In the era of globalization, knowledge and technical skills (hard skills), though important, are not enough to move forward on career ladder. The job market is giving equal weightage to personality and attitude related skills (soft skills) of the aspirant.
The words like teamwork, project leadership, mentoring, networking, coordinating are becoming the buzzwords in multi-cultural working conditions.
Therefore, the ideal choice for employers is the candidate who exhibit both the skills. The soft skills in particular have become important for higher level posts. It keeps organizational environment healthy and enhances productivity of team. The college life is the right period to experiment, practice and acquire these skills.
Following are few important skills to be nurtured for prosperous career and life:
Effective Communication
Communication is known to be a basic need of human being. It helps immensely in fulfilling our life aspirations irrespective of the fields we choose. In leadership, it helps us to transfer ideas and instructions and thereby delegate authority to team members to the get the work done.
But one must understand that giving sugar-coated talks or using flowery words are not considered effective in long run though they look attractive. The real criteria for effective communication is to listen carefully and conveying message to audience.
Great communicators can regulate their voice, body language and style to explain complex issues in understandable language. They take special efforts on their ideas and tasks before telling it to colleagues. Their messages are clear, timely and with optimum number of words.
Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent civil disobedience Dandi Salt-Satyagraha in 1930 effectively conveyed the message to British government against their brutal taxation on salt. The symbol chosen was ‘Salt’, a daily requirement of every household, which united all Indians. Gandhiji was a great communicator who pulled all sections of Indian society in freedom struggle.
Teamwork skills
Most of our goals are not achievable without teamwork. To become a team member, one should go beyond one’s personal ambitions. One should leave selfishness and jealousy aside. The shared common goal should be a priority. Good team players understand needs and concerns of others. Even if there are strong differences of opinions, once the decision is made they carry their responsibility by heart.
The best example is the 2011 Cricket World-Cup Winner Indian team. Though the best batsman and Man of the Series in that tournament was Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni had come for batting ahead of him at the most crucial phase of the final match. Why? The answer was respecting Sachin Tendulkar’s advice! The advice sent through Sehwag to Dhoni (Captian) was: “If left-handed batsman on ground gets out then left-hander Yuvraj will go and if right-hander gets out Dhoni will go.”
This experienced senior advice was followed and we know rest of the history! This was great teamwork.
Managing Diversity
This is very crucial soft-skill required in multi-cultural work setup. The attitudes, values, thought processes are influenced by gender, education, culture etc. People come with this diversity. Converting this diversity into strength, you require a proper mindset. You should be tolerant, accommodative and cool headed. It particularly helps in solving
problems which require innovative and creative solution. The new challenges are also faced effectively through valuing diversity in groups. .
India is the most diverse country in the world. All types of diversities e.g. religious, social, cultural, geographic etc. are explicitly observed here. To become truly Indian, we have to learn to respect and connect with this diversity. Our constitutional values give us the roadmap for ‘Unity in Diversity’
Ability to Work under Pressure
In this competitive world, the word ‘target’ is discussed everywhere. Through it, people constantly face variety of challenges which create pressures. If you are not able to absorb these shocks, it may lead to physical or psychological illness. It speaks about managing time, motivation and discipline. Thinking clearly and making proper decisions help us to organize well.
Learning quickly from mistakes and leaving negative feelings aside as early as possible are another areas to look upon. If you successfully prioritize things and keep the stress in limit, you can flourish under stress.
The best example is the military personnel who work under tremendous pressure and still remain physically and mentally fit. It is interesting to see that as their pressure increases, their adaptability improves!
Flexibility
By nature, people become insecure when they have to change their habits, skills and values. But the current job market is full of innovations and changes. It you live in your ‘comfort zone’, you will become outdated soon. To succeed in life, you should learn new knowledge and update your skills. The flexibility allows you to adapt to new challenges. It throws your mind open and bring willingness to learn new things.
The age old traditional techniques in agriculture have made life of Indian farmers miserable. The government can’t help to solve this problem. Farmers have to adapt new ways of agriculture with the help of technology. Using E-Choupal platform to receive weather reports, learn better agriculture practices, order supplies and selling agriculture produce is
one such way.
So, now is the time we all start working on our soft skills and hard skills, so that we can achieve best of both worlds.
Other related links:-
https://flabopost.com/indian-agriculture-9-new-thoughts-worth-considering/
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