YOUR BUSINESS SUPER POWER

I try not to hang out on social media too much these days. I can only handle so many graduation pics and arguments about the latest issues that won’t result in any real change. I really only stick around for great recipes and to follow Adam Grant.

If you don’t know, Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist and author of Think Again (and a few other books on my to-read list). I read Think Again a few months back and it was very insightful. It forced me to evaluate my own thinking about several things and the ways that my thinking impacts my life and my business.

One of Mr. Grant’s recent posts on the book of faces (or maybe it was in his book…) was this quote:

“The ability to communicate is always in demand.”

I wanted to high-five him through my screen. This is a simple statement but carries so much truth. I would amend it only to say, “the ability to communicate well is always in demand.”

This got me thinking about all the people I encounter that tell me things like “I didn’t know what to say” or “I wasn’t sure how to respond to _______”. Communicating well is about more than just knowing how to respond to people. It is about knowing how to start and carry conversations, convey urgency or meaning, set expectations, and relay information in a clear, easy to understand manner.

The ability to communicate encompasses such a broad range of skills it is overwhelming to most of us. Some of our communication is automatic, we don’t even realize we are communicating – facial expressions, the use of our hands or other body movements and language, even the way we dress and present ourselves are all ways we communicate. These are passive or indirect methods of communication because we typically are not putting active thought into them.

Then there are the active, or intentional, ways we communicate. The spoken word, a thoughtfully (or maybe not-so-thoughtfully) written email, a handwritten note, a phone call…all methods of communication that require active thought in the moment.

I think this is where most people struggle. It’s not that we can’t communicate effectively or confidently, most of us just don’t get the opportunity or encouragement to practice communicating so we never get better at it. We are generally too busy learning or being evaluated on our hard skills (the actual processes and skills used in our jobs on a daily basis) that we overlook the importance of mastering soft skills like communicating.

I was perusing LinkedIn for a half a minute today and came across this post from Gary Vaynerchuk:

Any of us can learn the hard skills required for a job. How to fill out documents, build a machine, bag groceries…any of the job-specific skills you might need to learn can be taught on the job or through training specific to that industry. It is the soft skills, like empathy, intuition, and communication that cannot be taught in a one-week training period, but rather over a long period of time, through trial and error, and life experience.

This is what makes humans so amazing. We have the ability to learn and retain knowledge over the course of our entire lifespan and use that knowledge to enhance our lives as we live them!

As a business owner or professional, you can’t afford NOT to possess the soft skills that are critical to success. Especially in today’s ever-connected world, you can’t depend on being the only show in town to get business in your door. So many businesses are digital and available globally, the competition is tougher than ever. If you can’t communicate and create relationships that will support your clients, they will go elsewhere. It doesn’t matter how well you can do your job; people want a GREAT experience. They want to enjoy the process of whatever it is they have hired you to do.

In my Facebook stalking of Adam Grant, I also came across this post:

Soft skills make humans indispensable. Remember that. A machine might be able to do a job, but can that machine do it with a smile on its face? Can that machine make judgment calls and call audibles in the middle of the process to make the experience better for the customer?

The answer simply is no, it cannot.

I hope this post has helped you to see that soft skills are incredibly important to your success. If you are a customer-based business (aren’t all businesses??) then you MUST develop your soft skills as much as (if not more than) your hard skills. Your success depends on it!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope to hear from you soon! Book a call with me HERE or head on over to our resources page HERE to connect on social media or download my FREE eBook!

Ciao for now!