SKILLS INVENTORY FOR LEADERS

Oyewole O. Sarumi |PhD|

INTRODUCTION

• Skill generally is an ability and capacity acquired through deliberate, systematic, and

sustained effort to smoothly and adaptively carryout complex activities or job

functions involving ideas (cognitive skills), things (technical skills), and/or people

(interpersonal skills).

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/skill.html

• A skill is the ability to carry out a task with pre-determined results often within a

given amount of time, energy, or both.

• Skills can often be divided into domain general and domain-specific skills. For

example, in the domain of work, some general skills would include time

management, teamwork and leadership, self-motivation and others, whereas domain-

specific skills would be useful only for a certain job.

• Skill usually requires certain environmental stimuli and situations to assess the level

of skill being shown and used.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skill

HIERARCHY OF SKILLS

• People need a broad range of skills in order to contribute to a modern economy.

• A joint ASTD and U.S. Department of Labor study showed that through technology, the

workplace is changing, and identified 16 basic skills that employees must have to be

able to change with it.

DEFINITION – HARD SKILLS

• Understanding Hard Skills - Hard skills are the essential, required skills needed to

perform a job. They include learned skills and training related to your career or

profession.

• Hard skills are considered tangible skills because they're easily identified and

measured with things like tests and exams.

• When writing a resume or applying for a job, it's essential that you convey hard skills

to your prospective employer, such as schooling, degrees, training and certificates.

HARD SKILLS

• Hard skills – These are trade skills and subject matter expertise, like programming,

accounting, financial analysis, or chemical engineering that we need to perform our

job.

• Hard skills are skills where the rules stay the same regardless of which company,

circumstance or people you work with.

• For example, programming is a hard skill. The rules for how you can be good at

creating the best code to do a function is the same regardless of where you work.

DEFINITIONS – SOFT SKILLS

• Wikipedia defines soft skills as “associated with a person’s ‘EQ’ (Emotional

Intelligence Quotient), the cluster of personality traits, social graces,

communication, language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that

characterize relationships with other people.”

• MindTools defines soft skills as “your work ethic, your attitude, your communication

skills, your emotional intelligence and a whole host of other personal attributes”

• Soft skills are skills where the rules changes depending on the company culture

and people you work with.

• “Soft Skills” have become one of most used buzz words of the 21st century.

• Soft skills" are the most important skills for your career. They are the skills that are difficult

to systemize and automate. They are the skills that define leadership and creativity.

• Soft skills are those skills that are difficult to measure. In other words, hard skills can easily

be measured by a test but soft skills can't.

• It's easy to determine who has the best mathematics skills. It's difficult to determine who's

best at innovation or diplomacy.

•

CAREER SUCCESS FRAMEWORK.

• A clear framework to help us

define and distinguish what are

soft skills was designed by Lei Han

and called “Career Success”

Framework.

• There are five categories of job

skills essential to our career

success, two of which are soft skills

categories.

SOFT SKILLS – PEOPLE SKILLS

• Soft Skills – People skills – These are the skills we use to interact with others at

work. Examples of people skills include communications and interpersonal skills as

well as skills to manage upwards and deal with office politics. For example,

• It’s not enough to have a brilliant idea, it is only when we communicate it effectively and to

the right people, can we garner the support needed to implement it.

• It is not enough to work hard. If no one knows about it, it unfortunately doesn’t count. We

have to subtly self-promote, so that the right people can appreciate all of our hard skills

and soft skills.

• There are 18 people skills that we should hone and develop over the course of our

career.

SOFT SKILLS – SELF MANAGEMENT SKILLS

• Soft Skills – Self management skills – These are the skills to help us manage self

perception and our reactions to adverse situations. For examples, How can we

succeed if we don’t feel confident to take certain actions?

• How can we succeed if we cannot control our angry response to unexpected

situations?

• There are 10 self management soft skills including confidence, patience and stress

management, which are fundamental to our career success.

WORK ATTITUDE

• Work Attitude – This category refer to our

temperament and outlook. For example, work

ethic, positivity, and willingness to learn are

attributes typically valued by companies.

PROFESSIONALISM

• Professionalism – This category includes

basic business etiquette – the way we

dress, speak, and behave in a work setting.

THREE KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HARD SKILLS VS. SOFT SKILLS

• To be good at hard skills usually takes smarts or IQ (also known as your left brain-

the logical center). To be good at soft skills usually takes Emotional Intelligence

or EQ (also known as your right brain- the emotional center).

• Examples of hard skills include math, physics, accounting, programming, finance,

biology, chemistry, statistics, etc…

• Examples of soft skills include self management skills like self confidence, stress

management and people skills like communication or networking skills.

• Communication skills are a set of soft skills. The rules for how to be effective at

communications change and depend on your audience or the content you are

communicating.

• You may communicate well to fellow programmers about technical details while

struggle significantly to communicate clearly to senior managers about your project

progress and the support needed.

• Hard skills can be learned in school and from books. There are usually designated

level of competency and a direct path as to how to excel with each hard skill. For

example, accounting is a hard skill. You can take basic accounting and then

advanced accounting courses. You can then work to get experience and take an

exam and be certified as a CPA, etc..

• In contrast, there is no simple path to learn soft skills. Most soft skills are not

taught well in school and have to be learned on the job by trial and error. There

are many books and guides on soft skills.

HARD SKILLS VS. SOFT SKILLS – WHICH IS MORE IMPORTANT?

• It depends highly on the career you choose. Here is why.

• Careers can be put into 3 kind of categories. It is up to you to figure out which category

your career is in.

1) Careers that need hard skills and little soft skills (example: Physicists); This is where

you see brilliant people who may not easily work well with others. They can still be very

successful in their career – look at Albert Einstein

• 2) Careers that need both hard and soft skills – many careers are in this category

(example: Accountants, Lawyers – they need to know the rules of accounting or law well

but they also depend on selling to clients to build a successful career. Dealing well with

clients require excellent soft skills like communication skills, relationship skills etc…)

•

3) Careers that need mostly soft skills and little hard skills (example: sales. A car salesman

don’t really need to know that much about cars, just a little more than the consumer. His

job is more dependent on his ability to read his customers, communicate his sales pitch,

persuasion skills, and skills to close to deal. These are all soft skills.)

• Another way to assess how important are soft skills in your career is to ask

yourself three questions

• 1) Is how well I work and communicate with others critical to my performance review and

the decision for my promotion?

• 2) Are people in the same position as me well liked in the company and promoted faster?

• 3) Does my ability to control my temperament at work affect my performance review?

If all three is yes, soft skills are very important to develop if you want to advance in your

career.

• Soft skills are more important in most business careers than hard skills. We all

know or have worked for senior people that doesn’t seem that smart (limited hard

skills).

• The fact remains that they are in senior positions because they have exceptional soft

skills (e.g., know how to leverage politics to further their careers, leadership skills,

management skills, self promotion skills etc…).

THE IMPORTANCE

• Hard and soft skills both play different and important roles within your career.

• Hard skills are what will spark an employer's attention and get you an interview, while

soft skills will help you advance once you're part of the company.

• One of the bigger mistakes an employee can make is neglecting his soft skills. Soft

skills also help management separate potential leaders from other contributors in the

company.

SOFT SKILLS LIST –SELF MANAGEMENT

SKILLS

SOFT SKILLS LIST – SELF MANAGEMENT SKILLS

• Self-Management Skills address how you perceive yourself and others, manage your

personal habits and emotions and react to adverse situations.

• Only when you build inner excellence can you have a strong mental and emotional

foundation to succeed in your career.

• They are briefly discussed:

1. GROWTH MINDSET

• Growth mindset – Looking at any situation,

especially difficult situations, as an

opportunity for you to learn, grow, and

change for the better.

• Focusing your attention on improving

yourself instead of changing others or

blaming anyone.

2. SELF-AWARENESS

• Self-awareness – Knowing and

understanding what drives, angers,

motivates, embarrasses, frustrates, and

inspires you.

• Being able to observe yourself

objectively in a difficult situation and

understand how your perceptions of

yourself, others, and the situation are

driving your actions.

3. EMOTION REGULATION

• Emotion regulation – Being able

to manage your emotions,

especially negative ones, at work

(e.g. anger, frustration,

embarrassment) so you can think

clearly and objectively, and act

accordingly.

4. SELF-CONFIDENCE

• Self-confidence – Believing in yourself

and your ability to accomplish

anything. Knowing that all you need is

within you now.

• “Those who believe in themselves have

access to unlimited power” – wisdom

from Kung Fu Panda

5. STRESS MANAGEMENT–

• Stress management– Being able to stay

healthy, calm, and balanced in any

challenging situations.

• Knowing how to reduce your stress level

will increase your productivity, prepare

you for new challenges and supports

your physical and emotional health, all of

which you need for a fulfilling, successful

career.

6. RESILIENCE

• Resilience – Being able to

bounce back after a

disappointment or set back, big

or small, and continue to move

onward and upward.

7. SKILLS TO FORGIVE AND FORGET

• Skills to forgive and forget– Being

able to forgive yourself for making

a mistake, forgive others that

wronged you, and move on without

“mental or emotional

baggage.” Freeing your mind from

the past so you can focus 100% of

your mental energy on your near

and long-term career goals.

8. PERSISTENCE AND PERSEVERANCE

• Persistence and perseverance

– Being able to maintain the same

energy and dedication in your

effort to learn, do, and achieve in

your career despite difficulties,

failures, and oppositions.

9. PATIENCE

• Patience – Being able to step

back in a seemingly rushed or

crisis situation, so you can think

clearly and take action that

fulfills your long term goals.

10. PERCEPTIVENESS

• Perceptiveness – Giving attention to the

unspoken cues and developing

cognitive or emotional empathy of other

people’s situation and perspective. Often

times, we are too busy thinking about

ourselves and what we are saying, we leave

little room to watch and understand others’

action and intentions. If you misinterpret

other’s intention or don’t try to put yourself in

their shoes, you can easily encounter

difficulties dealing with people and not even

know why.

SOFT SKILLS LIST – PEOPLE SKILLS

• People Skills address how to best interact and work with others so you can build

meaningful work relationships, influence others perception of you and your work, and

motivate their actions. They are in two sections: Conventional and Tribal

• Conventional – List of people skills you can find in most job descriptions and you

will be assessed on some or all of these in your performance reviews depending on

your level.

11. COMMUNICATION SKILLS

• Communication skills – Being able to

actively listen to others and articulate your

ideas in writing and verbally to any

audience in a way where you are heard

and you achieve the goals you intended

with that communication. This also include

languages skills if the spoken language at

work is your second language.

13. TEAMWORK SKILLS

• Teamwork skills – Being able to

work effectively with anyone with

different skill sets, personalities, work

styles, or motivation level to achieve a

better team result.

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP SKILLS

• Interpersonal relationship skills – Effective at

building trust, finding common ground, having

emotional empathy, and ultimately building good

relationships with people at work and in your

network. Also referred as you social skills, this

skill is closely related to Communication Skills. It

doesn’t matter how smart you are, you must have

social graces in order to get far in your career.

• As Maya Angelou said “I have learned people will

forget what you said. People will forget what you did,

but people will never forget how you make them

feel.”

14. PRESENTATION SKILLS

• Presentation skills – Effectively presenting your

work results and ideas formally to an audience that

captivates their attention, engage their input, and

motivates them to act in accordance to your desired

outcome.

• While presentation skills is a form of

communication skills, I decided to list it separately

given the ability to present plays a huge role in any

business profession especially as you move up in

your career.

15. MEETING MANAGEMENT SKILLS

• Meeting management skills –

Leading a meeting to efficiently and

effectively reach productive results.

• At least 50% of meetings today are a

waste of time.

16. FACILITATING SKILLS

• Facilitating skills – Being able to

coordinate and solicit well

represented opinions and feedback

from a group with diverse

perspectives to reach a common,

best solution.

17. SELLING SKILLS

• Selling skills – Building buy-in

to an idea, a decision, an action, a

product, or a service. This is not

just for people in sales.

18. MANAGEMENT SKILLS

• Management skills –

Creating and motivating a

high performing team with

people of varied skills,

personalities, motivations, and

work styles.

19. LEADERSHIP SKILLS

• Leadership skills – Defining and

communicating vision and ideas

that inspires others to follow with

commitment and dedication.

20. MENTORING / COACHING SKILLS

• Mentoring / coaching skills –

Providing constructive wisdom,

guidance, and/or feedback that can

help others further their career

development

“TRIBAL” SOFT SKILLS

• “Tribal” – List of people skills that you will not find in any job descriptions. They

are also essential to your career success.

• It’s called tribal because they are more “insider knowledge” that you gain from work

experience or from mentors. Some people can go through their entire career and not

be aware of some of these skills.

21. MANAGING UPWARDS

• Managing upwards – Proactively

managing your relationship with

your boss, his expectations of your

work, and his perception of your

performance. Whether you are

challenged, given opportunities, or

recognized at work heavily depends

on your ability to communicate,

manage expectations, and build a

good relationship with your boss.

22. SELF-PROMOTION SKILLS

• Self-promotion skills – Proactively

and subtly promoting your skills and

work results to people of power or

influence in your organization and

network. It is not enough that your boss

knows you do great work. You need to

subtly build your reputation with all key

people that can influence your

performance review. This is

because hard work alone does not

guarantee success.

23. SKILLS IN DEALING WITH DIFFICULT PERSONALITIES

• Skills in dealing with difficult

personalities – Being able to still

achieve the work result needed while

working with someone whom you find

difficult.

24. SKILLS IN DEALING WITH DIFFICULT/UNEXPECTED SITUATIONS

• Skills in dealing with

difficult/unexpected situations –

Being able to stay calm and still are

effective when faced with an

unexpected or difficult situation.

• This includes being able to think on

your feet and articulate thoughts in

an organized manner even when you

are not prepared for the discussion or

situation you are in.

25. SAVVY IN HANDLING OFFICE POLITICS

• Savvy in handling office politics –

Being able to understand and

proactively deal with the unspoken

nuances of office and people

dynamics so you can protect

yourself from unfairness as well as

further your career. Office politics

is a fact of life. If you don’t choose

to play, it can play you.

26. INFLUENCE / PERSUASION SKILLS

• Influence / persuasion skills –

Being able to influence

perspectives or decision making

but still have the people you

influence think they made up

their own minds.

27. NEGOTIATION SKILLS

• Negotiation skills – Being

able to understand the other

side’s motivations and leverage

and reach a win-win resolution

that you find favourably, satisfies

both sides, and maintains

relationships for future

interactions.

28. NETWORKING SKILLS

• Networking skills – Being able to be

interesting and interested in business

conversations that motivates people to

want to be in your network.

• The bigger and stronger the network you

have, the more easily you can get things

done (e.g., find a job, get advice, find

business partners, find customers, etc…

87 SOFT SKILLS LIST

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

• 1. Verbal Communication

2. Body Language

3. Physical Communication

4. Writing

5. Storytelling

6.Visual Communication

• 7. Humour

8. Quick-wittedness

9. Listening

10. Presentation Skills

11. Public Speaking

12. Interviewing

LEADERSHIP

• 13. Team Building

14. Strategic Planning

15. Coaching

16. Mentoring

17. Delegation

18. Dispute Resolution

19. Diplomacy

20. Giving Feedback

21. Managing Difficult Conversations

• 22. Decision Making

23. Performance Management

24. Supervising

25. Managing

26. Manager Management

27. Talent Management

28. Managing Remote Teams

29. Managing Virtual Teams

30. Crisis Management

Influencing

• 31. Facilitation

32. Selling

33. Inspiring

34. Persuasion

35. Negotiation

36. Motivating

37. Collaborating

Interpersonal Skills

• 38. Networking

39. Interpersonal Relationships

40. Dealing with Difficult People

41. Conflict Resolution

42. Personal Branding

43. Office Politics

PERSONAL SKILLS

• 44. Emotional Intelligence

45. Self Awareness

46. Emotion Management

47. Stress Management

48. Tolerance of Change and Uncertainty

49. Taking Criticism

50. Self Confidence

51. Adaptability

52. Resilience

• 53. Assertiveness

54. Competitiveness

55. Self Leadership

56. Self Assessment

57. Work-Life Balance

58. Friendliness

59. Enthusiasm

60. Empathy

CREATIVITY

• 61. Problem Solving

62. Critical Thinking

63. Innovation

64. Troubleshooting

65. Design Sense

66. Artistic Sense

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

•

67. Organization

68. Planning

69. Scheduling

70.Time Management

71. Meeting Management

72. Technology Savvy

73. Technology Trend Awareness

74. Business Trend Awareness

75. Research

76. Business Etiquette

• 77. Business Ethics

78. Diversity Awareness

79. Disability Awareness

80. Intercultural Competence

81. Training

82.Train the Trainer

83. Process Improvement

84. Knowledge Management

85. Writing Reports and Proposals

86. Customer Service

87. Entrepreneurial Thinking

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

• Most of us have spent at least 16 years in school focused mainly on building our hard

skills full time and a little on our soft skills through team projects, sports, and social

activities.

• To succeed in our career, shouldn’t we spend at least another 16 years or more to

proactively master the soft skills necessary to advance our careers?

• The important thing is to understand why these soft skills are important and then ask

yourself – which one do you want to develop next?

MATERIALS USED/CONSULTED

• From Anna Mar’s: http://training.simplicable.com/training/new/87-soft-skills

• https://bemycareercoach.com/soft-skills/hard-skills-soft-skills.html

• https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hard-skills-vs-soft-difference-importance-hajar-

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