5. Do you have more tech skills than sense? Work on communication and leadership.

As an IT professional, you have confidence in your technical abilities. But is your technical masterpiece built to last? Tech skills are important, but such abilities are no guarantee of career fulfillment. There is no way you can sustain an IT career with just tech skills. You get the job done but what is your impact and influence? What really is your aim in acquiring that certification? Is certification an end in itself? No it’s for opportunity, for career growth. It’s good to acquire skills, but please be sensible. Unfortunately, many of us seem to emphasize having more skills than sense.

Key skills that make a difference include communication, leadership, teamwork, problem solving, project management and business. Having the required interpersonal skills provides a must-have foundation for career growth. They give you the ability to take advantage of challenges and opportunities that will come your way. When you empower yourself, you stay ahead of the crowd.

6. Soft skills help you grow beyond money motivation.

Get rid of the tech-only approach. How serious are you about your influence, impact and career growth? Your technical expertise doesn’t stop you from developing leadership and motivational skills. And how far can you go without a positive, can-do, can-bounce-back mindset? When facing challenges, stop being a moaner, instead develop some backbone. Grow beyond money motivation. You can be self-motivated and also motivate everyone around you.

Oracle superstar, what really is the big deal in understanding how the business works and how you can enhance value? Cisco authority, it is myopic to be selfish when it comes to sharing knowledge with colleagues. Uncaring attitudes don’t encourage teambuilding. Java expert, you don’t have to turn nasty simply because the client is difficult.

7. Developing professional ethics is vital to your career.

Stop negative conduct whether deliberate, due to ignorance, or because of an unsupportive environment. No matter your environment, you can’t afford to be ignorant, insensitive or unprofessional simply because you feel you are a technical guru. IT “Hot stuff”, swallow your pride, dig deep and identify your soft skills gap. Then make a conscious effort to close the gap. Nobody is perfect. But that’s no excuse to empower your weaknesses. Developing your tech skills while actively cultivating poor soft skills is akin to moving one step forward, two steps backwards. It burns and wastes what you hold dear –time, money and resources. Poor soft skills devalue. Period!

8. Control co-worker’s perception of you as a professional and an expert in your field.

If you are perceived as being difficult and unfriendly, of what value are your Linux skills when no one is ready to work with you? Are you doing your best in your area of specialization? But to people that interact with you - colleagues, clients, instructors, managers - what is their perception of you? A great asset, a fantastic contributor, just someone who does IT stuff, or the techie from hell? It’s a hard fact of life, but this book will often be judged by its cover. Most importantly, it’s not just about succeeding in work or business. What is the essence? To grow as a professional, to grow in business, you must also grow as a person.

Why soft skills? Why not soft skills? Does a tech professional need soft skills? Is the Pope Catholic?

Jide Awe

Jide Awe is the Founder/CEO of Jidaw.com (http://www.jidaw.com)