“Soft skills” need a branding makeover. What’s “soft” about learning to challenge others, dealing directly with conflict, asking for what you want, or holding others accountable?
More than just essential life skills, soft skills are crucial leadership skills.
You may not immediately recognize the importance of soft skills, because applying them takes both subtlety and nuance. Applying soft skills is often viewed as an inefficient use of time, resulting in the refrain “Why can’t I just do my work?” or “If they’d just listen to me, we could get more done.”
The truth is closer to:
· You can achieve more by working through others.
o Multiply your efforts by having others contribute. You will expand the organizational talent focused on your goals.
· As a side benefit, you can achieve more by working with others.
o Are you working effectively in a cross-functional capacity? It’s rare in today’s organizations to find a function that can be successful in a vacuum. Instead, measurement is frequently on a cross-functional outcome. Try to optimize for the system rather than maximize your function alone.
· Remember, you can achieve more by influencing others.
o Enrolling others in your vision of success – whether for a project or an entire business - will strengthen the odds of achieving your organizational goals. A lone wolf is more straightforward to stop than a pack.
Ruth Gotian, Ed.D., Chief Learning Officer for the Weill Cornell Department of Anesthesiology and author of The Success Factor, calls these “power skills,” saying “soft skills are too hard for too many people.”
Yes, it can be challenging for people to learn these skills, even if they value them, but people can learn these skills. Your soft skills (or lack thereof) determine your leadership style in many ways.
It’s important to understand that style is distinct from personality. You are who you are. But your behaviors – what you do – are in your control. For example, a busy executive, feeling harried, may continuously interrupt others, leaving them feeling disrespected. By learning patience or asking directly for a concise summary rather than a lengthy presentation (or a combination!), both the executive and the employee gain. As a leader, you are modeling the behaviors that others in the organization will emulate. Make sure you are modeling what you want to see from your teams.
How do you develop these skills?
First, take an honest look at your current state. Find ways to get accurate feedback – coaching combined with a 360-degree assessment is the right place to start.
Feedback from those who interact with you frequently is a gift and will enable you to see how your behaviors impact others, both in positive and negative ways. You can also determine how essential these skills are for your role – a vital clue in understanding the impact that your behavior change can have.
Then decide where the leverage lies – there may be multiple areas where you would like to improve, but you have a day job outside of personal development that will continue to consume most of your effort! Pick two skills that have the potential to give you the most bang for the buck, and make a plan. Focus on trying new behaviors in low-risk areas and notice the response. If you see progress, ratchet up the risk as you increase your skill. If you don’t see improvement, ask for more direct feedback.
Re-assess in a few months – both from your standpoint and by asking trusted others if they’ve noticed an improvement in outcomes resulting from the new behaviors. Adjust as necessary.
Soft skills aren’t optional. They are as crucial to your success as your technical skills unless you are solely in an individual contributor role. Leaders are not individual contributors, and the best leaders motivate and influence their teams using a broad-gauge of skills.
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January 28, 2021 at 02:01AM
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Soft Skills Are Too Hard For Too Many People - Forbes
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