Recently we in MVP India community did a bit of virtual brainstorming to figure out what it takes to become an MVP. We all knew the basics such as Excellence in Technology (his/her specialization area), Participation in Community and Willingness to Give Back. But do we need to have any soft skills as well to be a successful community leader/an MVP/an Influencer?
Absolutely!! Irrespective of whatever the name we call them, we are talking about the few leaders among us with different technical expertise and for sure there are few Soft Skills which made them successful. Let’s see if we can list down a few of them here and figure out how that particular skill help our influencers day in day out:
Skills
Comments
Observations
Committed or Accountable
MVPs are always committed to derive and define technical excellence in their community area
Passion for Customer (Users), Technology
MVPs are Technology Enthusiast. They always think from Users point of view on how the technology or solution could help
Open for feedback, Listening
MVPs do seek feedback and also provide feedback in a respectful manner in appropriate forums
Learn and Share Knowledge
MVPs follow a continuous self-learning approach to keep themselves up-to-date with what’s happening in his/her technical area
Do these points not sound like typical MS Core Values ? Mostly I have seen people who are part of Microsoft (also known as MSFTE) live most of these values but in this case also it’s not much different. Though, MVPs are not directly associated with Microsoft, but I personally feel our MVPs are living these values. They take responsibility of driving Forums, User Groups, Local Events, Publishing Quality Blogs, Articles and Books etc. and manage all these together year after year without fail. They fight with Microsoft for product capabilities on behalf of end users. They listen to each and every feedback what is coming from end users through Forums, Blogs or in-person events. And most importantly they continuously update their knowledge and share what they learnt with others in community
Out of Box Thinking
MVPs often come up with new ideas, suggestions and thoughts which might sound unrealistic at first level but if you dig deeper, you can see the impact in a longer run.
Thinking out of box makes you exceptional. Working on a defined process is very simple but how many times one attempted to define a new process and work on it? That shows how much you are ready to take big challenges and how far can you think. I feel this is an essential skill of a leader.
Collaboration
MVPs do collaborate with different resources internally within Microsoft as well as outside Microsoft. MVPs are supposed to be counted as extremely collaborative
This is a very critical area. Collaboration is not simple due to issues like distance, language, attitude, culture etc. but as an MVP, its must. A person willing to become an MVP, should work towards this area
Time management
I met a few MVPs who are participating in multiple User Groups, Writing Research Papers, Answering Forums and lot more. With their existing professional commitments, maintaining all these are really exceptional and unless one know how to manage their time, I think it’s impossible
Everyone should learn how to work smart with multiple responsibilities and still be successful without impacting other commitments. Again must for current world to be successful
Easy going approach
This is another interesting capability what I see in most of our MVPs. They can easily gel with others, understand their issues, suggest possible solutions and end up with a positive experience
Consistency
Consistency is critical for everyone’s success. We have seen most of veteran MVPs are very consistent in terms of their contribution and commitments towards community
Good Communication (Writing and Speaking)
MVPs do influence adoption of technology. This can only happen if the person can express himself/herself properly in any forum irrespective of audience type
Influencing
We are talking about influencers and for sure they influence the key decisions like adoption, deployment and supportability. For sure MVPs are great influencers
These are common success mantra apply to everyone. Earlier you learn, successful you are and more you follow, better you are. Some of these are either inter related or complementing other skills. Easy going approach is required in anyone who deals with different set of people day in day out. And there good communication and influencing capabilities also help. Consistency works with almost all the skills what we discussed till now and is required for success
Problem Solving
Few of our MVPs are Problem Solvers and they tend to go deeper to address the issue from the root
Good skill to make sure we understand the issue and the address from the root
Focused Approach
Few of our MVPs follow a focused approach i.e. one at a time behavior
It gives the possibilities of improving what we do. Can be a good skill to have
We just learnt the top Soft Skills which our India MVP community thinks are important. We really value all the time what our MVPs spent in listing down all these points. I do think there are few other skills as well which may be beneficial. Attaching an Excel file which is listing some of them for broader community.