By Ryan Ayers
Most business leaders understand that soft skills play an essential role in effectively leading others. Without having a strong command of key soft skills, you may experience difficulty in getting others to follow your advice and trust your intentions. The question begs then how to advance your soft skills so that you can become more intentional, a passionate and respected leader who others will want to follow.
When setting out to improve your soft skills you want to have a clear understanding of what those soft skills are, identify ways to improve them and then practice them.
What Are Soft Skills?
Soft skills include attributes and personality traits that help employees interact with others and succeed in the workplace. Soft skills determine how effectively you’re able to interact with others and how you approach your work.
Some examples of soft skills include communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. Believe it or not, these are some of the key MBA skills that employers look for when hiring recent graduates.
Soft skills don’t only make important business skills, they’re incredibly powerful in other fields as well. Whether one is looking to develop advanced nursing skills, more effectiveness as a teacher, or excellence in any other field, soft skills are essential. By cultivating these types of skills, you’ll be able to develop into a better and more capable leader in any field or industry.
Ways to Improve Your Soft Skills
While you may be convinced that it’s time to start advancing your soft skills, you might feel like you don’t know where to start. Luckily, there are some key practices you can engage in to start developing these skills immediately. Here are some effective ways to start developing your soft skills as a business leader.
#1 Study Others and Practice Empathy
One of the best ways to improve the way you communicate and interact with others is by gaining a deeper understanding of them. In order to understand others, it can help to study how they act and practice putting yourself in their shoes. If you gain a clearer understanding of what motivates others, you’ll be able to better see things from their perspectives.
Being able to see things from the perspectives of others will help you in a myriad of impactful ways. It will allow you to understand what you need to show them to gain their trust along with how you need to explain things to get them to follow your lead.
Accordingly, any leader — no matter what field they’re in — can improve their soft skills and improve their ability to lead by studying others and practicing empathy.
#2 Change How You Communicate with Each Individual
Different individuals have different styles of communication. Similarly, different individuals will respond differently to varying styles of communication. By being aware of this fact, you have the ability to determine how you can most effectively communicate with those around you. When it comes to leading a team or organization, being able to communicate effectively with each individual you interact with will help you gain the trust and respect of your colleagues.
While it’s important to have your own distinct communication style as a leader, changing the nuances of how you communicate with specific individuals can make you more effective as a communicator.
For example, you may have an employee who is nervous by nature and is made uncomfortable by small talk. Understanding this and making it a point to skip the small talk and be direct can make interactions more effective for both parties. Accordingly, becoming mindful of how you communicate with different individuals can help you improve your management skills and improve as a business leader.
#3 Practice Solving Problems
Problem-solving is an incredibly powerful skill — especially in business. Having highly developed problem-solving abilities is typically a hallmark amongst the most renowned and effective leaders. Though solving problems and overcoming problems may not seem fun, it’s the most effective way to develop as a problem solver.
As such, you can benefit from taking time every day to think about solutions to organizational problems — whether they are your responsibility or not.
One beneficial effect that results from habitually practicing problem-solving is less stress associated with challenges. Rather than feeling overwhelmed by complex problems, you’ll feel capable and prepared to solve them. This will help you stay calm while under pressure and more capable of ideating effectively and developing salient solutions to problems.
Given the many benefits that come from being an adroit problem-solver, practicing your ability to solve problems is one of the most effective ways you can advance your soft skills as a leader.
Soft skills are an essential part of any effective business leader’s toolbox. Without a strong command of soft skills, leaders face the threat of being ineffective communicators that are unequipped to overcome serious challenges.
Thankfully, no matter who you are, you have the ability to grow as a business leader by advancing your soft skills. By engaging in a few key practices, you’ll be able to hone your soft skills, gain confidence in your abilities, and lead with excellence.
About the Author
Ryan Ayers has consulted a number of Fortune 500 companies within multiple industries including information technology, business, and project management. After earning his MBA in 2010, Ayers also began working with start-up companies and aspiring entrepreneurs, with a keen focus on project management and business development.