Soft Skills: The Key to Success

(Talk given at National Convention, AINACS at Kochi from 24th – 25th October 2011.)

1. SOFT SKILLS - TODAY’S BUZZWORD

Soft Skills are a cluster of skills that ‘influence’ how we interact with one another, indicating our ability to relate and connect with people. The Text book defines Soft Skills as “a cluster of personal qualities, habits, attitudes and social graces that make someone a good employee and compatible to work with”. Simply put, Soft Skills are skills that make you Human. You might have learnt a lot of things in your school/college which would have made you a master in your subject but what distinguishes one master from the other is their soft skill. Soft skills are the hardest to acquire, impossible to practice, unless these become habits. How true, “We are what we repeatedly do; excellence then is not an act but a habit.” (Aristotle)

Some of the important Soft skills are, Effective Communication Skills, Right Attitude and Values, Innovation and Creativity, Analytical Thinking, Flexibility, Change – Readiness, Interpersonal Skills, Negotiation Skills, Persuasive skills, Time Management skills, Problem solving ability, Adaptability, Leadership and Team building. Soft Skills + Hard Skills = Core Skills.

2. Ten Soft Skills for Success:

2.1 Positive Attitude

There once was a bunch of tiny frogs who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants. The rase began and honestly no one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. You heard statements such as:"Oh, WAY too difficult!! They will NEVER make it to the top." or: "Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!" The tiny frogs began collapsing one by one..... Except for those who in a fresh tempo were climbing higher and higher. The crowd continued to yell: "It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!" More tiny frogs got tired and gave up. But ONE continued higher and higher and higher. This one wouldn't give up!

At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who after a big effort was the only one who reached the top! Then all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it? A contestant asked the tiny frog how the one who succeeded had found the strength to reach the goal? It turned out...That the winner was DEAF!!!! The wisdom of this story is: Never listen to other people's tendencies to be negative or pessimistic...…cause they take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you. The ones you have in your heart!  Always think of the power words have.  Because everything you hear and read will affect your actions! Therefore: Always be…Positive! And above all: Be DEAF when people tell YOU that YOU cannot fulfill YOUR dreams!

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind” said, William James.

How much do you see of an iceberg?  Only 10% of any iceberg is visible. The remaining 90% is below sea level.  The Iceberg phenomena are also applicable on human beings. Knowledge and skills are like the tip of the iceberg known to others whereas attitude is unknown to others as it is like the major portion of the iceberg that is below the sea level. Our behavior is known to others whereas values – standards – judgments - motives – ethics – beliefs which form our attitude are unknown to others. Attitude has constant impact on our behavior.  Hence it is important to deal with our attitude which can even destroy our entire life as does the unseen iceberg.  It is attitude and not aptitude that decides our altitude. The most significant change in a person’s life is a change of attitude. Right attitudes produce right actions.

Let each letter of the alphabetic has a value equals to it sequence of the alphabetical order:

A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	U	V	W	X	Y	Z
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26

Watch your attitudes; they become your   thoughts, watch your thoughts; they become your words, watch yours words; they become your actions, watch your actions; they become your habits, watch your habits; they become your personality.

2.2 Effective Communication Skills

“The art of communication  is the language of leadership.”    ~ James Humes

We have to train our students to develop communication skills. They must be proficient in Verbal communication -  One-on-one meetings, In groups, Team meetings, At a forum -As a leader, -As participant, With clients, With global colleagues, On conference calls. Written communication -E-mail, Notice Boards, Reports, Status Updates. It is equally important that we train them for Listening skills - One-on-one meetings, in groups, on conference calls. Another significant part of the process of communication is called Non Verbal Communication. This is at least as important as verbal communication. This would include - Attire & Personal Grooming, Personal & Business Etiquette, Social Behavior, Eye Contact, Posture & Gestures. It has been pointed out that Words are 7% effective; Tone of voice is 38% effective; Non-Verbal clues are 55% effective.

2.3 Leadership: Leaders Make Things Happen.

As Ralph Nader rightly said,” I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” John Quincy Adams has rightly said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, you are a leader.”  Leaders make things happen. A visionary leader stands for enhancing and sustaining quality, empowering people and ushering in the required paradigm shift to redefine the vision and mission of the institution and meet the challenges of the times. Institutions flourish or perish depending largely on the leadership qualities of the persons at the helm of affairs, 2 Sigma effect of change can be brought about by mentoring and coaching. Words of affirmation and guidance would make the team explore the latent potentials and produce the required synergy to sustain capacity building. Transformational leadership through relationship to achieve the required purpose would be more enduring. Soft skills when compliment hard skills can maximize the effectiveness of leadership. Personal integrity and authenticity would enhance trust and credibility. "You be the change you want to see in others", said Mahatma Gandhi. Management of change - of self and others, in a positive and proactive way would make the leadership effective. 

If you just walk into any bookstore you will find hundreds of leadership books purport to answer all questions concerning leadership. Broadly, the research, thinking, and writing about leadership can be divided into two camps. One camp holds that leadership is all about behavior and that if you want to excel, you should learn and replicate the key behaviors of good leaders. Many companies pursue this view by developing competency models and then rigorously assessing and training their leaders accordingly. The other camp holds that leadership is all about character, values, and authenticity and companies that adhere to this view focus on transmitting company values and orienting leaders to the right way to do things. Stephen Covey advocates principle centred leadership for effective and sustainable impact.

Robert Greenleaf - The Servant as Leader – 1970 and Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness – 1977 brought a paradigm shift in the concept of leadership.  He proved to the world that an effective leader is an effective servant first. 2000 years ago Jesus had given the example of washing the feet of  his disciple saying that the son of man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. “The greatest should be the servant of all” said Jesus. In our schools where we have school captains, house captains, prefects and monitors, we have a golden opportunity to train the future leaders of our country. This also could prove as a great opportunity to let others know about the greatness of Jesus and his style of leadership and thus mold a new set of leaders, much needed in India.

2.4 Team Work: Be a Team Player

The success of any team game be it Cricket, Football or Basketball would totally depend on the team game – the Captain and the members of the team working together to achieve the aim – winning the game.  It is the same with the Staff and students. United we stand, divided we fall. It has been said that there are two types of people - those who work and those who take the credit.  Try to belong to the first group.

Coming together is a beginning, Keeping together is progress and Working together is success. We could make it clear the benefits of Team work - Quick solutions of  problems (Diversity),  improve productivity, synergy, distribution of work load, diversity of ideas, better decision, motivation,  Learning  In a world of inter dependence, we need to work together each contributing his share of expertise and making the project a success. Team itself would mean together, each attaining maximum.

2.5 Emotional   Competence

Psychologist and noted author Daniel Goleman has found that effective leaders are alike in one crucial way: they all have a high degree of what has come to be known as emotional intelligence. In fact, Goleman’s research at nearly 200 large, global companies revealed that emotional - especially at the highest levels of a company-is the sine qua non for leadership. Without it, a person can have first - class training, and incisive mind and an endless supply of good ideas, but he still won’t make a great leader.

The components of emotional intelligence – self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill-can sound sentimental. But exhibiting emotional intelligence at the work place does not mean simply controlling your anger or getting along with people. Rather, it means understanding your own and other people’s emotional makeup well enough to move people in the direction of accomplishing your company’s goals.

Superb Leaders have very different ways of directing a team, a division, or a company. Some are subdued and analytical; others are charismatic and go with their gut. And different situations call for different types of leadership. Most mergers need a sensitive negotiator at the helm, whereas many turnarounds require a more forceful kind of authority.

2.6  Develop your Creative Skills: Imagination / Innovation

In today’s competitive world people look for those who can think out of the box.  Those who have innovative ideas, creative skills  and ready to do something that would capture the imagination of others and contribute positively for the betterment of the world. “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.” “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions” “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” ~ Albert Einstein

2.6.1 Accept & learn from criticism

It is important to teach students to learn from their mistakes.  Often we become reactive and defensive in dealing with our own short comings.  Maturity would mean that we are able to accept and learn from criticism.

2.7 Resolving Conflicts

Conflicts are unavoidable part of day-to-day life and in particular of any organizational set up.  Instead of avoiding conflicts we need to have the skills to resolve conflicting situations.  One has to take stock of the situation, stakeholders and the issues involved.  In objective analysis of the conflicting situation would enable the people concerned to resolve the conflicts.  To case study, role play and brain storming sessions on current issues students would develop critical aptitude and skills to resolve conflicts.

2.8 Motivate yourself

There is a story of an eagle, which gently coaxed her offspring toward the edge of the nest. Her heart quivered with conflicting emotions as she felt their resistance to her persistent nudging. “Why does the thrill of soaring have to begin with the fear of failing?”

As in the tradition of the species, her nest was located high on the shelf of a sheer rock face. Despite her fears, the eagle knew it was time. Her parental mission was all but complete. There remained one final task- the push. The eagle drew courage from an innate wisdom. Until her children discovered their wings, there was no purpose for their lives. Until they learned how to soar, they would fail to understand the privilege it was to have been born an eagle. The push was the greatest gift she had to offer. And the decisive moment dawned and the eaglet was gently pushed from the cozy and comfortable nest into the unknown horizon. It was her supreme act of love. And so one by one she pushed them, and they flew. Even the eagles need a push.

The difference between achievers and non-achievers is that the first group is motivated and the second group is not. Most people are good and qualified. Most of them can do much better than what they are doing. But they desist and resist change as it would dislodge their comfort zone and they would prefer to remain where they are and as they are. Fewer expectations, less demands and less work. And it works, they think. They have to be shown that the same things can be done in a better way. The missing link is the spark of motivation. Achievers do not do different things but they do things differently.

Motivation is everybody’s problem. You are Principal of a school/college and you want to motivate your staff. You are a teacher and you want to motivate your students. Parents want to motivate their children. From the time when we get up in the morning to time we go to bed at night, we run into dozens of situations where we need to motivate others.  If we’re frustrated in our efforts (and who isn’t?) we may give up.

Without motivation there is no change. No learning.  No actions.  And, most important of all, without motivation, there are no results. Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. Pablo Casuals, the great cellist, was asked why, at eighty-five years of age, he continued to practice five hours a day. He replied, “Because I think I’m getting better.” Life is about growing; it is about change. As it is said those who are not busy being born are busy dying. How true it is that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are. Motivation accelerates this process of becoming. Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating you.

2.9 Time Management

Time is the school in which we learn, time is the fire in which we burn. ~ Delmore Schwartz

Time as he grows old teaches many lessons. ~ Aeschylus. Time management is life management.  If we teach students from early days on the importance of time and ill effects of procrastination and postponement, we would train them for life. Though time and tide wait for no one, we often while away our time. We need to prioritize what we need to do and achieve in life.  Deadlines kept will enhance the effectiveness of such decisions. 

Learn how to say “No” to requests that are not directly connected to your vision and mission in life. Use normally wasted moments to accomplish something worthwhile.  Learn to relax, so you’re not pushing all the time.  Then, when you return to your work, you’ll be more effective than ever before.  Set goals to help you determine what’s important in your life.  Keep in mind the 80/20 rule; we get 80 percent of the benefit from working on a project in the first 20 percent of the time we spend on it. Concentrate on only one thing at a time. Delegate all possible tasks to others and spend time in providing academic leadership to the college.  Group activities together – spend a block of time doing creative work, another block for phone calls, another block when you’ll be open to interruptions, etc. will save time and enhance productivity.

2.10 Change Readiness

In today’s globalised world change has become order of the day. The competencies expected of an individual is much more than what has been visualized earlier. Once should be trained to an adventurous mind and tenacity of purpose to achieve his aim in life. Change is the only thing that does not change.  There is only one person that does not grow and that person is a dead person.  “To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.”( Creative Evolution, Henri Bergson)

Who Moved My Cheese by Dr. Spencer Johnson is a business parable about change and how to successfully deal with it, both in your life and in your work. Change can be a positive thing, as long as you are able to sniff out and anticipate change, adapt quickly to it with action, let go of your comforts and fears, and actually enjoy change. The only thing constant in life is change, and our source of pleasures, wants, and needs can and does indeed change. If you learn to change quickly and enjoy it again and again, you can successfully deal with any change in your life.

3. Conclusion: Holistic Development

Soft skills will provide the much required paradigm shift in the process of education.  Schools can play a proactive role in introducing soft skills development programme both for the staff and students.  More than subject knowledge one has to learn to deal with people and situations.  Life becomes meaningful and successful when one has learnt the art of interpersonal relationship and the right attitude to life and people.

4H Method of education will focus on the training of Head, Heart, Hands and Habits. School Assembly, if organized well would prove to be any effective platform for developing soft skills.  Steve Jobs' (icon of soft skills) Moving Stanford Commencement Speech on Mortality would be an eye opener to everyone who wants to face the challenges of life and make it eventful and meaningful.