Career Plus: Skills

Analytical Problem Solving: Analyzing, diagnosing, and resolving problems.

• Utilizes logic and systematic processes to analyze and solve problems.
• Defines the causes, effects, impact, and scope of problems.
• Evaluates the potential impact of possible solutions and selects the best one.

Conflict Management: Addressing and resolving conflicts for positive outcomes.

• Readily identifies and addresses issues, concerns, or conflicts.
• Listens to understand an issue from different perspectives.
• Tries to settle differences fairly.

Continuous Learning: Taking initiative in learning new concepts and methods.

• Demonstrates curiosity and enthusiasm for learning.
• Actively interested in new technologies, processes, and methods.
• Spends considerable effort on learning.
• Identifies uses for knowledge.

Creativity/Innovation: Ability to formulate new approaches, ideas, concepts, and methods.

• Expresses non-traditional perspectives and/or novel approaches.
• Encourages and promotes innovation.
• Develops and tests new ideas to explain or solve issues.
• Imagines new or revolutionary concepts.

Decision Making: Utilizing effective processes to make decisions.

• Can make tough decisions in a timely manner.
• Creates a rationale for making decisions.
• Willing to correct wrong decisions when necessary.
• Defends rationale for decisions when necessary.

Diplomacy & Tact: Effectively handling difficult or sensitive situations concerning others.

• Maintains good relationships with others through fair treatment and respect.
• Respects diversity in race, national origin, religion, gender, lifestyle, age, and disability.

Empathy: Identifying with and caring about others.

• Demonstrates genuine concern for others.
• Is sensitive to the emotions people experience.
• Tries to understand the real needs, concerns, and feelings of others.
• Advocates for the interests, needs, and wants of others.

Flexibility: Ability to adapt to changes.

• Responds promptly to shifts in direction, priorities, and schedules.
• Effective at juggling multiple priorities and tasks.
• Adapts personal style to work with different people.
• Maintains productivity during transitions, even in the midst of chaos.

Futuristic Thinking: Imagining, envisioning or predicting what has not yet been realized.

• Demonstrates an ability to connect the dots and see the big-picture.
• Recognizes, supports, or even champions progressive ideas.
• Envisions possibilities others may not.

Goal Orientation: Focusing efforts on meeting a goal, mission or objective.

• Establishes goals that are relevant, realistic, and attainable.
• Identifies and implements required plans and milestones to achieve specific business goals.
• Stays on target to complete goals regardless of obstacles or adverse circumstances.

Interpersonal Skills: Effectively communicating, building rapport, and relating well to all kinds of people.

• Demonstrates sincere interest in others.
• Treats all people with respect, courtesy, and consideration.
• Develops and maintains relationships with many different kinds of people regardless of cultural differences.

Leadership: Achieving extraordinary results through people.

• Inspires others with compelling visions.
• Takes risks for the sake of principles, values, or mission.
• Demonstrates optimism and positive expectations of others.
• Delegates appropriate responsibilities and authority, & demonstrates loyalty to constituents.

Management: Achieving excellent results through effective use of resources, processes, and people.

• Comfortable making decisions that affect other people.
• Delegates tasks and roles appropriately.

Mentoring/Coaching: Guiding and supporting the growth of others.

• Identifies developmental needs. Encourages initiative and improvement.
• Provides opportunities for training.
• Trains, coaches, and mentors others to develop.

Negotiation: Ability to bargain effectively and facilitate agreements.

• Listens to identify and understand what each party wants.
• Determines what each party is willing to accept in an agreement.
• Develops the terms for an agreement.
• Ensures each party understands the terms of agreement.

People Advocacy: Understanding, defending, and supporting other people’s needs and expectations.

• Places a high value on customers and their issues.
• Anticipates customer needs and develops solutions.
• Meets commitments made to customers.

Personal Responsibility: Taking initiative and responsibility for personal actions.

• Accepts personal responsibility for the consequences of personal actions.
• Applies lessons learned from past failures toward achieving future successes.

Persuasion: Ability to convince others to change the way they think, believe, or act.

• Builds trust and credibility before attempting to promote something.
• Uses logic and reason to develop arguments that challenge current assumptions, attitudes, beliefs, and behavior.
• Identifies and addresses the barriers that prevent people from agreeing.

Planning/Organizing: Using orderly procedures to meet objectives.

• Works effectively within established time frames and priorities.
• Prioritizes tasks for highest productivity.
• Makes adjustments to plan as needed.

Presenting: Communicating effectively to groups.

• Presents information in ways that makes complex concepts clear.
• Projects authenticity, confidence, conviction, and passion.
• Engages the heart and mind of the audience.
• Communicates in ways that enlighten, educate, challenge, and persuade the audience to think, believe, or behave in a specific way.

Teamwork: Working effectively and productively with others.

• Meets agreed-upon deadlines for team assignments and commitments.
• Supports team decisions.
• Behaves in a manner consistent with team values and mission.
• Provides constructive feedback to team and its members.

Time and Priority Management: Ability to manage time and priorities, maintaining self-control.

• Prioritizes activities as necessary to meet goals.
• Keeps working toward goals without direct supervision (self-directed learner).

Written Communication: Writing clearly and getting thoughts across effectively.

• Writes in ways that make abstract concepts clear.
• Succinctly presents viewpoints and arguments.
• Achieves communication objectives by organizing information in logical sequences that lead readers to come to natural conclusions.
• Adjusts writing style to specific audiences as needed.