3 Reasons Analysts Shouldn't Focus on Technical Skills (and what to do instead)

There's too much information on the internet about building technical skills.

It's satisfying to believe that focusing on technical skills is the key to your career success. That SQL, data visualization, and ML will take you to the promise land. This belief is wrong.

Technical skills won't take you as far as you think.

1) Technical skills don't guarantee promotions

Unless you're a junior analyst, tech skills won't get you promoted.

Once you're at a sufficient level of technical ability, getting better technically has diminishing returns. Your manager doesn't care that you have the cleanest code or know the most cutting edge algorithm. They care that you can use data and analytics to solve problems, answer questions, and influence decision making—things that get you promoted.

Tech skills matter, but only at the beginning of your career.

2) You're probably not the best technician

Unless you are passionate about technical skills, there are others that are better than you.

Do you really want to compete to be the best at SQL, Tableau, or building a linear regression model? Search the internet and you will find people obsessed with these tools and technologies. Don't bother competing with them.

Instead, master the skills no one else is focusing on—leadership and social intelligence.

3) You don't stand out

If you focus on tech skills like everyone else, you look like another white sheep.

Your technical prowess won't turn heads. Once you hit base competency, you'll be at the same level as everyone else and spend too much time trying to separate yourself from the pack. Your time is better spent on other skills.

But what other skills?

What should you do instead?

You should focus on the skills that no one else thinks about, skills that are hard to build.

Leadership and social intelligence.

Leadership is the key to success in all things. If you learn how to get a group of people to accomplish an objective, you will be successful anywhere. You'll know how to make use of the team's collective skills to accomplish the mission.

Social intelligence is the key to leadership. Once you become skilled at working with people, understanding them, influencing them, and navigating social situations, you will be able to lead any group.

Most people can master the tech.

Very few can master the art of working with people.

That's your job now.