Three Stand-Out Interpersonal Business Skills

Ryan Klinefelter
2 min readMar 30, 2023

A clash of a worsening job market, a hybrid work culture, and an overall acceleration of online communication have put many younger business professionals asking how they can get ahead and differentiate themselves in their career or job search. Here are three ways.

  1. Thank-yous for everything and everyone -> For emails, in your Slack messages, after calls, after coffee, before a meeting starts, after a meeting ends, after Zoom calls, after a thoughtful or complex Slack or text message. Do this after a challenging feedback session, after being rejected for a job offer or promotion. There is always a moment to be grateful and a reason to thank someone for their time. Time is everyone’s most precious commodity, and if someone just gave you some of their time, even if the time spent didn't result in the outcome you wanted, thank them for their time/effort/thoughts.
  2. Look someone in the eye -> keep eye contact when meeting, speaking, and communicating. Even when not engaged in conversation, don’t look down at your shoes or deflect eye contact unless socially inappropriate (i.e., on the bus or train). Eye contact is the new handshake, post-COVID. It tells everyone you are open to listening, warm, friendly, engaged with the world and them, and ready to communicate and get things done.
  3. Do what you say, say what you do -> make no assumptions between the two. Everyone is overscheduled and has compressed time, so more people need to remember to follow up, and most have trouble communicating when…

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