Gone are the days when soft skills have been disregarded and shunned by several managers as being irrelevant or unimportant. Be it a technical expert or maverick, or financial wizard, HR manager or any professional, besides technical mastery, emphasis on life skills or soft skills can have significant influence on the success of professionals and the organizations. True, this is an incredible age of technical sophistication, intense competition and gigantic opportunities demanding stupefying talent. However, it requires two wings to fly high in the sky; hard skills alone do not lead to success, not anymore. Thus, in this world of unprecedented globalization and relentless quest for excellence, organizations are in search of managers and employees endowed with world class technical skills and vibrant soft skills. It is a challenge to deal with best brains, and it requires best traits and skills beyond the tangibles. Attitude, personality, decorum, professional approach, sound interpersonal skills and ability to work efficiently and comfortably play a crucial role in managing them. Hence, there is a lot of demand for technical profiles with social skills, team skills, flexibility and adaptability. Organizations are sparing no efforts in imparting solid assortment of soft skills by organizing training programs on presentation skills, communication skills, interpersonal skills, etc.

Larry Clarkin, a famous Project and Technology Consultant notes “when projects fail, it is not about technology itself.” Communication plays a huge part in the failure or success of projects. Thommie Burström and Mattias Jacobsson in their paper, “The Role and Importance of ‘Glue People’ in Projects” emphasize how ‘Glue People’ contribute to the success of a project by providing effective coordination and facilitating ease in communication. To connect with strangers and establish rapport is a craft they are masters at. Glue people, with their striking ability to facilitate communication among diverse groups of people with complementary set of skills and cross functional orientation, enable effective management of complexities achieving synergy and commitment. Their paper takes up case studies that outline how the soft skills of glue people led to the success of projects.

Extraordinary leadership is the engine behind the success of any organization and charts the course of any society. However, leadership traits vary across different cultures. As the winds of globalization blow with fierce speed blurring the boundaries of markets, understanding the profound influence of culture on leadership is essential. The paper entitled, “Culture Differences on Leadership” by Almarie E Munley, presents how cultural dimensions color the fabric of leadership and scripts behaviors which influence the organizations. Accelerating changes in business and exponential influence of human capital necessitates the organizations to have an unambiguous understanding of cultural influences on leadership to produce desirable effects with minimum efforts.

What largely defines the success among freshers today is their splendid ability to handle presentations with aplomb. Inability to make an effective presentation spells failure among many aspiring managers. An excellent presentation skill is a royal route to success. An ability to speak well not only makes one look knowledgeable or resourceful but also effective in managing tasks. The paper, “Smooth Talk, Smart Attire, Efficient Practice and a Tinge of Humor: Way to Presentation Skill for Beginners” by Rima Namhata is an attempt to present the beginners with tips for effective delivery during their presentation. Systematic preparation of slides, flowing communication, appropriate attire, powerful ideas coupled with a tinge of humor can make the presentations sound refreshingly exciting and energetic than boring and mechanical.

Great habits can put us in the driver’s seat of success. People create their work habits and then it is the work habits which they frame and follow that help them grow at work. Many individuals who never allowed great opportunities and success slip by, owe their magic power of success to empowering habits they have formed. Habits can be great assets but miserable liabilities too if they are not healthy. Catherine Joseph and Sree Sai Lakshmi in their paper entitled, “Developing Positive Habits in the Workplace” emphasize the compulsive need for forming good habits to mould healthy personality and carve professional success leading to happiness.

The road to the world of entrepreneurs is still thorny, restricted and inaccessible to women. One of the primary reasons in addition to gender stereotypes, is the narrow educational and training background of a large number of women in India. In her paper, “A Relative Study on the Impact of Entrepreneurial Training for Women at Bangalore, Karnataka”, U M Premalatha brings out the need for promoting entrepreneurship for women by reversing the traditional attitude towards women by imparting training through entrepreneurial development programs to make them successful business leaders. It analyzes the impact of training programs undertaken in Karnataka and evaluates the effect of such training programs in empowering women entrepreneurs.

The business landscape will further be enveloped by the unpredictable storms of complexity and turbulence. Success in such situations is inextricably linked with a pack of demanding technical skills and soft skills. Hence there is an overwhelming need to emphasize soft skills to conventional technical skills.

-- M Showry
Consulting Editor