4/3/2002 -- I frequently hear from technical professionals working on their career development plan who want to take classes on product X or product Y and maybe complete a vendor certification from company A. However, all these questions have left me to wonder if we're not losing sight of what is really important in building a successful career in IT.

More and more when I look at the attributes of successful professionals in IT, it usually isn't their technical prowess that sets them apart from the others. Sure, technical skills are important and we can't get by without them, but when I look at the performance feedback of technical staff, it's things such as initiative, dedication, communication and ownership that seem to be the most highly valued qualities.

I guess this isn't new "news" to me, although it has only really dawned on me over the past few years since I moved to a management role. I remember a lecturer when I was studying civil engineering that, apart from teaching us the details of the subject at hand (concrete technology, if you're interested!), attempted to pass on a lot of wisdom to us young undergraduates. I've forgotten most of the material from that class, but I do remember him giving us a copy of a survey that polled successful engineers and asked them for the factors that they believed most contributed to their success. Technical skills were the number 7 on item on the list. He remarked at the time how absurd it was that we were spending so many years being educated in seemingly trivial areas that would provide little future benefit, yet we spent so little time on those other important areas that would really help us in the future. The same seems very much true of IT.

A few years back I worked with one of the smartest people I had ever met. Not only was he brilliant with networking technology, his real skills were in working with customers. He could clearly and patiently express to them in non-technical ways the complex technical issues at hand and what he was planning to do resolve them. He knew the importance of under-promising and over-delivering, and also keeping customers updated in a timely manner (you don't want them wondering what is happening and when, do you?). Although many of his peers had similar levels of technical skills, you wouldn't believe how many customers requested this guy by name. He really had mastered the ability to delight customers. And we all know that there isn't a certification exam you can take on this!

There are courses in delivering excellent customer service, and in essence they are really about developing some self-awareness in taking us out of ourselves and helping us understand what customers want and how we can then deliver it. I would also urge you to watch and learn what you can from those around you – I think you can learn a great deal from the way that high performers handle themselves. I think you may also be surprised how much a positive attitude also makes a real difference. Sure Dilbert can be funny in small doses, but the level of cynicism that this can engender can be a dangerous thing. It's hard to be a "can-do" person if you are letting all of that negative energy get you down.

All too often we keep concentrating on the hard technical skills in our development plans. This can seem very easy since each year we take some more classes and perhaps sit for another exam. Yet if we took the time to build our softer professional skills we would be much better for it and customers would be ecstatic with the difference. I'm not saying that getting and maintaining your technical skills is unimportant, but it would be a mistake to only concentrate on these.

What do you think? What do you feel is most important in a technical professional? Let me know you thoughts below.