My writing skills don’t pay the bills on their own—my people skills pull their weight, too. While I’m always trying to become a better writer, there’s way more that goes into managing work than technical skills alone. The same is true for almost every other job on the planet.
You can’t entirely separate your job performance from who you are outside of work, and you shouldn’t have to. Showing up with human-ness is the reason we haven’t all been replaced by robots yet, and there are non-job-specific skills you need to grow in your career.
But the number of soft skills in the universe is basically infinite, so which ones matter most in the workplace? I asked people what traits they look for when hiring teammates and what they appreciate in their peers. These are the important soft skills at the top of everyone’s list.
What are soft skills?
Soft skills are personal and interpersonal strengths that help you collaborate, lead, create, and grow in your role. They’re the perspectives, reactions, and mental frameworks you use that aren’t exclusive to your job. Don’t confuse the word soft with weak: you can lead with empathy and curiosity instead of ego and cruelty.
Why are soft skills important? Because you can’t be successful in a job without them. The most competent IT manager in the world won’t be good at their job if they can’t communicate processes clearly to their team. The best copywriter on the planet won’t get anything done if they can’t manage their time and end up spending three weeks on a low-priority project that could have been done in a day.
Megan Kao, an investor at Contrary Capital, points out that technical and soft skills exist together, not as one or the other.
Incredible that in this day and age, I still hear people say that women aren’t as technical because they have good soft skills. Like it’s a zero sum game.
The most successful people are technical AND great people leaders.
Neither has to come at the expense of the other.
— Megan Kao (@megankao_) October 17, 2022
No matter how much you’ve honed your craft, it’s nothing without soft skills to support it. And employers know that.
7 examples of soft skills you need to be successful at work
Here are the soft skills you need on your resume—and in action—in order to get hired and then be successful in your role.
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Clear and efficient communication
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Empathy
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Growth through feedback
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Time management
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Adaptability
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Curiosity
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Transparency
1. Clear and efficient communication
Collaboration without communication is impossible. What does it mean to be an effective communicator, though? Everyone has different preferences, so part of the skill is being able to adapt your communication skills to the environment. A message you send to a strategic partner will be different from one you send to your peer, for example. It’s all about reading the room.
But there are a few things that are pretty relevant across the board. For starters, get to the point quickly. Stephen Levin, Head of Business Operations at Zapier, shared:
“I can’t count how many presentations I watch in interviews that set up 10-15 minutes of context in a 25-minute presentation before giving any important information. Business communications isn’t telling a narrative like literature or academic writing with context > argument > big reveal. You have to state the most important conclusion in the first minute/slide/paragraph. Then rebuild the narrative and justification.”
Nick Polyushkin, the co-founder of Ofirio, similarly values open and direct dialogue.
“Discussing a subject directly rather than skirting it is essential in time-sensitive situations when an urgent response is required. A poor communicator will slow down your process and cause you to waste time.”
If (and only if!) you have something valuable to say, say it quickly. And this isn’t just about interviews, meetings, and video calls. The same rules apply to writing:
2. Empathy
Just because you’re a clear communicator doesn’t mean you have to be curt in your interactions. Yes, cold and self-centered people do sometimes get ahead, but more and more, empathy is winning. One of Zapier’s values is “Empathy over ego”—the value is taken into consideration during the hiring process to be sure all teammates can live that value. Plenty of other organizations agree.
“Individuals who listen actively, show respect and empathy toward others, and collaborate well in a team setting make for great coworkers. Understanding where others are coming from and considering different perspectives will help improve team dynamics and problem-solving abilities,” Caitlyn Parish, the founder and CEO of Cicinia, shared.
Mike Nemeroff, the CEO and co-founder of Rush Order Tees, adds that empathy is helpful in every kind of business interaction. “Being empathetic can help you become more compassionate and patient when dealing with challenging coworkers. Empathy also helps you relate to people better, which helps you form deeper and more meaningful connections with coworkers and managers,” he noted.
One of the best ways to be more empathetic in your role is to talk to diverse people across teams. Ask them to tell you more about their experiences, what they’re struggling with, and what they want to achieve.
Read more: How calls with random coworkers make remote work better—and more productive
3. Growth through feedback
A growth mindset views failure as a catalyst for improvement, not as a personality trait. And while getting constructive feedback might sting, it’s how you react to it—and learn from it—that will make or break your success at work.
Amy Gray, a business coach, wrote an article on accepting constructive feedback. She shared that feedback can help you gain confidence through self-awareness, earn trust from those around you, and become better at what you do. One of Amy’s tips for listening to feedback without feeling defensive is to ask questions:
“You might be tempted to just listen, say thank you, and go on about your day. But if you can be truly open to what you are hearing and ask questions to help you understand the criticism more deeply, you are more likely to fully digest it and put it to positive use. Saying ‘Tell me more about that’ is a great way to open up the feedback to understand the other person’s perception and feedback.”
Related to growing through feedback is the ability to handle a straight-up “no.” Paola Accettola, Principal and CEO of True North HR, shared that getting back up when knocked down is critical.
“So many people face rejection after rejection during the job search, and those who are resilient are more likely to be able to pivot and keep moving forward. This translates to being successful once you start your career, as you can be adaptable and face challenges head-on without the overwhelming fear of failure. Fortunately, resilience is a skill that can be taught. Unfortunately, however, it is best learned through experiencing failure.”
You’d be hard-pressed to interview for a job and not get a question related to how you give or receive feedback, or how you handle adversity. Being able to show your skills in these areas can be a huge benefit when applying to new jobs.
Read more: Reframing rejection—3 ways to deal with it
4. Time management
I know this sounds like something a high schooler would say when applying for their first job, but let’s face it: most adults also have trouble managing their time. It’s even more true as people progress in their careers. When your workload grows but the number of hours in a workday stays the same, you have to find a way to work smarter.
Instead of a broad “time management” soft skill, you can break this one down further to be able to demonstrate how you manage your time. For example:
In the end, time management is all about prioritization. Mark Pierce, CEO of Cloud Peak Law Group, shared: “There will always be a few things going on at once, and it’s important to prioritize the most important tasks without sacrificing work on the others as well. With good time management, you can split your time wisely between tasks and not drop the ball.”
Read more: Hack your calendar, to-do list, and work environment for optimal productivity
5. Adaptability
You’ll always have restrictions, like limited time, budget, or staffing—so, you have to figure out how to work within constraints. And with the pace of change in the workplace (and the world more broadly), you need to be able to show that you’re adaptable.
“Adapting to change and having a positive attitude about change go a long way to being successful throughout your career,” David Watkins, the Director of Customer Experience at EthOS, shared. “Some examples could be a shift of strategic company priorities, a change in your role and responsibilities, or even a change in who manages you. While nobody can guess what’s next, someone who’s collaborative, empathetic, and organized will thrive when change inevitably comes—and that’s the kind of employee companies want to work with and hire.”
Read more: 3 ways to communicate like a leader in a changing workplace
6. Curiosity
Many of the soft skills here involve asking questions—and that’s all rooted in curiosity. Asking the right questions will allow you to see projects from a new perspective, which will help you contribute better to your team. Eric Doty, the Content Lead at Dock, shared:
“Asking ‘why’ and ‘how’ in every new situation opens so many doors. You’ll learn how things work and how decisions are made. You’ll look for new ways of doing things. You’ll have more interesting conversations. You’ll have more sources of inspiration. You’ll have a better reason to say yes or no to projects or opportunities.”
Curiosity is easy to demonstrate during the interview process. Learn as much as you can about the company you’re applying to, and then ask questions. Not only will it show off your curiosity and interest in the company, but it can also demonstrate some of those “hard” skills (and an understanding of your role in particular) while you’re at it.
Read more: How bad idea brainstorms have helped me get braver—and better—at work
7. Transparency
It’s easy to go with the flow and assume the folks around you know what they’re talking about. They usually do—but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for improvement. The best workers are ones that observe what’s happening and then push back if they think something should change.
This can mean everything from challenging outdated workplace norms to saying no to a request from your manager to pushing back against a strategy idea.
It’s not an easy thing to do, but this kind of communication is massively important for you and your company:
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It shows that you’re invested. You’re not just along for the ride; you want to make things better.
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It demonstrates a deep understanding of company goals, if you’re able to show how your thoughts are aligned with them.
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It demonstrates your autonomy (another soft skill!) and shows off your expertise.
Of course, don’t push back just for the sake of pushing back. That’s the opposite of a soft skill and can indicate ego and a lack of empathy. Instead, start by observing, listening, and gathering context (there’s that curiosity we talked about). Then, if you truly think something is off course, it’s time to speak up respectfully: ask tough questions, provide evidence for your opinion, and offer alternative solutions.
If you work somewhere that doesn’t value this kind of input, it might be time to put this soft skill to work for another company.
How to improve soft skills
The good news is: you already have soft skills. In fact, you’ve been learning them since preschool. But you can continue to practice the ones you have and hone the ones you struggle with. Here’s how.
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Talk to your peers and managers. Ask them about your strengths and areas of improvement. They may notice things you don’t or have advice on what skills your organization needs right now.
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Think about what skills leave a positive impression on you. Who do you like to work with? What is it about those people that makes them easy to work with or leads to them being valued members of the team? How can you embody those traits?
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Look at job descriptions in your industry. Most employers will list soft skills in their job postings. See if you can find patterns or trends in these descriptions to help you prioritize which soft skills matter the most of your role.
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Target one skill at a time. Honestly, growing soft skills can be exhausting. That’s why I recommend targeting one at a time, so you don’t burn out on self-improvement.
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