Soft Skills???

6/18/15

Happy Thursday All,

A little late today....but better late than never.

Are we helping our teams grow their soft skills?  Are you growing your soft skills?

What are soft skills you ask?  Well, to explain easier let's define hard skills.  Hard skills are the technical skills you need to do your job.  A plumber's hard skills would be the ability to hook up a toilet.  A screen printers hard skills would be the ability to set up the press and actually print a shirt.  Soft skill then has to do with a persons ability to communicate, their personal habits, leadership skills, personality traits and how relationships are handled.

Developing soft skills can be very empowering.  The more we can learn to communicate effectively, be confident, manage upwards, play politics, influence others, the more we will feel in control and inspired about our jobs and careers.

The working world is not always fair, we cannot change other's behavior or circumstances.  However, we can use our soft skills to control how we respond to adverse situations and take proactive action in our best interest. 

Hard work alone does not guarantee success.  Developing yours and your team's soft skills can be one of the most valuable investments we can make.  There is no other investment that creates a greater return.

How do we help our teams develop soft skills?  What kind of training are you giving?  What kind of training is available?  Good questions to ponder.

Have a great Thursday!

Chris