Personal Skills and How to Develop them

Your personal skills are the qualities that can be considered as your strengths, be it in professional life or personal life.

Whenever it comes to hiring employees for a company, the first thing to notice is their skill.

Apart from all that a person carries as their hard skills that could be anything, the personal capability is a plus point.

There is always a high demand for people who can express themselves- they can communicate with anyone with affection, and they know how to self manage. These kinds of people always have positivity to contribute to the office culture.

Personal skills not only help a person to be more specific in professional fields but also empower their personal life to be more motivated, dedicated and managed.

They have the grace and charm in themselves that automatically make the environment comfortable for everyone around them. This particular thing helps them to create a friendly circumstance for them and their colleagues as well.

What are Personal Skills?

People with excellent personal skills are needed nowadays in every company — those who have a better understanding and thinking ability with a sense of managing.

Any individual who possesses a brilliant personal skill will always have the right mental strength and will make positive choices. Personal skill development is necessary for achieving personal goals.

The way an individual manages anything says a lot about her/his skills — development of assertiveness, self-control, leadership style, time management, creative thinking. Or even any interpersonal skill, everything comes under the section of personal development skills. And it is one of the essential tools for oneself and for behaving with others.

Soft skills vs Hard skills

Before we genuinely analyze in-depth about personal skills, we first need to know the proper definition of skill.

A skill is a particular ability which enables one to perform well and which sets a specific benchmark when it comes to one’s proficiency and capability. Skills are honed either from practical experiences or through extensive training.

Some of them are innate, and some of them need constant nurturing. Personal skills are those which you consider as your selling point (or in short, your strengths). But to know what those are, we must categorize what skills are.

Skills are of two ways: Soft skills and hard skills. You can also read the difference between soft skills and hard skills.

Soft skills are more general and intangible, which enhances us to interact and communicate with others well. Soft skills include factors like attitude, personality traits, and our ability to use practicality rather than getting emotionally carried away, habits, our ways of communicating with people and our set of etiquettes. Development of social skills while interacting with people whom you deem near and dear is an essential factor that helps us build and manage feasible relationships well.

As compared to soft skills, hard skills are more field or task-specific and mostly related to our dealings in the professional realm. It includes our ability to carry out a particular task well or our knowledge that is required to solve a specific problem. These are skills that can be easily quantified through appraisals or evaluations.

Hard skills are mostly learned and developed through academics, vocational courses or practical experiences obtained during training or in a particular job designation. It includes our ability to handle computer applications, project management skills, editing/proof-reading skills or proficiency in a foreign language which is used widely, apart from English.

Our proficiency in these skills makes the task at hand easier and enjoyable at the same time.

A heightened ability in these sets of hard skills will help one to handle work responsibilities well and hence, is a sought after quality by the employers. The knowledge of soft and hard skills is complementary to each other and speaks volumes about our capabilities to perform and carry out a job well.

Examples to demonstrate what the definitions of Hard and Soft skills are

While playing a particular sport, we need to use both hard as well as soft skills to perform well.

Let us pretend that a person plays soccer for a club and is competing in a particular league. The most apparent ability that is required out of a player is teamwork and the willingness to play, perform well and work towards a common goal collectively.

In this context, the common goal is to earn a big win and ultimately, the championship. In this particular scenario, hard skills such as the ability to play the sport well, ball control and a sharpened sense of the game are necessary.

While hard skills deem precision and efficiency, soft skills depend heavily on interaction and recognition.

List of critical Personal Skills

Personal skill includes a lot of things we all do every day. However, we don’t have the charm and affection to make these every day things look specific in the queue.

Experience and practice are essential for developing any skill.

Some traits can be inherited, but some are acquired with time. People who were shy when they started their job are a pro now when they have become the CEO.

Any guesses, how is it even possible? Yes, that’s because of the skills that they attain with the passing time.

There are some personal skills which we have mentioned here, to make you realize what comes under it. Any person who has all of these abilities has the best personal skill development.

1. Leadership skills 

When a person has a better sense of understanding, he can be a good leader.

But when he has a brilliant managing style, he will be a great leader. A leader should possess the ability to teach and mentor the employees of a company. He should always be humble and ready to help them at any cost.

Generally, people think that a leader should be dominating in nature, but it’s not like that. A leader when helps others in reaching their goal is a good leader. The leadership requires specific skills that include flexibility, team building, risk-taking and time management. A great leader will always have all these features.

2. Problem-solving skills 

Problem-solving skills are the traits that are present in a person with better personal skills.

This requires not only good mental ability but also a better presence of mind. People who find practical solutions to any problem have excellent problem-solving skills. And this skill is valued in every company.

Any individual who has the right way of communication, patience and good collaborating ability will be a good problem solver. It is because they pay enough attention to every problem and think about it critically.

They think about the worst situation and come up with the best antidote.

3. Time management skills 

Individuals with excellent time management skills let you finalize any project or task before the deadlines.

It’s crucial to maintain the time when you are a working person. You have to manage your work, several projects, your family and your personal space as well. People who stag in an organized way will always have a good time management skill.

Often it is observed that people get confused with lots of work and they are not okay with the deadline.

Any individual who has a better organizational style can focus on goals, have goal setting, and prioritization skills will do better. So every company nowadays requires a person with excellent time management skills.

4. Communication skills

One of the most important and required skills in every company is communication.

People with excellent communication skills will have a better way of representing their views and understanding that if others. Communication skills include speaking, listening, empathizing and observing. So it’s good to have all of them in you.

People will also have the confidence in speaking publicly; they can write in better form. Also, when it comes to debating and constructive criticism, these people can do a great job. It can be either verbal or non-verbal; both are appreciated in every company. Also, people with excellent communication will have better-listening abilities.

Communication is the key- Yes, it is an interface that can make something or break something.

It depends on you how you do it. Some people talk so affectionately to others that it leaves an impression on them. They can mention all details, and mark their words, present their ideas in a way that pleases everyone.

5. Listening skills 

Listening skills and communication skills are interrelated and interdependent.

Any person who can illustrate their views in front of people will have the ability to listen to them carefully. Listening skills work best when a person has a customer care related job. One has to listen to their queries and then explain its solution to them.

Being a good listener is the key to success.

You should be a person who gives others the chance to speak and listen to them carefully, rather than being the one who always interrupts others. Listening is a vital part of personal skills. People with this skill tries to understand the other person’s point of view, and then they say something if necessary.

Any individual who is good in communication and listening will work best for their company in researching about the solution. The person who has excellent problem-solving skills also has good listening skills. That is because s/he initially listens to the problems and finds the solution to that problem.

6. Interpersonal skills 

This quality is present in every individual who has the right way of communicating.

When they interact with people around them, they have interpersonal skills. This skill is about judging and then presenting. When is the requirement of cooperation and when should things go in that way? The solution to that is through interpersonal skills.

When a person has empathy, patience, and flexibility in themselves, they have excellent interpersonal skills.

Communication and leadership also get better for this person through time. And it further helps them in becoming a good leader.

7. Critical thinking skills 

Critical and creative thinking are almost the same but are specific in their ways.

Creativity is when a person thinks about certain things or problems in different ways. When the thought of the person goes beyond imagination and creates a new type of solution, this is creativity. Creativity and critical thinking both are high in demand, nowadays.

Critical thinking is when a person minutely and critically researches over a specific thing of the problem. It’s not always creative; it can be inspired through someone but requires lots of effort.

8. Creativity

Companies tend to engage candidates that can think about a problem uniquely and creatively because most issues are usually not as easy as they seem to be.

A person with creative ideas can understand the problem and solve it more enthusiastically and uniquely. When we do something creative, it offers us an instantaneous boost in positivity which makes it one of the essential personal skills.

In the words of Bruce Garrabrandt, the author of The Power of Having Desire-

“Creativity doesn’t wait for that perfect moment. It fashions its perfect moments out of ordinary ones.”

9. Punctuality

Time has no comparison to anything. It runs. Each second is essential in life.

People who have tendencies to appear late for everything downgrade their impression in front of others.

Managing time for everything makes an impression of the person on everyone. In the professional field, no matter what profession, employers always require punctuality from their junior employees.

‘I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate on one subject at a time.’ – says Charles John Huffam Dickens, an English writer, and social critic while talking about the significances of punctuality in our lives.

In case, you want to be more result-driven and performance-oriented, being punctual is one of the essential personal skills that you should incorporate straight away.

10. Self Management

Self-management is an essential part of the person.

Everyone listens to people who have the confidence to state their point. They don’t get rude on others, or they never get involved in unnecessary chaos.

They have self-control, which makes them friendly to everyone.

Therefore, you need to incorporate self-management as one of the critical personal skills if you want to accomplish your goals constructively and productively.

Managing your different responsibilities by prioritizing them is very important here. You must understand that your most important things should not be at the mercy of the least important things.

When you are well adept in self-management, you can efficiently and effectively prioritize your things.

Now, as you have gone through different personal skills, you must be thinking about the ways through which you can incorporate critical personal skills in you. Let us understand that as well-

How to Develop Important Personal Skills in You?

Without personal skills, it isn’t straightforward to shape a good life. But don’t worry you can develop or improve your expertise with a few steps

• Try to keep talking to your colleagues more often. When you do this, it helps in exchanging ideas that will enable you to understand different perceptions and widening your horizon. You will also master interpersonal skills through this.
• When someone is saying something, let them finish. Do not interrupt. This practice will help you in improving listening related personal skills in you. It also channelizes the power of acceptance in you which is one of the essential personal skills that empower you as an individual who incorporates emotional as well as a spiritual awakening.
• Practice your presentation before the actual presentation day. Practice everything in front of a mirror and find what is missing, what you would look for if someone else were giving a presentation. This will improve your learning and decision making related to personal skills.
• Do everything on time, as this is the very first step of time management, self-management, and punctuality. It will also help you in organizing your tasks in a more schedule and result-oriented manner.
• Control yourself from being harsh on others. Talk to everyone with politeness, as this will again act as an impetus for improving your personal skills related to communication, compassion, and calmness, which will ultimately optimize your relations and associated outputs quite significantly.

Final Thoughts!

Personal skills must have made you realize your inner abilities.

The features mentioned above are present in human beings; all they need is to practice and get better. Everything requires time, and so does your skills.

Look inside yourself and self-evaluate yourself, you can be great.

Would you also like to add some of the personal skills that you consider essential?

Then we’d love to hear that from you.

Feel free to share that in the comment section below to make this post the most comprehensive post about personal skills.

Liked this post? Check out the complete series on Skills