By Shazad Ahmad
I can’t predict the future. No one can and anyone who says then can should be avoided! What I can do is understand history, trends and how businesses operate over time. I can take this understanding to come up with some very likely skills everyone will need for success as an employee or leaders in their own business. There are 3 key life skills I have identified as absolutely critical for success in the future.
The first necessary skill that is in demand now and will continue to be in great demand will be Critical Thinking. The ability to analyze a situation and use rational judgement combined with unbiased decision making to address it, is powerful! The best leaders are those that can see and solve complex problems using this skill while others either ignore or run away from problems. Many organizations will seek out leaders who possess the ability to think critically. Be the person who others are looking for to lead them.
The second necessary skill is Effective Communication in print, on a microphone or video format. Communication is a core human skill and It should be obvious that effective communication will always be important to human life. No great person ever existed who was not able to share a vision, idea or product with someone in such a way that they understood it. Many people focus on just one way of sharing ideas such as in writing or through verbal discussion. To truly become a great leader and successful professional, we must all become comfortable with and persuasive with all kinds of formats. We need to be good on video as well as on a microphone on a moment’s notice. We should be able to write short or long form content with little preparation and always using proper grammar and punctuation. Such people are the ones who change the minds of people with their words. Don’t ever underestimate the power of your words.
The third most important skill for a successful person in any field is the ability to keep learning how to learn regardless of age, language, ethnic background or anything else. This is another key human ability and one that is fundamental to the human race. It’s also an essential part of having a growth mindset in your professional field. Our potential and ability to keep learning for our entire lives is what you must take advantage of. By always learning about your industry, related fields and also about your own self, you ensure that you are staying current and developing self-awareness. This powerful combination goes beyond just surviving in the future. You become an influential leader people want to follow and learn from.
In addition to the above, there are also at least 3 attitudes or bad habits that will most certainly keep you stuck or worse, cause you to be out of work now and in the future. The first is to think you have mastered your field and there is nothing more to know. You are satisfied with your knowledge from 10+ years ago and think everyone should just accept what you say from now one without questioning you. This attitude is harmful for obvious reasons. Never stop learning and staying humble. You don’t know everything and you never will. That is ok and gives you an opportunity to keep learning.
Another way to ensure failure is to simply take courses everyone else is taking because it’s popular and you heard some good jobs need a certain course. You don’t really understand the course material and barely pass the exams but you continue taking courses that everyone says you should take in multiple categories in the hopes of trying to make a career or start a business with this information. This approach often fails because the person doing this doesn’t have a vision for their own career and often lacks enough interest in the topics so they never develop the required knowledge to practically apply the information gained from the various courses. Each person taking a course needs to understand the context of their training with other things they already know and their desired field of interest. The student must be able to have a general idea of how things will connect with other information to become something more relevant. Courses should be taken for the purpose of building upon some level of knowledge combined with interest in a topic. Whenever a course is completed, the student should make a habit to restate key ideas learned in the course. The student should also identify where this knowledge can be applied to solve a problem or improve an existing business opportunity.
The third of many bad habits to avoid is trying to blend into a group or market segment and just be another person with a similar service or product. Those who do this become an average cog or part in a big corporate machine. Such people and businesses are no better than the average in a sea of average people and businesses, so nothing about you stands out. This is perhaps one of the most common things and most dangerous things that may professionals end up doing. it slowly kills them and keeps them stuck in something they don’t even like doing. Many such people and businesses will get replaced by automation and offshoring of jobs where routine tasks and average work can be done by someone else. A business professional’s goal should be to stand out and become unlike the rest of the workers or businesses. By focusing on quality over quantity of work, you can achieve this. A person of high standards, great self-awareness and a passion for doing the right things will always be recognized as someone to watch and listen to. The average person and companies will be lost in the crowd and easier to ignore. They will be replaced by something or disposed of like an unnecessary commodity item by decision-makers. By investing our time and energy to improve our skills to be among the best employees or businesses, we ensure we will be heard, followed and even remembered after we leave the position or business role. The goal of all professionals should be to create a personal success brand that reminds everyone of who you are and you believe in. Constantly developing and refining your personal brand makes you a better professional and person. Until you can become memorable for some great human qualities and skills, you won’t be fully appreciated which means you will not find fulfillment in your life because you know you have more potential than what you are showing to the world. At the end of the day, we all need to find purpose, fulfillment, and happiness in our working life because we can spend 2/3rd of or adult life in this mode. Success is the outcome you get when you figure these things out. Don’t chase success as your goal. Review the qualities of successful people and those who fail so you can learn from them.
The successful people of the future will be those that can understand and apply the required skills and avoid all the toxic beliefs, bad habits and limited thinking of the majority of people who only wish for success. Don’t be like the people who don’t actually do anything to achieve their personal best. Success can be yours if you are ready to work for it!