Can we stop calling them “soft” skills already?

By: Robert Avsec, FSPA Operations Chief and Battalion Chief (Ret.)

“Bringing this one over from LinkedIn,” this is a post from Susan David, Ph.D.

Historically businesses have called emotional skills, “soft.” And what was being implied was not positive. The idea was that they were less than relative to “hard,” technical capacities.

Emotional skills aren’t “soft skills.” Hailed by the World Economic Forum as “key skills for the future,” emotional agility is a roadmap for real behavioral change that supports leadership, culture, wellbeing, and more—both in the moment and for the future world of work.

Our emotions are the essence of what makes us human. They are at the heart of mental health, wellbeing, culture, learning, innovation, relationships—everything that matters to healthy people, organizations, and communities.

Can we stop calling them “soft” skills already? They are essential human capacities.