Soft Skills - Ask a Wharton MBA
Develop Soft Skills – Work Smart & Live More
More than 50% of work hours is filled by meetings. The percentage is even higher if you are more senior in your role and you work for a big organization. Being able to lead effective meetings can have a profound impact on your productivity and on your reputation and the types of relationship you can build. ...
I struggled with what to say and how to feel after watching the blatant racism and senseless killing of George Floyd. I just cried. How can this be happening in 2020? I always thought I was doing enough by being “color blind” when it comes to interacting with anyone.
I realized however that I haven’t done enough. I came across this video 2 weeks ago and watched it with anguish and sadness. ...
There are so many perks when working from home including saving commute time and the ability to work in sweat pants. However working remotely makes it a lot more challenging to build relationships, including the one you need to build with your manager. Whether you always worked remotely or just started due to COVID 19 crisis, you should know how to best build your reputation with your manager remotely. ...
As more of us work from home in this new crazy reality, knowing how to communicate concisely is more important than ever. We have all been on call thinking to ourselves – when is this person going to get to the point? A professional that cannot engage or get to the point will easily lose their audience. Being able to communicate concisely is a fundamental skill that is critical to master for all professionals. ...
My husband sent me this video last week and I was blown away by its message. It Is < 5 minutes, but carries a powerful reminder for us all – the power of our words and why we should speak wisely. Here is the video and what it meant for me. I look forward to hearing your reactions.
It’s ironic. We often focus so much on wanting to be heard that we forget we are already heard by many today. Below is what this video meant for me.
Reminder 1: Speak wisely to my kids – be patient and be there. I have two girls – 6 and 9 years olds. I am blessed that they still think mommy is awesome. I love my kids but I know I can be more patient with them. This video reminds me that a hard day at work is no excuse to yell at my kids even if they are fighting yet again. They are so impressionable at this age. It is my responsibility to nurture their growth with care as well as set a good example.
What was shared in the video about Nassar is so sad. Many of us may not be that heartless, like his father, but lesser actions can still have a big impact on our kids. There are two things I always tell my kids
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When I was nominated for a leadership training at work, I was honored but skeptical I would learn anything substantial. I am glad however to be proven wrong. In the last five months, I have learned more about my leadership style and leadership brand than I had ever expected. Even better, I am already applying what I learned at work and seeing results. Here are the three unexpected leadership lessons I learned about how to become an extraordinary leader.
Lesson #1: Extraordinary leadership is about strengthening our strengths vs. fixing weaknesses
Growing up Asian, I always thought to become extraordinary I must eliminate all weaknesses – i.e. score 100 on tests, get all As, and be a perfectionist at work. In the last 20 years of work, I learned to stop being a perfectionist. However, I still heavily focus on learning what I am not good at as a leader and put a lot of energy into fixing those.
It was refreshing to learn at this training from Zenger Folkman that becoming an extraordinary leader is about strengthening my strengths vs fixing weaknesses. There is no perfect leader. Steve Jobs is a great example of this – a dynamic, visionary leader and a terrible people manager. The whole concept actually makes a lot of sense, as no one really can be good at every aspect of leadership. Just like a company must focus on its core strength vs trying to be all things to all people, a leader also needs to follow the same concept. It’s better for me to pick a few leadership qualities that I am already strong at and make that stand out above all else. That’s what will differentiate me as a leader.
This leadership lesson is quite freeing for me. I realized I don’t have to change who I am or overwhelmed myself with “fixing everything.” All I have to do is tweak a few things in my leadership style to make it even better. For example, I am already a high achiever and gets results wherever I work. I also collaborate well with teams and partners. What I need to tweak is my communication style in some difficult situations. I know how to do this in some circumstances but not all. Selecting this as something to focus on is both achievable and will make a significant difference in my leadership effectiveness
Lesson #2: It’s okay for an extraordinary leader to announce ourselves and show vulnerability
I learned this from one of the leadership speakers at our training. I really appreciated her direct communication style, confidence, and simple wisdom. She shared that it’s okay to announce yourself to your team and partners. For example,
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In part 1 and 2 of our talk with Executive Author, Jane Lin, we discussed the
In this final part, we migrated our conversation from job search to on the job success. We don’t always have the ideal job. Sometimes we have to take jobs just to make sure we can pay the mortgage or rent. In these cases, does this mean we put on career on hold until we find another job? Jane’s advice is no. Even with a less than ideal job, you have the power to make it more and progress your career. How? Go beyond your job description!
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