There are a lot of otherwise intelligent people whose lack of self-awareness and social skills are massive detriments to their careers. Photo: File.
Social skills are becoming increasingly important in the workplace and Travis Bradberry urges those who lack them to reform if they want success in their careers.
Social skills are becoming more critical than experience and knowledge for success in the workplace.
Harvard University economist David Deming has studied workplace tasks since 1980 and found that those emphasising social skills grew by a whopping 24 per cent. Over the same period, tasks requiring technical know-how and intelligence experienced little growth. In addition, salaries increased the most for jobs that placed extra emphasis on social skills.
With the emphasis moving to social skills, those who lack them stand out like a zebra in a field of horses.
We all know the types: the person who won’t stop talking when you’re trying to meet a deadline; the one who blatantly takes credit for your ideas. Or the one who callously leaves you to pull an all-nighter to fix their mistake. The list goes on.
There are a lot of otherwise intelligent people who can’t stop shooting themselves in the foot. Their lack of self-awareness and social skills are massive detriments to their careers.
Social skills and self-awareness are matters of emotional intelligence, and my research on millions of people shows that emotional intelligence is responsible for 58 per cent of job performance.
There are certain types of people whose lack of emotional intelligence harms their careers more than others. By studying them, you can avoid becoming one of them. Here are some examples to avoid:
The coward: Fear is an extremely powerful motivator. In the workplace, people overcome by fear resort to irrational and damaging behaviour. Cowardly colleagues are quick to blame others and to cover up important mistakes, and they fail to stand up for what is right.
The Dementor: In J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, Dementors are evil creatures that suck people’s souls out of their bodies, leaving them merely as shells of humans. Rowling said she developed the concept for Dementors based on highly negative people – the kind who have the ability to walk into a room and instantly suck the life out of it. Workplace Dementors do this by imposing their negativity and pessimism upon everyone they encounter.
The arrogant: Arrogant people are a waste of your time because they see everything you do as a personal challenge. Arrogance is false confidence, and it always masks major insecurities. Arrogant people tend to be lower performers and more disagreeable and have more cognitive problems than the average person.
The group-thinker: Group-thinkers choose the path of least resistance and are famous for propagating the “This is how we’ve always done it” mentality. If you find yourself getting brainwashed with what everyone else believes, be careful; the status quo never leads to greatness.
The short-changed: The short-changed are quick to blame their lack of accomplishment on a lack of opportunity. While a lucky break may put a little wind in a successful person’s sails, they got where they are through hard work. What the short-changed don’t realise is that their attitude is what’s short-changing them, not their circumstances.
The temperamental: Some people have absolutely no control over their emotions. They will lash out at you and project their feelings onto you, all the while thinking you’re the one causing their malaise. Temperamental people perform poorly because their emotions cloud their judgment and their lack of self-control destroys their relationships.
The victim: Victims are tough to identify because you initially empathise with their problems, but as time passes you begin to realise their ‘’time of need’’ is all the time. Victims actively push away any personal responsibility by making every speed bump they encounter into an unclimbable mountain. They don’t see tough times as opportunities to learn and grow; instead, they see them as an out.
The gullible: They’re the ones who find themselves babysitting the boss’s kids the morning after pulling a late night of work … on a Sunday! For whatever reason, gullible people (often newbies) go with the flow until the gentle river becomes a tumultuous ocean. It’s OK to say no, and it’s OK to question the way things are done. You’ll earn a lot more respect if you stand up for yourself when the time is right.
The apologiser: For every person out there who owes an apology, there’s another who apologises too often. People who lack confidence are always apologising for their ideas and actions. They fear failure and believe that apologising will act as a safety net. Instead, unnecessary apologies cheapen their ideas and make them less likely to stick. Stating an idea or opinion as a question is just as bad as apologising. If you really believe something is worth sharing, own it and share it with confidence.
None of this behaviour is a career death sentence because it can be eradicated through improved emotional intelligence. All it takes is a little self-awareness and a strong desire to change.
Travis Bradberry is the award-winning co-author of the bestselling book Emotional Intelligence 2.0, and the co-founder of TalentSmart. His books have been translated into 25 languages and are available in more than 150 countries. He can be contacted at TalentSmart.com. This article first appeared on the TalentSmart website.
