

Many companies today are trying to find ways to cut costs and this includes removing headcount. I call myself "efficiently lazy" and it has helped me climb my career ladder to where I am today. Empathy will help you in all facets of life, not just in your career.

You can use the same thought process when dealing with customers at the office. Think about the flood of emotions those different scenarios give, then put yourself in the shoes of the customer. In the restaurant world, you see people go out to eat for many reasons celebrate a graduation, mourn the loss of a loved one, first dates, just because, kid saved enough money to take mom and dad out, and so on. I have been caught in this position many times in my career and it's something I continue to work on. Those are not always easy conversations to have. Sometimes people don't want to hear your solutions and want exactly what they asked for. It's rumored that Henry Ford said “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Understanding what people are and are not saying (read between the lines) and what they truly need is critical, then being able to communicate with your customers what's going on in the process, solution, etc. Knowing what your customer wants and what they need are two distinct thought processes that generally run hand-in-hand, but it's not always the case. People have emotions and motives unknown to us. That sounds elementary, but it's easy to forget when working in the business world. Always remember that customers are people as well. This skill goes hand in hand with communication. It's true, often, customers perceive that they're correct however, they don't always have the facts you have. I do not agree with that blanket statement. In the restaurant world, they teach you that "the customer is always right". You might not have customers in the literal sense of the word, but everyone you deal with is a customer of your product. The quicker you can learn and hone this skill, the more you will see an improvement in your career opportunities. You will have many types of conversations in your career that pull you outside of your comfort zone: missed deadlines, upset customer(s), firing/being fired, and so on. Know there's a time and a place to discuss items as well as ways to deliver messages.Ensure that when you're communicating, you're doing so with purpose don't talk just to hear yourself talk.Not all communication is verbal be aware of non-verbal cues like posture, facial features, and body language.Communication is a two-way street if you talk and don't listen, you're not communicating You have two ears and one mouth, listen twice as hard as you speak.There are many aspects to communication and I'm not an expert in all the concepts or theories, but here are things you should focus on when communicating:
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Knowing how to get your message across to the recipient is first and foremost the most critical transferable skill you can have. If you only take one thing away from this post, please, let it be this.

They do, however, provide a way to help you differentiate yourself from your peers and potential competitors. Note that these examples don't necessarily guarantee success or supersede any requirements for job positions.
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My goal is to use some personal examples to give you an idea as to how you can apply these concepts in your personal and professional lives. They focus more on Emotional Intelligence (EQ) instead of you Intelligence Quotient (IQ).Do not require any type of formal education.Apply to many aspects of life, not just your professional career.A quick refresher of what transferable skills are: I won't bore you with the details of my ~17-year journey from where I started to where I am now, but I will tell you the transferable skills that I learned as a busboy have traveled with me every step of my professional career. This never sat well with me since I always thought I worked with some extremely talented people. As I grew within the restaurant world, I was surrounded by people that said they were "stuck" since that's all they knew, or they would be doing this the rest of their lives because they had "no skills". What was quickly drilled into my head though was that I had a lot more on my figurative plate than just that.

My job responsibilities were simple: clean (bus) dirty tables and deliver food.
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My first full time job was "Busboy / Food Runner" at a local restaurant.
