I think we would all be surprised to learn just how transferable our skillets are. I've said in this blog before, that leadership is about people. Well, it turns out that people are everywhere, and if you have the skills to lead in one organization, you can probably transfer those skills over to another, or even another industry entirely.
Leadership skills are some of the easiest to transfer between roles, instead of, for example, extremely technical knowledge applicable to only a few specific scenarios. Given leadership is our topic of choice, here are a few skills that should come first and foremost when you are looking to make a move, or branch out your professional portfolio. Please note, these are not all possible transferable skills, just some that are very applicable to leadership.
- Communication - Verbal, written, body language, expressing ideas, negotiating, interviewing, etc.
- Problem Solving - Identifying challenges, suggesting alternatives, defining needs, setting goals, executing, etc.
- Workability - Ability to cooperate, collaborate, support peers, handle stressful situations, learning, time management, flourish within organizations, etc.
- People Skills - Influencing, relationship building, listening, compassion, empathy, connecting, etc.
- Management - Managing people, driving change, coordinating tasks, decision-making, managing conflict, managing organizations, etc.
- Leadership - Inspiring, leading by example, improving others, teaching, mentoring, getting people to do what you want because they want to, etc.
This is obviously not an exclusive list, but just a few to get you thinking about it. If you were going to make a change, a new role, a new company, even a new industry, which of your leadership skills would you market as transferable?
-Alexander Cook MEng, MBA, PEng, PMP
Image Source: http://www.argentus.com/transferrable-skills-and-hiring-a-supply-chain-directors-perspective/