“Hard profit comes from soft skills,” I replied to my client, Helen. Her question had been “Isn’t it true that soft skills are secondary?”

When I addressed two audiences for the Corporate Innovation Summit* in Bangkok Thailand, I emphasized the power of soft skills that create trust. I delivered material from my book, Convince Investors to Fund You. In that book I reveal 3 Soft Skills that create hard profit.

[*Igniters teamed up with RISE for this summit. Igniters ran the associated Pitch Competition.]

I call these skills “The 3 C’s”:

• Connection-building
• Coachable
• Conflict-skilled

Investors will not invest and simply will not trust the startup leader who does not have these 3 Soft Skills. Team members and customers will drift away when they cannot trust you. Instead, you can use the 3 C’s.

1. Connection-building

“I don’t invest anymore in entrepreneurs who don’t have charisma.” — Barbara Corcoran, investor on TV Show “Shark Tank”

In my book, Darkest Secrets of Charisma, I describe what I call Warm Trust Charisma. The leader with Warm Trust Charisma knows how to build connections with investors, team members and customers.

I emphasize:

Soft skills create trust and connection.
Hard profit comes from trust and sustainability.

An organization will die on the vine if the leader does not know how to make excellent connections with investors, team members and customers.

A sale begins with trust. Trust begins with connection.

2. Coachable

Investors and customers will not put their money into a product or service if they cannot trust the leader or the organization. I recall hearing a friend saying, “I’m not going to buy that product. That company was caught doing [some horrible thing].”

Customers will trust a company that has team members who will learn from their mistakes. The process starts from the top. Is the leader coachable?

To create hard profit, you need to be flexible and fast moving in the marketplace. You need to build and adjust quickly. How is this created? The leader gets coaching in perspectives that are beyond the scope of one human mind. As part of my own circle, I have 15 people who I can run ideas with. We’re able to consider ideas, explore and discard those ideas that won’t create sustainable solutions.

As I mentioned, hard profit is based on trust and sustainability. Human beings and organizations go through tremendous struggles. I developed a term I call: Lifelines of Hope. I’ve noticed that in intense times of struggle, you can experience an important difference. You can have people you can trust and who can coach you to better outcomes. You’ll feel like you have Lifelines of Hope.

By the way, as a side note: When you receive support and coaching, you feel gratitude. That provides inner peace and hope.

I’ve written about 3 Type of Hope:

· Wishing-Hope (just sitting there, waiting for something good to happen)

· Action-Hope (you’re coachable, and you adjust your actions and move forward)

· Faithful-Hope (for many of us, this has a spiritual dimension)

My point is that being coachable is one of the great Soft Skills that makes you extraordinary as a leader and human being.

3. Conflict-skilled

Investors can trust a leader who is conflict-skilled. Effective organizations are able to adapt because different points of view are heard, considered and, at times, incorporated. An investor can ask the question: “Tell me about a problem. What did you do about it?”

Effective leaders respond to this question with a targeted story. They express details about how they skillfully worked with team members or even customers who were generating conflict.

In summary…

Soft skills create trust and connection.
Hard profit comes from trust and sustainability.

As the Spoken Word Strategist and Executive Coach, I have worked with leaders of companies, coaching them with skills that I have expressed in the books Confident English, Convince Investors to Fund You, and Shape the Future, Lead like a Pro.

Additionally, I guide people with my 8 online courses that include Success Secrets: Confidence & Skills to Handle Toxic People.

So, we answer Helen’s question: “Isn’t it true that soft skills are secondary?” The answer is if you want hard profit, Soft Skills are side by side with hard skills.

Many great moments on your journey.

success and happiness.

Call to Action

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Maximize Your Luck — Discover Your Hidden Strength:
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Darkest Secrets of Film Directing: How Successful Directors Overcome Hidden Traps

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Darkest Secrets of Making a Pitch for Film and Television: How You Can Get a Studio Executive, Producer, Name Actor or Private Investor to Say YES to Your Project

Success Secrets: Confidence and Skills to Handle Toxic People

How You Can Believe in Yourself, Write and Complete Your Novel

The Work From Home Solution — Unleash Your Hidden Wealth

Your Secret Charisma: More Confidence and More Sales

 

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Tom Marcoux, Spoken Word Strategist and Executive Coach
CEO, International Speaker-Author of 50+ Books on Amazon,
including the book Convince Investors to Fund You: The Insider’s Guide to Avoid Deadly Mistakes and Gain Real Success with Your Startup Business

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