10 Essential Skills &
Competencies of Today
In today’s world, you will get what you
deserve. In other words, you should be
worthy enough. (We are in the world of
Global Era).

It is a fact
 The General Working Population is mediocre and
average. They just do what their role demands or carry
out those tasks much below the expectations of their
employers.
 Just do more than you are paid for & carry out your
work with brilliance. Be highly focused and action
oriented.
 If you learn and understand the skills which I am going
to discuss about, you would be better than 35% of the
working population. If you start practicing these skills at
work, you tend to be better by 65%. But, if you teach
these skills to your people at work, you would be better
to an extent of 95%.

Digital Literacy(Digitally
Versatile)

 In today's digitally advanced world, nearly every career
involves using technology of some kind. The more a person
knows about technology, the more appealing he will be before
his employer.
 Digital literacy means that your employees have the necessary
skills to achieve the company's goals by using digital
technology and the internet.
 Understanding how to use web browsers, search engines,
email, text, blogs, Photoshop, PPT, video creation/editing
software, etc. to showcase learning.

Be a digitally literate person
 Digital literacy in the workplace is the
awareness, mind-set and ability of
individuals to confidently use digital
workplace tools responsibly and effectively
in order to solve problems, be productive,
support well-being and thrive at work by
processing and applying information and
data, creating content, and collaborating
with other people, and reflecting on and
adapting one’s digital practices.

Problem Solving Skills

 Perhaps the most important skill young people
can develop before entering the workforce
is Problem Solving Skills. It is also known as
‘Critical Thinking Skills.’
 Today's jobs are no longer rote; employees or
workman need to be able to adapt to all sorts of
problems that crop up ceaselessly.
 Rote learning is a memorization technique based
on repetition.

Global Connectedness

 Because of advanced technology, our world is now
more connected than ever.
 Whereas in the past, employees would only deal with
people in their region, young people will now engage,
deal and work with others across the world.
 They need to be well-versed in global citizenship, with
an appreciation and understanding of other cultures.
While knowing more than one language is a great
asset, just being able to communicate and bond with
people from other community can make him extremely
valuable in an industry.
 Young professionals develop global citizenship through
travel and connecting with people from a variety of
cultures.


Global Exposure
 Global exposure could well be the difference
between one candidate being offered a job over
the other. Working internationally broadens your
horizon and gives you the opportunity to explore
a new country and understand how things work
overseas.
 You gain a competitive advantage over others
because employers prefer candidates with
expansive cultural exposure and better
adaptability.
 International exposure will bring more
experience in terms of new skills, language,
cultural intelligence, diverse background,
exceptional learning experience, etc.

Experience v Exposure
 Experience is the accumulation of
knowledge or skill that results from direct
participation in activities.
 Exposure implies opening oneself to the
learning experience by charting a path
with passionate curiosity, accepting
failures, correcting course & learning
something more about yourself in the
process.
 Experience may get you the efficiency;
exposure will get you effectiveness.
Efficiency x Effectiveness = Results.

Entrepreneur Mind Set

 Entrepreneurial mindset: Is a set of skills that enable people to identify
and make the most of opportunities, overcome and learn from setbacks,
and succeed in a variety of settings.
 Entrepreneurial Mindset: 5 Characteristics to Cultivate
 A Positive Mental Attitude.
 A Creative Mindset.
 Persuasive Communication Ability.
 Intrinsic Motivation and Drive.
 Tenacity and an Ability to Learn from Failure.
 Be an entrepreneur and not an employee. Even if your employer
designates you as an employee, you designate yourself as an entrepreneur.
When you see and believe yourself as an entrepreneur, you will create
opportunities for yourself, colleagues and the organization.

Learn, Unlearn, Relearn

 Learn: To gain or acquire knowledge
of or skill in (something) by study,
experience, or being taught.
 Unlearn: To discard (something
learned, especially false or outdated
information) from one's memory.
 Relearn: To learn (something) again.

 In the technology world, you needn’t
store information (unlearn) as
everything is available in internet.
 Relearn what you have learned now.
Don’t store your mind as a storehouse
of information but use your mind for
creative purposes (unlearn).
 Do what the technology can’t.

Communication Skills

 Speak so well that the people love to listen to
you. Listen so well that the people love to speak
to you.
 Communication doesn’t mean speaking and
writing but it also means listening to others well.
 Listen to people by mind and heart and always
be the last to speak in your official meeting.
 Late President Mandela of South Africa always
practiced listening and was the last to speak at
every meetings. He is considered to be one of
the tallest leaders the world has ever produced.

 Tips to Effective Communication
 Communicate with clarity. Vocabulary is very much
essential. You can touch the heart and minds of people
only through languages.
 Emphasize and repeat the important instructions.
 Engage people so that people love to listen. Write to the
point. Listen well. Be articulate or fluent.
 Connect with people (Family members, office
colleagues, vendors, customers, consultants etc).
 Play your role as a Boss, Subordinate, Colleague, Son,
Daughter, Mentor.

Negotiation & Persuasion Skills

 Negotiation skills are inherent
qualities that help two or more
parties agree to a common logical
solution. Discuss, bargain, consult
etc
 In the workplace, you may have to
display your negotiating skills in
various situations such as: Negotiating
a salary hike, handling an irate
customer, convincing a client etc.

 Negotiating Skills Tips.
 Attention to Detail. Devils are in
details.
 Flexibility (elasticity or suppleness).
 Empathy (understanding or having
compassion).
 Problem-solving Ability.
 Persuasiveness (expressiveness).

 Persuasion Skills(Influencing,
Urging etc)
 PERSUADING involves being able to
convince others to take appropriate
action.
 NEGOTIATING involves being able to
discuss and reach a mutually
satisfactory agreement.
 INFLUENCING encompasses both of
these.

 Difference between Persuasion &
Negotiation
 The very nature of negotiation requires
both parties to move closer together to
achieve a compromise.
 Persuasion or influencing on the other
hand is the process of getting the other
side to do what you want them to do.
 Negotiate your salary with the employer.
Persuade your customers to buy your
products or services.

Thinking

 Thinking today is a premium skill.
 Do what the technology can’t.(Thinking,
Negotiation, Persuasion, Creativity,
Handling deadlines, People Connect
etc).
 What you think is what you get. The
Business Leaders (Aziz Premji,
Narayana Murthy, R. Tata, Late Abdul
Kalam, Mukesh Ambani, K. Birla, W.
Buffet, Bill Gates, S. Jobs, Tim Cook are
great thinkers).

 If you want to be a great thinker, you
need to become a good thinker. Before
becoming a good thinker, you need to
produce a bunch of mediocre or ordinary
ideas.
 By practicing and developing your
thinking daily your ideas will get better.
You will get better when your thinking
gets better. Your thinking ability is
determined not by your desire to think,
but by your past thinking.

 To become a good thinking, do more
thinking. (Set aside thinking time each
day, find a process that works for you,
capture good thoughts, spend time
with good thinkers, read brilliant
books, hear videos of CEO’s).
 Once the ideas start flowing, you get
better and you start improving. People
will start noticing you. This is the mark
of Great Thinking.

Kinds of Thinking
 Big Picture Thinking- Ability to think beyond yourself
 Focused Thinking—Ability to think with clarity on issues with minimal
distractions
 Creative Thinking-Ability to break out of your box
 Realistic Thinking-Ability to build solid foundation on facts
 Strategic Thinking-Ability to implement plans that give clear-cut directions
for today and increase your potential for tomorrow.
 Possibility Thinking-Ability to find solutions
 Reflective Thinking-Ability to revisit the past in order to gain a true
perspective and think with understanding.
 Shared Thinking-Ability to include the heads of others to help you think to
get compounding results.
 Unselfish Thinking-Ability to consider others and their journey to think with
collaboration.
 Popular Thinking-Ability to reject the limitations of common thinking and
accomplish uncommon results.
 Bottom Line Thinking-Ability to focus on results and maximum return to
reap the full potential of your thinking

Grit, Tenacity & Perseverance

 What is Grit?
 Is passion and sustained
persistence applied toward long-
term achievement, with no particular
concern for rewards or recognition
along the way.
 It combines resilience, ambition, and
self-control in the pursuit of goals that
take months, years, or even decades.

 What are examples of grit?
 Mentally tough athletes are more
consistent than others. They don't miss
workouts.
 Mentally tough leaders are more
consistent than their peers. They have a
clear goal that they work towards each
day.
 Mentally tough artists, writers, and
employees deliver on a more consistent
basis than most.

 Tenacity: An example of tenacity is an
athlete with an injury completing a difficult
race.
 Perseverance: Is persistence in sticking to a
plan. An example of perseverance is working
out for a two hours each day to lose weight.
 Resilience: An example of resilient is a sick
person rapidly getting healthy. Able to recover
readily, as from misfortune.
 Diligence: An example of diligent is a worker
who always stays late to get projects done on
deadline.

Specialized Knowledge &
Connect with People
 Specialized knowledge includes a range of
factual, theoretical and practical knowledge,
as well as competencies and skills in a
particular discipline or profession. (10,000Hrs
Rule to polish your craft to become a Master,
Malcom Gladwell). 417 days.
 We all spend around 5+ hours each day
connecting with bosses, subordinates,
vendors, customers, workers, colleagues
either through personal interaction, phone,
message, chatting, video conferencing, e
mail, teleconference etc.

List of Books (Must Read)
 Think Again – Adam Grant
 Atomic Habits- James Clear
 10 X Rule- Grant Cardone
 5 Seconds Rule –Mel Robbins
 Leadershift- John Maxwell
 Good to Great – Jim Collins
 7 Habits of Effective People – S.
Covey