Soft skills are personal and interpersonal strengths that help you collaborate, lead, create, and grow in your role. They're the perspectives, reactions, and mental frameworks you use that aren't exclusive to your job.
Collaboration without communication is impossible. Everyone has different preferences, so part of the skill is being able to adapt your communication skills to the environment.
Clear and efficient communication
Just because you're a clear communicator doesn't mean you have to be curt in your interactions. Yes, cold and self-centered people do sometimes get ahead, but more and more, empathy is winning.
Empathy
A growth mindset views failure as a catalyst for improvement, not as a personality trait.
Growth through feedback
When your workload grows but the number of hours in a workday stays the same, you have to find a way to work smarter.
Time management
You'll always have restrictions, like limited time, budget, or staffing—so, you have to figure out how to work within constraints. And with the pace of change in the workplace, you need to be able to show that you're adaptable.
Adaptability
Many of the soft skills here involve asking questions—and that's all rooted in curiosity. Asking the right questions will allow you to see projects from a new perspective, which will help you contribute better to your team.
Curiosity
It's easy to go with the flow and assume the folks around you know what they're talking about. They usually do—but that doesn't mean there's no room for improvement.