What are intangible skills for great leadership?
These skills cannot be measured or quantified. You cannot physically touch them. You have them. You need them in your business life as well as your personal life. They will appear in some form on your annual review. They need to be nurtured, explored, and improved. You will need to prove to your next employer that you have some or all of these skills. You will need to add them to your resume in some form.
Intangible skills are those skills related to other people and how you interact with other people such as your team members, your boss, your subordinates. Look on your company’s organization chart. You will, in fact, interact with everyone position shown.
Intangible skills fall into 3 different categories.
Interpersonal, creative, and analytical.
At this point in your midlevel professional career, you should have a good grasp on who you are. Assessment tests are great if you want to know more about you. I always found that after taking these tests and looking at my results, that I knew who I was before taking the tests.
If you are interested in taking a skills assessment test, please find a company that specializes in them or talk to your human resources department as they may be able to have a direct contact to paid tests.
Once taken, reflect on your answers. Think back to your job and see where you excel or where there may be room for improvement.
INTERPERSONAL | CREATIVE | ANALYTICAL |
1. Communication | 1. Visionary Thinking | 1. Critical Thinking |
2. Empathy | 2. Strategic Innovation | 2. Data-driven Decision Making |
3. Conflict Resolution | 3. Risk-Taking | 3. Problem Solving |
4. Influence | 4. Adaptability | 4. Decision Analysis |
5. Negotiation | 5. Open-Mindedness | 5. Strategic Thinking |
6. Adaptability | 6. Creating Problem-Solving | 6. Financial Literacy |
7. Feedback and Recognition | 7. Design Thinking | 7. Risk Management |
8. Trustworthiness | 8. Storytelling | 8. Quantitative Analysis |
9. Cultural Competence | 9. Collaborative Creativity | 9. Market Analysis |
10. Team Building | 10. Experimentation | 10. Scenario Planning |
11. Delegation | 11. Curiosity | 11. Logical Reasoning |
12. Motivation | 12. Inspiring Creating in Others | 12. SWOT Analysis |
13. Diplomacy | 13. Inclusive Leadership | 13. Systems Thinking |
14. Interpersonal Influence | 14. Flexibility | 14. Analytical Forecasting |
15. Networking | 15. Futuristic Thinking | 15. Data Visualization |
16. Emotional Intelligence | 16. Positive Reinforcement | 16. Performance Metrics |
17. Resilience | 17. Strategic Experiment | 17. Benchmarking |
18. Collaboration | 18. Cultivating an Innovation Culture | 18. Strategic Alignment |
19. Mentoring and Coaching | 19. Resourcefulness | 19. Root Cause Analysis |
20. Conflict Avoidance | 20. Evaluative Creativity | 20. Time Management |
Putting Intangible Skills to Practice
We go to work to earn money so we can live and have some fun. Intangible skills, since not quantifiable, are not used in most annual job performances.
In all my jobs, intangible skills were used every day.
For example, as a public servant, it was my job to talk to the public, my staff, my team, and other departments to provide information for all my projects. Not only did I communicate with others, I also had to use my influence and build trustworthiness for my project’s success.
As ‘communication’ did not fall into my job evaluation categories, it was consumed under ‘project completion’.
At all my jobs, I had an open-door policy. It did not matter that I was not the boss. I made sure my office was always inviting and had a door in case people wanted to come in to ‘work things out with other people’ before going to their boss. I spent hours mentoring and coaching my other team members and motivating them to get through the week. I did have 1 rule (just 1 RULE). If someone came into my office just to complain, they must have a few options to rectify the situation. Otherwise, they were there just wasting time. This process helped a lot of my team members.
My creative intangible skills included cultivating an innovation culture. When talking to other employees, whether they are my staff or on my team or not, they all have ideas on how to make their work easier. People say “The company should do it this way, have a process for…., create this to make X or Y easier…” I always tell them “you can do this” or “you should create this”. When I say that, then we talk about the 5 W /1 H process (who, what, where, when, why, how) and come up with a plan.
In one instance, the senior administrative staff was tasked with gathering all the departments’ monthly achievements. The beginning process was data heavy, unorganized, and took 5 days to complete. They complained regularly how long it took and how burdensome the whole project was from start to completion. I asked to have a meeting with them. We met, discussed the mounds of reports required to successfully compile the data, format it appropriately, and give it back to upper management.
As I was (and still am) an MS Excel superuser, I created a process to take the large amounts of data, write formulas, format the report for clarity and for ease in printing. The whole process was a success. It safe the administrative staff 4 days a month, was easy to update, and required little or no training (as it came with my detailed instructions). By having an open-mind, I took a risk, experimented with the right output for the data, and ultimately provided a final product that upper management loved.
Lastly, analytical intangible leadership skills can be driven by a SWOT analysis to help you improve your skills and produce successful projects.
A SWOT analysis involves assessing Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats in both your personal life and your capacity as a midlevel professional leader.
This analysis helps you gain insights into areas you excel in, areas that may need improvement, external opportunities you can leverage, and potential challenges you may face in your personal and leadership roles. By identifying these factors, you can create targeted strategies for personal growth and effective leadership.
A SWOT analysis is presented as a powerful tool for personal and leadership development, enabling you to assess your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strengths, as internal attributes, form the foundation for success, while weaknesses prompt a focus on improvement. Opportunities and threats, external factors, guide leaders in leveraging favorable conditions and preparing for potential challenges.
A SWOT analysis explores avenues in strategic planning, personal growth, enhanced decision-making, risk mitigation, seizing opportunities, effective communication, and resource allocation.
A detailed breakdown will help you gain a comprehensive understanding of your current position and make informed decisions. It will encourage you to look for emerging trends in your field, conduct research, and apply a SWOT analysis to determine the trend’s impact on problem-solving or agency growth.
Transitioning from Intangible to Tangible
The transition from intangible skills to tangible products involves recognizing and increasing your interpersonal, creative, and analytical abilities as a midlevel professional. Beyond measurable metrics, acknowledging the importance of communication, motivation, mentoring, and coaching as integral components of leadership success is crucial.
Creative skills entail fostering an innovation culture and actively engaging in collaborative problem-solving, while analytical ability can be enhanced through tools like a SWOT analysis, providing a structured approach to personal and leadership development. This strategic process aligns your capabilities with the dynamic demands of your professional landscape, enabling personal growth and effective decision-making.
Leadership is a continuous journey of self-discovery and improvement, and by embracing the power of intangible skills, converting them into tangible outcomes, you can build a strong foundation for transformation.
