Soft Skills Don’t Have to Be So Hard!

If you are one of the scientists I’ve worked with over the years, you must have strong intellectual curiosity to understand why the world is as we see it and how it came to be, and the passion to apply scientific knowledge for the benefit of the world. However, you may also be tired of office politics, tired of hearing the constructive criticism on your people skills, or tired of taking yet another three-day intensive training on “soft skills” (and what does that even mean?). How come it is still not enough after all the classes and trainings all these years? “Perhaps this is just not my thing”, you may be wondering.

That’s so NOT true. Those trainings don’t work well because most of them are not designed for scientists (probably not designed by scientists either). They make you wrong so you’ll follow their ways. Their strategies are not in sync with who you are. They are not arm-twisting while not far from it. They sound good in theory, but seldom work in the real world, your real world.

Being a scientist myself, it’s nonsense to do things the hard way. You already have all the skills you need to be a master communicator. The key is to acknowledge and expand on what you are already good at:

1. You are an excellent observer: What information do you receive through your senses?
2. You are naturally curious: What’s important to your audience?
3. You make decisions based on data: How do you make decisions based on what you see, hear and feel?
4. You are intelligent: You learn fast and can quickly evaluate which tools work the best for you.
5. You are committed: You work hard to put your skills into practice and to drive results.
6. You are with people: You don’t have to do everything alone. Teamwork creates synergy and accomplishes more.

In our coaching partnership, we will focus on:

You: What do you really, really want? What’s important to you? What’s driving you? What are you passionate about? How do “you” work?

Tools: once we understand “who” you are, we can better select the right tools for the job. For example, you may have noticed that I speak in many stories and metaphors in my bio. For someone who likes structures, NLP language patterns may also be useful.

Actions: where the rubber hits the road. We will creating an action plan to get you where you want to be. We will also evaluate the progress as we go and make course corrections if needed.

Contact me if you are ready to make a difference in your life. 312-772-5024 or julia@juliachung.com.

Advertisement