11/12/2024

How to Train around Soft Skills

Here's how to support empathy, conflict management and more

The organizational ladder is strange. Typically, somebody shines in a particular department, notably enough that leadership identifies them as future leadership timber. In newsrooms, people who are really good at covering the police department can somehow be in line to become editor-in-chief. Are you really good at membership growth at an association? Perhaps you could be executive director!

That doesn't track; of course, being good at a particular organizational task does not mean a person has the capacity to lead the entire organization. That's a point that executive coach Marcel Schwantes makes in a recent Inc. article: "One of the biggest misconceptions organizations have when determining future managers and leaders is that top technical performers, who were great individual contributors, will naturally become great leaders. In reality, the role of a leader requires a completely different skill set, especially when addressing interpersonal challenges."

Schwantes notes that emerging leaders need more than just broader technical knowledge about how the organization functions; they need plenty of soft-skills training. For him, the key challenge is identifying the kinds of conflicts that can disrupt teams—battles over resources, ego, burnout, and more. “Leaders must be coached to recognize these triggers and proactively address conflicts before they escalate,” he wrote. “This approach helps maintain a positive team dynamic and fosters a culture where employees feel empowered to navigate challenges constructively.”

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.