What is the most important professional quality a person can have?

Hey Shiloh,

Awesome question!! So there are so many great qualities to choose from and its hard to limit myself to one quality, but I would say that having a good attitude is perhaps the most important aspect a person can have. Your attitude is often the one characteristic the people will remember you by, and you don't want the one thing a person remembers you by is having a bad attitude. At work, you attitude is crucial to succeeding and getting promoted. A positive "can do" attitude will get you far in your professional career while a negative "downer", lazy attitude will really hinder your professional life.

A good attitude will allow you opportunities at work, will allow you to make friends, will impress your supervisor, and will overall make your life more enjoyable. Being liked and valued at work really makes a difference on your quality of life and your mental health. Everyday I walk into work with a smile and am sure to greet everyone and ask them how they are doing. This simple act, as well as going on walks with your colleagues and asking them if they need coffee, water, food etc goes a long way in cultivating a good reputation. So much of your professional life is spread via word of mouth and no matter the size of the company you work for, people talk... a lot. I found this out not to long ago when I had some friends at work tell me that my efforts to help out on another project was being noticed by management and to keep up the good work. I was surprised as they weren't helping out on the other project but it was their friends that told them. I learned that people talk, and you want people to have good things to say about you.

I hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck.

Best,

Austin

As has been mentioned, it is difficult, if not impossible, to boil down your question to just one trait. I can, however, suggest two that I consider to be the most important. The first used to be explained in the statement, " My word is my bond.". That , of course, points to "dependability". Those with whom you deal, professionally or personally, seek the stability of your words and intentions in their lives as they continue to address other matters . The second, equal in importance, is persistence; the ability to maintain the effort, even when the going gets tough. As you may note, these two virtues are closely aligned. In my dealings with people , I look for them because people that will "have my back" and "won't give up" assure me of success in any partnership. May you have success in developing these attributes, because they will take you far.

Great question Shiloh -- If I had to pick one I find very important besides those already mentioned I would say communication skills. Communication goes a long way in the professional world and involves many different aspects including building relationships with your colleagues. Communication skills are also very important when you are networking and can help lead to different career opportunities. Often your communication skills can define how others perceive you as a professional. Check out the link below for some more specific actions you could take to help improve these skills and the potential impacts they could have.

I agree with Para's answer; communication skills! No matter what career you are in you will always need to interact with others and not everyone has the same communication style which can be a challenge for some if they do not have strong communication skills. It's important you understand that and are able to self-adjust your style and approach of communication based on your audience.

Hi!

In my opinion, the two most important professional qualities a person can have are to

• be a hard worker
• and have a great attitude

When you are a consistently hard worker, people will always feel like they can rely on you to do a great job. More than that, when you couple that with an amazing and positive attitude, people will look forward to working with you. Anyone can learn a skill or a new job, but it's your attitude that will set you apart from the rest.

Hi Shiloh, what a terrific question! And it looks like you received some great in depth advice. I agree with everything that was suggested here and if I were to prioritize, I would put attitude as #1. It is clear that you are smart and thoughtful which means you can learn any skills a specific job may require. A positive demeanor/attitude will be your friend when things get tough, when there is uncertainty, and when you need to make changes in your approach or learn something new. A positive attitude will allow you to focus less on your own feelings and more on a problem at hand and on what needs to get done. It will help you be objective in conflict situations so you can see and hear others' point of view. 

Resilience goes hand in hand with attitude. I think the essence of this quality was mentioned as "don't give up". You do that by consistently putting one foot in front of the other to take a step toward your goal.  

If you are interested, I have a couple of short articles on the topic of career development and leadership on my linkedIn page. They are the stories of my own journey and what I discovered along the way. Sometimes it's helpful to hear how others went through the process of self discovery to find their own way. I wish you the best of luck on the journey of your life!