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Key People Skills to Be a Trail Blazer

If you envision yourself as the first to do something, you may face bumps with others on your trail blazing journey. Even if you see yourself as a courageous loner who can do it, you will not do it alone. What key people skills behaviors will you need to realize your trail blazing business career dreams?

Key People Skills to Be a Trailblazer! Image by John W. Iwanski via Flickr.

Image by John W. Iwanski

9 Key People Skills to Be First in a Career Pursuit

You might be breaking through a social precedent (for example, the first woman or Hispanic, black, etc…) in an existing field or position. Alternatively, you might be inventing a solution no one has ever tried. You represent change and people may resist — even resent — your trail blazing moves. In addition to self-confidence, what key people skills steps will you need to take?

1. Understand people’s resistance and explain/show your value.
2. Become your trail blazing vision. Authenticity and consistency create infectious spirit and support.
3. Help shape the story about you vs. being upset about what others say.
4. Know when to push, pull, or hold steady. There are times to push ahead politely, times to pull them gently with you, and times to be patient while they warm up to your energy.
5. Build trust through relationships. People will resent those who seem to run over them or ignore them.
6. Reduce jealousy. Welcome them, invite them within your wings of change.
7. Show respect for everyone. Respect reduces fear and resentment. Require basic respect in return. It helps prevent critics from becoming abusive.
8. Develop and show a thick skin when people speak to you and a warm heart when you speak to them.
9. Balance confidence with humility. Many people will want to trip and sideline an arrogant trail blazer. Show what you know and don’t know balanced with your humble willingness to learn. “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” – C. S. Lewis

Years back when a very large corporation questioned whether I as a woman could be one of the trainers for a workshop during very stressful times, I replied, “Will there be women and men there?” When they replied yes, I said “then it would be valuable for the women to know they can overcome the challenges just like the men.” My key people skills kicked in and put their fears to rest.

Related Post:
5 Collaborative People Skills to Share Your Energy Not Your Nerves
12 People Skills You Need to Succeed Without Authority

©2016 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. I appreciate your sharing the link to this post on your social streams. However, if you want to re-post or republish the content of this post, please email info@katenasser.com for permission and guidelines. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.

Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on leading change, employee engagement, teamwork, and delivering the ultimate customer service. She turns interaction obstacles into interpersonal success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.

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~Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™

Tags: Balance, business, Career, Change, communication, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, Humility, Innovation, interpersonal skills, people skills, Personality Type, self-confidence, Soft Skills, trailblazer