Six points of ‘hard’ thinking for ‘soft skills’ development
Why is it that the personal skills we have and can develop – that can make so much difference to the achievements of our departments and organisations – are called ‘soft skills’?
I understand the need to separate those skills that are process, analytical and logical etc and are described as ‘hard skills’……
Hard Skills Examples:
- risk assessment skills
- purchasing evaluations
- understanding legal contracts
from those skills that are more personal…….
Soft Skills Examples:
- managing your time
- understanding interactions between people
- how to communicate effectively
Facing up to your own mind-driven skills and non-skills is not easy – in fact its often one of the hardest challenges we face. It takes courage and a level of emotional intelligence to accept that none of us are always right in our judgements.
Surely the most powerful learning is through making mistakes and evaluating how things could have been done differently
Here are six points of ‘hard’ thinking for personal development:
1. Ask yourself at the end of every day – what went well?
2. What could I have done differently?
3. How could I action these differences?
4. Am I actually listening to all that I am hearing and seeing?
5. What did I actually achieve today – not just in process results but in terms of relationships with others?
6. What have I learned about myself?
So, why are our personal skills called ‘Soft Skills’?
Quote: live today as if we were to die tomorrow: learn today as if we are to live forever!
Check out CP Training Services’s Soft Skills Courses: http://www.cp-training-consortium.co.uk/soft-skills-and-personal-skills-training-courses-category-11
