13 Tools for Success That Professionals Use Every Day

Empathy is the ability to recognize emotions in other individuals and to understand the perspectives of others in a situation.

Why is empathy one of the key tools for sucess in the workplace? When you can empathize with someone else, you can better resolve workplace conflicts; improve relationships with customers, clients and coworkers; and build productive teams.

So how can you develop empathy at work? According to Psychology Today, you should:

Where do executives communicate, demonstrate thought leadership, network and engage in lifelong learning?

Social media is an important technology tool for business professionals. And one of the most pertinent to business life – LinkedIn – can be a great place to make connections and build your network.

A strong network is key to business success, and building one in 2023 means using social networks like LinkedIn effectively. Here are a few ways you can maximize the benefits of professional social networking platforms:

Don't underestimate the importance of communication in business. According to Forbes, communication is key to:

Using creativity in the workplace can help you develop new processes and solutions. Creativity in leadership is the ability to innovate actionable ideas and inspire others to solve problems− both individually and as a team − using new approaches to generate business plans, restructure a work environment or make meaningful professional connections with other people. Here are a few more reasons why creative leadership is important, from the Career Guide of employment website Indeed:

Part of being a professional means maintaining a positive, “can-do” attitude in the workplace. Maintaining a positive attitude can help improve your overall performance and increase the likelihood of positive outcomes. A positive attitude can be extremely effective in team building because individuals are going to be more likely to rally around a leader who demonstrates positivity when faced with challenges. Going beyond the leader’s attitude, it can also impact the behavior and performance of others, improving employee morale in the office. In that regard you might say positivity is contagious. Anyone who’s ever had a boss with a cynical and overall negative attitude would likely know the difference.

Professionals recognize the importance and short-term benefits of maintaining focus to improve the quality of their work, get it done more efficiently and maintain productivity. According to author and consultant Gordon Tredgold, being more focused can help improve clarity and decision making and allow us to be more effective. He also identifies these four additional long-term benefits of improved focus:

Effective leaders possess self-confidence and demonstrate it in their own abilities and the way they nurture the abilities of others. You might ask, what’s the difference between self-esteem and self-confidence? While the attributes are often used synonymously, self-confidence differs from self-esteem, according to another Indeed Career Guide article. While self-esteem refers to one’s ability to value themselves, self-confidence refers to our positive feelings and sense of capability when it comes to completing certain actions, making it a great tool for success.

Other examples of self-confidence in a professional setting might include:

A key trait of any strong professional or business leader is the ability to motivate and inspire others. Whether called drive, passion or something else, leaders who are passionate and share their passion with their teams may be more likely to maintain employee morale and motivation, improve the overall performance and increase the productivity of their teams or an entire enterprise. Entrepreneurs, for example, are known for having passion that gives them the persistence to pursue goals that may seem unreachable. Combining their passion with personal determination can help enable them to be persuasive in getting team members and investors on board.

Discipline is an important leadership trait. Disciplined leaders are known for routine, structure and attention to detail, which can be incredibly beneficial to any leader, but can also be sometimes misinterpreted as controlling if they’re not careful. Self-disciplined leaders are particularly good at helping their colleagues understand their goals and showing them what success looks like. They have an ability to avoid or cut through clutter and chaos, recognize errors and mistakes and bring structure to business processes. Why are disciplined leaders important? Characteristics of the disciplined leader might include:

Leaders with integrity possess a strong moral compass that drives their ability to make fair and balanced decisions. Individuals with personal integrity are often widely respected because they adhere to ethical principles in the face of outside influences and difficult circumstances. Integrity is an essential leadership trait, and can be one of the more effective professional tools in a manager’s toolbox, because it can help set the tone for entire teams. Team members know that a leader with integrity can be trusted to do the right thing, even when no one is watching.

The power of optimism cannot be overstated. Optimistic leaders can maintain a positive outlook through changes and transitions, believing their company is moving forward toward a better future without dwelling on the past. They are more likely to plan ahead and anticipate challenges, rather than reacting negatively to them.

According to Lifehack.org optimistic leaders are likely to be:

It’s safe to say that experience is something that all of us acquire throughout our personal and professional lives, but the experiences of others are also a powerful addition to your professional toolbox. Here are some examples of how experience, personal or otherwise, can be used in the various stages of a business:

Being prepared is all about putting in a bit of extra effort before the actual work, allowing you to be prepared for meetings, tasks and events before they’re due. Being prepared for meetings, for example, is crucial to your ability to perform at an optimal level. Here, your preparation might include gathering documents, presentations and other information that will be discussed by you or others, or sending information to participants in a pre-meeting email. You might begin preparing the day before or the morning of the meeting, going through the materials that will be presented and formulating questions and action plans. When the actual meeting takes place, it’s likely that your preparation efforts will pay off by allowing you to be more confident, less stressed and better able to focus on the contributions of other participants.

As you grow in your career, you will be faced with situations every day that require you to leverage your professional toolbox. Whether you are practicing empathy, developing new connections or communicating with co-workers, a business degree or certificate can help you develop new tools for success, build on your existing strengths and pursue your goals. Learn more about online and on-campus programs at DeVry University and our Keller Graduate School of Management.