Soft Skills, Related Terms, and Resources
NOTE: This is a BETA version. The list is still a work in progress and some definitions and commentary are incomplete, but I decided to post it anyway hoping that it will be helpful to you all the same. I typically add one definition and commentary each day. Please share any thoughts, comments, or questions in the comments section at the end.
This is a list of soft skills (also known as non-cognitive skills or character skills), related terms, and resources.
Definition of Soft Skills:
Soft skills are individual abilities that improve human performance and facilitate effective interactions amongst people. (Duncan, 2013)
Introductory video on soft skills: What Are Soft Skills and How Can They Give You A Competitive Advantage?
To suggest edits or additions please use the comments section at the end.
Sources are located at the end.
A.
Action step: A vital key to goal achievement. The fundamental unit of progress for goal achievement. In addition to outcomes, goals should be measured in action steps.
Related terms: habits.
Tip: People tend to focus on outcomes instead of behaviors, which are actions. Most influence and behavior experts believe that this is a ineffective and suggest that the focus should be on specific behaviors and actions steps. That’s where improvement occurs.
Active Learning: A process whereby learners engage in activities, such as reading, writing, discussion, or problem solving that promotes critical thinking and the utilization of learning content.
Tip: Active learning is not a skill per se, it is, however, a crucial part of skills development. Active learning plays a role in hard skill and soft skill development.
Adaptability: Able to change or be changed in order to fit or work better in some situation or for some purpose.
Related terms: character, positive mental attitude.
Tip: Adaptability is one of the best tools a leader can have. According to the Harvard School of Business, “adaptability is the new competitive advantage for companies” This applies to individuals as well. You can’t have an adaptive company without adaptive employees.
Example of an Adaptability Assessment:
Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI) tests adaptability on four scales:
— Openness to new ideas.
— Adaptation to situations.
— Handling of unexpected demands.
— Adapting or changing strategy.
Related terms: adaptive leadership, leadership agility
Attitude: A settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person’s behavior.
Tip: Your attitude about your work and life plays a big role in how people perceive what you do. In many cases, your attitude determines how people feel about your actions and skills. Most people feel like a person’s attitude provide insight into a person’s character and future behaviors.
Watch Duncan Nugget® #10: According To Your Attitude
B.
C.
Character: The mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.
Related term: personality
Tip: The mental aspects of character, often referred to as performance values, include abilities such as grit, curiosity, and self-control. The moral aspects of character include attributes such as honesty, fairness, and responsibility.
Character Education (Character Development): Thus far, a universally agreed upon definition of character education has yet to emerge. Here is a definition from the U. S. Department of Education:
“Character education teaches the habits of thought and deed that help people live and work together as families, friends, neighbors, communities and nations.” –US Dept. of Education, Character Education…Our Shared Responsibility
Related terms: personal development, self-improvement
Tip: Character education is divided into moral character education and performance character education (performance values). The latter is the part of character education that directly relates to soft skills.
Character Skills: See Soft Skills.
Character Strengths: Positive psychological traits of human beings.
Related terms: character traits, performance values
Tip: Character Strengths and Virtues is probably the most comprehensive and authoritative book on character strengths. It identifies six classes of virtue made up of twenty-four measurable character strengths.
The FAQ for the VIA® Institute On Character explains that character strengths:
— Have individual differences. Each is distinct from one another.
— Are plural, meaning they interact and influence each other.
— Are generally stable, but they can change over time.
— Are shaped by context. They do not operate in isolation from settings, proximal and distal, in which people are found. Character strengths are within people and people are within settings. Settings cannot fall to the background when focusing on character strengths.
Duncan Nugget® #47: Focus on your strengths, manage your weaknesses.
Strengths based coaching, training, and development has proven to be effective in helping people attain greater levels of success and happiness.
Coaching: A training or development process via which an individual is supported while achieving a specific personal or professional competence result or goal.
Related term: mentoring
Tip: Regardless of how successful they are, many top performers from all walks of life, seek some type of coaching in specific areas. The right coach is a powerful asset.
Collaboration: To work together, especially in a joint intellectual effort; to build collaborative relationships with colleagues and customers; be able to work with diverse teams, negotiate and manage conflicts.
Related terms: diversity, teamwork, team building
Tip: According to research by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, Collaboration/Teamwork in one of the most in demand skills in the job market.
Read “The ‘I’ In Team: 4 Philosophies Of An Awesome Team Player”
Communication: The exchange of information between people by means of speaking, writing, or using a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior.
Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient. The communication process is complete once the recipient has understood the sender.
Verbal communication: To articulate thoughts and ideas clearly and effectively; have public speaking skills.
Written Communications: Write memos, letters and complex technical reports clearly and effectively.
Tip: Communication is arguably the most important soft skill. It’s not even possible to master most soft skills without effective communication skills.
Compassion: Sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.
Related term: empathy
Tip: We’ve all heard stories about mean-spirited successful people so, compassion is not a prerequisite for success, but success gained without compassion is often short lived. People don’t like mean people.
On the other hand, however, too much compassion can turn into excuse making on the behalf of others. Have compassion, but people have to also help themselves.
Legendary motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, once said, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”
Conventional wisdom, religious and philosophical texts, and scientific research all come to the same conclusion as Zig:
— What goes around comes around.
— You reap what you sow.
— For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Competitive Advantage: The ability gained through your performance and your resources to thrive in personal and professional settings.
Tip: The term “competitive advantage” was originally a concepts relating to businesses and organizations. In order to make this valuable concept applicable to individuals, Al Duncan developed the concept of an individual’s competitive advantage from the original business concept. The definition that is listed is for individuals, not businesses.
Conflict Management: To minimize the negative outcomes of conflict while promoting the positive outcomes of conflict with the goal of improving learning, especially in an organization.
Related term: conflict resolution
Tip: According the 2013 Executive Coaching Survey by Stanford University/Miles Group, conflict management is the #1 soft skill CEO’s work on or want to work on.
In their article, Leading In The Heat Of Conflict, Maccoby and Scudder identify five steps to managing conflict.
Anticipate – Take time to obtain information that can lead to conflict.
Prevent – Develop strategies before the conflict occurs.
Identify – If it is interpersonal or procedural, move to quickly manage it.
Manage – Remember that conflict is emotional
Resolve – React, without blame, and you will learn through dialogue.
NOTE: Conflict management and conflict resolution are not synonymous. In many organizational settings the focus is pn conflict management because there can be many positive benefits to conflicts and resolution may not be possible.
Conflict Resolution: The process of ending a disagreement between two or more people in a constructive fashion for all parties involved.
Related term: conflict management
Concentration: The ability to give your undivided attention to a single object or activity.
Related term: focus
Conscientiousness: Very careful about doing what you are supposed to do; concerned with doing something correctly.
Related terms: diligence, grit.
Tip: Along with grit, curiosity, perseverance, self-regulation, and optimism, conscientiousness is one of the six non-cognitive skills that are most associated with performance values or performance character. Paul Tough’s How Children Succeed has greatly contributed to the re-surging popularity of helping children develop character strengths.
Creativity: Demonstrate originality and inventiveness.
Related terms: industrious, innovative.
Tip: In many industries, like gaming and computer programming, being creative and innovative are highly valued skills that can help you build a competitive advantage.
Sir Ken Robinson’s classic TED talk, Do Schools Kill Creativity? not only fueled the international debate about modern education reforms, it also made the term “education revolution” a buzz word.
Critical Thinking: Critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating your thinking with the intent of improving it. It is a process that leads to skills that can be learned, mastered and used.
Related term: problem solving
Tip: The above description of critical thinking indicates that it is a skill central to the development of most other soft skills. Here are of 3 examples soft skills in action where critical thinking skills can help to improve the other skills:
Deciding how you should respond to something that is said to you. (communication, Emotional Intelligence)
Evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of team members. (Teamwork, Team Building)
Making better decisions and solving problems. (decision making, problem solving)
Curiosity: A strong desire to know or learn something. Curiosity is often associated with problem-solving ability and high performance in both academic and professional settings.
Tip: Along with grit, conscientiousness, perseverance, self-regulation, and optimism, curiosity is one of the six non-cognitive skills that are most associated with performance values or performance character. Paul Tough’s How Children Succeed has greatly contributed to the re-surging popularity of helping children develop character strengths.
Three things about curious people:
— They have a continuous, intrinsic interest in both their inner experience and the world around them.
— They are rarely bored. Curious people tend to be attracted to what’s new: people, things, and experiences.
— Curious people are often considered good listeners and conversationalists.
Famous quote: “Curiosity killed the cat.” Curiosity without self-discipline and effective decision making can lean to disastrous results.
D.
Decision Making: The process of making a choice.
Tip: The word decision originally comes the Latin decidere which literally means “to cut off.” Making a decision doesn’t necessarily mean that you have cut off all other options, but it does mean that you have chosen to pursue a specific path of action or inaction.
Decision making is consistently in the top ten most indemand soft skills.
Considering that for most people, the only way that they improve their decision making is by making bad, and sometimes costly, decisions. It would be wise for you to decide to study decision making models and pick one that works well for you.
Delegation (Sharing leadership & authority): the act of giving control, authority, a job, a duty, etc., to another person.
Tip: Knowing when and how to delegate leadership and authority is a tricky balancing act for leaders. If you don’t do enough work and take on enough responsibility, people will be disgruntled. If you try to do to much, take all the credit and blame others, people will be disgruntled.
To succeed at this balancing act, two of requisites are:
Accurate assessment of strengths and weaknesses of ALL team members, including the leader.
Trust in the abilities of ALL team members, including the leader.
In his classic book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell provides a law of leadership that specifically relates to developing others.
The Law of Empowerment (12): Only secure leaders give power to others.
Deliberate Practice: to engage in a highly structured activity which provides immediate and effective feedback with the primary purpose of improving performance.
Tip: Be it hard skills or technical skills, skill acquisition and development, are significantly improved, and in many instances, only possible with deliberate practice.
Duncan Nugget® #176: Exceptional performance is not the result of talent and “natural abilities”. Exceptional performance is primarily the result of exceptional practice.
Research shows that the quality of your practice is just as important as the quantity. Deliberate practice allows for repeated experiences in which you can attend to the vital aspects of the situation and incrementally improve your performance based on either results, feedback, or both from a coach/teacher.
In a paper titled “The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance” (1993), Ericsson, Krampe, and Tesch-Romersaid concluded that:
“Only a few exceptions, most notably height, are genetically prescribed. Instead, we argue that the differences between expert performers and normal adults reflect a life-long period of deliberate effort to improve performance in a specific domain.”
Determination: firmness of purpose.
Related terms: volition, willpower
Tip: Determination is more of a state of mind than a skill. It helps you to remain steadfast and use your skills even in the face of adversity.
Diligence: careful and persistent work or effort.
Related terms: grit, perseverance, work ethic
Diversity: Learn from and work collaboratively with individuals representing diverse cultures, races, ages, gender, religions, lifestyles, and viewpoint.
Related terms: collaboration, teamwork, teambuilding
E.
Emotional Intelligence (EQ): Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups. It can be divided into ability EI and trait EI.
Related term: emotional self-efficacy, social-emotional learning
EQ Assessments/Measures: http://www.eiconsortium.org/measures/measures.html
Emotional self-efficacy: a person’s belief that he or she possesses empathy and assertiveness as well as elements of social intelligence, personal intelligence, and ability emotional intelligence.
Related terms: Emotional Intelligence, social-emotional learning
Empathy: including a feeling for others, sympathetic reactions to their feelings, and imaginative involvement in how the other person might be feeling.
Related term: compassion
Enthusiasm: intense and eager enjoyment, interest, or approval.
Related term: passion
Tip: If you believe that success is equal parts achievement and fulfilment then the passion and enthusiasm are a must on your journey.
Ethics: moral principles that govern a person’s or group’s behavior.
Related term: character
Tip: Ethical behaviors such as honesty and integrity consistently rank in the top characteristics.
F.
Fail-Forward: Improving skills & increasing knowledge while experiencing failure.
Related terms: diligence, grit, perseverance, resilience
Fixed Mindset: A theory of motivation. People with a fixed mindset believe that their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits.
Related term: growth mindset
Tip: The terms “growth mindset” and “fixed mindset” were coined by renowned psychologist, Carolyn Dweck. Dweck’s research has shown that people with a fixed mindset tend to adopt self-defeating behaviors that show a lack of self-confidence, self-efficacy, and persistence. It is extremely challenging to experience long term growth and success if you have a fixed mindset.
Flexibility: See Adaptability.
Focus: A point of concentration or directed attention. Focus is also a state of mind or condition which blocks out all distractions and facilitates clear perception and understanding.
Related terms: concentration
Tip: Check this video and activity - Duncan Nugget® #103: Focus On The Task At Hand
G.
Global Competence:
Goal setting:
Grit: Passion and perseverance towards a long term goal. Researchers and scientists from various fields have reached a similar conclusion: One skill high achievers from all walks of life tend to have in common is the ability to maintain their determination and motivation over long periods despite experiences with failure and adversity.
Tip: In psychology the term grit has been coined and championed by the American psychologist, Angela Duckworth. Her TED talk, “The Key To Success? Grit” is highly recommended.
Related terms: Ambition, diligence, conscientiousness, hardiness, need for achievement, perseverance, persistence, resilience
Growth Mindset: A theory of motivation. People with a growth mindset are more likely to continue working hard despite setbacks and failure. They believe that effort and practice, not talent, are the keys to high performance.
Related term: fixed mindset
Tip: The terms “growth mindset” and “fixed mindset” were coined by renowned psychologist, Carolyn Dweck. Dweck’s research has shown that people with a growth mindset are more likely to continue working hard despite setbacks. Having a growth mindset is one of the vital keys to developing grit and self-motivation.
H.
I.
Influence:
Initiative:
Innovation:
Integrity:
Interpersonal:
Intrapersonal:
J.
K.
L.
Leadership: Leverage the strengths of others to achieve common goals; use interpersonal skills to coach and develop others
Leadership Agility: leaders must be able to proficiently move, change and evolve the organization. Agile leaders are creative thinkers with a deep sense of purpose. They show a propensity and ability to move into action and make decisions, and their implementation often results in greater learning.
Related term: adaptive leadership
Further reading: Agility:The Ingredient That Will Define Next Generation Leadership (Forbes.com)
M.
Mentoring: The process of teaching and/or giving help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person.
Related term: coaching
Tip: Key leaders in business, philanthropy, government, religion, and education continuously laud the positive impacts of mentoring. And research justifies their praise and advocacy.
Regardless of the industry, great mentors are an excellent source of crucial, but often unknown, nuances and information about the skills necessary for the advancement of your career and personal development.
Motivation:
N.
Networking:
Non-cognitive skills:
O.
Optimism:
Organizational skills: the ability to plan, prioritize, and organize your work.
P.
People skills:
Performance values: see character education.
Perseverance:
Personal Branding:
Personal Development:
Personality:
Persuasion:
Philosophy:
Planning Skills: See Organizational Skills.
Positive Mental Attitude: Positive mental attitude (PMA) is the philosophy that having an optimistic disposition, regardless of the circumstances, attracts positive changes and increases achievement.
Tip: There is still a great deal of debate about whether or not the effects of PMA or positive thinking are real. There is research to support both sides of the debate so,
Positive Youth Development (PYD): The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, a collaboration of twelve federal departments and agencies of the U.S. govenment that support youth, has created a definition of positive youth development:
Positive youth development is an intentional, pro-social approach that engages youth within their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families in a manner that is productive and constructive; recognizes, utilizes, and enhances youths’ strengths; and promotes positive outcomes for young people by providing opportunities, fostering positive relationships, and furnishing the support needed to build on their leadership strengths.
Related terms: youth development, youth empowerment
Tip: Although positive youth development is not a soft skill, it is a discipline that greatly values and heavily focuses on soft skills development.
Another definition of youth development that I have found helpful is from Karen Pittman, co-founder of The Forum For Youth Investment:
“…the ongoing growth process in which all youth are engaged in attempting to (1) meet their basic personal and social needs to be safe, feel cared for, be valued, be useful, and be spiritually grounded, and (2) to build skills and competencies that allow them to function and contribute in their daily lives.”
Problem Solving:
Professionalism: Demonstrate personal accountability, effective work habits, e.g., punctuality, working productively with others, and time and workload management.
Professional Development:
Pro-Social Behavior:
Public Speaking:
Q.
R.
Resilience:
Resourceful:
S.
Self-Control: the disciplined ability to choose to do one thing at the cost of not doing another (perhaps more tempting thing).
Related terms: self-discipline, self-regulation
Self-Discipline: See self-control
Self-Efficacy: A person’s belief in his/her ability to produce desired results by his/her own actions.
Related term: self-confidence
Tip: ”Self-efficacy is the foundation of human motivation and accomplishment. Unless people believe they can produce desired outcomes by their own actions, they have little incentive to act or persevere in the face of difficulties.” —Albert Bandura
Duncan Nugget® #52: Motivation will only last if a person believes that their is a beneficial relationship between his/her behavior and his/her desired outcome.
Ways of Developing Self-Efficacy:
1. Mastery
2. Social modeling
3. Social persuasion
4. Managing physical and emotional states
Self-efficacy and self-esteem are often confused. Self-efficacy has to do with your beliefs about your abilities. Self-esteem has to do with your belief about your self-worth and value.
Self-Improvement: Be able to continuously acquire new knowledge and skills; monitor one’s own learning needs; be able to learn from one’s mistake
Self-Reflection: self-reflection is a process of giving serious thought to our lives and our decisions by examining our character, our actions and our motives and/or motivations. Sometimes we make decisions and then reflect on our choices, other times we reflect before making choices.
Related Term: Self-Assessment
Self-Regulation:
Social Responsibility: Demonstrate integrity and ethical behavior; act responsibly with the interests of the larger community in mind.
Social Emotional Learning: Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. (CASEL)
Tip: Visit the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) Also check out the SEL Parent Toolkit
Related term: Emotional Intelligence
Storytelling:
T.
Team Building:
Teamwork: Build collaborative relationships with colleagues and customers; be able to work with diverse teams, negotiate and manage conflicts.
Related terms: collaboration, diversity, team building
Tip: According to research by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, Collaboration/Teamwork in one of the most in demand skills in the job market.
Read “The ‘I’ In Team: 4 Philosophies Of An Awesome Team Player”
Team Player:
Time Management:
Training:
U.
V.
Volition: the faculty or power of using one’s will.
Related terms: determination, willpower
Tip: Volition also known as willpower is a not a skill per se, but it is a vital factor in determining how much effort an individual puts forth during deliberate practice or real performance.
Research shows that glucose is the fuel of willpower.
W.
Willpower: see volition.
Work ethic: a value based on smart work and diligence. It’s the ability to demonstrate personal accountability, effective work habits such as punctuality, working productively with others, and time and workload management.
Related term: diligence
Tip: A strong work ethic is only possible with high levels of competency in the skills of grit, diligence, perseverance, and organization (especially punctuality).
5 Behaviors Of On Individual With Strong Work Ethic:
Show up on time. Period.
Get your work done. Period.
Do what you are supposed to do when and how you are supposed to do it to the best of your ability.
Put forth extra effort.
Have a positive attitude.
X.
Y.
Youth Development: See Positive Youth Development
Z.
Sources:
Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory: An Introduction
Critical Thinking Community
Curious About Curiosity
Emotional Intelligence Consortium
Emotional Intelligence Glossary of Terms
FindYouthInfo.gov
How Children Succeed: Q & A with Paul Tough
Leading In The Heat Of Conflict
MDRC
Mentor
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance
University Of Michigan Center For Research On Learning And Teaching
VIA® Institute On Character
Wikipedia