A couple of months ago, I posed a simple question on Facebook – “Other than our technical skills, what quality do you consider the most important asset that we should possess to succeed in our fields?”
Interestingly, we all put a ton of time into improving our knowledge and technical skills, and that is always a good thing! But perhaps we sometimes need to take a step back and work on some of the non-technical aspects of our professions to take us to the next level.
Your Thoughts
The response from that Facebook post was great, with many people providing fantastic input. Here is a screenshot of that discussion:
Our Most Important Qualities
Based on this, it looks like the group vote would be that the below qualities (in no particular order) are really something we should all possess:
- Passion and charisma
- Positive attitude
- Humility and open mindedness
- Good communication and people skills
- Empathy, compassion, and selflessness
- Good work ethic and accessibility
- Adaptability and a passion for self development
- Habit of continuously asking “why” and integrate evidence
Wow, I wish I knew all of this when I started my career! This should really be a class we all have to take in college. Please continue this discussion in the comments section below, I’d love to hear what you think and any other ideas you may have.
Next week, I’ll discuss what I feel are some the of the best qualities that many experts in our fields possess. As you can imagine, there will be significant overlap! More importantly, I’ll try to suggest who we can emulate and learn from to enhance these qualities in ourselves. Maybe this will be a “home study” version of that college class we should of all had to take!
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