22 Jul Why Soft Skills Make or Break One’s Success
Gary Vaynerchuk recently advocated for Soft skills. Here is what he posted on his LinkedIn account: “Once everyone realizes that the “soft skills” are actually the “hard skills,” the world 🌎 and the business world 🌍 will get much, much better .. and the person who’s executing on it will be much more fulfilled and successful 💜 Time to dig in deep everyone …”
Over 3, 000 people liked and engaged with the post. I am glad to see influencers like Gary promoting the importance of soft skills for success at home, at work, and in marketplaces…
I’ve advocated soft skills (by whatever name you want to call them) everywhere and whenever I can. I also wrote a book entitled “Soft Skills That Make or Break Your Success.” I have also facilitated webinars and workshops to empower professionals and leaders.
In the Introduction part of the book, I shared the story of Tesla, who had off-chart technical abilities, and how he struggled to benefit from his extraordinary inventions and ultimately died in poverty and isolation because of the lack of the necessary soft skills.
I also argued that Steve Wozniak, the techwizard behind Apple, wouldn’t have pulled Apple from the ground up and made it a global phenomenon that dominates the tech world without the complement of Steve Jobs’ extraordinary soft skill abilities, such as his ability to:
- Brand and promote the company,
- Market and sell its products,
- Create strategic partnerships,
- Raise capital, and so on.
Who forgets his classic marketing genius when he introduced the iPod apparatus as “1000 songs in your pocket?!”
Below is an excerpt from the Introduction part of the book:
“…
Why soft skills make or break
Research conducted by Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation, and Stanford Research Center revealed that “85% of job success comes from having well‐developed soft and people skills, and only 15% of job success comes from technical skills and knowledge (hard skills).”[i] Unfortunately, many inventors, technocrats, business owners, new hires, supervisors, and managers from diverse industries depend solely on their expertise. Accordingly, they neglect to develop their soft skills proactively, pay dire prices individually, and cause havoc in their organizations.
Lack of soft skills denied Tesla from benefiting from his inventions
In our history, we’ve witnessed many technically genius individuals struggling to succeed because of a lack of some essential soft skills. Nikola Tesla was one such individual. Tesla invented the AC electrical system and coil, which are recognized for laying the foundation for wireless radio technology. On top of these two inventions, Tesla was also a pioneer in discovering technologies such as X-ray, remote control, radar, dynamos, etc.
Sadly, Tesla lacked the necessary soft skills that could have complemented his technical skills. He was unable to communicate his inventions in writing or verbally. He came short of promoting and marketing his discoveries. Tesla failed to hold patents for all of his inventions. He was also unable to negotiate to benefit fully from his ideas. At the end of the day, regrettably, his technical genius couldn’t save him from dying poor in solitary.
Wozniak wouldn’t have pulled off Apple alone
In 2016, Forbes acknowledged that Apple outshines its tech peers like Microsoft and Samsung. It’s one of the most valued companies in the world. Behind the formation of Apple were two outstanding individuals- Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
However, without the supplement of Jobs’ soft skills, Wozniak- regardless of his off-chart technical genius, wouldn’t have pulled off Apple. Even if he could, he wouldn’t have launched it to become a worldwide phenomenon without Jobs’ excellent soft skills. In short, millions around the globe wouldn’t have enjoyed the fantastic products of this leading company if the two hadn’t come together and complemented one another.
Both Tesla and Wozniak had outstanding hard skills. Unfortunately, these were not enough to attain extraordinary achievement. Only 15% of success comes from technical expertise.
Nonetheless, the difference between the two gentlemen was that Wozniak teamed up with soft skills genius Jobs, who articulated, promoted, and marketed Apple and its products; selected, empowered, and continually inspired Apple’s leaders and team members; negotiated, formed coalitions, and more. Tesla wasn’t lucky to have such a partner. He paid the dire price of a lack of soft skills. Accordingly, he died lonely and in debt.
The vast majority of startups fail as a result of a lack of soft skills
The same is also true when it comes to entrepreneurship. When some technical professionals see that they are amazingly good at what they do, they are tempted to start a business (or encouraged by well-meaning people to become their boss). They quit their job and their own business, thinking that their hard skills alone are enough to excel in the business world.
Disappointingly, it’s widely believed that nine out of ten new startups end up unsuccessful. There are many reasons why new startups fail. What you won’t find in the list of reasons why the overwhelming majority of startups die is the lack of technical skills. However, if you sum up all the reasons, they boil down to the lack of certain soft skills.
The majority of new hires keep getting fired due to a lack of soft skills
Not just in the fields of invention and entrepreneurship, but everywhere, the lack of soft skills is affecting every industry. Let’s just pick the corporate world. There is no shortage of employees. Businesses receive hundreds, sometimes thousands of submissions from overly qualified, technically excellent, and highly experienced applicants for every position they announce. The common challenge all companies face is selecting the right employee with the qualification, experience, and soft skills to fit into the corporate culture and get along with existing team members.
Despite carefully selected criteria, background checks, and contemporary screening approaches, most employers are often disappointed in their choices. In the majority of cases, this is not usually an issue with technical abilities. Mark Murphy- the author of Hire For Attitude, said, “Forty-six percent of new hires fail in the first 18 months, and 89 percent of them failed for attitudinal reasons. Only 11 percent failed due to a lack of hard skills.”[ii] The expertise that brought the new hires through the door could not help them stay there longer and flourish. Companies let go of many of their new hires regardless of their superb technical expertise due to the absence of certain soft skills.
Millions are quitting because of managers who don’t have soft skills
Of course, it’s not just new hires that disappoint because of a lack of soft skills. Look around you. Many existing employees, supervisors, and managers also struggle due to a lack of or poorly developed soft skills.
Higher-level positions frequently involve supervisory duties that require excellent soft skills. Unfortunately, many companies don’t pay close attention to soft skills when promoting their super achievers. When the latter demonstrate outstanding technical abilities and outperform their peers, they get promoted to lead their team. As a result, they cause havoc.
Common workplace complaints such as high turnover, conflict, lack of synergy, and low productivity levels many companies are experiencing today come down to supervisors’ and managers’ lack of certain soft skills. For instance, “A Gallup poll of more than 1 million employed U.S. workers concluded that the No. 1 reason people quit their jobs is a bad boss or immediate supervisor…People leave managers, not companies…in the end, turnover is mostly a manager issue.”[iii]
Note:
If you’re interested to dive deep and learn the 12 key soft skills that can make or break your success, go to Amazon and order the ebook ONLY for 4.99 USD
Whether you’re a mom, dad, professional, entrepreneur, or leader interested in complementing your technical know-how and tech skills with soft skills in a one-on-one coaching setting, reach out.
Let’s design and deliver webinars or workshops to help your people appreciate the importance of soft skills and develop the necessary soft skills to:
- Manage themselves and their scarce resources,
- Communicate and get along with others,
- Inspire, influence, and lead others successfully, and more…
We can also design and deliver a cohort program for your people, covering one soft skill per week (or month).
Contact our team via [email protected] if you’re in Florida and [email protected] if you’re in the DMV area.
Looking forward to working with you…