This one skill makes you unique from others
LinkedIn in its research on ‘The most in-demand hard and soft skills for 2020’ revealed the top 5 soft skills are Creativity, Persuasion, Collaboration, Adaptability and Emotional Intelligence.
Many roles in the organisation have changed in recent times due to rapid technological changes. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has replaced several manual processes. On one hand, this is easing the jobs of many, and on the other hand, it is adding new responsibilities. Consequently, the tasks undertaken 10 years ago are different from the tasks undertaken now.
Many new jobs have been created such as Cyber Security Analysts, Data Scientists, Finance Business Partners, Cloud Computing, and many more. Machines are performing various technical and routine tasks resulting in growing popularity for soft skills as mentioned in the above LinkedIn research. Sometimes having great technical skills may not fetch you a promotion at your work but having great communication and influential skills with limited technical skills may help you achieve this.
To be recognised and appreciated for the work you do; you need great communication skills. After meeting and observing some employees, I understood good communication and social skills help you to secure not only promotions but also help you to win the heart of others.
Every one of us talks about communication skills but what exactly are communication skills? How they differentiate you from others. If you google, you see several articles and videos talking about verbal, written, and effective communication skills along with soft skills. What exactly this means and how can you develop them?
Before going further, I would like to share a short story with you:
Once upon a time a King, Minister, Commander-in-Chief, and a soldier went to a forest to hunt. After the hunting, four of them headed back to the Kingdom; suddenly the Minister, Commander-in-Chief, and the Soldier realised that the King got lost in the forest.
The minister instructed the other two, “Let’s find the King before it gets dark, we should split up and look in different directions. After the search, we will all meet at the exit of the forest before sunset”.
All three started searching for the King. The soldier during his search saw a monk meditating under a tree. He went to the monk and asked “hey beggar, did you see anyone passing through from here,”
The monk replied. “O son I am blind and I have…” then the soldier interrupted, frowned and said “If you are blind what can you inform me? There is no point in listening and inquiring of you any further” He left the place in frustration.
The Commander-in-Chief intersect at Monk’s place and enquired “hey old man, have you noticed anyone passing through in this direction? “
The monk modestly said “Oh Son I am blind, unfortunately, I could not help you in this regard”, then the Commander-in-Chief said ‘Thank you” and left in the same direction as the soldier.
The Minister during his search crossed the same place and questioned the Monk “Dear monk! My humble greetings! We are looking for our King who was lost in the forest. Have you ever sighted him passing through this path?” Monk replied in his tiring voice “Oh Son. I am blind, unfortunately, I could not help you with your request” then the Minister further requested,
“I am so sorry to hear that you are blind, but have you heard anyone passing through in this direction?”
Then the monk said, “Yes I heard the footsteps of the horses moved in this direction (pointing towards a direction)”.
Then the minister said, “Thank you so much for your help” and he left the monk with gratitude.
Then the King travelled the same path as the Minister and requested the monk
“Respected Guru! apologies for interrupting your meditation. Could you please advise – have you noticed anyone passing through in this direction?”
The monk replied “Oh King my greetings to you! I am blind, unfortunately, I could not help you with your request”? Then the King humbly said, “I am sorry to hear this, could you please advise if you have heard anyone going in any direction?”
The monk replied, “Yes your honour! Your minister, Commander in Chief and the Soldier left in this direction (pointing towards the direction).” The King was surprised and asked, “Oh great Guru, how did you identify that they are my Minister, Commander in Chief and a soldier since you cannot see?”
The Monk with an authoritative voice answered “I understood from their language, your honour! Ears were sufficient to experience their language!
The first one was the soldier who was unable to listen to the directions, the second one was the commander in chief who was more focused on his goal of finding you and the third one was the Minister who was very thankful and respectful in his language. From your humble greetings and your subtle language, I identified that you must be the King they are looking for.”
The king admired him for his wisdom and said, “Thank you so much Guru for enlightening me on how communication skills help to understand the personality.”
From this story, we can perceive the various levels of communication and how it helps others understand our personality. Now think about whether you want to be a Soldier, Commander-in-Chief, Minister or King. Inadequate communication skills may impact you in the following ways:
Loss of job opportunities: Some jobs require you to submit an essay elaborating your Resume or Curriculum Vitae especially in the public sector. This is a vital process for getting you shortlisted for the position. Sometimes, because of a lack of good written skills, you may lose the opportunity even though you have good technical skills to perform the role.
Unable to Network: Good speaking and social skills help you to expand your network in a short time. Lack of these skills may hinder your job search. Lack of good speaking skills made me stay away from many networking events and thus slowed my career growth.
Permanent Visa: One of the requirements to stay permanently in Australia is to obtain a good score in the English Language Testing Systems. You should be able to speak fluently and write eloquently in English to achieve a good score. Many international students struggle in this area.
Lack of growth in the career: Believe me, there were a number of employees who had fewer technical skills than me but were promoted into better positions. This is because they were excellent at their communication skills (verbal and written). It crippled me initially, once I realised the fact, I started improving the skills I needed.
Confidence: Language occupies a significant role in building up confidence. When you have good language skills, you can express your argument clearly. Lack of words to express yourself and your skills will thin your confidence levels.
In this article, I used language and communication skills interchangeably. I believe proper language encourages you to communicate effectively. I am referring to all forms of communication (verbal and written) here. Effective communication skills help you to develop soft and influential skills.
What can you do to improve communication skills effectively?
Some of the practical ways I am using are recommended by many language experts:
- Read books of your interest. Believe me! This supports you to broaden your vocabulary.
- Join the clubs of your interest such as Rostrum, Rotary or Toastmasters.
- Find a mentor who can assist you correct your English.
- Identify formal and informal words in the language. This helps you to tune your speaking or writing according to the needs of the audience. You can find some verbs in the infographics here.
- Try to write articles of interest to any magazine or blog.
- Read grammar blogs that teach you many rules of grammar and vocabulary. I follow grammarcheck.net.
- If any of the above do not interest you, write a daily diary of the things you have done.
Start working on improving your communication skills as soon as you can to avoid rejections in the future just for this reason. As an international student, I started as soon as I arrived in Australia. This strategy helped me to improve my language skills just enough to meet a good score in my English Exam and secure a job in my field of study.
Consider reading:
As an international student, do you want to be a chicken or an eagle?
