The Most In-Demand Career Skills
Mankind’s Eternal Dilemma by Frans Francken, 1663 (public domain - Wikipedia)
“Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.”
If you had to guess which skills executives value the most in 2024, what would you say they are?
The last few years included a global pandemic that led to the rise and general acceptance of remote work. That meant more employees needed to be comfortable with various forms of technology and lack of in-person interactions.
Coming on the heels of that was the increased availability and use of artificial intelligence tools. We saw chatbots, large language models, image generation, and more available through the application of various A.I. platforms.
Given those two intense and universally felt cultural impacts, think about the initial question again: what skills do you think are the most in demand?
A recent LinkedIn survey found that 9 out of 10 global executives think that soft skills (aka “human” or “durable” skills) are more important than ever.
Which ones, exactly? More below.
Executive Presence
First, let’s look at what’s expected of the executives themselves.
According to two studies conducted 10 years apart, there are three areas that executives ought to be concerned with for what’s known as “executive presence”: gravitas, communication, and appearance.
High-level executives were asked to rank 25 leadership traits in 2012 and 2022. Over the course of that decade (which included the pandemic at the tail end), there have been some significant shifts — but there is also a lot of consistency as well. Some traits are timeless, it would seem.
For example, in the area of Gravitas, confidence and decisiveness consistently play key roles, but inclusiveness and respect for others have made an appearance in recent years.
Superior speaking skills are still a top category in Communication, but it has taken on even more importance of late. Other important communication traits include command of a room (virtual or physical) and the ability to read an audience.
Appearance traits are less important overall, but a polished look is still appreciated. And rather than physical attractiveness as the second most important trait, authenticity is now valued.
In-Demand Skills for 2024
So much for the executives. Now let’s get back to the initial question: what are the most valued and in-demand skills in 2024?
According to that LinkedIn survey, they’re as follows:
Communication
Customer service
Leadership
Project management
Management
Analytics
Teamwork
Sales
Problem-solving
Research
Take a good look at this list. These skills are human skills, likely to be relevant for many years to come — particularly amid so much focus on technology.
What about A.I.?
Now, for those of you who are full-throated advocates for and supporters of artificial intelligence, not to worry — there’s room for you at this table.
Even though most of the skills above are “soft” skills, just about every one of them can be enhanced by A.I.
For example, it can help you craft more effective communications, whether it’s an email, presentation, or speech. It can summarize research findings, create spreadsheets, make recommendations for decision options, share examples of leadership, etc.
But the human element of each of these should not be overlooked. Your enthusiasm, compassion, and ability to inspire and motivate other people won’t come from an algorithm or scripted response.
Without a doubt, you need to understand the massive changes happening every day.
Even if you don’t know how to use some of these specific technologies, at a minimum you’ll want to be aware of them and have a passing familiarity with what they can do.
Your success demands nothing less.
There’s so much to learn,
