The really expert riders of horses let the horse know immediately who is in control, but then guide the horse with loose reins and seldom use the spurs.- Sandra Day O’Connor The metaphor describing how jockeys steer their horses towards the finishing line appositely captures the importance of possessing soft skills for those in leadership positions. Soft skills—which are a combination of interpersonal skills and personal traits—involve good communication, out-of-box thinking, lifelong learning and information management, selfmotivation, leadership, responsibility, team work, trouble shooting capabilities, decisiveness, ability to work under pressure, time management, flexibility, negotiation, and conflict resolution. These skills enable a person to navigate in his or her work environment seamlessly and make a binding bond with other team members, making them a cut above the ordinary.
The dominant factor
Soft skills of senior executives are put to test when they undertake the responsibility to drive their team to the goal. The journey, needless to say, is not smooth sailing. Team members may clash due to their varied points of view, may bully each other, or even refuse to work together. Some team members may face issues and not be available at a critical juncture of a project. Such challenging circumstances demand immediate attention, and leaders with the pertinent soft skills will be able to keep the ball rolling.
This story is from the September 2019 edition of Indian Management.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 2019 edition of Indian Management.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Trust is a must
Trust a belief in the abilities, integrity, values, and character of any organisation is one of the most important management principles.
Listen To Your Customers
A good customer experience management strategy will not just help retain existing customers but also attract new ones.
The hand that feeds
Providing free meals to employees is an effective way to increase engagement and boost productivity.
Survival secrets
Thrive at the workplace with these simple adaptations.
Plan backwards
Pioneer in the venture capital and private equity fields and co-founder of four transformational private equity firms, Bryan C Cressey opines that we have been taught backwards in many important ways, people can work an entire career without seeing these roadblocks to their achievements, and if you recognise and bust these five myths, you will become far more successful.
For a sweet deal
Negotiation is a discovery process for both sides; better interactions will lead all parties to what they want.
Humanise. Optimise. Digitise
Engaging employees in critical to the survival of an organisation, since the future of business is (still) people.
Beyond the call of duty
A servant leadership model can serve the purpose best when dealing with a distributed workforce.
Workplace courage
Leaders need to build courage in order to enhance their self-reliance and contribution to the team.
Focused on reality
Are you a sales manager or a true sales leader? The difference, David Mattson, CEO, Sandler® and author, Scaling Sales Success: 16 Key Principles For Sales Leaders, maintains, comes down to whether you can see beyond five classic myths that we often tell ourselves about selling.
