We’re so used to associating the term ‘skill set’ with our technical prowess over our scope of work. When looked at from a unidirectional aperture, this understanding holds good. However, when the same is brought into the context of a human workplace, there are so many, let’s say, intangible elements at work that possess the power to influence everyone involved.
As we move towards a business paradigm that is bound to see Artificial Intelligence play a bigger role, the human workforce has to self-reflect and identify what it is that makes us human in the workplace – this will reveal all the intangible elements that are seldom spoken about.
An Insight Into Our Skills
Human beings are social animals, and their success in any field is determined by two prime factors, technical skill (a more tangible, measurable factor) and social skills (difficult to measure and quantify). Typically, the embryonic stages of one’s career path start with technical, skill-based roles. During this phase, it makes sense for aspiring professionals to get a holistic application-based experience of all that they have studied in the past. However, once a person grows in an organization, the expectation of the employer expands. You are now not only expected to be a subject matter expert in your core area, but also someone who has evolved to function as an efficient unit in the social fabric that holds the company together.
As AI comes into our professional world, it only makes sense that we value human skills such as social intelligence, as this will make us more relevant to the business ecosystem. While technical know-how and process knowledge play a fundamental role in shaping our growth as leaders, it is our social intelligence that can transform our journey by opening up doors we never thought existed.
The Current Trend
Recent studies indicate that skills such as communication, creativity and compatibility are being valued very highly in a professional environment. This doesn’t necessarily restrict itself to employees but also includes management. As leaders running a business world with man and machine, a leader must not only possess a great deal of social intelligence but also nurture it in the organization. Besides, it is a given fact that great leaders are remembered for their empathy and personal connect with their workforce rather than their many trophies and qualifications.
Stay Social, Stay Relevant
While we don’t want to sound like we’re talking about a Terminator movie, it is true that machines will gradually replace human effort wherever possible. This is why it’s all the more important for us humans to consciously cultivate skills that are unique to us – our social skills. Not only will this positively impact our professional lives, it will make us more well-rounded people in general.
If you want to sum all of this up in simple terms, the goal of any leader stepping into a decade of new opportunities should be this “Be more than human than you were yesterday.”
