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How to kick-start your skills-development Endeavor

During the last couple of weeks, I got queries from so many professionals about an issue that imprisoned them behind. They do not understand how to outclass the inertia to deal with that matter. Interestingly I have been asked by many students about the same issue during the last couple of years. This Frequent questioning enchanted me to write about the matter. That is, how do I start my skills-development initiative?

We are involved with so many to-do lists that make us feel overwhelmed. The problem is we want to have all the solutions at a time. That’s why we are not getting any problem solved. We need to prioritize the skills we should focus on first.

The first skill you should adopt is holding a Growth Mindset. To me, this is the backbone of achieving success. The idea introduced by Stanford University Professor Carol Dweck in her book; Mindset: The new psychology of success. A fixed mindset people believe, his rudimentary potentials, intelligence, talents, and abilities are just fixed traits. On the contrary, growth mindset people believe, talents and skills are not in a fixed amount. We can develop it over time through experience, mentorship, and so on. The question is how can we develop a growth mindset. You can get the idea more clearly from here. For your understanding, here I have added more distinctions from different sources. Here is a worthwhile course from LinkedIn Learning about Cultivating a Growth Mindset.

Second, you should take care of Emotional Intelligence (EQ). It is so crucial that research indicates its accounts for 58% of performance in all types of jobs. The idea brought by Daniel Goleman. To be successful, you must learn to maximize your Emotional Quotient (EQ) Skills. You may grip a brief idea from this article. Or for the systematic development of your EQ, you check the book Emotional Intelligence 2.0. There are several online courses about EQ. Developing your Emotional Intelligence and Leading with Emotional Intelligence are two masterpieces from Gemma Leigh Roberts and Britt Andreatta.

Third, You should focus on Communication Skills. It won’t get solved overnight. For that, we should take care of this skill, along with other skills development initiatives. There are lots of guidelines for solving this problem. One modest suggestion is you need to read a lot (omnivorous reader) and listen a lot. You should read fiction, non-fiction, articles, magazine, etc. One suggestion I must mention here, you should select the see-first option of the renowned knowledge sharing site on your social media. It would help you to keep yourself updated on your interested sectors. For listening, you may listen to webinars, podcasts, and lectures from different sources. You should listen to TED talk regularly.

Fourth, You should take care of Leadership skills. Sometimes I get questions from students that where we can practice our leadership skills as we are not engaging with any job with any organization. My suggestion is leadership practice can be applied anywhere. You can put on leadership at your family, to your friend circle and, even every interaction you maintain with a human being. There are several sources where you can learn about leadership. One of my favorite books is Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek. One of his Ted talk Why good leaders make you feel safe is my all-time favorite. Besides, you may check Servant LeadershipTransformational Leadership, and Humble Leadership from LinkedIn Learning.

Fifth, Digital Competency: This is the survival skill in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era. Being digitally competent means using digital technologies in a confident and safe technique for various purposes such as working, getting a job, learning, shopping online, obtaining health information, and entertainment, etc. The idea brought by the European Union through the Digcomp framework. Most of us do not know about our digital competency level. We can measure our competence through the outline. There are five elements of Digcomp information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, digital content creation, safety and, problem-solving. Now our duty is determining the level of competency; Beginner, Intermediate and, Advanced user. The best way to start digital ability is by completing the professional certificate course on Google IT Support Professional Certificate. You may ample a ton of courses from different MOOCs.

Sixth, Data Skills: After having firm confidence in digital competency, then you should spend devoted time to build data skills. Data is the fuel of the twenty-first century. Whatever industry you belong to, having data skills will bring new opportunities. The simple step of starting would be IBM Cognitive Class. For covering Data Science skills, you may complete gradually descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics. I would suggest everyone have one of the free courses from Google Digital garage The fundamentals of Digital Marketing.

Seventh, Business Skills: Once we claimed IT is for CSE graduates, Data is for Statistician, and Business skills are for business students. Now we have discovered that we need to develop multidisciplinary skills. The best way to keep yourself updated about business skills is by reading Harvard Business Review. You may learn various functional courses from LinkedIn Learning. Degrees and certificate courses from EdxCoursera, and Udemy, and role, region, and industry-based learning from Thriving Skills.

Do not stay indifferent start learning from today. Skills are the new currency. Unless you understand that, you will be obsolete. Whether you are students, job seekers, employees, or even employers, systematical multidisciplinary skills development is mandatory for everyone. I hope this guideline will help you in your skills development endeavor.

Md. Abdullah Al Mahmud is the Founder and CEO of the Thriving Skills Limited, a skills-focused self-education platform in Bangladesh. Currently, he is developing a digital L&D industry highlighting the demand for the fourth industrial revolution. He also served as Assistant Professor of MIS at the Manarat International University, Dhaka. He led as Coordinator of the MBA Program, Department of Business Administration, MIU. Mr. Mahmud completed BBA and MBA degrees from the University of Dhaka. He is skilled in Analytical Skills, Lecturing, Decision-Making, Instructional Design, Data Science, Blockchain Technology, Digital Marketing, and Public Speaking. Mr. Mahmud received numerous professional certifications from IBM, Google, LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, and many more. Mr. Mahmud launched a digital promotional platform for MIU and played a vital role in bringing ERP in the organization. Mr. Mahmud has exposed his leadership capacity by organizing Seminars and Leadership Development Program. He has introduced and organized the university’s first talent search competition “Scholar of MIU” and first presentation competition MIU Master Presenter. His recent research activities include Business Professionals’ Digital Competency in the Fourth Industrial Revolution Era, Digital Competency focused higher education for achieving SDG, Effects of Handheld devices on millennials reading habit, Challenges to implement Information Systems in the Business Organization, Perceptions of Blockchain Technology by Banking Professionals, Skills-focused self-education in the Fourth Industrial Revolution Era, and many others. Mr. Mahmud served as a Humanitarian in Global Goodwill Ambassador. Various National & International Universities and Conference Authorities invited him to be Keynote speaker and session chair of Conferences. Mr. Mahmud demonstrated his research contribution in distinguished National Conferences in divergent Universities; and International Conferences in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Malaysia and, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.