by Karla Cloete

Soft skills don’t belong on your wish list of nice-to-haves.

Whether you are working with us at Atara to scale your team and hire inspiring executive talent or looking to level up your performance- soft skills are the key. 

According to Harvard Business’s 2023 Global Leadership Development study, finding ways to humanise leadership was a key challenge, with 78% of respondents indicating that soft skills like empathy were becoming more important.

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One chief people officer in the study remarked:

“Employees now expect their manager to care about them personally... They will share that they are emotionally struggling, which rarely happened before. One of the changes is being able to more holistically engage an employee appropriately … but many leaders still don’t know how to do it.”

A lack of soft skills can create a hostile work environment, breed dissatisfaction and a lack of trust within the team, according to Brent Gleeson for Forbes 2024. 

A 2023 study looked at data sets of job postings from 19,000 technology-driven organisations which showed the demand for soft skills is increasing. 

But what if you’re really skilled? Isn't that enough? Well, you still need soft skills! 

At least according to studies by the Stanford Research Institute and the Carnegie Mellon Foundation which found that 75% of long-term job success was predicted by soft skills as opposed to 25% of technical skills. Not to mention that soft skills training showed a 12% increase in productivity. 

5 Soft skills for executives and founders

‍Cultural awareness

In an ever-globalising business world, the ability to understand and respect different cultures, customs and heritages has never been more important. It’s not only about being able to negotiate cultural differences with international clients but about fostering an inclusive environment in your own company. A lack of this awareness can lead to big blunders, creating dysfunctional team dynamics and poor workplace culture. Not to mention cultural awareness is vital in building strong relationships and even stronger networks- both key to innovation and growth. 

‍Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence or EQ is the ability to manage your emotions effectively, and accurately perceive and respond to others' emotional states. Luckily, this skill isn’t innate but can be actively worked on. It’s a broad concept that encompasses social and self-awareness which is what makes it such an important executive leadership skill. A less empathetic approach can be seen as being a ‘tough’ leader for tough times, but this approach can lead to high turnover, disengagement and the team feeling undervalued. 

‍Problem-solving skills

If the last 4 years have taught us anything, it’s that change never stops coming as unprecedented as the times can be. The ability to balance creative and critical thinking skills to navigate constant challenges in an ever-evolving industry is vital. Being a problem-solver doesn’t just garner respect- it keeps your business going.   

‍Time management 

Managing your time effectively doesn’t just mean getting home in time for dinner, but about making sure your team functions effectively. Leadership sets the tone of an organisation and if management has poor time management skills it means they are constantly creating crises for their stressed-out team and fostering an environment geared to putting out fires rather than fueling passion and new ideas. 

‍Employee Development 

A leader isn’t solely invested in their own career growth, but in building their whole team to live up to their true potential. Actively working to identify opportunities for growth in your team, offering constructive criticism and investing in their talent and well-being goes a long way. Being overly task-oriented means that you miss the potential right under your nose! Not to mention investing in career development has been shown to increase employee retention and satisfaction. 

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Soft skills are becoming more and more of a non-negotiable. So whether you're a start-up founder or an executive- the time to begin investing in your soft skills is now. It's clear that this is one investment with a guaranteed ROI.

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If you want to learn about imposter syndrome in business leaders next, check out this blog. If you’d like to learn more about how Atara Partners can help your company grow, find out more here.