One thing that great mentors will tell you, is that no matter how successful you are, developing and learning should never stop. Even if you’re managing your own team or have founded your own company, there will always be ways for you to improve your methods. Not only does this improve and inform your work, it also keeps things interesting, as you’re learning and stimulating your mind. So what are the skills that you should be practicing, no matter your success level?
1) Clarity
Clarifying the visions and values of your brand is important, as it’s bound to change and evolve in time. Every so often, you should take a step back and re-evaluate why you do what you do. With experience comes mistakes, lessons learnt and experiences that will help mould the vision you have for your brand. It should be continually evolving to fit in with your ever-changing outlook and experience.
2) Curiosity
The dictionary definition of ‘curious’, is being ‘eager to know of learn something’, which really is the essence of this whole article. Practicing curiosity means that you’ll always be learning something new – and this will inform you in both work and in general.
3) Communication
Communication is the key to success, as it’s not all about your working skills, but more about how you interact with those that you work with. Take courses, go to networking events, connect with influencers – the key to improving your communication is simply to get out there and grab the bull by the horns.
4) Embracing your mistakes
Making mistakes is the only true way to innovate and create something new. You should always embrace failure and mistakes as learning opportunities, and use them to move you in the right direction. Once you’ve accepted your mistakes you’ll then be able to apply your new knowledge to future situations.
5) The ability to say no
Successful people are great at knowing their priorities and what they should be focusing their time on. They also know when they should be taking on a project and when they shouldn’t be.
6) Reflection
Taking time to reflect on the journey you’ve already taken is important, as you’ll be able to take a proper look at what worked and what didn’t work, and mould your new way of working to reflect this. Take a look at why and how you learnt what you did, and use this to spur on your growth.
What other skills do you think should be practiced throughout your career?
