Did you know that Interpersonal Skills is a competency that you can develop? We define the Interpersonal Skills competency as, "Effectively communicating, building rapport and relating well to all kinds of people." Who do you know who is highly skilled at Interpersonal Skills?

With practice, you can grow and develop this skill just like other "hard skills" you might be good at like cooking, public speaking, employee coaching, or playing golf.

How do I grow as a leader: Interpersonal Skills?

Those with a highly developed skill of Interpersonal Skills exhibit the following:

• Strives for self-awareness in a social setting.
• Demonstrates sincere interest in others.
• Treats all people with respect, courtesy and consideration.
• Respects differences in the attitudes and perspectives of others.
• Listens, observes and strives to gain understanding of others.
• Communicates effectively.
• Shows sensitivity to diversity issues.
• Develops and maintains relationships with many different kinds of people regardless of differences.
• Handles any situation gracefully by using non-verbal communication, in-depth questioning and listening skills.
• Recognizing other’s perspectives, by actively listening, thus providing many views of a given situation.

Behaviorally, it comes more naturally and requires less focus for some of us to effectively connect with others. For the rest of us, it is a skill we may need to invest energy into developing in order to be more effective. Our Driving Forces will reward for some skills and not others. If your job or your environment demands something from you that isn't naturally present in your Behaviors or Driving Forces, you can develop it in your Competencies. 

What about you? How developed are you at the competency of Interpersonal Skills? What about the people on your team? Is this something you want your team to be strong in?