Discover Your Top 10 Skills: Social
More options do not equal more opportunities.
When looking for opportunities, we imagine we just need more options, as if the menu of life would be better if it were as thick as the Cheesecake Factory’s menu. But have you ever tried to pick the best option at the Cheesecake Factory? If you go into the Cheesecake factory without knowing what you want from the meal, you will be paralyzed by the number of options. The Cheesecake Factory has over 250 items for you to choose from. Do you want a personal pizza? How about a salad that serves 15 people? Maybe you are looking for something Asian. And when you have chosen your meal, select one of thirty-four cheesecake flavor options.
That’s pretty overwhelming. You can only choose something from the menu if you know what you are looking for. The Cheesecake Factory will give you options, but you need to know what you value to have a successful lunch.
When it comes to our career, we treat our skills like a purposeless trip to the Cheesecake Factory. We have a menu of skills that we could choose to use.
But you also have too many options for the skills you could use. If you want to truly make an impact and create your next opportunity, you must find your top 10 skills that you are competent in AND enjoy using.
Today's skill area: Social Skills
Social skills are focused on people.
These skills are interpersonal, communicative, and helping-oriented. They happen in person or virtually, but only when you are interacting with other human beings. Often, social skills do not feel like skills because the results are harder to measure and less tangible. But an organization needs socially skilled individuals to be able to gain the results they so desire.
We have previously looked at Realistic skills. Click here to explore your top Realistic skills.
For now, let’s look at the social skill list through the lens of one of my success stories.
This success story is titled: Kalimera Daniel.
That is good morning, Daniel, in Greek.
Between my sophomore and junior year of college, I interned in Athens, Greece, at a refugee center. I look back on this experience and remember how proud I felt of myself. I independently navigated my way through a foreign city for two months. I learned the Athens Metra system. I budgeted my money so that I could eat as much gelato as I could. I cruised to Santorini and found a hammock to sleep in at 3 am.
Let’s look at a list of Social Skills and see how many I used as Kalimera Daniel.
Explaining concepts - No
Giving advice that is valued - No
Talking - yes
Making friends - yes
Communicating warmth - yes
Writing - no
Helping with personal problems - yes
Training - no
Being of service to others- yes
Showing sensitivity - yes
Listening well - yes
Facilitating teamwork - no
Showing patience - no
Leading groups - no
Teaching - no
Understanding people - yes
Coordinating needed actions - no
Caring for people - yes
These are all great skills that can be useful in future opportunities. However, just because I used these skills as Kalimera Daniel does not mean that I enjoyed using these skills. As you do this exercise for yourself, keep in mind which skills sound more fun to you. Which skills would you love to use in the future?
I love using my social skills. I have used almost all of these skills in my life. But maybe you hate using social skills! To each their own. Whether you want to use these skills in the future or not, clarifying that you possess these skills will help you get unstuck and create opportunities. The clearer you can communicate your top 10 skills that you are competent in and enjoy, the more opportunities you will have.
Social skills are one of six areas of skills. Compare your social skills list with your realistic skills. Which do you prefer using?
Make sure you are subscribed to my newsletter to receive all six skill areas and to discover your top 10 skills.
Want to go more in-depth with your Social skills and discover where you can use them? Check out my LifeMappingU course to start living your purpose today.
Get started with LifeMappingU here