In 2018, the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) introduced a set of compe-tencies for systems engineers in a framework structure that gives guidance as to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors important to systems engineering effectiveness at each of five “levels” of competence. These levels range from awareness to expert. There are five categories of competencies: • Core Competencies that underpin both engineering and systems engineering • Technical Competencies that are associated with the systems engineering technical processes • Professional Competencies that reflect behaviors established within the human resources domain • Systems Engineering Management Competencies that relate to managing and controlling systems engineering activities • Integrating Competencies that recognize that the systems engineering discipline joins its ac-tivities with those of other disciplines, including project management and quality, to create project coherence The purpose of this paper is to provide research-grounded methods for improving one’s competence in the INCOSE Professional Competencies, while recognizing that improvement strategies may not be universally applicable due to gender- and culturally-based differences in strengths and weaknesses relative to the Professional Competencies. Specifically, the paper addresses ways that systems en-gineers can improve their own competence in these key areas.