Personality/Empathy
Empathy might sound like the art of knowing what to get your spouse for Christmas, but it's actually a lot more than that. Empathy, put simply, is the ability to understand other people. There is little science or logic to the ways that humans act and interact. Therefore, you need to cultivate a knack for interpreting other peoples' thoughts, motives, and more based on body language, voice intonation, and the types of things they say.
Where to start: Go to your local mall on a weekend and spend a few hours observing people (often called "people watching"). Observe how people interact, and see what messages you can pick up based on body language, even if you can't hear what the people are saying. Take note of facial expressions. Talk to people that you are close to and get their honest feedback about how you can improve your conversation skills. Finally, consider purchasing a book on how to read body language and nonverbal cues, or just making a day out of a trip to your local bookstore to peruse some of the texts on this subject.
Aptitude and Motivation
Having aptitude (the capacity and ability to succeed) and motivation (the desire and drive to succeed) are probably the most important skills anyone can have in terms of career enhancement. It's the thread the binds every successful person in this world, and they are skills that are completely accessible to all of us. Aptitude and motivation are how Michael Jordan went from failing to make the varsity basketball team as a high school sophomore to being the greatest basketball player of all time, or how Cesar Millan (the Dog Whisperer) went from an illegal immigrant who could barely speak English to one of the most celebrated dog trainers in the world.
There are a million cases, and I won't bore you with them. But the bottom line is that people from more humble beginnings have conquered far greater challenges than the current economic crisis, outsourcing, and layoffs. It's not fair, and it's not easy. But with aptitude and motivation, anything is possible.
Where to start: Just as aptitude and motivation are some of the hardest skills to quantify, they're some of the hardest skills to acquire. Consider picking up The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, one of the most celebrated books on this topic.
If you struggle to stay motivated, focused, and driven, that's normal. But if you feel that it's a chronic problem that no amount of effort has been able to remedy, consider meeting with a career counselor and reevaluating your current career path. It's possible that there's something else out there that can help you live up to your full potential.
A Lifelong Process
Building the skills that I have outlined is a lifelong process. You need not wait until you feel like a superhero to jumpstart your job search, but I do strongly encourage you to take these points to heart and craft a plan to build these skills starting with today. Not every one will be instrumental to getting you the job, but every one of these will help enhance your professional and personal life in a profound way.
Thank you for taking the time to read through this series. I hope the insights shared will be of some value to you. If you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email or chat on Twitter.
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