Ten Things that Require Zero Talent

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Later in the course, I will have a lot to say about the difference between hard skills and soft skills. Briefly, hard skills are things you can write an instruction sheet for: changing a tire, writing a computer program, or taking blood pressure. Soft skills are all about attitude: how you approach the world and the work you do there. That’s what this list covers. Interestingly enough, in both the academic world and the world after college, soft skills determine your success more often than hard skills. I can teach you how to run a printing press or drive a stick shift much more easily than I can teach you how to be a cooperative part of the workforce, but that doesn’t mean the soft skills are unimportant. One of my friends who owns an electrical contracting company says the rule is “Two strikes and you are out”—late to work twice and you are fired.

This list comes from a website for athletic coaches, but I think the advice is good for everyone, and the website gives a fuller explanation than I give here. You don’t have to be a PhD in English to do these things. You just have to do them. (I recently read an article by another college instructor who said that he could figure out who the good students are by the third day. They are the ones waiting at the door when he arrives for class. I think he may have something. I cannot remember a student who was habitually late and arrived without the basic equipment yet got a good grade in my class.)

The first list

  1. Being on time
  2. Work ethic
  3. Effort
  4. Body language
  5. Energy
  6. Attitude
  7. Passion
  8. Being coachable
  9. Doing extra
  10. Being prepared

Ten more

Here are another ten from the same author. Within this list, there are a few that have a special impact on college students. The student who sees the academic task as mainly being a matter of memorizing facts to regurgitate on tests will probably be very bored (and boring) and will not do nearly as well as the student who has a sense of curiosity, humility, and resourcefulness.

  1. Curiosity
  2. Confidentiality
  3. Empathy
  4. Flexibility
  5. Honesty
  6. Humility
  7. Kindness
  8. Listening
  9. Resourcefulness
  10. Sincerity

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