When considering how your boss, co-workers, or other professional contacts behave, it's likely you can quickly pick out "the jerk," and "the pushover" in the crowd. But, have you ever stopped to think how your counterparts view you? Perhaps you assume you have a reputation as being "tough," or maybe you like to play the part of "the nice guy," but there's evidence that shows you may be completely oblivious to the way other people actually see you.

Do you think you're qualified for a particular job, fit to lead a team, or entitled to a promotion because you have extensive experience and highly developed technical skills? Well, it turns out that while those things are crucial to your professional success, it's imperative that you also have great soft skills-more commonly known as "people skills."

Whether you're the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or a teenage entrepreneur just starting out, communication skills are vitally important. Great leaders motivate, encourage and inspire. They also train people, share new ideas and negotiate. These activities have one thing in common: They all require excellent communication.