Soft Skills Rule of 7: No 6. Reaction

The thing is, they’ve been lying to us since we were kids.  There is no such thing as an Action Hero.  In fact the closest thing would be a Super Villain... with really bad soft skills.  

If you recall last week: Action skills are the propeller of your particular talent, applied as your investment in the future. This can be a power wielded for the good -- like the passing of the CARES Act, supplying funds to those in need when COVID-19 first hit. Or a Manager fully supporting his employees when the going gets rough. Sometimes, however, you’ll see an Action begun with selfish intent -- a person investing in that negative power to propel chaos.  THEY are actually the Action in the Action series.  Without Lex Luther, there is no need for Superman. Without the hubris of Thanos, there is no need for the Avengers.  Without the grocery store burglar, Spiderman is just a teenage kid.  Come to find out, these heroes are only moved to act in response to the ill-willing actions of others.

...They are Reactionary Heroes.

Problem-solving, negotiating, encountering challenges head-on -- these are the skills that not only save the universe, but also the budget that won’t balance, the line of code that can fix the error message, the right word to the right donor to secure the grant that your nonprofit desperately needs. 

As important as being honorable with your Actionary intent is, being creative and dedicated in your problem-solving skills are mandates to achieving long-term career success.  We have come to understand our errors in the assumption that a well run company can control all of the possible negative “x” factor issues, all of the time. Even the most organized and compassionate of us have failed in moments big and small over the past five months.  Perfection isn’t what an employer can (or should) realistically strive for… and it isn’t a smart way to diversify your employee portfolio.  If you want to get the real Superheroes in your organization -- or better yet: if you wanna BE one of them -- dive in and work on your Reactionary soft skills.  These problem-solver skills are the only way out when the unanticipated-yet-always-inevitable Super Villain strike occurs.  Building a team with diversity in these skill sets will provide you with the real Avengers of your workforce, who will unite when disaster occurs, help level the playing field through good old fashioned networking, and work together for each new goal.

...So, while you might not have managed to grow up and become Batman or Wonder Woman, the good news is: you CAN still be a kickass fighter of Super Villains, using your own natural talents to Avenge the good guys.

And, I mean-- how cool is that??