New Year, New Me: Re-energising Your Career with ‘Power Skills’.

New Year, New Me: Re-energising Your Career with ‘Power Skills’

Without being too cliché, in the season of ‘new year, new me’, there’s never been a better time to boost your career prospects by developing and maximising your ‘power skills’.?

The term ‘power skills’, coined by Dartmouth University president, Philip Hanlon, is a reframing of certain soft skills. All too often, ‘soft skills’ are seen as a nice to have, rather than a necessity for success. In truth, the power skills highlighted by Hanlon should be absolutely essential.?

According to the latest World Economic Forum?Future of Jobs Report, 50 per cent of everyone currently employed will need some level of reskilling by 2025, mainly due to digital transformation. Given the acceleration of digital trends driven by the pandemic, it’s likely that that date will need to be brought forward, and the percentage will be higher.?

While there is a tendency to assume that technological change will create a demand for harder, technical skills, it also drives a need for power skills. Effective communication, creating engagement, and motivating people across digital platforms and other modes of technology are crucial.??

Take, for example, one of the biggest current challenges for leaders: how to thrive in the virtual environment. This isn’t something that can simply be overcome using ‘hard skills’ – things like knowing how to use Teams.?

As?Forbes?says, “One can’t code their way through creative brainstorms, heated all-hands, or social interactions with colleagues.” Simply put, the ‘softer’ skills that one uses on a daily basis, whether it be customer or client-facing relations, general communications tasks, or internal relationships, are imperative to a successful career.?

So, how can you re-energise your career with power skills?

This year, whether you are planning for a?change of job?or are eager to boost your prospects of a promotion, there is plenty you can do to set your career on the right track. Competition remains high, but with some candidates apprehensive to leave their roles and employers seeing widespread skill shortages, now is the time to shine. We take a look at the key power skills which have the power to boost your career in 2022.

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