In our experience, when it comes to coaching, many CEOs don’t see this area as vitally important. An article in HBR reports CEOs as largely regarding ‘soft skills’ as not necessary to fulfil the requirements of their role, however it is these skills which can serve to undo a CEO.
What brings about the demise of a CEO?
Think of what constitutes ‘soft skills:’ self-awareness, empathy, conflict resolution, ability to listen, compassion, ability to influence are just some of the skills that work to enhance leadership. However, if your view as a CEO is that ‘soft skills’ are secondary to success, then consider the downfall of CEOs that you know of, and their behaviour leading up to it. Was it due to technical deficiencies or a lack of discipline or impulse control?
Choose the right path in your quest for success
Research indicates that successful leaders are more self-centred and reassured, though this may blind us to believing that these are the only attributes that matter. Soft skills are a part of life-long learning. We can choose to ignore these in our quest for confidence and inner comfort, results and ‘bragging rights’ with mates. Power plays and high conflict situations can become the norm in a CEO’s life. Results, results, results. After all, isn’t this what we are graded on?
Does your style motivate your team to win?
Doesn’t our next contract rely on achieving or exceeding the bottom line? So how does that impact on the way we motivate others? Ourselves? Does reaching that business imperative change your behaviour? If not in a positive way, are you aware when the behaviour that got you to where you are, started to change in a manner that others did not appreciate? And if so, you can bet that the change was in the ‘soft skills’ you did not adequately demonstrate.
We can help you take your leadership to the next level
The one constant in life is change as we all know, and while success is important, success without using the most effective tools of all, amounts to limited success only. Novoture specialises in ‘soft skill’ assessment and optimising. We have the necessary backgrounds and experience in HR, psychology and management. We will help you become the leaders you want to be.
Soft skills matter.