What I want to see in an educated applicant for a work position in the organizations that I work with is the capacity to work effectively – the skills, abilities, and experience for accomplishing things.
For the most part I am not not looking for a set of memorized facts and formulas. These things change all the time and are learned during one’s work life.
The capacities and skills that I am looking for are generally not taught in today’s educational system nor measured in standardized tests. We are only beginning to figure out how to assess and value those things in our education system. I feel very fortunate to be involved with two organizations who are working in this area: http://www.kickboardforteachers.com/features/behaviors http://www.bahai.us/community-life/teens-and-preteens/
What would be some of the skills, abilities and capacities that I want to see as a sign of someone ready to work effectively?
- Ability to speak well – eloquent, coherent, organized, intelligible diction, an effective vocabulary, ability to create emphasis without profanity, convincing
- Ability to listen to others and read them and learn from them
- Ability to change one’s mind when appropriate.
- A strong identity yet a soft ego, not insistent on one’s own perspective as being right or one’s own individual benefit coming first
- Ability to consult with others about a new and maybe challenging idea or undertaking and get to a great outcome
- Ability to collaborate with others to bring diverse skills and perspectives to bring about a unified positive and effective change in a complex situation.
- Ability to plan a complex undertaking, anticipate issue areas, and make reasonably accurate predictions about needed resources and time.
- Ability to write an effective email, and a compelling proposal
- Ability to create and deliver a presentation or proposal
- Initiative and drive
- The ability to analyze, to synthesize, and to see patterns
- Good intuition and insight into situations
- The ability to communicate new ideas and to facilitate change
- Tenacity, patience and courage
- Operates by a set of great principles, yet is adaptable to varying situations
- Ability to see the end in the beginning, and see things begun through to the end.
- Respect for others
- Understanding of how to work effectively in an organization, with its dynamics of power, information and authority
- A commitment to a win-win approach to work
- The ability to encourage, to praise, and to celebrate the successes of others
- Doesn’t promise or commit to what cannot be done, does what has been promised and committed to
- A focus on the positive, avoidance of backbiting, complaining and criticism
