Soft skills

How to Network – Party More

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I am not joking. I will prove it to you why “partying more” will help you with networking.  I went to a Deloitte Consulting alumni event last week and had a blast. I met up with so many old friends, had fun, and discussed quite a bit of business at the same time.

I worked for Deloitte for 10 years but still was pleasantly surprised to see I knew half of the alumni at the event. Some are now Senior Managers and Partners at Deloitte and others are senior executives or successful owners of their own business.  The funny thing was as I was talking to people and recounting old times, I realized I never worked with 95% of the people I knew.  Instead we discussed the good old days of lavish consulting retreats, late night illegal golf cart rides, and dancing up a storm at the annual Christmas parties. ...  read more

What is Interpersonal Communication – Definition and 3 Myths

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Effective interpersonal communication at work is essential to your career success. Yet it’s often not clearly understood nor easy to improve. After researching on Google regarding how others discuss interpersonal communication, I will offer my own perspective – a detailed definition of what is interpersonal communication and 3 most common myths about interpersonal communication. ...  read more

Career Success – How to Succeed like an Executive

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There are five types of job skills essential to career success.

  1. Hard skills – These are trade skills (like programming, accounting, finance, chemistry) that you need to perform your job.
  2. People skills – There are 20 soft skills (including communication skills, interpersonal skills) you should develop on how to best work and interact with others so you can influence their perception of you, your work and motivate their actions.
  3. Self management skills – There are eight soft skills (including patience, stress management) you need to manage how you perceive yourself and how you react to adverse situations
  4. Work Attitude – Establish positive work attitude (such as hard working, loyal, willing to learn) that is typically valued by companies
  5. Professionalism – Practice the basic etiquette of business in the way you dress, speak, and act
After working 15 years in corporate america with a Stanford bachelors degree and a Wharton MBA, I realized that good schooling could only take me so far.  The secret to succeeding like an executive (VP level and above) in any corporation is actually mastering soft skills (20 People Skills and 8 Self Management skills).  Here is why
  • Soft skills are the most difficult to master and will separate you from the mass. Almost anyone can learn basic Professionalism and the necessary Work Attitude that are fundamental to career success.
  • As for hard skills, many schools have rigorous programs regarding how to develop specific hard skills.  As long as you are smart and can study hard, you can master the hard skills.   Soft skills, on the other hand, are not taught well in school and require dedicated effort and practice while working to develop.
  • Soft skills is what will get you promoted to executive level (VP and above).  If you look at any executives you admire today, I would bet that the reasons they advanced to that level is heavily due to their leadership skills, communication skills, or ability to inspire action and deliver results – all soft skills. You can find many engineers with great hard skills that have had difficulty achieving executive level due to lack of soft skills.

If you want to achieve career success and executive level status in any corporation, then it’s important to develop your soft skills.  You can read books and take training; you can learn from your mentors; you can practice at work every day to develop these skills.  I can also help. ...  read more

Examples – Interpersonal Skills are More Important than Hard Skills

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Have you ever wondered why having the best answer to a business problem sometimes makes no impact at all? In school, we were always incentivized to give the best answer – the best answer leads to good grades, which lead to job offers. So, naturally I brought that mentality to work. I would work tirelessly to get the perfect, best answer, but was often disappointed when nobody seemed to interested in hearing it. ...  read more

Making a Good First Impression – 5 Tips

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My husband and I are addicted to this Smart TV show on USA – Suits.  It’s about two lawyers – Harvey, a hot-shot,  young Senior Partner, at a prestigious law firm; and Michael, a “good will hunting” type, smart-mouthed Associate that Harvey just hired.  Michael has a photographic memory, but no official law degree or experience.   Harvey is tough on Michael, but is also grooming him for the fast track in the Law firm. ...  read more

Overwhelmed at Work? Six Practical Solutions

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Feeling overwhelmed at work sucks – you feel stressed, tired; your mind is racing with 1000 thoughts but limited clarity; and you can’t sleep well at night as your mind is constantly worrying about how to get it all done and what happens if you don’t.   Sound familiar?

I know the feeling well.  Being an overachiever and a consultant for 12+ years,  I have experienced intense pressure at work – some real, some self-imposed – and have often felt overwhelmed.    The good news is there are six practical solutions to stop feeling overwhelmed at work quickly.   Some of the solutions may seem counter-intuitive but I know from personal experience that they work.  If you are reading this article, then you have already accomplished the first step – recognizing that you are overwhelmed and need help.   Now, take a deep breathe and gain control again. ...  read more

Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills – Difference and Importance

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Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills – What’s the difference and is one more important than the other to your career success?  In my recent articles – What are Soft Skills and List of 28 Soft Skills, I offered detailed definitions of soft skills.  Here I want to highlight three key differences between hard skills and soft skills and how their importance depends highly on the career you are in. ...  read more