It is probably not going to shock you to find that soft skills are an essential piece of success in your career. Technical skills are your primary asset. However, soft skills will help you apply those technical ones is the most effective way. It also seems that the technical side becomes less a factor in advancing as you move into the advanced stages of a career.
Oh No, Sales Skills
The natural introversion of many technical professionals goes against the classic idea of sales. We tend to equate good sales skills with a big and extroverted personality. That is not the case. The best salespeople build relationships. That is not an area relegated to the extroverts. On the contrary, I have found that introverts are more biased towards deep or focused relationships with others. It is a quality over quantity situation. That leads to stronger relationships and a higher likelihood of a sale. Think about it. Are you more likely to close a deal with your best friend, or someone you occasionally meet for drinks?
Stick To What You Know
Soft skills are often maligned are having a lot of hyperbole. We think of the sales or marketing guru that is a little bit slimy or the pointy-haired boss of a manager from Dilbert. That is an unfair way to view these skills. While hyperbole and over-the-top aspects of soft skills are useful at times, the best applications are the ones that are closest to reality.
For example, someone may be able to sell ice cubes to Eskimoes, but that is not required to be considered as having sales skills. A better case to consider is selling a glass of water to someone dying of thirst. We have a unique perspective to bring to many situations that can help us in utilizing and developing our soft skills. We do not have to “fake it till we make it.” Instead, we often have a genuine zeal for our technologies and solutions that translate into being a better salesperson, manager, and communicator.
Lead By Example
Leadership and managing people has many nuances. Thus, we have volumes of content that tell us how to be better in these areas. Nevertheless, it is beneficial to be authentic. This is where technicians can shine. The best among us are detail-oriented and have an impressive work ethic. While that does not make us better managers on their own, they do make others want to be us the benefit of the doubt. We just need to add a bit of trust and delegation to our typical approach to work to start down the manager path.
Our technical skills need to be addressed and advanced to keep up with advances. That can consume a vast amount of time. However, we are doing our career a disservice if we forget about the soft skills.
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