Introduction
A successful career requires a mature and comprehensive approach to life. I have always considered affairs of work to be utterly separate from emotions. Yet, I realized that this strategy is self-defeating because work also entails communicating with others. Therefore, to be successful at work, it is essential to have self-awareness, professional advantage, and communicative efficiency. Overall, I have learned three important skills for ensuring a career – emotional intelligence, recognition of professional value, and adaptability.
Three Key Skills for Career Success
The first valuable skill that the course taught me is emotional intelligence. The reason why I found it so enlightening lies in my improved ability to relate to other people. Being a human skill, which refers to “the ability to relate to other people”, emotional intelligence is just as important as all other technical and intellectual abilities (Houghton et al., 2018, p. 7). Armed with this knowledge, I am now prepared to pay more attention to my emotional state and the feelings of others.
The second important skill was to recognize one’s capital value. One of the concepts of the chapter is human capital value, which stands for “the way employees work towards the strategic goals of an organization to achieve competitive advantage”(Houghton et al., 2018, p. 9). Although this concept is important for companies to retain employees, it has also highlighted the significance of having personal and professional value to me.
The third important skill for ensuring a successful career is adaptability. The specific example that highlighted this concept’s significance was Twitter’s story. The reason why this company manages to stay afloat and grow is that “in response to the ever-changing sphere of technology and global trends, Twitter’s functions are constantly changing” (Neck et al., 2018, p. 69). Although it is a corporate success story, it made me realize that adaptability is also an essential human skill.
Conclusion
In conclusion, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and personal value constitute the main takeaways from the course. The ability to recognize one’s own emotions and the feelings of others allows one to better connect with people. Having professional value provides a reason for employers to invest in me. Being adaptable is essential for surviving in the dynamic world. Combined, these skills will ensure a solid foundation for my future career.
Reference
Neck, C. P., Houghton, J. D., & Murray, E. L. (2018). Organizational behavior: A skill-building approach. SAGE Publications.