What’s in your basket of skills?
The importance of soft power in professional life
Recently, a senior manager at a multilateral development bank told me about problems she had been having with a lead consultant on a project. He had resigned without completing the assignment, and she needed to replace him. She said she was looking for someone ‘with common sense.’ She was even willing to hire a candidate with fewer technical qualifications, as long as he or she could deliver the work and facilitate the relationship with the government. Apparently, this particular consultant had been unreliable and unpredictable. For example, on one occasion he failed to show up at a workshop he was supposed to lead, having failed to notify his client in advance. She arrived at the workshop only to learn that he had left the country without warning!
While I wouldn’t say that this type of behavior is common, it is certainly something you come across when you work in the international development field. Indeed, I have seen stranger behavior, to wit: Exhibit A: a consultant team leader who spent the first 10 minutes of nearly every meeting with partners or government officials bragging about his qualifications, yet never actually delivered anything. On top of that, he threatened to sue counterparts from other organizations who disagreed with him, and essentially went about ruining relationships with almost every key partner. Exhibit B: a consultant- engineer who determined that an entire country’s gas infrastructure was substandard based on observing a single, rusty pipe; and whose understanding of sampling boiled down to “Let’s ask our local colleague to get in touch with his friends to see what they think.” Exhibit C: a senior manager at a bilateral organization whose capricious and unpredictable behavior played havoc with an evaluation, by, among other things, changing the scope of work well after the work started, and undermining her colleagues in front of the consultants. If you’ve spent any time in the development field, you will have stories of your own to tell.
These people may have had the technical skills and looked good on their CVs, but they were difficult to work with, and had a disruptive effect on the work. They lacked soft power. In some cases, they ended up squandering months of time and hundreds of thousands of dollars, not to mention putting at risk the usefulness of the work.
The point I want to make, though, is that in order to do good work, non-technical skills – such as common sense, the ability to communicate with others and present themselves well, plus a commitment to doing the work – are at least as important as the other kind – such as mastery of a subject, experience in a sector, or technical abilities.
Based on my 17 years working as a consultant in international development, I would boil down the qualities you need to the following:
- Knowledge
- Experience
- Common sense
- Communication skills
- Commitment
The first two I consider hard skills, and the last three soft skills. Try to cultivate each of them. Let’s take a closer look.
1. Knowledge
By knowledge I refer to the technical understanding about a subject that is gained from learning, study, and doing. It comes from formal education at university or in technical schools, training, continuing education, and staying up to date on the literature in the field. It is a core element of the specialization needed to accomplish a task, e.g. analyzing data, developing models, designing surveys, assessing a particular sector. For virtually any field you work in, there will be many courses, webinars, software programs, and training sessions, ranging in price from free to very expensive (thousands of dollars). As you assess these learning opportunities you will need to weigh the costs and benefits in terms of money and time. But this is how you invest in yourself!
2. Experience
Experience is what you get as you act in, and are acted upon, by the world. Your knowledge and assumptions are tested, and you find you have to adjust your approach to doing things. Drawing on experience enables you to make better decisions and work more efficiently. It is the whetstone against which you sharpen your theoretical knowledge. In the beginning, you will be inexperienced. If you are starting out, this is not held against you. It is normal and expected. On a team, or a consultancy, there will be a mix of more senior and more junior members. All are needed, like the cogs in a wheel, and there is a role to play for everyone .
3. Common sense
It turns out that common sense, as I discussed above, is a valuable and perhaps underrated commodity. At its most basic level it means acting as a reasonable person. It involves critical thinking. More advanced concepts of common sense could include seeing through complexity to the essence of a matter, connecting the dots, and framing and organizing information in a useful manner. Much of the time it boils down to the simple ability to reflect upon something, see what is needed, and do what is necessary to get results. Maybe this is not a satisfying explanation, but if you don’t understand the concept of common sense, this may be a problem.
4. Communication skills
The basic ability to have a conversation and get along with your colleagues and counterparts can carry you a long way in any field. People want to get a sense of who you are, whether you are trustworthy, and whether they will be able to cooperate with you. Under communication skills I would include not only to the ability speak in public and engage with colleagues and clients, but the ability to write well. This means conveying information, no matter how complicated or specialized, clearly, succinctly, and grammatically. If you want to build up your public speaking skills, I highly recommend joining a Toastmasters club near you. I have been a member of Toastmasters since 2011 and find it highly useful.
5. Commitment
Commitment to doing the work is just what it sounds like. This is probably what people in the business world refer to as “passion”, which I myself consider a wholly inappropriate quality that should be kept for the opera or the bedroom. Lucy Kellaway of the Financial Times even argues that it is dangerous in the professional field. Emotional teammates are not the most reliable or stable. No, what you want to have is a commitment to doing top quality work, to meeting deadlines, to developing new skills, to learning new things, to being there when your colleagues need you. It is part of having a good work ethic.
The portfolio approach
These five qualities form the bulk of your portfolio of skills. Consider them the tools for building a career. Good luck!