No one in business was prepared for what happened when the coronavirus invaded the U.S. Overnight, it literally upended the nation’s economy, leaving American workers not knowing what to think about the future.
While some workers are doing well, others are underemployed, and 13 million are jobless. Whether you’re a CEO, just entering the workforce, or someone in between, such confusion and uncertainty begs the question: “What’s it take to survive in a job today?”
What businesses are looking for are people with the ability to adapt, learn, perform and progress so they can contribute to the organization’s success. To be specific, these are people who possess four basic business survival skills:
Asking questions. Many believe that success on the job depends on keeping your head down, going along to get along, and not making waves.
While it may be the culture in many businesses, it’s also dysfunctional behavior. Companies experiencing the pandemic’s pervasive effects know their survival depends on rapid and continued adaption and innovation, which starts with asking questions, lots of questions. Why are we doing this? Why aren’t we doing this? Why is it taking so long? Why are others getting ahead of us? Why aren’t our people more involved in decision-making? Why are we doing it this way?
If a company wants to flourish, its success depends on everyone involved being observant and curious and asking questions.
Staying focused. If anything is obvious, it’s that we all need to improve our ability to concentrate on the job. It’s not easy. We’re drowning in distractions. What makes it worse, as Gloria Mark of the Department of Informatics at the University of California Irvine noted, we have only a limited amount of short-term memory available. Is it any wonder why we’re more stressed, less productive and oblivious to what’s going on around us?
The iconic management consultant Peter Drucker pointed out that Mozart was an exception. He was the only “first-rank composer” who could work on several pieces at the same time. Handel, Haydn and Verdi composed one at a time.
Most of us aren’t a Mozart. Paying attention takes work, starting with actively minimizing distractions, better organizing our time, and not jumping on the internet and social media during the workday. Is it too high a price to pay if you want to make a difference where you work?
Thinking clearly. Unfortunately, workers who can think clearly are in short supply. Daniel Jeffries, the futurist and author, is on to something when he says, “We’re not taught how to think anymore, only what to think.”
“Clear thinkers analyze and inspect ideas and arguments before expressing them,” writes Kay Daya, an Academic Writing Lab instructor at Edusson.com. “Be inquisitive enough to inspect and examine the validity, logic and truthfulness of other peoples’ claims and arguments closely.”
Soaking up ideas, facts and opinions doesn’t equal clear thinking. Far from it. Rather, it’s the arduous task of sorting out all of those and putting them together. This is what it takes for businesses to make it today.
Influencing others. No matter who we are, our age or our job, the one thing we all do from morning until night – is persuading others either to do or not do something.
Trying to persuade someone to change their mind is challenging. They balk and get their back up. A more effective approach is to let people come to your conclusion on their own. What makes it successful is a basic human principal: What’s in it for me? How will it enhance my life and make me more successful?
No matter the job, survival depends on skills that empower workers to be change agents, asking questions, staying focused, thinking clearly and influencing others.
John Graham of GrahamComm is a marketing and sales-strategy consultant and business writer. Contact him at jgraham@grahamcomm.com.
