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31 Jul

Important Soft Skills you were never taught in school

Ok so have you’ll gone through the laws of thermodynamics or have you’ll gone through all the mathematical formulas?…. ohh you haven’t? Well, I’m just kidding, neither did i. So i was just pulling your leg since we learn a lot of these things in school but there are hardly any practical applications in real life. I believe that real life is quite different from academic life. We were taught so many valuable lessons in schools and colleges but they however fail to teach us some important and practical real-life skills. Ok so let’s not waste a minute and get started with a blog series about some important soft skills that you were never taught in school. The first part of this series consists of skills like “Conversation skills” and “Logical thinking”. So, let’s begin……

  1. Conversation skills: what they are and why they are important

Ok so here’s the first skill that was not taught – conversation skill. Conversations are supposed to be fun. They involve personal interactions between two or more people about something of common interest. But many people stress about having conversations. They are concerned that they won’t be able to keep the conversation going, or about what they will say or how what they say will be understood. Keeping a conversation going is something of an art, and one which many of us now seem to lack. Conversation is prevalent in every aspect of our lives this could be with our boss, with our work colleagues, with our friends, with our family and many others. Interestingly we are now called the “Silent Generation”- Do you know why? Well because our conversation don’t require us to actually speak with someone in person all thanks to the social media platforms, Thanks to the internet that we are all dependent on. Now by doing so our personal communication skill is destroyed. In real life we must master the art of connecting with someone personally, listen to them effectively and this can happen only if we spend more time in conversing with other people. Conversation skills are important to any career because it is the base means with which you express yourself to other people, specifically your colleagues, your boss and other people you will deal with in the career you have chosen for yourself. … Not all career growth opportunities are easily bestowed. Now that is the best way to have rewarding careers and better relationships as well. So if you haven’t worked on your conversation skill yet well start doing that. Non-verbal communication is another aspect of communication – and it’s extremely important.

 

2.Logical thinking to make right decisions

So here’s the other skill that was not taught in school – Logical thinking. In school students memorize data and facts essentially to be ready to pass an exam, however in the real world we have to make decisions for the short and long term which will have direct consequences on how our life is. Simply put, logical thinking is the act of deliberately and consciously analysing information so that you can make better judgements and decisions. It involves using- logic, reasoning, and creativity, to draw conclusions and generally understand things better. Now these decisions require quick and logical thinking and that is why we need to use more logical questioning which makes us think through scenarios and situations which indeed will equip us to make right decisions. We make several decisions every day and, whether we realize it or not, we’re all critical thinkers. As humans, we are constantly thinking. It’s something we can’t turn off. But not all of it is critical thinking. No one thinks critically 100% of the time… that would be pretty exhausting! Instead, it’s an intentional process, something that we consciously use when we’re presented with difficult problems or important choices. Logical thinking has a wide range of real-world applications. It can help you to make better decisions, become more hireable, and generally better understand the world around you. 

So that was it for today’s blog and I hope these self- improvement skills would help you develop your confidence and stay ahead in this competitive world of challenges. Ok so in the next part of this series we’ll find out about other soft skills like “Time Management”, “How to handle failures in life?” and “Non-verbal Communication”. Till then do try to apply these soft skills in your life and experience the positive change

Satish Mehta
Satish is a Chartered Accountant by education, a veteran of Housing Finance and a Credit Information practitioner with over 40 years of experience. He previously worked with HDFC Ltd – India’s largest mortgage finance company and was the founding Managing Director of CIBIL – India’s first and largest Credit Information Bureau. He has global experience in his chosen fields, is a Professor of Practice at a leading University and has written e-books for the World Bank on his subjects. He is passionate about learning & knowledge transfer & believes in giving back to the industry he worked in throughout his career.

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