The Hard Case For Soft Skills
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Emotional competence is central to be successful in a
leadership position.
Leaders must be able to handle various stressful
situations.
In addition the ability to establish trust and rapport is
also crucial.
According to Robert Worden, director of business
research at Eastman Kodak, ‘The importance of
emotional intelligence increases the higher a worker
advances in an organization’
Worden also states’ The ability to relate, to speak up
and be heard, to be comfortable with yourself-these
are the kinds of abilities that make the crucial
difference.’
Star Workers
1-Patrick McCarthy is a salesman at Nordstorm who goes out of his way
to satisfy customers. As a result he has annual sales of over $1 million
compared with the industry average of $80,000. He nurtures his
customer base of 6,000 clients by going the extra mile with his service.
Without the ability to listen, understand, and be resourceful he would
not be able to make the commission that he makes.
2- Emotional intelligence makes a huge difference in the computer
programming field as well. Where the rate at which the top ten star
workers exceed the average performers in producing effective
programs is 320 percent. In addition, in the top 1 percent of
programmers researched they produced 1,272 percent more than the
average worker which is truly amazing. So a star worker is worth more
to a company than about 20 average workers.
3- The star workers according to Lyle Spencer a director of research and
technology “It’s not just computing skills that set apart the stars, but
teamwork, the very best are willing to stay late to help colleagues
finish a project, or to share shortcuts they discover rather than keep
them to themselves”
Turnover
1- Just as there is a clear value added from emotional
competence, a deficit in these competencies also carries
a high price-in turnover. According to Lyle Spencer he
estimates that the real cost to a company from a
turnover of an employee is the same as one full year of
pay.
2- When companies lose many workers, even at low
salaries, the real costs can be substantial. Turnover
rates in retail and insurance sales, for example, are
estimated to exceed 50 percent per year, mostly among
new hires.
3- At a global consumer beverage firm, which ignored
emotional competence-were used to hire division
presidents, 50 percent left within two years because they
were performing poorly, at a total search cost of close to
$4 million.
Successful Leader Qualities
1- Self-Control – stay composed under stress, remaining
calm and confident- and dependable- in the heat of
crises.
2- Conscientiousness- admitting mistakes and failures,
taking action to fix the problems, and moving on without
ruminating about their lapse.
3- Trustworthiness- high integrity, with a strong concern for
the needs of their subordinates and colleagues, and for
the demands of the task at hand, giving these higher
priority than impressing their own boss at any cost.
4- Social Skills- being empathic and sensitive, showing tact
and consideration in their dealings with everyone.
5- Building Bonds and Leveraging Diversity- more
appreciative of diversity, able to get along with people of
all kinds.
The Peter Principle
1-The peter principle at work: people are promoted to their level of
incompetence. A person who is promoted because of expertise finds himself
as a new level, where many or most duties revolve around managing
people-not technical skill. This means the working world is peppered with
bad bosses.
2- The classic mistake is assuming that if someone has a special expertise, it
necessarily means they also have the ability to lead.
3- According to Paul Robinson, director of Sandia National Laboratories, ‘I call
it the Michael Jordon effect. A top executive leaves and you immediately
turn to the best scientist as the replacement.
4- Also according to Robinson, ‘But it’s as if Chicago Bulls lost a coach and
appointed Michael Jordon to replace him. He’s a brilliant basketball player,
but the game comes so naturally to him that he may not be very good at
coaching other players- he probably never even thinks about how he dose.
It’s the same with us-we those outstanding scientist in the lab, not in the
office.’
5- Take, for example, Patrick McCarthy, the star sales associate at Nordstrom.
Early in his career he was promoted to department manager- a post he left
after a year and a half to return to sales. As he put it: “Sales was what I was
good and felt comfortable with.”
The Computer Nerd
1- An executive at Hitachi Data Systems said, “people in
information technology tend to lack certain skills, like
empathy and social abilities. Folks in information tech
divisions are famous in our industry for not getting along
with people in other parts of their companies.”
2- Emotional intelligence abilities were about four times
more important than IQ in determining professional
success an prestige even for these scientists.
3- According to an Exxon engineer, “What made the
difference there wasn’t your grade point averageeveryone there had done well in school. The difference
was in personal quantities like perseverance, finding a
mentor, being willing to put in more hours and try
harder.”
4- In scientific work, excellence is not about technical
competence, but character.
In Conclusion….
• In every business field today it is important to
have emotional intelligence as well as expertise.
• People with the abilities to listen, understand,
and persuasive capabilities as well as other
positive social attributes move up the career
ladder with ease.
• Self awareness is a important quality to have or
obtain because every job is not for everybody.
Knowing your strengths and applying them to a
suitable occupation is essential.