional. Let’s look at some specific examples.

Never Underestimate the Power of Minor Errors

If you have a hole in your sock, it’s a small detail that makes you look careless. If you have a hole in your boat and you’re at sea, you’re taking a risk. It’s the same with minor errors in your writing, whether online or in print: your web page copy, emails, proposals, or reports make a statement about you.

At the very least, spelling and grammar errors can sabotage your first impression with your clients. Common errors include incorrect use of your and you’re, and their versus they’re. These typos create the impression that you write carelessly… making potential clients wonder if you handle your business in the same way.

At most, these tiny typos can also have an immeasurable financial cost. It’s a strong case for why editing is important.

For example, Mizuho Securities Co meant to sell single shares for 610,000 apiece, but a typo resulted in selling 610,000 shares for 1 yen apiece. The company lost nearly $340 million in less than a day.

Companies that work with a lot of numbers need to take extra precautions to check that their numbers are correct. A small typo can cause a huge financial loss.

In other cases, the effect can cause confusion or frustration, such as the reference “See Figure 8 on page 123 for the supporting data,” but there is no Figure 8 on page 123. It’s actually on page 133. Not everyone is enthusiastic about hunting around for information.

But that’s not all that can happen when there is a minor error.

A Letter Can Change Your Reputation

Spelling mistakes can range from disastrous to confusing. Some of the most common misspelled words, recieved (received) and seperate (separate), are also very commonly used words. Editing is essential when it comes to advertising or guarantees.

For example, during the production process for an ad, a typographical mistake resulted in substituting the “x” for an “r,” so that “exotic travel” became “erotic.” Because of the misprint, the travel agency suffered irreversible damage to its professional reputation and lost nearly 80 percent of its customers.

Also, assuring your customer that you will do everything to complete the project on schedule is slightly different than ensuring that you will do everything according to schedule. In the latter case, it’s best to have a lawyer on hand in case you are late.

So if spelling isn’t your strong point, or you weren’t an ace at spelling bees, the internet is here to help. You can make use of some great spelling resources here and here.

It Does Not Take Much to Cause Disaster

The previous examples show that chaos can ensue over a minor omission or typo. You might even be able to relate to these stories. It’s even happened to me before, even though I consider myself extremely careful.

I was rushing through a reply in a conversation and realized to my horror, that I missed the word “not” in the sentence. What a big difference!

The following example is an extreme case that drives home the point of why editing is important. The result of cases like these can be financially catastrophic or can even cost lives.

For instance, the omission of a single hyphen resulted in the detonation of the Mariner probe spacecraft and a total loss of $620 million from the accident.

Similarly, a minor clerical error in which a “C” became an “O” meant a rescue crew was dispatched to the wrong location, postponing rescue, and costing the lives of six fishermen.

Your typos may not be as costly as these examples. But minor spelling and grammar errors do come with a price!

Bad Editing and the Cost to Business

If you’re still in doubt about the importance of editing, consider what could happen to your business if you lose the trust of your customers. Or what could happen if your business couldn’t be found.

The correct use of spelling and grammar is one of the primary variables a search engine analyzes when categorizing and prioritizing websites. Spelling errors for keywords can affect search engine optimization, preventing potential customers from locating specific products and services.

One example is an e-commerce website that misspelled their product as “tihgts” instead of “tights.” The mistake resulted in a decline in sales until the error was fixed. Fixing the spelling resulted in an 80% conversion rate. In this case, details do matter.

Great Resources to Improve Your Editing

“A brand that disregards the details by underestimating the importance of proofreading could be a keystroke away from disaster.”—Six Degrees.com

Fixing typos can be low on your list of priorities if a deadline is looming or you are overwhelmed with several important tasks. There is any given number of valid reasons. So what can you do to cut down or eliminate spelling and grammar disasters?

One solution to prevent typos is the use of technology. Word processing programs with built-in spelling and grammar editing features can help to reduce the frequency of some of these types of errors.

It is even possible to create commands to check for specific typos, particularly if you have a habit of misspelling “definitely” wrong …. or forgetting if “between you and me” or “between you and I” is correct grammar. Or you can check if you’re making these common grammar mistakes.

You can look to some great online resources such as Grammar Girl or Owl Purdue to help you out. To use an analogy, it doesn’t matter if you spent hours digging through your closet for the perfect outfit or hours fixing your makeup. If your appearance catches looks of approval, that’s what counts: the final result.

However, nothing replaces having a copyeditor or proofreader to do a final check for typos and number errors. Some stubborn mistakes are acceptable to a grammar editing program, but not a fresh pair of eyes. An editor will check every detail for accuracy and consistency.

Final lesson: check, check, and double check. A thorough edit is worth your time!

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How a Positive Attitude Makes You Money

Believe it: how you see yourself and the world around you affects what makes you money. It is crucial to have a positive attitude if you want to take the next step in your personal growth and expand your wallet. Having a positive mindset will affect your income, appearance, friends, and actions.

Attitude of gratitude

If you approach life with a positive mindset, you will focus on the winning aspects of life. One way is to have an Attitude of Gratitude. Think of all the things in your life that you are grateful for, such family, friends, health, wealth, a vacation, or even the weather. Sometimes it becomes too easy to get caught up in everyday problems such as mortgage payments, a lousy commute, or an annoying coworker. These issues can drag you down and bring you negativity.

Instead, focus on the positive aspects of your life. Be grateful that you have a good friend who is there to listen when you need some advice. Be grateful that you have a source of income to pay for your upcoming credit card bill.

Having a positive mindset is the foundation for additional growth. You set your own boundaries on what you deserve. If you believe you are someone who owns a one-bedroom condo and your income is $50,000 a year, then that will set the limits of your life. You can dream about increasing your income to $1,000,000, but until you believe you deserve it, your situation isn’t likely to change.

Thinking positive starts the foundation to increasing your limits. People who are negative tend to be more cynical about opportunities. As a result, they limit themselves. What makes you money—and the income you deserve—is what lifestyle you believe you deserve. Only then will changes occur.

You are the average of your social circle

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”— Jim Rohn, motivational speaker

Having a positive mindset is key to bringing positive changes to your life. But your circle of friends also affects the outcomes in your social life, career, and family life. There is a saying that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with, whether those five people include your significant other, friends, or coworkers.

One way to think about that average is this: What are the life goals of these five? What is the average of their income? What do they do in their free time? What is their health and fitness level like? When you have the average for all of these answers, figure out where you fit in. Is your income the highest? Is your health somewhere in the middle?

If you’re looking for a drastic change from these five people, this change that you desire may be met with conflict. For example, you may be the first one to get married and have children. Or you may be the first one to want to start a business, instead of working for an employer.

Well-meaning friends may advise you against starting your own business because they feel more comfortable with job security and remind you that many startups fail. They don’t want to see you fail so they try to protect you.

You may have a positive mindset when you start your business, but the lack of customers and the advice of your well-meaning friends may start to replace your positive thoughts with negative ones.

The key in this situation is to stay positive. A positive attitude makes you money and gets you closer to your income goals. Positive people see opportunities everywhere. They will not obsess over disappointments or failures. In the long run, even if they meet short-term setbacks, their persistence will help them to prevail and meet success.

For this reason, it is important to be with others with the same mindset as you. For example, socialize with successful business owners who believe in you and support you. Their encouragement will help you maintain a positive attitude as you seek a new form of financial success.

People are attracted to positive people

Positive people attract all kinds of people, whether they are positive or negative because of the energy they radiate. Positive people gravitate toward positive because they lift each other up.

The optimism of positive leaders motivates others. When they share stories of their struggles, people become inspired by their messages of hope.

Negative people also gravitate toward positive people because of their ability to motivate. Negative people see the problems in the situation and don’t necessarily become proactive about changing their situation. They seek leadership and hope, but can’t seem to keep themselves afloat. They can pull positive people down.

Strong leaders are positive people who can motivate others, regardless of whether they are positive or negative. People are drawn to their ability to find solutions. They’re the ones asking, what opportunities are out there that make you money? Increase your connections? In the business world, these types of leaders are needed to take a business to the next level or to increase its revenue.

Small steps lead to great outcomes

People who are positive don’t give up easily. They focus on getting things done, instead of putting things off. When faced with a huge task, such as cleaning up a messy house, they will start with picking up one object and putting it away. Large projects start with small accomplishments.

Similarly, when faced with a task, they will not focus on perfection right away. Nor will they set up mental roadblocks for themselves. Procrastination is incredibly destructive.

For example, if the goal is to learn to write a thank you email quickly, they can start with the easy stuff, such as typing out the recipient’s name and writing a sentence to explain what they are thanking them for.

They won’t focus on grammar or spelling. They won’t fuss about whether they are choosing the best words or research if they’ve used the latest fonts or formatting styles. Working on any of these details will only delay the process and completing the task.

Similarly, when taking on a goal such as an increase in their income, positive people will make a plan and stick to it. They will map out the process they need to take to achieve that goal, and they will keep working to reach that goal every day.

Even if they hit setbacks in their plan, they will keep going, knowing that eventually, they will reach their destination. It’s that positive mind that makes you money and improves your financial situation.

Taking action, even if the actions are small, imperfect steps, is more important to them than planning out the perfect result and not taking action at all. They don’t fear failure. They are believers that the tortoise, and not the hare, can win the race.

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How to Gain Respect in Business

It’s not always about owning a fancy car or having your name mounted on the wall of a fifty storey building. You don’t even have to be the CEO of a six-figure empire to gain respect in business. You can start with making just a few small changes with yourself and your attitude toward your business and your network. Four tips in Dale Carnegie’s book The 5 Essential People Skills give you some suggestions on how to gain respect in business. It starts with how you plan your day.

1. Have a busy schedule.

Stay busy. Stay hungry. Be productive. Set daily and weekly goals for yourself and work on achieving those goals for your business. If you aren’t meeting with clients or prospective clients, then look for networking events to attend. Examine your business. Are there aspects of your marketing or sales that you could work on?

Take some time for personal development. Read a book to improve your knowledge. Personal goals can be a part of your professional goals. Keeping healthy and fit are just as important as hitting your sales goals. You can’t enjoy success if you’re sickly. You can’t work hard if you’re constantly fighting fatigue. Plus a healthy body boosts confidence, and confidence is a magnet that draws people toward you.

When you are busy working on your goals, you’re less likely to focus on the negativity that may nag at your conscience. You’ll find it easier to suppress that inner voice that may question your abilities if you accomplish even a small amount every day.

No sound is more dreadful to a new business owner than the sound of silence. It’s so tempting when you finally get an email or a call from a prospective client to jump on it right away. It’s so easy to say, “Yes, I’m free to chat with you right now! Yes, I can start working with you in two hours!”

But you should refrain from responding so fast. Being so eager smacks of desperation and can scare your prospective client away. Think about the last time you walked past a restaurant with only a couple of occupied tables. What were you first thoughts? Compare that to the time you walked past a restaurant with a lineup out the door. What was your opinion then?

Keep busy, stay busy, and look busy. When a prospective client calls to book an appointment to do business with you, flip past those blank pages in your appointment book and say you’re not free til next week.

2. Place yourself in important settings.

Having the right mindset is one way to gain respect. Having the attitude that business will eventually come to you because you possess the right skills is just as crucial. But you also need to place yourself in important settings so you can start building a network.

Look around for networking events where people who are key to your business will be attending. If you have a fitness business, attending an event for gamers would not be as productive business-wise. However, going to an event for people in the food and nutrition business would be a better fit. Of course, a convention for fitness coaches, gym owners, and athletes would probably be the most beneficial for you.

Depending on what you’re looking for, attending a free event may not get you the same results as an event with a $20 or $80 entry fee. Paid events tend to attract more experienced or serious people. They aren’t there out of curiosity, or because they wanted an activity to fill their Thursday night. People who pay to attend are there because they are looking for potential clients, joint venture partners, or people who can refer them to those who can build their business.

Events with hefty price tags are also more likely to attract industry leaders. Being able to rub shoulders with these leaders, or even have them as your mentors will be an asset to your business. We all need strong role models.

3. Spend time in the company of successful, well-regarded people.

We all need role models and mentors, and that includes having peers who inspire us. There is a saying that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. Think about how true that is for you.

Consider the goals and aspirations of your five closest friends. What do they aspire to do in their lifetime? What are their plans for their families? What is their income level? If you average out the answers for all these questions, you are probably similar to them. It is rare that you would find an aspiring CEO that is best friends with someone who is content with a lifetime of minimum wage jobs. Similarly, it is almost impossible to find a humanitarian who is best friends with someone who has little regard for other people.

If you want to gain the respect of others in business, surround yourself with successful people. If someone said their mentor is multi-millionaire Dan Lok, how would that affect your perception of them? Or if someone said that they work with Oprah Winfrey, or they are on Tony Robbin’s team, or belong to the same diner’s club as a Fortune 500 CEO, what would you think?

Having these priceless connections is like having a letter of reference, or a recommendation just for your association with them. It’s a reflection on your values and opinions.

4. Keep a neat workspace.

So at this point, you’re looking busy and accomplished. You’re attending events with industry leaders and you’re surrounding yourself with well-respected people. One final tip to getting respect is to keep your workspace tidy. It may sound like a tip from elementary school. But psychology and mindset are a big part of getting yourself ready for success.

For practical reasons, a disorganized workspace will make it challenging to find documents and information. You may even miss a meeting or misplace a file. If clients visit your office, it won’t give a favourable impression.

Keeping your workspace neat and tidy will result in the opposite – better organization and better impressions for clients. But on a psychological level, it will give you a mental boost if you work in a clean environment.

I would even suggest adding items that inspire you to reach your goal. Asians favor the good fortune cat to encourage money to come your way. Some like a leather chair to have that feeling of elegance.

However, this mental inspiration can be as simple as having all your office stuff organized with colour-coded stickies, pens, and file folders. Or a smiling photo of your spouse. Or kids. Or both. Whatever it takes to remind you why you got your business started in the first place.

These are just four tips to get you started on gaining you respect in business. Earning the respect of others is not a magical moment that can happen overnight. They can have a high opinion of you to start with, but like a blossoming plant, nurturing and keeping that respect will take time.

Do you have suggestions on how to gain respect in business? Please share in the comments section!