55 Soft Skills to Succeed as Startup Founder or Small Biz CEO

“Take advantage of every opportunity you get to practice your communication skills so that when important occasions arise, you will have the gift, the style, the sharpness, the clarity, and the emotions to affect other people, so you’re able to negotiate and get what each of you want.”

– Jim Rohn, Entrepreneur & Author of Books on: Leadership, Inspiration, Success, etc.

Soft Skills Topics: (not only from the Tropics) What are Soft Skills? Self Mgt, People (Conventional & Tribal), Communication, Leadership, Influencing, Creativity & Professional.

A. What are Soft Skills?

For a Skill to be considered a Soft Skill, it needs to have three characteristics.

Not Hard Skills (ie, math, science) where the rule for doing it right is always the same,
How effective – Soft Skills? depends on your emotional state, external circumstance, & the type of people you interact with.
People Skills, are about your inner strength, personal relationships & inter-personal effectiveness.
Self Management – how much control you have over your body & reactions

Mastering Soft Skills is an ongoing journey. You can reach a level of competency in it, but you can always encounter new situations or people that will test your Soft Skills and push you to learn more.

B. Self Management – Soft Skills . . .

deal with how you perceive yourself & others, manage your personal habits & emotions + react to adverse situations. Only when you build inner excellence can you have a strong mental and emotional foundation to succeed in Business.

Growth Mindset – Looking at any situation – especially difficult situations, as an “oppor-tunity” for you to learn & grow. Focus your attention on improving yourself – instead of changing others or blaming anyone.
Self-Awareness– Knowing & under-standing what drives, angers, motivates, embarrasses, frustrates, & inspires you. Being able to observe yourself “objectively” in a difficult situation and understanding how your perceptions of yourself, others, & the situation are driving your actions.
Emotion Control – Being able to manage your emotions – especially negative ones – in all situations (ie, anger, frustration, embarrassment) so you can think clearly & objectively, then act accordingly.
Self-Confidence – Believing in yourself and your ability to accomplish anything. Knowing that all you need is within you now. Those who believe in themselves have access to unlimited power.
Stress Management– Being able to stay healthy, calm, & balanced in any challenging situations. Knowing how to reduce your stress level will increase your productivity, prepare you for new challenges & support your physical & emotional health – all of which you need for a fulfilling, successful business.
Resilience– Being able to bounce back after a disappointment or set back, big or small, and continue to move onward & upward.
Forgive & Forget– Being able to forgive yourself for making a mistake, forgive others that wronged you, & move on without “mental or emotional baggage.” Freeing your mind from the past, so you can focus 100% of your mental energy on your short & long-term goals.
Persistence & Perseverance– Being able to maintain the same energy & dedication in your effort to learn, do, & achieve your goals despite difficulties, failures, & oppositions.
Patience – Being able to step back in a seemingly rushed or crisis situation, so you can think clearly and take action that fulfills your long term goals.
Perceptiveness – Giving attention to the signal, then developing logical or emotional empathy of other people’s situation & perspective. Often times, we are too busy thinking about ourselves and what we are saying, to listen to and understand others’ action & intentions. If you mis-interpret other’s intention or don’t try to put yourself in their shoes, you can easily encounter difficulties dealing with people and not even know why.

C. Soft Skills List – People Skills

People Skills address how to best interact and work with others so you can build meaningful relationships, influence others perception of you & your work, to motivate their actions. They have been split these into two sections – Conventional & Tribal

C1. “Conventional” – List of People Skills you can find in most Job Descriptions. You will be assessed on some or all of these in your Performance Reviews depending on your level.

Communication Skills– Being able to actively listen to others, articulate your ideas in writing & verbally to any audience in a way where you are heard & understood to achieve the goals you intended communication. This also includes languages Skills, if the spoken language at work is your second language.
Teamwork Skills – Being able to work effectively with anyone with different Skill sets, personality, work styles, or motivation level to achieve a better Team result.
Inter-personal Relationship Skills–Effective at building trust, finding common ground, having emotional empathy, & ultimately building good relationships with people at work and in your network. Also referred as you Social Skills, this Skill is closely related to Comm Skills. It doesn’t matter how smart you are, you must have Social Graces in order to get far. As Maya Angelou said “I have learned people will forget what you said. People will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you make them feel.”
Presentation Skills – Effectively presenting your work results & ideas formally to an audience that captivates their attention, engages their input, & motivates them to act in accordance to your desired outcome. While PS is a form of Comm Skills, they are listed separately, because they present a huge role in your business environment.
Meeting Management Skills – Leading a meeting to efficiently & effectively reach productive results within the designated amount of time.
Facilitating Skills – Being able to coordinate & solicit opinions & feedback from a group with diverse perspectives – to reach the best solution.
Selling Skills – Building “buy-in” into an idea, decision, action, product, or service.
Management Skills – Creating & motivating a high-performing Team with people of varied skills, personalities, motivations, & work styles.
Leadership Skills – Defining & communicating the Vision and ideas that inspires others to follow – with commitment & dedication.
Mentoring/ Coaching Skills – Providing constructive wisdom, guidance, and/or feedback that can help others further their role in your organization.

C2 “Tribal” – List of People Skills that you will not find in any Job Description. They are also essential to your success. They are called Tribal, because they are more “insider knowledge” that you gain from your work experience or from Mentors.

Managing Upwards or Laterally – Pro-actively managing your relationship with your superior or partner, or Customer / Client – their expectations of your work, & perception of your performance. Whether you are challenged, have new opportunities, or are recognized, heavily depends on your ability to communicate, manage expectations, & build a good relationship with these.
Self-Promotion Skills –Proactively and subtly promoting your Skills and work results to people of power or influence in & out of your organization & network. It is not enough that they know you do great work. You need to subtly build your reputation with all key people that can influence your success.
Skills in dealing with Challenging Personalities – Being able to still achieve the results wanted – while working with someone whom you find difficult.
Skills in dealing with difficult / unexpected Situations – Being able to stay calm & under control, are effective when faced with these situations. This includes being able to think on your feet and articulate your thoughts in an organized manner – even when you are not prepared for the discussion or situation you are in.
Savvy in handling Office Politics – Being able to understand & pro-actively deal with the unspoken nuances of people dynamics – so you can protect yourself from unfairness.
Influence / Persuasion Skills– Being able to influence viewpoints and decision making, but still have the people you influence – think they made up their own minds.
Negotiation Skills– Being able to understand the other side’s motivations, then leverage this to reach a Win-Win resolution that satisfies both sides, & maintains relationships for future inter-actions.
Networking Skills– Being able to be interesting to others and interested in business conversations that motivates people to want to be in your network. The bigger and more professional the network you have, the more easily you can get things done (ie, get advice, customers, find business partners, etc)

Conclusion. Don’t worry if you don’t have all of the Soft Skills you need now. Most of us don’t. The important thing is to understand why these Soft Skills are important and then ask yourself – which one do you want to develop next?

D. Communication Skills

Verbal Communication to be able to be understood
Body Language to understand what the other person is really meaning by what they’re saying
Writing to communicating simply, clearly & concisely to be easily understood
Storytelling to illustrate one or more points – to more easily & interestingly get your message across
using Humor to make the communication more fun & relaxing
Quick-Wittedness will increase audience’s confidence in you about your expertise
Listening to understand what the other person is saying & feedback to confirm your understanding
Public Speaking to have no fear or control your fear before the group to get your message across.
Presentation Skills to be able to visually & graphically present your message.
Interviewing to ask the tuff questions you need to know to make a decision.
Networking: building connections to people who may help you in the future – personal & professional (ie, LinkedIn)

E. Leadership

Strategic Planning to have a Vision of your future Goals, then plan the step to achieve
Team Building by having regular meeting to get feedback on progress & plan new projects
Coaching: the process of engaging in regular conversation with a Team member to enhance their awareness & behavior – to achieve goals
Mentoring: a senior or more experienced individual who acts as an advisor, counselor or guide to a junior or trainee – by providing support & feedback on their work
Delegation: determining tasks that others can do, then assigning, so you can focus on tasks only you can do
Decision Making: a) do sufficient research to define the issue/s, b) consider the consequences of each approach, c) make the final decision with your intuition
Management: determining the strategy, then coordinating the efforts of employees to accomplish
19. Crisis Management: the identification of threats to an organization, then planning the methods to deal with these threats.
Role-Model: good behavior, example, or success that can be emulated by others (ie, younger)
Self Confidence: in your ability to be able to handle any situation

F. Influencing

Persuasion: attempt to influence another’s beliefs, attitudes, intentions or behaviors to achieve your wishes
Negotiation: a dialogue between two or more people, intended to reach a beneficial outcome over one or more issues
Conflict Resolution: by clarifying the issue/s, then work toward common ground to come to an agreement
Motivating: a) by Visionary goals, b) challenging work, c) empowerment, d) feedback, e) recognition
Collaborating: a) set goals, b) allow feedback, c) be flexible, d) compromise & agree

G. Personal Skills

Emotional Intelligence: being aware of, controlling & expressing your emotions to handle interpersonal relationships thoughtfully & empathetically
Stress Management: having methods of controlling your reaction to Stress and it’s effects, by using special techniques of thinking & behaving to reduce or eliminate it
Adapting to Change: accepting & adjusting to changing conditions or circumstances
Taking Constructive Criticism: a) be open to the feedback, b) consider if you accept or reject, c) modify your behavior – if necessary
Assertiveness: determine when to be assertive to have your point of view understood and accepted
Resilience: be able to bounce back from bad circumstance or mistakes
Competitiveness: appreciate that it makes you more better, sharper
Work-Life Balance: understand that it is needed to maintain your personal relationships and set it as a priority
Enthusiasm: being optimistic about both wins & challenges – will enable you to feel good about any situation by keeping a + attitude.
Empathy: in your relationships will convey a + message & help you have a better image
37 Flexibility: so that when circumstances change, you can quickly adapt to them

H. Creativity

Problem Solving: finding & defining a Problem, then arriving at the best Solution – based on cost & timing.
Critical Thinking: analysis of facts to order to make a decision. It pre-supposes high intelligence & problem-solving abilities – with experience of how to use them.
Innovation: coming up with a new idea, creative thoughts to create a new or improve an existing product or method.

I. Professional Skills

Research: the systematic & creative work undertaken to find the info you desire (ie, to make a decision) It is also used to establish or confirm facts, solve new or existing problems, support propositions or develop new theories.
Planning: the process of thinking about the activities required to achieve a desired Goal/s. It is the first and foremost activity to achieve the desired results. It involves the creation and updating of a plan, that require conceptual skills.
Organization: the process of dividing work into sections and/or depts. for the purpose having the most effective approach at reaching goals.
Scheduling: is the process of arranging, controlling & optimizing work and workloads in your processes.
Risk Management: is the identification, evaluation, & prioritization of Risks as the “effect of uncertainty on meeting your Goals”, followed by coordinated & cost-effective application of Resources to monitor, minimize, monitor & control the probability of impact of unfortunate events or to maximize the realization of Opportunities.

From Where? Risks can come from various sources in business including: uncertainty in markets, capability threats from project failures (at any phase in design, development or production), deliberate attack from a competitor, or events of uncertain or unpredictable causes.

Setting Priorities: to determine which action/s are the most important to do to achieve the desired results.
Training: teaching your employees any skills & knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies. Specific Goals should be: improving capability, capacity, productivity & performance – which will make your company more competitive.
Focus on Customers: begin by finding out what your potential Customer wants or needs. Then create it for them and have them “test” it. Get feedback on what they like or don’t about it, then modify it and have them re-test it. Continue until they are satisfied. Monitor their buying habits so you can respond to any down turn.
Time Management: the process of planning & exercising deliberate control of time (ie, by setting Priorities) spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness.
Meeting Management: to make important decisions regarding the organization. The objective is to present the relevant info in a short, concise fashion to get feedback from the attendees. The leader must maintain control of the meeting, so no time is wasted.
Tech Savvy: knowledge of and proficient in the use of modern technology to achieve your goals.
Technology Trend Awareness: mindful of the latest technology that has recently become available and is readily in the market or industry.
Business Trend Awareness: ability to be conscious of the changing ways in which businesses are developing. The knowledge of such trends and the understanding of how they will impact your business- will enable you to make decisions – which will eventually bring greater success to your company.
Process Improvement: looking for opportunities to improve processes, trying them, then accepting them – if they work out.
Business Etiquette: is a standard of behavior that defines expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within the business world or industry. If you follow it, you get greater acceptance.
Business Ethics: is a form of professional ethics, that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of individuals and entire organizations.^[1] These ethics originate from individuals, organizational statements or from the legal system. These norms, values, ethical, and unethical practices are the principles that guide a business. They help those businesses maintain a better connection with their stakeholders.

Comments: I know this was a long list, but did I miss any ???

from myCoach & SimpleTrng 10/19 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4.biz

For more Info, Click on Succeed, Communication.