10 Essential Soft Skills (With Examples) – Forbes Advisor

Businesses aren’t built by technology. They’re built by people. They don’t thrive because of their awesome tech stack or investors with deep pockets. They meet and exceed their strategic and financial goals because of the hard work, innovative ideas and heartfelt commitment of the people who work there to their coworkers and their shared goals.

Success in business depends less on the hard skills that make up your platform, processes or infrastructure and more on the soft skills that your staff possesses. Empathy, ethics, creativity and a personal investment in the success of others fuel today’s dynamic and innovative organizations. If you want to succeed in business in the 21st century, forget about jumping on the next tech bandwagon. What you really need are world-class people skills.

What Are Soft Skills?

Think of your most recent interaction with another person. What was communicated? Was the outcome what you and the other person expected? Was someone or something changed by whatever was shared between you? If so, you have soft skills to thank. Soft skills can be defined as the characteristics and attributes that allow one person to interact with another person for a specific purpose.

In business, soft skills typically focus on collaboration to complete a task, solve problems or brainstorm ideas together. However, collaborating efficiently and productively entails a social aspect that goes beyond work roles and responsibilities to demonstrate that you care about the person just for who they are, not for what they may represent.

Soft skills enable you to connect with your coworker at a level that’s deeper than your respective workplace roles. Each of you is showing that you’re invested in the success of the other. That’s leadership in a nutshell.

10 Soft Skills Essential for Business Success

As veteran managers know, the qualities that allow workers to excel typically don’t become apparent until they’re facing the challenges that come with every job.

Chris Coussons, founder and CEO of London-based digital marketing company Visionary Marketing, explains why he values his employees’ soft skills more than their technical and educational qualifications. “Technical skills might get someone through the door, but it’s their communication, empathy and willingness to learn that determine how well they work with others, handle pressure and adapt when things inevitably shift,” he states.

Coussons touches on just a few of the essential soft skills, but there are several more. Here’s a deeper dive into the soft side of skills development.

1. Resilience

As the Irish poet William Butler Yeats pointed out so eloquently, “things fall apart.” And they do so all the time in the business world. The key is what happens next. People who perceive setbacks as an opportunity to learn and grow are able to convert a negative into a positive. An example of a business’s resilience is the pivot Netflix made away from DVD rentals toward streaming.

Resilience requires letting go of plan A, and maybe even plan B, in favor of heading into the unknown. It helps to have a strong support network, but it also demands that you’re physically and emotionally prepared to face these new challenges. You begin by reflecting on and learning from the disappointments and then adapting to the new reality a bit wiser and no less confident.

2. Empathy

Modern workplaces can be incredibly impersonal. Being part of a team whose members truly care about each other can make even the toughest job not only bearable but enjoyable. Brandon Bishop, author of the book “7 Anchors of Emotional Intelligence,” refers to empathy as “bridging emotional distances.”  Bishop emphasizes the importance of deep listening in times of conflict and high pressure. “I’ve learned to ask teammates what pressures they’re under instead of assuming resistance means disengagement,” he states.

An empathetic approach to conflict in the workplace fosters open dialogue and leads to constructive resolutions to problems. Empathy applies to nearly all business decision making by considering the human side of each option along with the impact on the company’s bottom line. It requires an open mind, the ability to see the situations from the perspective of others and a commitment to service. 

3. Collaboration

EY’s Humans@Center research arm defines collaboration as “the purposeful adaptation of work processes.” It requires the “active cultivation of a sense of interdependence among teams and stakeholders.”

Acknowledging our dependence on others isn’t always easy because we have come to prize our self-sufficiency. Cultivating collaboration in the workplace requires aligning teams on a single vision and purpose, highlighting the ultimate goal and making everyone aware of how they will benefit as a group and individually. It relies on trust, shared rules, open dialog and regular feedback.

4. Problem Solving

If only all business problems were as easy to solve as the Gordian Knot. Yet the story of Alexander the Great’s solution to the centuries-old puzzle demonstrates the single most important aspect of problem solving: creativity. Creative problem solving goes beyond thinking outside the box to redefining the purpose of a box altogether and devising an innovative approach that perfectly matches the current situation’s requirements.

Coming up with a creative solution is just the beginning, however. Successful problem solving requires communicating the solution to team members and developing a plan for putting the fix into place. This is where empathy and decision making come into play. Other important skills related to problem solving are risk mitigation, strategic thinking and resource management.

5. Curiosity 

It’s no mystery why we named curiosity “the most underrated skill in business.”  We also refer to curiosity as a “secret weapon” of entrepreneurs because it’s what drives industry-changing innovations. Curiosity starts with a question and is spurred by dissatisfaction with the standard answers. Often that question begins with “What if…?” and leads down a series of blind alleys until a new path is found.

Coussons looks for one trait in particular when creating work teams: curiosity. “People who ask thoughtful questions and want to understand the bigger picture tend to bring more value, especially in a fast-moving agency environment like ours. It’s something I actively encourage in team meetings by creating space for ideas, not just results. You’d be surprised how much smoother operations run when everyone feels heard and respected.’’

An important component of curiosity is taking joy in discovery. That combination is what kept Thomas Edison going through his first 10,000 attempts to find an appropriate filament for his electric light bulb. For Edison, discovering what didn’t work was almost as invigorating as finding the one material that lit up the world.

6. Ethics

Any study that purports to find a direct link between ethics in business and financial success misses the point. Ethics aren’t a trend you follow or a fashionable business accoutrement; they’re the cornerstone of who you are and the trait that convinces people to put their faith and trust in your judgment.

Ethics aren’t preached, they’re lived. You demonstrate your ethical nature through acts of integrity, accountability, reliability, diligence and professionalism. Most people know when someone is dealing with them honestly and respectfully, and they witness for themselves the dedication and care they show to their coworkers. Ethics may boost your career, but that’s not why they matter. You act ethically at work and in your life because your conscience won’t allow you to do otherwise.

7. Positivity

Positivity is a direct offshoot of ethics, with a little empathy, collaboration and resilience thrown in. Like ethics, positivity is a mindset rather than an affectation, but a positive attitude can be cultivated and nurtured by infusing the workplace with items that inspire positive feelings, such as pictures of family, reminders of favorite hobbies and personalized flourishes.

Maintaining a positive outlook combines physical activities and mental breaks from the work routine. It can be encouraged by learning new and useful skills, paying it forward through acts of kindness and keeping a gratitude list handy that recenters you by pointing out some of the many things you’re thankful for.

8. Loyalty

We tend to think of loyalty as something we show our employer, our favorite restaurants or our hometown sports teams, but it’s equally important to be loyal to ourselves in the sense that we’re living the life we feel we were intended to live.

Famed UCLA basketball coach John Wooden impressed on his players the importance of being true to themselves and keeping an even keel during good times and bad.

In business, loyalty entails a commitment to support your company’s customers, your coworkers and business partners by communicating with an open mind and being willing to listen. It requires being transparent in your dealings with people inside and outside the organization and committing to contribute your utmost to their success.

9. Patient Persistence

Where resilience is a soft skill that arises in reaction to things not going as planned, being patient and persistent applies more generally to all business operations. Patience is the willingness to accept delays and difficulties calmly while maintaining a positive attitude. Persistence is the drive to keep trying after repeated failures or setbacks. Patience is focused on the present moment, while persistence is taking action to effect change despite the obstacles and impediments.

The two work together so you can adopt a new approach to achieve your goals, and another new approach if that one doesn’t work out until you strike upon the winning solution. Patience and persistence help you keep your eyes on the bigger picture and the path to your long-term goals.

10. Leadership

There is no single style of leadership that’s more effective than others. In fact, we identify 10 management styles of effective leadership that range from autocratic to servant. What they all have in common is engendering a sense of caring for the people you work with. Great leaders stay attuned to the changing needs of their teams by actively listening to them with undivided attention.

Beyond any single leadership style is the vital role leaders play as examples for the leaders of tomorrow. A study published in Strategic Management Journal reports that exposure to good leaders early in life increases the likelihood of a person rising to a leadership position in their career. The researchers conclude that meeting the growing demand for qualified business leaders requires early leadership-development opportunities for young workers.

Your Soft Skills Development Playbook

To hone your soft skills for business, pursue continuous education opportunities, request feedback from a mentor and take every opportunity to gain experience in areas within and outside your current interests. Organizations can promote soft skills in the workplace by making them part of their standard training programs, implementing continuous feedback loops among workers and managers and creating more opportunities for cross-functional collaboration.

There’s no better way to demonstrate your commitment to employees than by investing in their future. When companies put as much faith in their workers as they do in their technologies, we all benefit.

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