Power Your Performance Blog

The real costs of not requiring “soft skills”

Fast answers may bite you in the rear end! We’ve been taught since we were young to have the answer. A lot of people have created a career based on having answers, and they usually are rewarded for having those answers quickly. 

When a team member approaches and shares a tough situation, most leaders will start to go into problem solving mode. If you’re in this situation, you probably have lots of ideas and solutions swirling through your head. You have lots of experience and want to know what's going on. So you start furiously beating the Question Pinata…

Tired of signing yourself up for individual heroic efforts? As a leader it’s incredibly easy to say “I’ll just do it” when there is a tough problem to solve, and there is a lot on the plate for your team members.

How often are you giving the answer to others? Leaders usually have deep technical knowledge and skill in their area, which is great until that slows down their total performance.

It’s easy to jump in and want to get going when there is a problem to solve…and over time, this approach tends to hurt more than it helps.

You’ve just learned something new…now what? Now it’s time for action, to put the new information to use. This short video highlights how effective leaders take what they learn and begin to apply it. This helps them transition from conceptual knowledge to practical skill.

Accountability has gotten a bad rap because it’s been misused so often, and misunderstood even more. When you don’t practice regular, healthy accountability with people, you’re letting them off the hook. You’re really telling them “I don’t care about what we agreed to” at best…or “I don’t care about you” at worst.