Just when we thought we were stretched in 2020, this year, 2021, did not just arrive, but it was a wave of continuation that by end of Q1 did not feel like pandemic-fatigue, but rather pandemicexhaustion.

The beauty of this 24-month journey is that we are not forged under easy circumstances, rather our individual brilliance is forged in fire.

This perfect storm has resulted in the ultimate upgrade for many humans.

A return fundamentally to our humanness, our centre, priorities of family, our sense of individual identity and core values.

A wise friend of mine said to not let a good crisis go to waste.

So, what skill set is required from you for 2022?

During 2020 the World Economic Forum (WEF) predicted a future workforce skill set for 2025 required in order of priority:

• Analytical thinking and innovation.
• Active learning and learning strategies.
• Complex problem solving.

The top three predominantly mental processes.

We seek out and focus on top 10 lists, though the answer sometimes is to be found at 11, 13 and 15. The future is not static; the future is dynamic and requires us to learn, adapt and negotiate.

Number 11 on the future jobs top skills is emotional intelligence.

If the pandemic taught us anything, it is that the connection and integration of our minds with our heart is the prime upgrade required.

The competencies that make up emotional intelligence (EI) based on the comprehensive Genos model include emotional reasoning, combining and integrating emotional information with rational facts and figures to make expansive decisions and a path of innovation and originality.

A second competency of emotional intelligence is resilience, flexibility and adaptability, which is an antidote to stress tolerance and stress management.

Within these two EI competencies, most of the top 10 WEF future skill sets are covered.

Number 13 is service orientation.

Within the supply chain industry, a theme and problem statement for many organisations has been customisation and customer experience.

Service is more than a business priority, rather a human priority of living a life and creating businesses that are of service and contribution.

A current C-suite agenda item is sustainability, environmentally prioritising green supply chains and renewable energy to nurture and enrich Mother Earth, rather than just steal from her.

Socially, an awareness has been created around what makes a society: health care, education, standard of living and living with dignity, equal opportunities to not just have employment, but the opportunity to be showmen and craftswomen.

Birthing business ideas, crafting businesses that matter, employment for all and the development of talent enriches society and actively contributes to our collective upliftment for all communities.

Number 15: Persuasion and negotiation.

Career life balance is an illusion and the success of that lives on a knife’s edge.

We need to negotiate an integration of our professional and personal lives, and consciously pursue our purpose, passion and dreams, our ikigai.

True passion and purpose are able to drive you through the pain barrier; persuasion is natural when you believe in what or who you are influencing for.

Sales has a bad reputation for being difficult and at times unpleasant, and yet we influence in most moments our colleagues, customers, children. What does life on your terms look like and are you willing to master the skill set of persuasion and negotiation to achieve that? The future is hoping you are. •