It can be easy to focus on developing more concrete skills and overlook more general skills like communication, empathy, and critical thinking. But it’s worth developing a soft skills improvement plan for success in your career.

“Take a look at those who have been successful in their careers and try to determine why,” said Robert Minkler Jr., CPA, CGMA, Managing Partner at Anders CPAs + Advisors, based in St. Louis, Missouri, US . “I think you’ll find that it won’t necessarily be that they’re really good at accounting or tax, but it’s more the way they look at their centers of influence, deal with the public and the community, and interact with them.” customers on a personal level, rather than just reading the numbers. “

Here are some tips to strengthen your soft skills:

Embrace a growth mindset. Perhaps the first step to improving your soft skills is to recognize that it is possible to grow in these areas.

“I stand for a growth mindset, that is, the belief that your abilities, skills and knowledge can be improved if you put in enough effort,” said Iyaz Waheed, ACMA, CGMA, president of the Universal Foundation, a Maldives-based charity. , and member of the board of directors of the Maldives Association for the Tourism Industry.

It may be easier to measure improvement when it comes to technical skills like learning new software or discovering the latest Excel hacks, but it is also possible to significantly develop soft skills. For example, Waheed has actively worked to improve his public speaking skills by watching professional speakers, exercising on his own, and joining the local group Toastmasters International. With the help of comments, he realized he was using too many filler words and has since improved his communication skills significantly.

Waheed recommends that finance professionals avoid a fixed mindset and devote a certain amount of their time and money to personal upgrades.

“Financial professionals need to know that the world is changing faster than ever before, and we can’t finish our CPE and then relax, we always need to be on the lookout,” Waheed said. “Just like we allocate part of the budget to upgrading software and hardware in the office, we need to budget to improve ourselves, because if we don’t, no one else will. “

Identify your goals. To avoid feeling overwhelmed, try to identify one or two skills that you want to work on and make sure they are specific and measurable.

Waheed recommends taking stock of your current strengths and weaknesses, and then identifying the direction you want to take in your career to determine your biggest skills gaps. For example, if you want to start your own business, you will likely need to improve your sales and marketing skills.

With the rapid increase in automation and artificial intelligence, Minkler pointed out that finance professionals might want to focus on mastering the tasks less likely to be supported by technology in the years to come. coming, such as translating large amounts of data into actionable, actionable insights.

“If finance professionals can start thinking about how they can turn this data into a format that can help people run their businesses better, that’s one way to create higher level value,” said Minkler.

Break down goals into specific actions and lock in practice time. Once you’ve selected a skill you want to improve, the next step is to convert it from a vague, amorphous goal into specific actions that you can schedule into your week.

For example, the goal of improving your communication skills can be broken down into actions such as reading books on the subject, watching and analyzing speeches by professionals, recording and evaluating your own presentations, taking an online course in communication. , join a local Toastmasters group, and volunteer to present at the next meeting at work. Then, set aside time in your schedule for these tasks and set a deadline to review your progress.

Minkler recommends finding the method that works best for you, whether it’s writing a detailed to-do list or locking in some time in your journal, but in any case, be sure to spell out your goals one way or another.

“As soon as you voice it you have to do it, but if you keep it to yourself it’s easy to put it off until next year,” he said.

Find someone to hold you accountable. In addition to holding you accountable, involving an outside party can help increase your chances of achieving your goals, according to Minkler.

You can turn to your manager, mentor, coworkers, friends and family, or even a consultant or career coach to help you implement your skills improvement plan. Just make sure they’re being honest with you and willing to give you the boost you need. When asking for feedback, be careful to avoid vague questions such as “How did I do during this presentation?” Instead, ask a specific question like “What could I have done to better communicate my ideas?” Minkler added that finance professionals really shouldn’t hesitate to ask someone for advice.

“There may be some hesitation for someone looking for feedback, but the reality is most people who can give that kind of advice are happy to do it,” Minkler said.

– Hannah pitstick is a freelance writer based in the United States. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Drew Adamek at [email protected].