7 Essential Skills To Shape Up Your Professional Career

Here is a list of 7 essential professional skills that will help you shape up your professional career:

Know your stuff

- Ask 5 Whys to get to the root of the problem
- Understand well enough to explain
- Know and trust the facts, don't speculate
- Don't believe in too much theory or fluffy stuff
- Know what your stakeholder cares about
- Don't wait for an escalation, be proactive, take decisions
- Understand the bigger picture and the details too

Care about your work

- Take ownership of your work
- Make things happen, don't wait for things to happen to you
- Develop a "can do" attitude
- Remember Quality is important than Quantity
- Show up on time and speak up
- Internalize feedback and don't quit
- Don't wait to be told

Learn to Articulate

- When talking to business talk in business language, when talking to IT talk in IT language
- Less is more, be crisp and clear
- Know the audience, tailor your message accordingly
- Learn how to get to the point
- Visualize the complex
- Get to the point

Accelerate with confidence

- Develop a sense of urgency
- Do not allow yourself to be stuck
- Now is better than later
- Do not slow down others
- Identify and remove roadblocks
- Don't wait for permission

Influence your work

- Identify the impact of not doing the right things
- Hold the ground
- Assess win-win, win-lose, lose-win situation upfront
- Challenge the "matter/ issue/ problem' even if not popular
- Make a point

Drive and focus

- Bring people together
- Don't limit yourself
- Breakdown problem, inspire action
- Ask for help and escalate in a timely manner
- Believe in creative problem solving

Be flexible

- Be an active listener and incorporate feedback
- Learn to make adjustments in a timely manner
- Always have a plan B/ backup plan
- Think on your feet
- Be persistent to make decision
- Find multiple ways to solve the same problem

Hope you find this list of professional skills helpful. On a closing note I would like to share a best selling book that you should definitely read. If you are interested in getting better at setting goals you may want to read this recommended book for setting high goals...