What has been the most useful skill in your working life?

[Bigfatfuckingfailure]

What innate talents or acquired skill really stands out for you?

Bags of energy? Team player knack? Great networker? PRINCE2? Excel?

Being able to yawn with my mouth closed.

Being able to write well, not necessarily "creatively' just being able to structure a narrative so it makes sense and tells people what they need to know. Applies to everything from a report to a basic email and can be taught/learned to some extent.

@LEMtheoriginal ha! My DH is a vet with no sense of smell. Serves him well 😂

Being able to read.

Tobee
I have social anxiety too. I just copied an extrovert friend. If you ask people how their weekend was, ask after their kids, offer to make tea while you're in the kitchen, or compliment an outfit etc, you build rapport/fit in quickly.

Excel, and speed reading have helped me. A LOT

Being able to read and manipulate people and situations. Not that I would ever say that to someone IRL. Comes in handy at home too.

My first ever boss taught me a lot about people. He went very far in his career very quickly with no proper training or qualifications. Things just seemed to go exactly as he wanted them too. I was the only introvert in an office full of extroverts and noticed that I listened to everything and everyone.

Pretending to give a shit about, and asking questions in the right tone to pinpoint, without coming across as a cow, what other people are pre occupied with especially when it's petty drivel that is blocking a really important change or legal obligation, without being too sympathetic as to make them think they can keep doing it.

Networking. Being able to make friends and influence people. Actual professional skills are secondary to that. I work in a support function (think in-house finance, law, compliance type) and you can be the best specialist in the world, but if people don't like you, you can't do your job.

HTML

This is a great thread! Getting me inspired to do a great job today at work. Not that I don’t try my best, but sometimes you need a little inspiration to push you that bit further!

How to cook, how to eat.

How to treat my belongings.
I worked in a kitchen for a couple of years from 16-18 under a Turkish man who was very passionate about food and family, he opened up my world of food and taught me all the basics along with tips and tricks. Also taught me how to respect my belongings and how it doesn't matter what you have as long as you take care of it

Networking. Being able to make friends and influence people. Actual professional skills are secondary to that. I work in a support function (think in-house finance, law, compliance type) and you can be the best specialist in the world, but if people don't like you, you can't do your job.

Haha @G5000 . Sounds like you read that book.

I think it's the ability to look at an apparently intractable problem, keep looking until I figure out what the problem actually is (can be quite far from the presenting problem) then doing what I can to fix that. I find myself naturally drawn to complex problems with a lot of moving parts.

This is a great thread! I would be interested in the opposite question too, what skill do you lack that is the biggest handicap to your career?

I have another one: don’t stay in your job or working with the same team/boss too long. There seems to be a time window of years after a point you just become taken for granted and then it’s time to take yourself and all the experience you gained off to somewhere new. It’s good to keep focus on your own wants and ambitions.

And say Yes to everything and then google the shit out of it!

Ha, yes, this too! I tend to be astonished that more people don't take this approach.

Learn how to read upside down. Invaluable skill to find out what's going on. Speed reading is also good. Not being a gossip nor a whiner.

Remember there's no such thing as a silly question - it's much better to ask than assume and get it wrong.

Identifying the toxic presence in the office (there’s always at least one) and then not getting on their good / bad side.

Organised to the point it annoys my chefs (but they reap the benefits!).

Tenacious - if I don't know/can't do something I will chip away at it or find someone who can tell/show me how.

People reading - I have mild autism and reading body language etc helps me gauge a situation and my response to it.

I will own up if I've done something wrong and I will do my utmost to fix it.

I would say understanding brand marketing and social media.

The ability to bite my own tongue.

Being a good liar.

Good communication skills, numeracy (I work with loads of people who lack basic numeracy), empathy, and touch typing.

I'm surprised to see how many people have cited touch typing. It was a huge asset when I learned in the 1970's, but I would have thought it was much less of a thing nowadays.

Being positive but able to argue a case pleasantly where necessary. Touch typing!!!!!

Talking to more junior people and really listening, which firstly has a huge positive impact on morale and secondly means that I give valuable insight to the leadership team on what is going on.

Also, the ability to transfer calls and conference in a third person.

And, like someone above, the ability to reflect the interests of a particular group to another group in an entirely understandable way. Connecting people I suppose.

I'm with touch typing too. And being a hard worker who has showing willing to work late etc has meant I was kept on during redundancies. I wish I had excel skills, it would be so useful but I've tried and tried and just cant grasp it.