BLUF

Coryanne Hicks notes that: ‘Every discipline has a language’, and ‘business skills are the language of business’.

Summary

Hicks notes the following skills which she believes are vital to succeed in business.

  • Communication skills: Effective communication is a vital skill in nearly every job.
  • Negotiation:  Involves different types of negotiation, ranging from where to hold a meeting up to negotiating the sale of a company.
  • Leadership skills: Involves many skills such as communication, delegation and problem-solving.  
  • Critical Thinking: Can involve being sceptical about data and information, at least until you have seen some supporting evidence. 
  • Data Analysis:  Involves the collection and analysis of data.
  • Financial Literacy: Understanding finance and accounting is essential for most management roles.
  • Emotional Intelligence: Understanding your own and other people’s emotions can be helpful, but worth noting this famous Atlantic article:  The Dark Side of Emotional Intelligence
  • Organisation:  Involves being able to define and accomplish organisational goals.
  • Trainability: Your aptitude for learning.

Consider how the above skills might be applied in our air force.

References