As geotechnical engineers, environmental engineers, civil engineers, geologists, environmental scientists, technicians, designers, etc. we easily get wrapped up in the technical details of the project at hand.  Don’t forget the non-technical skills that “matter”.  Those skills make your job more enjoyable - for you, for your client, for your fellow employees, for your direct reports, for your boss, and down the line.

Seth Godin has this to say about mattering:

“You Matter

• When you love the work you do and the people you do it with, you matter.
• When you are so gracious and generous and aware that you think of other people before yourself, you matter.
• When you leave the world a better place than you found it, you matter.
• When you continue to raise the bar on what you do and how you do it, you matter.
• When you teach and forgive and teach more before you rush to judge and demean, you matter.
• When you touch the people in your life through your actions (and your words), you matter.
• When kids grow up wanting to be you, you matter.
• When you see the world as it is, but insist on making it more like it could be, you matter.
• When you inspire a Nobel prize winner or a slum dweller, you matter.
• When the room brightens when you walk in, you matter.
• And when the legacy you leave behind lasts for hours, days or a lifetime, you matter.”

Now go out and matter!