Why is it that many sharp, intelligent, and highly skilled people fail to succeed? We have a workforce that is usually very well trained and highly skilled in technical skills needed in the workplace. Few are trained in the skills that mean the most to their success. These statements are true regardless of the persons occupation or profession.
I invested seven years in undergraduate and graduate level college and university studies. I graduated with honors from three colleges and universities, and very little of my education focused on the most important skills for success in the workplace.
Stanford Research has found that almost 83% of a person’s ability to get a job, keep a job, and move ahead in that job is related to the ability to get along with others.
Dale Carnegie, in his classic book “How to Win Friends & Influence People”, says that 85% of the factors contributing to success are related to the ability to work effectively with others.
John C. Maxwell states that leadership is influence, nothing more and nothing less. He goes on to say that influence is determined by the quality of your relationships.
The October 2014 Harvard Business Review article “Seven Surprises for New CEOs”, points out that new CEOs struggle most with building new relationship, and (if they came up through the ranks of the same company), reframing existing relationships.
You must unite your constituents around a common cause and connect with them as human beings.
– James Kouzes and Barry Posner (emphasis mine)
Whether you are seeking more success at home, at church, or in your occupation, the key will likely rest on your relationship skills – knowing how to relate, communicate, recruit, correct, enlist, etc. different personality styles.
So, why is the primary focus of employee development built around technical skills? I have an educated opinion about that. I believe that we typically think of soft skills as being a matter of common sense. I agree with the Voltaire quote, “Common sense is not so common!” That is because, as Aristotle observed, “different people have different ideas, beliefs, and values which they consider to be common” (my paraphrase).
So, how do you develop relationship skills?
I believe a great place to start is by using a simple, yet accurate tool like the DISC Personality Profile. This can help you gain a better understanding of yourself and others in order to build better relationships, reduce relational stress, and increase productivity – at home, at church, at work or at play.
Since I am so bullish on this subject of soft skills, you know I will address it again, and again. Why? Because I hate seeing people full of potential continuously creating train wrecks in their lives simply because they haven’t intentionally learned how to better to get along with others.
So, jump in and learn how to play well with others!
As my mentor, Dr. Robert Rohm of Personality Insights says, “If I understand you and you understand me, doesn’t it make sense that we can work more effectively together?”
I have seen the development of these relational soft skills improver marriages.
Thanks for dropping by and reading my thoughts.
If you would like to dig deeper into understanding yourself better, I encourage you to get an accurate personality assessment. To help you with that, I am placing a link that will allow you to take a short test and to get an excellent DISC Personality Assessment. The full version of this report even gives you a lot of information that will enable you to better read others, and know some keys in adapting to better relate to them. Let me know what you think. Feel free to forward this article to your friends, and maybe even your enemies!! <LOL>
For your personality report click this link.
Make Yours A Great Day!
Danny