Introduction to Improve Your Soft Skills at Work to Rock Your Career in 12 Months
Are you satisfied with where you are in your career? If not, would you like to improve your soft skills at work. It is the soft skills that will allow you to achieve career success. Participating in the Strategic Reading Challenge can help you to acquire in demand soft skills. If you have been following the series on the monthly requirements of the reading challenge, you know that this is Month Eleven.
If you have been reading the monthly assigned books, by know, you have learned many skills that can help you to accelerate your career. Learning the key workplace skills is not enough. To benefit from them, you have to apply the skills in the workplace.
Just to recap what we have covered so far, here are the preceding posts in the series on learning the key skills to thrive in 2020.
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List of Work Skills: 12 Months to Accelerate Your Learning and Career Development
Future Jobs Demand: 12 Months to Develop Key Workplace Skills
Skills You Need for a Job Today: 12 Months to Master Key Skills in the Workplace Like a Rockstar
Job Skills List: 12 Months to Master Key Skills Like a Pro – Month Five
List of Professional Skills to Thrive in 2020 – Guide to Learning, Month Four
Guide to Learning 10 Key Skills to Thrive in 2020 – Month Three
Guide to Learning 10 Key Skills to Thrive in 2020 – Month Two
Guide to Learning 10 Key Skills to Thrive in 2020 – Month One
Month 11: Strategic Reading Challenge – Read Books for Career Development
This month we are revisiting Asia simply because two of the most populous countries – India and China – in the world are on that continent.
Strategic Reading Lesson Plans (Challenge Requirements): Month Eleven – Read India, China, Japan & More
- Read a book written by an author born in India.
- Read a book written by an author born in China.
- Read a book about Japanese philosophy.
- Read a book of poetry.
- Read a book about science.
- Each week, read a technology article from a well-respected journal/magazine.
Library Thing Chinese Literature Reading List
Library Thing Japanese Literature Reading List
Library Thing Indian Literature Reading List
Month Eleven: Read Books for Career and Personal Development
The Strategic Reading Challenge is a reading challenge for adults. It shows you how to use a reading challenge to improve your career. You are reading books for career development. But you will also discover some of the best books for personal development as well. During the challenge you will produce new ideas. At the end of the challenge, you will find that you have changed because of the books that you read.
A big part of the challenge is to help you to develop the cultural awareness to succeed in a global workplace. Over the years, I have read many books written by authors from different countries and cultures.
Global Reading List from India, China, and Japan
The Devotion of Suspect X: A Detective Galileo Novel (Detective Galileo Series)
Norwegian WoodThe Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana VyasaThe Analects of ConfuciusSiddharthaThe Book of Five RingsTao Te Ching: A New English Version (Perennial Classics)
Poetry Books/Books About Science
Mind Hacking: How to Change Your Mind for Good in 21 DaysThe Brain Electric: The Dramatic High-Tech Race to Merge Minds and MachinesPhysics for Rock Stars: Making the Laws of the Universe Work for YouHow to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method (Princeton Science Library)The Prophet By Kahlil GibranLeaves of Grass: The Original 1855 Edition (Dover Thrift Editions)Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings
Final Thoughts: Improve Your Soft Skills at Work to Rock Your Career in 12 Months
I know that you must be very tired of me recommending that you take notes while reading, but it is such an important part of the process of learning new skills. After you have finished reading a book, review your notes, extracting the five big ideas. At the end of a month, you will have 25 ideas to play with. Combine two or more ideas into a bigger and more encompassing idea.
An outcome is to profit from your knowledge. What would that look like? You could write an e-book based on your new knowledge. Or you could create a course. Or you could apply the knowledge to solving an existing problem at work. This would get your boss to notice and see you as a leader.
One of your goals in learning the key skills is to improve your soft skills at work to rock your career in the next 12 months. I created some handy guides to help you to get the most from the books you read. If you feel like they can help you, please go ahead and buy them. They are affordable.
