This is part 1 of a 3 part (or more!) series on the skills and knowledge today’s executives and professionals need to stay relevant.
This post discusses 5 technical skills a modern professional should know. This was inspired by actual experiences and my wife’s 80-year old grandmother. More on that below …
- How to send and read a text message.
- Know how to set-up and use LinkedIn and/or Facebook.
- How to take digital photos and post them on a web-site (like Facebook or Flickr).
- How to post a video to YouTube.
- How to use a Blackberry or some sort of “smart phone”.
Why these particular skills?
First of all, Joyce (my wife’s 80 year old grandma) knows how to do all of these things. I mentioned to her that she was very “young minded”. She replied that she is just curious how things work and figured it can’t be too hard. What a refreshing attitude!
Second, these are the bedrock of modern communication. If you don’t know how to communicate while mobile and don’t have some functional knowledge of social media, then you will be left out of the loop. This is especially true if you are working with Gen Y and younger (and some of us Gen X’rs).
Finally, you should know these things because staying relevant makes you interesting. And being interesting makes you a good conversationalist - and this might be the most useful skill of all.
