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If you think the demand for AI talent is hot, the call for so-called "soft skills" in the workplace is even hotter. In fact, “72% of US executives believe soft skills are more valuable to their organization than technical skills," wrote LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky in a post on the social networking site.
Roslansky's sentiment is echoed by industry leaders like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, former PepsiCo chairwoman and CEO Indra Nooyi, former Yum Brands co-founder and CEO David Novak and many, many others. They have emphasized the importance of qualities like effective communication, consistency, collaboration and emotional courage. As workplaces continue to evolve, mastering these soft skills has become crucial.
However, many young professionals, especially those from Gen Z, entered the workforce with weaker soft skills. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted their high school and college experiences, limiting their opportunities for part-time jobs and in-person internships where they could have developed these skills. The lack of face-to-face interactions and reliance on remote learning environments left many Gen Z workers less prepared for the interpersonal demands of the workplace.
“The youngest members of our workforce today have not been socialized to work with large groups of people. This will make an enormous difference for them across their entire professional career,” Alan Cabelly told the audience at the recent SHRM Annual Conference.
Brené Brown didn’t seem quite as gloomy about the prospects of workers whose soft skills fall short. “Soft skills can be learned,” she said during Wharton professor Adam Grant’s Re:Thinking podcast.
Why Soft Skills Matter
Bezos highlighted the importance of soft skills like clear and effective communication during his tenure as Amazon’s CEO. He went as far as to implement some uncommon practices to ensure that meetings were set up for success. Bezos banned PowerPoint presentations in favor of carefully crafted, meeting worthy, six-page narrative memos that participants read in silence at the beginning of each meeting. “If we don’t require that the memos be studied before any conversation begins, the executives, like high school kids, will try to bluff their way through a meeting,” Bezos said at Forum on Leadership. This practice not only improved communication but also ensured that discussions were substantive and well-informed.
Nooyi, outlined five essential soft skills for leaders, which she called the five C's: Competency, Courage and Confidence, Communication, Consistency, and Compass (integrity). She emphasized that becoming a better communicator and maintaining consistency in actions are keys to success.
Novak also underscored the value of soft skills. Before hiring anyone, Novak asked himself, “Would I want my daughter to work with this person?” and “If we were storming Normandy, would I want this person to be there with me?” For Novak, it’s the soft skills that drive hard results. “Soft skills come before hard skills,” he said.
Related Article: Make Skill Agility Your Currency for Success
The Essential Soft Skills
Soft skills are observable, measurable and teachable, said Brené Brown. She summarized them as "Public speaking, boundary setting and vulnerability."
Listening, a key component of communication, is particularly important. “People want to be heard and to know that their input matters,” said Novak. Effective public speaking is another vital soft skill. Many CEOs, including Novak, have taken classes to improve their ability to communicate effectively.
In a perfect world, every worker could lean on their employer’s compass to understand where they are headed, to guide their actions, and know how their work fits into the greater whole. Nooyi listed knowing how to use the corporate compass as a soft skill. Author and speaker Simon Sinek wrote that, “A written cause works like a compass. And with a compass in hand, each succession of leaders, their gaze looking beyond the horizon, can more easily navigate the technologies, politics, and cultural norms of the day without the founder present.”
Practical Applications
“Simplifying the complex is one of the most critical communications tools that you could ever have,” said Nooyi in a MasterClass video. “If you give people a simple message that touches their heart, that's better than giving them a complex message that touches their head but they don't know what the hell it means.” Bezos also advocated for using short words to discuss hard things.
Best-selling author and career coach Marlo Lyons advised against talking in circles. “Don’t talk in circles, which is what most people do. Many don’t make their point until they are almost done speaking; by then, you may have lost the listener’s attention.”
Related Article: Balancing Hard and Soft Skills in Learning and Development
Emotional Courage and Consistency
Peter Bregman emphasized the importance of emotional courage in the workplace in an article for Harvard Business Review: “No matter your age, your role, your position, your title, your profession, or your status, to get your most important work done, you have to have hard conversations, create accountability and inspire action." This can mean anything from championing accomplishments to firing underperformers. Using emotional courage, he explained, builds more emotional courage, leading to a more confident, connected and committed workforce.
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Consistency is a soft skill that all of us, especially leaders, need. “It's important leaders are consistent. You can change your mind. But change your mind against a consistent framework. Because if you're not consistent, people are always second guessing what you're doing,” said Nooyi.
Bridging Raw Talent and Real Impact
Soft skills have long been the secret sauce for success — they're just now getting their due. They're the bridge between hard skills and impact. For Gen Z and, frankly, the rest of us, honing these skills isn't just smart, it's essential. They're what turn good ideas into great outcomes.
So sharpen your communication. Build your courage. Stay consistent. In a world buzzing with AI and tech, it's your uniquely human abilities that set you apart.
