In locations such as Davos, Switzerland and Sun Valley, Idaho, billionaire business leaders gather to attend conferences where they participate in important conversations. Many discussions, so I’ve read, focus on leveraging ground-breaking technological advancements such as Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality and 5G data networks, plus minimizing carbon footprints and, always, maximizing profits. However, the unexpected arrival of the coronavirus and our responses to it not only preempted those momentous conversations, but also pushed to the forefront trends that not long ago were only distant drumbeats.

You may recall that telecommuting, now rebranded as Work From Home, began slowly about 20 years ago and existed mostly in the high tech space. The much more recent phenomenon known as the Great Resignation has seen 38 million+ workers quit their jobs since 2021 and skimmed 4.4 million employees from the U.S. workforce in February 2022 (most switched employers). Meanwhile, yet another trend has been slowly building in professional development and leadership circles since about the 1980s, the importance of traits and competencies known as soft skills.

The WFH and Great Resignation disruptions have left managers struggling to simultaneously retain talent and lure employees back to the office. According to a survey by Glassdoor, what can be summed up as a toxic work culture (mostly insufficient pay, limited chance of advancement and lousy bosses) is fueling both occurrences. Workers are mounting a spirited pushback and the bosses can’t help but notice. They know it’s time for a workplace culture reboot. Bring on the soft skills.

Like wisps of fog slipping in at daybreak, talk of the traits and competencies known as soft skills slipped onto the radar screens of business thought leaders with little fanfare. Soft skills can perhaps be best defined as empathy, or Emotional Intelligence (E.Q.), the ability to understand and acknowledge the feelings of another.

In your personal and professional spheres, it is now of paramount importance that you commit to understanding the perspectives of others and figure out how to acknowledge and accommodate their values, priorities and experiences. Soft skills traits and competencies—-work ethic, communication, problem-solving, adaptability, delegating, resilience, analytical and motivational ability, collaborating and decision-making—-will put you on the path to achieving that goal.

In our New Normal business environment empathy, that is, E.Q., can bring a competitive advantage to your organization. When you think about it, the ability to see the world from the viewpoint of others has always been among the most valuable resources in your your business toolbox. Let’s consider how empathy will cause you to act with compassion and strengthen your relationships with clients and colleagues and become a foundational element of business growth.

Build trust, inspire loyalty

Soft skills will play a central role in your ability to attract and retain clients and receive referrals and recommendations. The purpose and benefits of your products and services, their environmental and social impact and your diversity, equity and inclusion advocacy are factors to consider within your Freelance consulting practice. How you integrate these messages into your various communications formats, including website text, social media posts, blog and/ or newsletter, marketing emails, images, packaging, shipping and strategic partnership choices and demonstrate your relatability, reliability, authenticity and expertise will add (or subtract) clients from your roster.

Use your communication soft skills, in particular asking questions and active listening, to discover what your top clients feel is important to them now and assess how their perspectives and priorities may have changed since 1Q 2020. Soulaima Gourani, co-founder and CEO of Happioh, a Silicon Valley software company and author of Take Control of Your Career (2016), suggests that a good way to cultivate self-awareness, a component of empathy and other soft skills, is to invite feedback from your clients. Gourani says, “Feedback is not easy to a lot of people and it is an essential component of change. You have blind spots and it is like ‘you’ve got broccoli in your teeth …’ You need people to tell you that, because you can’t see it.”

It’s probably safe to assume that in these turbulent, war-torn, inflationary times, reliability, expertise, transparency and efficiency are at top-of-mind for clients and prospects. Support your clients with follow-up, creativity, training and encouragement—- humanist behaviors that sustain healthy relationships.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Fred Rogers (1928 – 2003), creator of the children’s television series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, poses with the Neighborhood Train. The series aired on PBS 1963-2001.