A few weeks ago, I was invited to answer a question in one of the Expert contributions’ forums on LinkedIn.

The question was: You have a management interview for a renewable energy job. What do you need to prepare?

I did not reflect too much and answered the question rather instinctively.

I transitioned from the nuclear industry sector to the renewables energy one.

When looking and applying for a new job, I informed myself about the renewables technologies and the industry sector. There is an infinite number of resources available on the web. As you learn about renewable technologies, you understand the commonalities and the differences.

Then you focus on the commonalities. That will help identifying your transferable skills, which you should focus on during the interview process, as these are your strengths.

The differences between the nuclear and the renewables are a source of learning, which you will explore on the new job – indeed, learning is a great source of motivation as it will get you in the flow.

As I wrote those few words, the terms “transferable skills” kept resonating. As far as I recalled, I have never consciously and intentionally strategized on how to best use my transferable skills. In the hindsight, they have helped me to open a new chapter of my career. But not only.

In 2017, I was a year in my new renewables industry job. I decided to go back to school, learn about business and deepen my knowledge in the renewables field. I started a 3-year MBA journey, on top of my permanent position and a new kid on the way.

Even though I did research how much work I would have to add onto my already busy schedule, it only materialized as the first lectures and assignments started. I probably asked myself a few times: “What did I have put myself into?”.

I have worked on large EPC projects before, and one skill that you need to develop to be successful in this field, is time management. It is all about breaking down work into activities and rigorously scheduling them over a given time.

Well, guess what, that’s exactly what I did. We were given all the .pdf printouts of the lectures at the beginning of the semester. We were also assigned the individual and group assignments. I summed up all the pages I had to read over the semester. I counted how many days I had until one month before the end of semester exams. I also estimated the number of hours I would have to put into the different assignments, whether individual or group work. As a result, I knew exactly how much I had to read every day if I wanted to cover the entirety of the material and allocate sufficient time for the assignments.

It worked extremely well. I know that I managed to pull it off thanks to my time management – also sticking to the time schedule I prepared for myself.

Of course, some days were better than others. I could every now and then read more or spend more time on assignments than what I planned. That gave me a bit of slack during the days where I needed to focus my time on something else, or simply if I had a bad day…

Having a good understanding of transferable skills is not only useful to you.

In the case for leading from the middle, I mentioned that one of the fascinating aspects of middle management roles is building up coalitions of the most suitable employees to solve specific problems arising from the ever-unpredictable world of work.

That requires a good knowledge of the skillset available in the organization as well as a good understanding of the skills required for a specific task to execute or a problem to solve. Matching employees’ skills with various assignments during which they can use and develop them is a source of motivation and retention.

Developing your organization transferable skills potential is key when leading from the middle. You will foster flexibility and agility, making your team more resilient to change.

What are transferable skills?

Transferable skills are the knowledge, experiences, and abilities that you can take from a job to another one, even when switching roles or industries. Transferable skills are more holistic and contribute to your overall effectiveness at work.

Let us have a look at six common transferable skills and how they relate to middle management.

Communication

Communication skill gives the ability to give and receive information, whether by writing, speaking, or by using other medium.

It is a critical skill when leading from the middle. Communication is required to convey direction, influence, and improve self and others. It will require continuous development to keep up with the continuous increase of stakeholders (i.e., your employees, your boss, your peers, anyone you need to influence) and the communication means.

Problem-solving

The American Society for Quality defines problem-solving as the act of defining a problem; determining the cause of the problem; identifying, prioritizing, and selecting alternatives for a solution; and implementing a solution.  

One of the main tasks of a leader from the middle is to remove any barriers to performance. This is done effectively by developing the right culture, where it is ok to report issues and where it is expected to quickly find adequate mitigations at every level of the organization.  

Teamwork

Teamwork is the collaborative effort of a group of individuals to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in an effective and efficient way.

In the new decentralized organization of work, leading effectively from the middle will mean to foster specific conditions. Your teammates will have to support and motivate each other. They will give and receive feedbacks to be continuously aligned towards the organization common goal.

Leadership

Leadership is the ability to encourage, motivate, inspire, and challenge an organization to produce their best work.

This is by essence what leading from the middle is.  

Management

Management relates to the transactional aspect of leading people. Management comprises effectively handling people and processes, such as budgeting, recruiting, scheduling, leading meetings…

Like leadership, management is a non-negotiable skill required to effectively lead from the middle.

Project management

Project management is the ability to scope, plan, distribute and monitor the work.

In any middle management role, the ability to organize the resources to deliver the work will differentiate the excellent teams from the crowd.

Those transferable skills are not only for leaders from the middle to develop. A strong transferable skills potential will boost the motivation of your team members as they will be able to cope with the increase unpredictability of work.  

The development of transferable skills will help differentiating you – leader from the middle – and your team, department, or organization for your flexibility, value-add and resilience,  

It is worth highlighting that those six transferable skills are on the list of the ten “Most In-Demand Skills of 2024” proposed by LinkedIn.

There are a few ways to harness transferable skills, whether yours or those whom you lead.

You can draw your professional timeline. What were your eureka moments? What were the successes? What skills did you use then? Be specific. Let it rest and get back to it. Some patterns will emerge – these are your transferable skills.

If you feel stuck in this process, ask a colleague to share their perspective on what your strengths (and skills) are.

While leading from the middle, it is now on you to coach your team members and employees to discover their transferable skills.

To make sure that you and your organization remain well equipped from a skillset point of view, practice foresight and conduct regular assessments of the skills required by the new world of work, whether those are technical skills (i.e., use of specific applications and AI for instance) or soft skills (i.e., cultural diversity if entering a new market…). Conduct those skill assessments on a continuous basis.

Discovering new transferable skills to develop is not an innate process. Forster knowledge sharing through cross-functional training, open communication, and leadership development. Look what is happening outside your own department, subject matter expertise or industry sector. You and your team members might pick up good ideas that you can then internalize and make your own.

What are your transferable skills? And how are you using them? Do you need some help?

Get in touch!

As always, I will be happy to get your comments and feedback.