Soft Skills are quite often overlooked by engineers but I believe they play a critical role in a career. People can be brilliant technically, if they can’t sell themselves or navigate through politics, they will be considered as nerdish or at best like this guy who spent the night in the office troubleshooting some obscure issue deserving just a pat on the back. I have invested some time exploring some topics in this area. I will share here a few thoughts about personal branding, professional development,… This might not fit that well with the classical definition of “soft skill” but I will also touch on the topic of continuous learning, what I think about certifications, conferences,…
I’m also going to explore the “Standout assessment” from Marcus Buckingham. This is something we are heavily using at Cisco… and I really like it!! Quite some time ago, I’ve done their assessment and I have been categorized as “Advisor-Equalizer”.
This is defined as follow:
“You’re a realist. Confident and grounded, you see the most effective, practical path from A to B. You chart a clear route for others, keep people on track and, at any moment, provide relevant data to indicate progress. It’s like you have a built-in dashboard. People trust you with the most confidential information and seek your advice in navigating tricky terrain. They know they’ll get an ethical, honest, forthright reply. Your candor gives people the firm footing they need to move ahead with confidence.”
Since then I receive a weekly tip by email. I don’t know how they do it but most of the time these resonate very well! Here is an example I’ve received recently:
MAINTAIN YOUR OWN STANDARDS
You may notice others cutting corners or bending the truth to be competitive or avoid blame. Don’t do it! When you cheat or bend the rules, you feel it keenly and it doesn’t work for you. Save yourself the trouble. Doing what is right by your own standards is the path of strength for you.
Maybe this is similar to how the “horoscope” is working. I still wonder how that can click so well based on a short questionnaire I’ve filled in years ago… Maybe I should take again the assessment to confirm the result.