That leadership and soft skills thingy
Here is an old story. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go on a camping trip. After dinner and a bottle of wine, they sleep for the night. Later, Holmes wakes up and wakes up his faithful friend. “Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.” “I see millions and millions of stars, Holmes,” replies Watson. “And what do you deduce from that?” “Well, astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. From a horological point of view, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Meteorologically, we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. Theologically, I can see that God is powerful and that we are a small and insignificant part of the universe. What does it tell you, Holmes?”
Holmes is silent for a moment. “Watson, this is one of those important moments when logic must be used. Can you not, see? Someone has stolen our tent!”
The things that are currently happening defy logical explanation. Logic says the current world is going through hard times. Hard times are ahead of us. Jobs will be scarce; retrenchment may rise, yet why is there high attrition, and why are hard talents hard to find?
I was watching a business cable channel one morning and was captivated by the words of the chairperson of a huge company. She said: “Our business is in a growth trajectory, and we are hiring. But we no longer hire people based on their educational attainment or work experience; we hire people according to their skills and potential.” So, where is the logic now behind the age-old belief that getting an educational degree and having work experience can secure you a job? Of course, we need education, but having it alone, apart from skills and potential, may not be a reliable path toward career success and growth.
Promising talents are hard to find. It does not seem logical, but many are quitting their jobs. Perhaps to stave off attrition, companies will have to look and work harder with an internal talent marketplace that can match existing employees to open roles in novel and sometimes unexpected ways. Many people in the workplace, including job seekers, seek work that enables them to grow. They know they have untapped potential, and if even the opportunity, they would be more than willing to take on the role. However, there is this one tiny little thing called the leadership thingy. The reality is that many managers are terrible. They have never been trained to develop their leadership skills. Many still behave with the same favored leadership qualities of yesteryears. Rather than developing their people and unleashing their potential, they impede their people’s progress.
A recent trade industry survey indicates that 85 percent of people believed they could do their jobs without a manager, while 82 percent would consider quitting because of a bad manager.
To find good people, you first need to have good leaders. To build and lead a great team, the leaders must be the kind of person people want to make and build with. Leaders got better things to think about than what their employees wear to work. One more thing. It seems ironic that as technology becomes even more ubiquitous, people’s need for soft skills increases in demand. HR professionals are having difficulty finding them. Many talents, including leaders, lack vital skills such as critical thinking, complex problem-solving, emotional intelligence (this one is huge), creativity, and the ability to deal with ambiguity and complexity. And it has been said that the skills mismatch is largest in the most automated departments, such as IT and data analytics.
In our new hybrid world of remote and in-person work, hiring managers are eager to find candidates who are dependable, resilient, and good communicators. Why soft skills?
The soft skill enables talents, including leaders, to interact well with others. Soft skills include effective communication, people skills and negotiation, adaptability and learning, teaching, and training, and empathy. While machines get smarter, taking over repetitive work and functions, the need for talents with technological skills and social and emotional management skills will be higher than ever.
I guess the logic behind all these challenges is that we need to lead by developing good leaders. And good leaders required for today are also those who are equipped and trained in the area of soft skills. I hope this view is logical.
(Francis Kong runs his highly acclaimed Level Up Leadership 2.0 Master Class Online this Aug. 17-19. For inquiries and reservations, contact April at +63928-559-1798 or and for more information, visit www.levelupleadership.ph)