7 Skills That Will Help You Thrive in The New Post COVID-19 World

People respond to and approach change in a variety of ways. Your reality in January or February looked immensely different from what it looks like right now. Several of you have had to learn how to work at home with children (yes this is a new skill). Produce the same results with reduced budgets. There has been mass implementation of new technological tools to aid collaboration and connection. And generally, most employees have had to learn new skills to keep up with new changes that sometimes feel like they happen every week, while at the same time dealing with an increased workload.

Individuals with the ability to adapt rapidly to changes will thrive in the new world. Accepting change quickly has several competitive and personal health advantages.

One cannot understate the importance of technology in easing COVID related “pain.” This goes beyond mastering Zoom virtual backgrounds and speaks more about how much you embrace technology and use it to solve your individual and organizational issues. From accounting, data management, customer or employee feedback, sales, marketing, communications or even collaboration there are a large variety of Commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) tools at your disposal that would make your work easier and increase your productivity.

The Internet of Things, robotics, artificial intelligence, virtual or augmented reality, enterprise web-based applications are the future of our work and personal lives. Is it possible to use this time to jump on the tech band wagon and learn something new? I (Baraka) with no previous in depth knowledge in coding built this website and developed a lot of the content on it within two week with the help of Google, YouTube, best practice articles and advice from a more experienced developer. I am not asking you to learn how to code (its ok if you want to though!). However, figure out how you can make the use of tools around you or develop them from scratch to make your work easier.

Emotional intelligence (EQ) helps you to relate well with others, recognize your flaws and what needs to be done to remedy them, understand how to maximize your strengths, and realize the unstated needs of your colleagues and clients. EQ also helps manage emotions. The last few months have been harsh on both organizations and individuals. How you respond to minor infractions or major issues could have an implication on your mental or emotional states.

A high EQ gives you a platform in understanding others. How will you figure out what your customers’ needs are in times when they themselves are not aware? How can being empathetic aid in increasing a report’s work output? Reading in between the lines is an important trait. We are all grappling in the dark, and with change taking place at a rapid place more awareness and emotional intelligence is needed.

Real leaders are forged in crisis. During these times, leaders have had to make hard decisions on company direction and ensuring that their businesses and organizations remain afloat. David Foster Wallace called “real leaders” — people who “help us overcome the limitations of our own individual laziness and selfishness and weakness and fear and get us to do better, harder things than we can get ourselves to do on our own.”

Leaders have had to inspire their teams, encourage collaboration, have had conversations, prioritize budget items, and sometimes make cuts. This period will favor decisive leaders who make forward thinking decisions for the good of their organizations, employees, partners, and customers.