Sathappan N
It was the first ever meeting of a group in an auditorium and I was arriving just few minutes before the program started. I wanted to sit in the front rows and identified that third seat in second row was vacant. I straightaway headed to the second row and request the first person that was in conversation with second seated person by gesture to give way for me to access the third seat. He who was tall and handsome looking at me as if I was an uninvited guest; but still I smiled at him and after a pause he gave way for me with a grin look.
The moment I sat on the third seat I turned to my right and smiled and the gentle man sitting in the fourth seat smiled back and we had a handshake with a brief intro. Then I turned to my left and the gentle man sitting on the second seat also returned a warm smile and handshake. I again looked at the first seat gentleman with a smile and now only, yes he smiled back! Subsequently we met several times and in fact all the three became good friends.
I learned a great deal from my friends, peers, superiors, subordinates and customers during four decades of my selling profession. When I began selling, I mistakenly assumed that sales performance was simply a result of product features and price. But as my career progressed, I became increasingly aware that other factors also influence success. I eventually realized that what are now called “soft skills” can play an equally important role.
Soft skills are defined in many ways and are called by many other names including transferable skills and 21st century skills and easy to understand when described as character traits, attitudes, and behaviours. These are the attributes that help workers adapt to new jobs, overcome obstacles, develop productive relationships with their co-workers and supervisors, and thrive in the workplace.
Communication and interpersonal skills is one of the most sought after soft skills. People are of different qualification, nature, caliber and of a particular mood for each of their life situations on which we do not have any control. Our goal should be to get into their good books for a win-win relationship. To achieve this we need to retain high levels of enthusiasm, motivation and ambition always. Engineers, Doctors, Charted Accountants, Lawyers, Politicians, Religious Gurus-whatever be our profession we need to sell our “Persona” first and foremost to be successful in our profession. Smiling, listening, humoring, eye contact and gestures together can be called as the most important skills for anybody’s success at all levels. People may not be smile but we need to; Irrespective of the other person being a chatterbox we need to listen!
Life consists of choices. You are in control of your soft skills because they result from your conscious decisions to behave or not to behave in certain ways. Make wise behavioral choices that will help you to succeed.
