“Skills corporate counsel will need to learn over the next five years to remain effective” (Canadian)

For a survey this year, 780 Canadian corporate counsel considered nine skills, as listed below followed by the percentage of the respondents who selected each one. This comes from In-House Corporate Counsel Barometer 2006, Canadian Corp. Counsel Assoc. at 7:

“Effective leadership” (21)
“Business sector knowledge” (19)
“Accounting/financial” (14)
“Management” (11)
“Project management” (8)
“Technology” (7)
“Negotiating” (7)
“Presentations/speaking” (5)
“Skills assessment/mentoring” (4)

Emotional intelligence hasn’t penetrated yet (See my post of July 31, 2005 and Feb. 8, 2006 as well as my post of Jan. 1, 2006 on “executive intelligence.”). Nor did the ability to write clearly make the list (See my post of Sept. 21, 2005 on writing coaches.).

As to leadership, see my posts of Dec. 5, 2005 about male/female differences, Dec. 19, 2005 about leadership as a key goal, and Dec. 21, 2005 on emotional intelligence quotas of leaders.

If “Skills assessment/mentoring” is the stand-in for what I would refer to much more broadly as “talent management,” then the list misses many of the skills needed to get the most from people. “Leadership” and “management” lack the personal care and attentiveness inherent in “people management.”