Over the past thirty weeks I have published a series of posts on Soft Skills: their development, the competencies they represents and the importance soft skills have in the workplace (or life in general, for that matter). I still like the following definition of Soft Skills because it is straight forward and concise: “’Soft Skills’ is a catch-all term referring to various behaviors that help people work and socialize well with others. In short, they are the good manners and personality traits needed to get along with others and build positive relationships. Unlike hard skills, which include a person’s technical skill set and ability to perform certain functional tasks, Soft Skills are broadly applicable across job titles and industries. It’s often said that hard skills will get you an interview but you need soft skills to get — and keep— the job.” http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/soft-skills. Soft Skills are “behaviors that help people work and socialize well with others”. To my mind, this hits the nail on the head.
I initially listed a catalog of soft skills as:
- Communication
- Listening
- Showing empathy
- Networking
- Self-confidence
- Giving and receiving feedback
Over the course of this series I also added:
- Professionalism
- Team-building
- Problem solving
- Time & personal management
- Multitasking
- Adaptabilty/Flexibilty
- Self-awareness
- The Ability to learn
This is a significant list of skills and I’m sure there are others that could be added.
The series has generated a lot of interest and over the course of it I have had many very positive and thoughtful comments, some of which provided me with insight to write additional content. I’m also very excited that this series on Soft Skills has also been picked up by two other Blog sites, which in turn has created significant interest.
Next week I start a new series of posts based on my coaching with leaders. Lessons I have learnt, stories that made me think and how behaviours can be shifted to make us be better leaders
You can find the full list of blogs on Soft Skills HERE
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