In a digital world, traditional communication skills are in high demand
While generative AI (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and others are becoming increasingly prevalent in workplaces of all kinds, employees are finding that soft skills like communication are becoming more important and more valued than ever.
It’s not just new employees who are looking for help developing these skills; seasoned workers are as well. I’m frequently asked by audiences of all ages and types what I believe are the top communication skills that can position people for success.
Here are my top five. They’re not newly important. They’re evergreen. Master them and you’ll position yourself for success in whatever field you’re in.
Top 5 Communication Skills
Continue reading “5 Key Communication Skills for Career Success”

I was playing Solitaire on a flight recently and was struck by how much I like developing and following standardized processes, yet how likely I am to vary from a process when I think it’s appropriate.
One of the key lessons I remember from a time when I did a lot of writing about consulting and had the opportunity to interact with dozens, maybe hundreds, of consultants, was the importance of focusing on prospecting even when you’re very, very busy.
Job seekers can think of LinkedIn as a search engine. Their goal should be to show up in searches that recruiters, HR pros, and hiring managers use to find talent. There are five primary things job seekers need to do to increase their odds of showing up on these searches (without their current employers or colleagues knowing they’re in job search mode).
Throughout my career I have hired a number of people into marketing roles, and have also aided other companies and organizations in finding, interviewing, hiring and onboarding marketing staff. It can be challenging to effectively assess job candidates for any role—when hiring for creative roles it can be even more challenging. How can you determine whether applicants have both the aptitude and the innovative chops to be a valued member of your team?
The field of marketing is vastly different today than it was even three to five years ago. While the basic principles and concepts of effective marketing, from an academic standpoint, really haven’t changed much, what has changed is the ways marketers do their work and the kind of work they do.
So you want to be an expert? Seems like just about everybody does these days, and social media makes it relatively easy, and very inexpensive, to take steps to gain expert status, or thought leadership. We work with a wide range of clients, primarily in business-to-business (B2B) related industries, many who are business consultants wishing to establish themselves as thought leaders in various industries. Here are “3 Steps for Gaining Traction as a Thought Leader”: 