ILLUMINATION CHALLENGE 100 — DAY 8
Top 7 Skills To Future Proof Your Career
Prepare for the Future of Work!
2024 UPDATE: A new and updated version of this story is available here:
The pandemic has taught us that some entire industries (airlines, restaurants) can collapse and companies can get disrupted in a matter of months. Plus, the way technology is advancing many skills (and roles) will become obsolete in the next 10 years. New jobs in the future may require skills that do not even exist today.
If you want to future-proof your career, having these 7 skills are an absolute must! Master them and you will stay relevant irrespective of what the future holds!
- T-shaped Expertise.
- Creative Problem-Solving.
- Leadership.
- Geek Acumen.
- Personal branding.
- Learning Agility.
- Focus.
#1. T-shaped Expertise
In the software world, the best developers are people with T-shape skills. This means that they have breadth and depth of expertise. They have very strong programming chops in one particular niche or discipline (depth) combined with strong domain expertise (finance, healthcare, etc).
For example, a Java developer who knows everything about all banking processes. T-shaped skills. This makes them the guru for their particular area and allows them to command high hourly rates and stay valuable to the company.
If you want to be considered valuable, develop your expertise in this T-shaped fashion. It will also allow you to move to other industries or roles even in a bad economy.
#2. Creative Problem-Solving
The export of tomorrow will adapt to any situation using creative problem-solving. The best solutions are not necessarily the most complex or the most technical. They are the ones that work best using the current constraints of time and resources.
Good problem-solvers know that in some cases a low-tech hack will work much better Than creating a perfect solution that takes huge amounts of time, resources, and money. Working from first principles, i.e. not assuming anything is a good way of developing your creative problem-solving skills.
Think using first principle methods!
Elon Musk is a perfect role model of creative problem-solving. You can emulate his thinking patterns from this article:
#3. Leadership
People are naturally drawn to folks with leadership skills and charisma, irrespective of their title, hierarchy, age, or background.
As Automation and technology become more prevalent in every business domain, leadership skills will become critical to get new opportunities and advance in your career.
The strategies below will help you unlock your leadership potential, no matter which stage of your career you are1
#4. Geek Acumen
Let’s face it technology is pervading every facet of our life with smart homes, global offices, and remote learning. It is no longer appropriate to say ‘I’m not technical’. If you are not tech-savvy, then start learning how to develop those skills. You do not need to be an expert programmer, but you should be comfortable using available software and automation tools.
Just like using the computer or a smartphone has become the New Normal, using technological tools will become critical to stay relevant in the future.
#5. Personal Branding
Social media, video conferencing, and innovative communication methods have made it easier for us to stay in touch with more and more people. However, this has diluted the depth of our connections. There is so much noise on the internet and people’s attention spans have become so short that it is extremely important that you advocate for yourself. Cultivate strong allies and a noticeable personal branding, so that companies, senior management, and recruiters want to work with you.
If you want to shine, then your personal brand will have to work very hard too!
The trick will be to keep a balance — do not be too “sales-y”, but at the same time, demonstrate your unique skills and expertise. You do not necessarily need to be on every social media platform, but make sure that you stay on top of mind for the people who can advance your career.
Personal advocacy and strong networks are a must for the future of work. If the pandemic has limited your networking choices, look at this list to get some new ideas to hobnob with the people you need to connect with!
#6. Learning Agility
The programming skills I use in my current work did not even exist 10 years ago! Similarly, titles like ‘Chief Experience Officer’, ‘Senior Product Manager’ did not exist even 5 years ago!
If you want to be relevant in two decades, make sure you keep yourself updated with the latest trends and innovations in your industry. Mingle with folks outside your domain so you can cross-pollinate best practices. Learning agility is important so that you can pick up new skills and continue to bring new ideas to the table.
Ideas will be the currency of the future!
This will ultimately allow you to make the most of stretch opportunities and gain new experiences.
#7. Focus.
With so many conflicting demands on our time and attention, the ones who rise quickly to the top will be the ones who can hyper-focus on their top priorities! Being “busy” is not the same as being productive!
Meditation, effective goal-setting, and discipline, not internet doom-scrolling will help you design the awesome life you deserve and desire!
The future of work is very bright. Developing these seven core skills will help you create an even brighter career and rich life for yourself!
