I stumbled upon an interesting survey run by Gary Vaynerchuk on LinkedIn recently. If you don’t know him yet, try to find out his life story. It’s a very interesting read. But let’s come back to his survey mentioned above, where he was determining whether people appreciate more so-called hard skills or soft skills.
I believe that majority of us would intuitively say that soft skills are more important. I wouldn’t be an exception. I think though that this question deserves slightly deeper insight…
When I debate with somebody about this topic, my first question usually throws them out of balance. That’s because it goes directly to the bottom of the problem…Where exactly is the border line between the soft skills and the hard skills? Translating these terms into the Czech language provides us with the first dividing line – technical vs personal skills.
Where is this common perception that soft skills are more valuable stemming from? I hear often the argument that you can teach a person hard skill within a few months but transform their behaviour and attitudes is impossible…
So, when we look at it this way, would it mean that all the soft skills training and workshops are basically throwing money out of the window? I do not think so…
This whole topic needs completely different contextual framing. Based on my opinion, we should stop trying to divide individual competencies into some categories and boxes and rather focus on the motivation of concrete people and their energy. How can we utilise that? And how can we help individuals to become better? That’s where the focus should be.
Maybe I am an immortal optimist, but I believe that every person has a unique value and abilities. It’s up to us to discover it, evaluate it and decide whether this “super ability” is an asset for you and your firm right now.
I mentioned motivation above. I and also my firm place motivation on the same level as technical and communication skills…Why does one wants to join us is just as important as what they can bring to the table. What is your perception?
