One thing we know to be true, but continually ignore: Soft skills matter. In fact, the data say that they matter more, not less than the hard skills we so aptly and frequently measure, and by which we make crucial selection decisions like hiring, firing, and promoting.
Let’s try an experiment- what would be different about your organization, or your team if you measured and rewarded by soft skills first? If you promoted those who were excellent collaborators, communicators and seemed to instinctively know how to gather and rally people around an idea or possibility? What if you recognized top energizers of people, or balanced the scorecard with indicators of inspiration of others, or ability to delegate and teach, or sustains momentum of the process?
We know we get more of the same when we use only the same methods we’ve used before.
Let’s all focus on building the currency of encouragement, inspiration, and momentum and see how it pays off. Soft Skills Matter.
