Crucial Interpersonal Skills: The 11 Vital Traits for Triumph
In today's interconnected world, the importance of people skills cannot be overstated. These skills, often referred to as soft skills, emotional intelligence, or interpersonal skills, are the tools we use to communicate effectively and interact positively with others.
According to Indeed.com career advice articles, the 10 essential people skills for success include:
- Assertiveness: Standing up for yourself and your ideas, while also considering the feelings and needs of others.
- Self-confidence: Sustaining a strong sense of self-assurance and belief in your abilities.
- Open-mindedness: Being receptive to new ideas and perspectives, and demonstrating flexibility in your thinking.
- Proactive honesty: Being reliable, truthful, and providing constructive criticism, while also setting realistic expectations.
- Good judgment: Understanding others' intentions and communicating appropriately.
- Communication: Engaging in clear, complete, and proactive exchanges of information.
- Teamwork: Collaborating effectively with others to achieve a common goal.
- Empathy: Understanding and sharing the feelings of others.
- Interpersonal skills: Demonstrating empathy, diplomacy, sensitivity, tolerance, networking, and patience.
- Leadership skills: Guiding others with humility, empathy, trust, active listening, and authenticity.
Researchers define people skills as three sets of abilities: personal effectiveness, interaction ability, and intercede ability. Personal effectiveness is about how you come across to others, including your ability to pitch yourself, communicate clearly, and get what you need from others. Exceptional decoding ability, a key aspect of emotional intelligence and interpersonal intelligence, is the ability to speed-read people and their intentions, interpret body language and facial expressions, and be very intuitive.
Having strong people skills can lead to significant financial benefits. Research has found that those with strong people skills make an average of $29,000 more per year. People with strong people skills are able to predict behavior, relate to others, and socialize easily. They are also often highly respected and asked to join teams, social engagements, and groups.
On the other hand, people who struggle with likability have trouble getting people to listen to their ideas and often feel left out or like the odd-man out. They may find it difficult to read and interpret body language and facial expressions, often missing social cues, and struggle with empathy. Pitching, the ability to generate excitement around ideas and confidently talk about oneself, is an important people skill for professionals.
Making friends as an adult is a skill, and a step-by-step guide on how to make friends as adults is available. Being authentic or genuine are aspects of likability, and being able to intercede easily, meaning leading, influencing, and building bridges between people, is a sign of strong people skills.
In summary, the core people skills focus on communication, emotional understanding, honesty, collaboration, leadership, and good personal judgment. These skills are not only crucial in personal relationships but also in professional settings, particularly in managerial contexts where problem-solving and organizational skills are also essential.
Implementing people skills in one's lifestyle can lead to both personal and financial growth. For instance, education-and-self-development through books and courses on soft skills can help improve assertiveness, self-confidence, and empathy, crucial components for personal-growth and success in today's interconnected world.
