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As an entrepreneur, you’re going to wear a lot of different hats that require many different skills as you grow and nurture your startup. While you probably have a great set of hard skills, whether it be marketing, creative talent, or software development, it’s also important to have soft skills that aid in the everyday tasks that come with being an entrepreneur.
Just as you learned hard skills through webinars, lessons, and training, and even previous work experience, you can also learn soft skills. Below are the five most important soft skills every entrepreneur should have or acquire in order to be successful. Sometimes it’s even these skills that will get you ahead.
1. Decision Making
As an entrepreneur, especially if you’re acting as CEO of your company, you’re expected to make a lot of decisions about your business.
Imagine all of the everyday decisions you have to make about what to eat for dinner and what to wear. Now imagine making those decisions in the context of your business, such as when to schedule certain meetings, who to partner with for a project, and how to answer an email that could determine the fate of your business.
Some people simply shut down at the thought of making a big decision, but as an entrepreneur, you have to thrive in that area. Therefore, you’ll need to get very comfortable with making tough decisions and committing to them.
2. Negotiating
You’ll do more negotiating than you may expect as an entrepreneur with a startup. Whether you’re negotiating the salary of your newest employee or a big deal with a partner, you’ll have to be keen on the successful tactics and strategies that will get you what you want and what your business needs.
3. Leadership
Leadership is an important soft skill for all entrepreneurs to master. You already believe in your vision; now it’s time to make your team believe in it as much as you do.
A good leader guides their team to success and motivates them rather than just telling them what to do all the time. They consider their team’s opinions and suggestions as well. Leadership isn’t an easy soft skill to achieve, but it is absolutely necessary for the success of your business.
4. Emotional Intelligence
We’ve all heard of an IQ test to determine your intellectual aptitude, but what about your level of emotional intelligence? Emotional intelligence requires being in tune with people’s behaviors, desires, and emotions.
As an entrepreneur, you’ll have to understand how to speak to someone in a variety of situations: when they’re angry when they’re frustrated, or even when they’re feeling down. This knowledge can come in handy in almost every situation as you will communicate more effectively and relate to your employees while also inspiring your team to overcome challenges.
5. Reading Body Language
What if you could know what someone was thinking or feeling without them communicating it to you with words? When you know how to read body language, you can!
Whether you’re negotiating, pitching to an investor, or hiring a new employee, knowing how to read body language can tell you a lot about a person. It will also help you become aware of how you present your own body language in certain situations to communicate what you want.
Where to Learn Soft Skills
Consider taking video courses online for entrepreneurs to learn soft skills, such as the one offered by ej4. Better yet, you can share these courses with your employees to help them enhance their soft skills, helping everyone become a valuable part of the team.
Photo by Oleg Magni from Pexels
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