Soft skills are often underrepresented in the current hiring market. Hiring managers can discount a candidate’s ability to communicate, adapt, and find their way to a solution in the face of work experience clearly listed on their resume. And for a lot of entry level candidates, and through no fault of their own, this section of a resume can be deemed lacking!
It’s why a lot of new graduates are turning their hand towards becoming entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, freelancers, and small business owners. After all, you know better than anyone else what you’re capable of, even if others can’t see it. It’s why relying on your soft skills is never a bad thing, and you should always seek to develop them.
And sometimes, these skills make you perfect for leadership. Indeed, if you possess any of the interpersonal abilities down below, your chances of achieving success tend to be a lot higher. You’ll still have a challenge ahead, but you should never let yourself feel like you’re unqualified or incapable of getting what you want from your career.
The Ability to Work in a Team
In our opinion, teamwork is a highly underrated skill. A lot of people prefer to work on their own every single time – in fact, at least a fifth of working adults like to complete work tasks alone, while around 50% think they don’t work well in teams.
If you go against the grain here, it’s a very good thing! You need to have a strong sense of teamwork if you want to open up and lead your own business. After all, you’re going to be in charge of a team at some point, even if that point is around 5 to 10 years away.
Working as part of a team allows for better communication, accountability, and expert delegation. If you can get down with your team and get to know their strengths, you’re going to have a much better time curating your workplace culture.
An Expert Grasp of Communication
Talking to people and actually communicating with them are two separate things. A lot of people don’t quite understand this, and we get that. It can be hard to distinguish between the two. But if you are able to, and you have skill in ensuring there’s a line of communication that never gets broken, value this skill above all else.
When you’re a good communicator, who can check in without fail and issue instructions with plenty of clarity, you deserve to be in a leadership position. Indeed, various leadership positions in healthcare and in other high pressure, high demand industries rely on good communication above all else.
It’s good for your team to have questions – it means they’re interested and paying attention. However, if you can’t talk to your team without them coming back for clarification every time, it could be a sign you need to develop your communication style.
Creative Problem Solving Methods
Problem solving looks a little different to everyone, thanks to just how creative the human mind can be. As such, if you find yourself thinking up creative and unusual ways to approach problems in the workplace, you could be a very good business leader of your own.
If you’re going to work for yourself, you need to be able to rely on a skill like this. You see opportunities that others don’t. You can pinpoint customer issues that no one else has brought up. You can find ways to exploit social media that allows for virality. All of these skills are perfect for the current business market – why not put them to good use?
Workplace Conflict Mediation
Conflict can arise very easily in the workplace. However, if you have the ability to mediate between co-workers (and you’ve displayed this skill multiple times in the past), you’re going to be a great business owner.
If anything happens between your time, you can get in the middle and work it out. Instead of waiting for the conflict to blow over or accidentally allowing for a toxic workplace culture, you’re going to be on the ground with them, stepping up exactly when you need to.
Being Organised
It sounds like a simple thing – if you can be organised, you’re going to have an easier workday ahead of you. And sometimes that’s something as simple as keeping your desk neat and tidy, or updating your calendar on a daily basis. Easy, right?
You’d be surprised at just how many people struggle; a study once found nearly a third of people felt disorganised and overwhelmed at work. That’s why this is such a crucial soft skill, that you often won’t get any praise for.
As a future business leader, being organised means you know what’s going to happen and when. You’re always on time, you’ve prepared speeches and elevator pitches, and you’re ready to take on a challenge thanks to a clear mind.
Awareness and Management of Time
Time management encompasses quite a few ‘mini’ skills, as it were. You need to know what the time is, be able to constantly keep an eye on the clock, and use the time allowed to you wisely. That’s three things that a lot of people find quite hard to manage in tandem!
But if you’re an old hat at making sure you get things done on time, every time, make sure you crow about it. Awareness and management of time during the work day maximises your productivity, and that sets you up perfectly for forming a business.
A good business owner can pull things together at the last minute. A great business owner never needs to. Plan out your days, be flexible, and make sure you’re never taking on too much at once.
Soft skills are invaluable in the modern workforce. Always value your own, even if you feel they don’t get enough attention when placed on a resume. They could make the difference between being a good business owner and failing within the first year!
