Any executive position be it big or small starts with you be it in whatever industry you are in. A person’s “executive skills” are those brain-based skills required to execute tasks – that is, getting organized, planning, initiating work, staying on task, controlling impulses, regulating emotions, and being adaptable and resilient. These skills primarily reside in the prefrontal cortex, that part of the brain that helps you manage complex problems, goals, and self-control. We are all born with executive skills; but they take about twenty years to fully develop. After all, if it takes twenty years for the executive skills to mature, perhaps we should be spending some of that money on exercise, diet, education, and ways to counteract the negative effects of technology on our brains. Strong executive skills are critical in today’s digital age of speed because life is getting more and more complicated with increasing numbers of choices and decisions to make and less time in which to make them.
Although there are similarities between the management functions that we teach and executive brain skills, the executive skills, relate to brain skills acquired through normal development. They are in the prefrontal cortex and are the last areas of the brain to develop in late adolescence or early adulthood. The frontal lobes themselves, thought to be the main areas where the executive skills reside, require 18 to 20 years to develop.
Twelve executive skills are required for success in any industry be it tech or non-tech. These are:
1. Response inhibition: the ability to think before you act.
2. Working memory: the ability to hold information in memory while performing complex tasks.
3. Emotional control: the ability to manage emotions to achieve goals.
4. Sustained attention: the capacity to focus on a task despite fatigue or boredom.
5. Task initiation: the ability to begin tasks without undo procrastination.
6. Planning/prioritization: the capacity to develop a road map to arrive at a predetermined goal.
7. Organization: the ability to arrange according to a system.
8. Time management: the ability to estimate and allocate time effectively.
9. Goal-directed persistence: the ability to have a goal and follow through until its completion.
10. Flexibility: the ability to revise plans in the face of obstacles and setbacks.
11. Metacognition: the ability to observe yourself in a situation and make changes so you’re better able to solve problems.
12. Stress tolerance: the ability to thrive in stressful situations.
To strengthen this and any other executive skill, you must buy into the fact that you are not your brain. You can control these impulses and rewire your brain with sufficient effort. For example, do not go shopping on an empty stomach, do not have email open when you are working on a project, and don’t have your cell phone turned on when you’re in a meeting. In the same way, you should not face an uncovered window when you are working on an important project or have personal photos and memorabilia on your desk that could encourage distractions. If your workstation is not conducive to concentration, try changing the location by having work sessions at a local coffee shop or spare boardroom. Other things you can do are: work for shorter periods of time, structure your day by scheduling appointments with yourself to get specific things done, have specific times to check e-mail and text messages, and work with your natural body rhythms of high and low energy.
Therefore, my advice to you is research the tech industry you are interested in thoroughly, leave no stone unturned, Once you have done that enlist essential executive skills you will need in that industry. Sharpen them and you are ready to go!
Besides if you do have any questions contact me: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath