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Business success is increased when a balanced combination of hard and soft

skills are utilized. Soft skills (sometimes referred to as relationship skills) are

typically difficult to observe, quantify and measure, and are the hidden dimensions

of business success. Soft skills are required for everyday life, as much as they’re

needed for work. They have to do with how people relate to each other:

communicate, listen, engage in dialogue, give feedback, cooperate as a team

member, solve problems, contribute to meetings and resolve conflict. Leaders at

all levels rely heavily on soft skills to: set an example, team build, facilitate

meetings, innovate, solve problems, make decisions, plan, delegate, observe,

instruct, coach, encourage and motivate. Recognizing the importance of the

balance between these two skill sets produces sustainable business

improvement.

The objective of this white paper is to explore further hard and soft skill sets,

determine their relative value and determine the correct balance for greatest

impact.

The hidden dimensions of business success ileadmybusiness.co.nz

Hidden Dimensions of Business Success ileadmybusiness.co.nz 2

Table of Contents

Summary ........................................................................................................................... 3 Business Challenge .......................................................................................................... 4

Exploring the hidden dimensions of business success………………………………………7

How can I improve my soft skills? ..................................................................................... 8 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 11 More Information ............................................................................................................. 11


Summary

Sustained business growth and success is driven by a balance between hard and soft

skills. Faltering or failing businesses often resort to a reflex or knee jerk reaction of

working harder for longer, and applying more hard skills in isolation to solve their issues.

Achieving a balance between utilizing both hard (technical or learnt) skills and soft

(relationship and thinking) skills is essential to business success. Coaching is the most

effective means of improving your soft skills. Deciding on the best coach and coaching

method, which best fits, your situation is not an easy choice. Coaching is not a quick fix

for short-term issues. Effective coaching changes the way you react to and think about

issues and problems, helping you come up with different and more effective solutions.

Measuring coaching success is difficult but the best means is to measure individual

productivity and engagement improvements as judged by others. The means by which

coaching is delivered are changing rapidly. Use of modern technologies (online, Skype

and others) is now being effectively incorporated into coaching programs very

successfully. The result is that coaching is becoming more affordable, accessible and

available to a greater number of individuals and organisations.


Business Challenge Many businesses come a point where despite the best efforts of both the leader and the

team the forward momentum falters or worse still stops altogether. This often results in

frustration and a reflex reaction to work harder. This often involves doing more hours,

doing more for others, doing more for longer, asking more from staff or demanding more

from customers. When the more is just more of the same, then the likely outcome is at

best a small transient gain in performance that is unsustainable.

“Doing more of the same and expecting different results is a definition of insanity” Albert Einstein

The challenge is to do something different. The objective is to identify what that

something different could be and how we can use it to find a way to improve our own

and our business’s performance.

That something different is not always obvious or available to us. The new skills required

to uncover that something different are soft skills and our aim is to help you develop

them.


In the table that follows are common examples of the issues faced by many Business

leaders along with proposed new thinking solutions

Current issue Current thinking New thinking

I just cant find a way forward

Do more of the same. Work harder and longer.

Extend the search beyond what you have previous experience of.

I’ve tried working harder, longer and smarter.

Continue to apply tried and tested ways to solve the issue.

Find a new and different way of tackling the issue.

I know something is lacking but I don’t know what.

I’ve used everything I know to solve this issue.

Look to your own level of development to find the blockage

I feel there should be something more but I don’t know what

I give up and bring in external experts to solve the issue for me.

Examine your own thinking, is it one track or can you be objective and come at things from different angles.

Working in the business not on it.

Finding the time to explore why I’m in this situation is a distraction; I just need to get on with it.

What is your purpose, have you lost sight of why you set your business up or took this position on in the first place?


Exploring the hidden dimension of business

success. If you have sufficient hard (technical) skills and a shortage of soft (relationship) skills,

you have a soft skills gap. Soft skills balance the hard skills, and enable you to utilize

your technical expertise to improve business performance.

It is also possible to have a hard skills gap where your “technical expertise” is insufficient

to enable you to complete your tasks successfully. This can be addressed either by

further training, formal learning or bringing in outsourced technical expertise.

Examples of hard and soft skills.

Hard Skills Soft Skills

IT Competencies Communication

Financial procedures and analysis Listening

Sales and admin Providing effective feedback

Answer these questions to uncover if you have a soft skills gap:

Do you find it easy to win new business, but find it hard to develop a lasting relationship

with your clients?

Is keeping good staff a problem?

Are there lots of followers in your team but no real leaders?

If you answered yes to any or all of these questions are you willing to explore different

ways of resolving them? Health warning: this may be extremely challenging for you.

Why am I facing this now when in the past I’ve been very successful?

The current business world has changed very quickly to become a highly connected,

increasingly complex, time scarce environment. The information age demands a new

set of skills to be added to traditional industrial age skills.


Today’s business environment has evolved for a variety of reasons to a point where soft

skills have become a vital ingredient for success. Traditional methods of problem

solving, decision-making and strategic planning for example are becoming less effective.

Research from Centre for Leadership at the University of Exeter showed the biggest skill

gaps in small to medium sized enterprises include:

• Delegation • Time management • Team work • Developing future leaders • Strategic thinking • Training and education • Strategic planning • Managing conflict.

Source: Leadership Development in SME’s: Bolden, Richard (2007). Center for Leadership Studies, University of Exeter.

In our experience many business people express concerns in their business with areas such as:

• Listening effectively • Communicating effectively • Developing effective relationships • Presenting ideas and concepts effectively • Defining and sharing a vision and business goals effectively • Understanding how your business goals relate to your core values

Problems in these areas suggests a low level of the necessary soft skills as a result your

hard skill base has limited effectiveness in driving business success.

It's important for you to recognize the vital role soft skills play within your team and not

only work on developing them within yourself, but encourage their development

throughout the organization


How can I improve my soft skills?

Soft skills predict success in life, they causally produce that success.

Hard Evidence on Soft Skills. James J Heckman, Tim D Kautz, National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper, 2012

Hard skill solutions are not “wrong” just incomplete on their own. To gain the big picture solution to issues and problems the introduction of soft skill solutions into the mix produces a more effective and efficient solution. Below are a few examples of what a “balanced” approach could look like. For example. Time management Hard skill solution Soft skill solution Training in or purchase of a time management tool or a time management app!

Exploration (through coaching) of how your time is currently being spent. Defining the ROI on my time investment in different areas. Focusing on task management not time management.

Outcome. Efficient use of time Outcome. Effective use of time For example. Managing conflict Hard skill solution Soft skill solution Putting in a process for communication. Obtaining legal advice. Starting disciplinary processes or performance management processes.

Understanding the other person’s real issues – listening skills. Understanding each individuals role in communication, how to give feedback. Asking powerful questions to uncover the real issues.

Outcome. Efficient conflict management. Outcome. Effective relationship management.

Coaching has become the preferred method of soft skill development. Traditionally

coaching has been delivered through one-on-one in sessions lasting on average 2 hours

held regularly (at least once a month). This has meant that coaching has for the most

part been restricted by cost and availability to C level corporate clients.


In a major survey of coaching practices (American Management Assn, Coaching: A Global Study of

Successful Practices Current Trends and Future possibilities 2008-2018) coaching was utilized by over 50%

of US and international companies and growing rapidly. Coaching was associated with

higher performance and external coaching works best. The study reported that there

was a trend towards the use of phone or Skype as well as web-based technologies

coaching sessions (37% used such combined technologies).

How long does coaching need to continue to be effective?

The longer a coaching program lasts the more highly associated it is with coaching

success. The average duration is 9 months.

What is coaching used for?

The main reason for using coaching was “To improve individual

performance/productivity” with 75% of organizations doing so for this purpose.

“Effective skills development depends on opportunities to practice soft skills with support

and guidance, encouraging reflection and subsequently development orientated

learning”.

The Value and Development of Soft Skills: The Case of Oman. Prof. Taki Abdul Redha Al Abduwani. Intl journal of

Information Technology and Business Management. Vol12, No 1 2012

How to get the best out of coaching?

Coaching is not a quick fix for problems and issues but a long-term improvement and

change process. The quick fix is an attractive proposition, however, the challenge is to

discover solutions that are more effective and last. Coaching is a relatively slow fix.

Significant changes in the way you think, interact and behave can result from your

journey through the coaching process given sufficient time and commitment.

(For more on Slow Fixes” read Carl Honore’s book The Slow Fix)


What can I do to make coaching most valuable?

Be committed to:

• Explore changes in your vision, values, and behaviors.

• Examine how your own behaviors and actions affect your business.

• Work in open exploration with your coaching program.

During the coaching process, take responsibility for your actions and remain aware of

the impact of your behavioral changes on others and the organization as a whole.

You will gain:

• Increased self-awareness of the implications of typical behaviors.

• The ability to learn new skills, build existing competencies and change behaviors.

• Find ways to put these new learning into practice and make them work for you.

• The insights required to make best use of available resources including time, energy and money

What’s the best way to measure coaching success?

The most effective measures of success of coaching would ideally be those that

measure individual productivity and engagement improvements as judged by others.

These have been shown to have the strongest association with coaching success. (American Management Assn., Coaching: A Global Study of Successful Practices Current Trends and Future possibilities

2008-2018)


Summary

Research has shown that for business performance to improve a combination of hard

and soft skills is required. Soft skills are harder to measure than hard skills but no less

important. Coaching is the most effective means to develop soft skill sets. coaching has

traditionally been restricted to top management within large corporates. New methods of

delivering coaching are extending its availability to a wider audience. There are inherent

difficulties in selecting the “right coach” but the selection criteria are becoming more

sophisticated.

Ileadmybusiness utilizes proven coaching methodologies specifically adapted for online

use in a comprehensive personal development program. Experienced and internationally

qualified coaches are there to support you through the program, deal with any issues

that arise and help you gain maximum value from the process.

! Contact Us

Name: ileadmybusiness Address: Level 6, Rabobank Tower, 2 Commerce St

Auckland, New Zealand

Email: [email protected] Website: www.ileadmybusiness.co.nz Tel: +64 21 822 402

More Information

For the latest information about our product and services, please see the following

resources:

http://www.ileadmybusiness.co.nz


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