The Soft Skills Guy

Let's define what is meant by soft skills in the workplace. Soft skills refer to interpersonal abilities that enable staff members to forge genuine connections, foster trustworthiness and ultimately create lasting, trust-based relationships with customers and fellow colleagues. Pretty important stuff don’t you think! These skills include effective communication, empathy, active listening, conflict resolution, and much much more. However, today's podcast is about self-limiting beliefs. These are internal beliefs that staff members may unknowingly hold onto, which can impede their ability to effectively apply these critical soft skills. These beliefs can manifest in many different ways, such as a fear of failure, a lack of confidence, or a belief that they're not good enough. So, how do these self-limiting beliefs affect staff training in soft skills? Well, the first and most obvious effect is that staff members may be resistant to learning new skills if they believe they're not capable of mastering them. This can lead to a lack of engagement in training programs and a reluctance to put new skills into practice. Additionally, self-limiting beliefs can create a self-fulfilling prophecy, where staff members don't even attempt to apply soft skills in their interactions with customers because they don't believe they'll be successful. This can result in missed opportunities to create meaningful connections with customers, which can ultimately impact the success of the business. Self-limiting beliefs can lead to a lack of confidence in staff members, which can make them less effective in their interactions with customers. When staff members don't believe in themselves, it can be difficult for them to establish trust with customers and build lasting relationships. So, how can businesses address these self-limiting beliefs and empower their staff to develop their soft skills? The first step is to create a culture of growth and continuous learning, where staff members feel comfortable taking risks and making mistakes. This can help to break down the barriers created by self-limiting beliefs and encourage staff members to embrace new challenges and opportunities for growth. Additionally, it's important to provide ongoing support and coaching to staff members as they work to develop their soft skills. This can include regular feedback sessions, on going coaching sessions and opportunities for staff members to practice their skills in real-world scenarios. Overall, the key to overcoming self-limiting beliefs and developing soft skills is to provide staff members with a comprehensive and integrated training program that addresses both the internal barriers and the external skills necessary for success. With the right training and support, staff members can break free from their self-imposed limitations and achieve their full potential, benefiting both themselves and the business as a whole. With competition ever increasing, some businesses believe that lowering their prices will increase sales and be their point of difference, however, highly skilled staff in soft skills will be your businesses point of difference and Damien has been advocating this for years!

In Episode 66 of The Soft Skills Guy, Damien shares his recent experience with a customer service representative at Melbourne airport who failed to deliver satisfactory service. Damien emphasises the importance of providing outstanding customer service and how it can make a significant difference in business. He introduces the ESEEE Customer Service Method, which stands for Eye Contact, Smile, Enthusiastic Greeting, Empathise and Engage, and Educate. Damien elaborates on the five key elements of the ESEEE method, beginning with Eye Contact, which he believes is essential for creating a connection with the customer. The next key element is Smile, which conveys positivity and warmth to the customer. Enthusiastic Greeting is the third element, and Damien emphasizes the importance of showing a genuine interest in the customer's needs. Empathise and Engage is the fourth element of the ESEEE method, which entails understanding and responding to the customer's needs. Lastly, Educate, the fifth element, is about providing additional information to the customer that could be helpful in the future. Damien compares his experience at the customer service desk with that of a bar attendant who showed exemplary customer service. The bar attendant was attentive, empathetic and friendly, which made a significant impact on Damien's overall experience. In conclusion, the ESEEE method is a simple yet effective way to provide outstanding Customer Service. It entails making eye contact, smiling, greeting enthusiastically, empathising and engaging and educating customers. These soft skills can make a huge difference in business and can help establish long-term customer relationships.

It’s important to consider the importance of soft skills in leadership. A leader's success is not only measured by their technical skills but also by their ability to work effectively with others. Soft skills are essential in leadership because they help you understand your team's strengths and weaknesses; inspire and motivate your team to perform at their best; navigate conflicts and challenges; foster collaboration and teamwork. With that in mind, it’s also important to look at some areas of where you can improve your soft skills as a leader: Practice empathy: Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. It's essential in leadership because it helps you understand your team's needs and concerns. To practice empathy, listen actively to your team members, show genuine interest in their opinions, and try to put yourself in their shoes. Develop emotional intelligence: now Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others. It's crucial in leadership because it helps you respond appropriately to different situations. To develop emotional intelligence, practice self-awareness, regulate your emotions, and show empathy towards others. Foster teamwork: Teamwork is essential in any workplace, and as a leader, you should encourage collaboration and create a supportive environment. To foster teamwork, set clear expectations, provide feedback, and recognise and reward team members' contributions.

You need to consider the importance of communication in the workplace. Communication is a two-way process of exchanging information, ideas, and opinions. Effective communication is crucial in any workplace because it helps to build better relationships with colleagues and ensures everyone is on the same page and understands their roles and responsibilities. It helps to resolve conflicts and misunderstandings, boosts productivity and increases job satisfaction and staff engagement. Listen along as Damien shares some practical tips to improve your communication skills. Good communication involves listening as much as talking. Active listening means paying attention to the speaker, maintaining eye contact, and responding appropriately to what they say. Be clear and concise: Avoid using jargon or technical terms that may confuse your colleagues. Use clear, simple language and try to get to the point quickly. Use nonverbal cues: Your body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions can all convey important information. Be aware of how you're coming across and try to project a positive and confident demeanor. Seek feedback: It's important to seek feedback from your colleagues and managers to help you understand how you're coming across. Ask for constructive criticism and be open to suggestions for improvement. Effective communication can help you build stronger relationships in the workplace. By communicating well, you can: Build trust and rapport with your colleagues and managers. Demonstrate your expertise and knowledge and it shows that you value and respect your colleagues' opinions and ideas. Effective communication also helps to Identify and solve problems more quickly and effectively and also to Collaborate more effectively on projects and tasks. It's important to remember that effective communication is a two-way street. It's not just about getting your message across; it's also about understanding your colleagues' perspectives and responding appropriately. By taking the time to listen actively and seek feedback, you can improve your communication skills and build stronger relationships in the workplace.

So, what exactly are soft skills? Soft skills are a set of personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people. These skills include things like communication, teamwork, problem-solving, leadership, time management, adaptability, and empathy. Essentially, soft skills are those intangible qualities that make a person a good team player, a good communicator, and a good leader. Many job seekers often focus solely on their technical abilities, and naturally detail these in their resumes and cover letters and rightly so to some degree, depending on the role. While these skills are certainly important, they’re not the only factors that employers look for when evaluating candidates. In fact, in many cases, employers are just as interested in a candidate's soft skills as they are in their technical skills and sometimes more emphasis is placed onto soft skills. Soft skills are particularly important in today's workforce because the nature of work is changing – big time! With the rise of automation and artificial intelligence or AI, many technical jobs are becoming automated, meaning that technical skills are becoming less important. Instead, what employers are looking for are individuals who can work well in teams, communicate effectively with others, and adapt to changing circumstances. These are all skills that fall under the umbrella of soft skills.

Familiar is something you’ve known and done for a long time, you’ll recognise that the familiar is the image you already have stored in your mind – like the way your suburb looks, the kind of shops you go to, the people you associate with, the familiarity of your house. And most importantly, you are familiar with the person you are. Everytime you try and change and move away from the familiar, something happens inside of you. That creativity that is going to be stimulated inside of you tells you loud and clear “Stop, don’t go there, there’s something wrong with doing that.” It stimulates negative creativity and inturn gets you to talk yourself into going back, going back to where you were and back to where you think you belong – the familiar. Familiar friends, familiar places and familiar habits. Listen along as I teach you how to move away from what is called our comfort zone. Your comfort zone is the reality you have stored away, it’s about the way things are  and the way you are. Your perception needs to match your reality. And if it doesn’t match – here’s what’s going to happen – Whenever you feel out of place , your subconscious mind has the same feeling. I’m outta place get me outta hear.  And no one wants to live a life being affected by our comfort zones.

Listen along as Sally explains her profession as a Peak Performance Mindset Coach, how she got into this field and some key takeaways for overcoming anxiety.

We hear the term change all the time, but if you were to get 10 of your friends together and ask them how they feel about change, you would probably hear 10 different versions on how difficult change can be. Some people go to great lengths to avoid having to change. They'd rather keep things status quo than take a risk, and feel discomfort, as they embark on doing things differently. So today, listen along as Damien provides you with support and encouragement particularly if you’re feeling like you’re slipping off the wagon of the change you were wanting to implement this year.  The first ingredient you need in making lasting change is a strong belief that your life will benefit from this change. You must hold the firm conviction that the change is going to be a positive improvement that will enrich your life. If you are only half convinced you want to change, you won't make any real progress – it’s just not going to happen. Your creative subconscious will do everything it can to return you to where you believe you belong.  If the benefit isn't clear, you will find yourself lacking the motivation you need to change. Next, you must believe you have the talent and ability to successfully make the change. If you are unable to believe in your own abilities, you will probably not be able to bring about that change either. A strong belief in yourself is imperative on your journey of personal change. Once you've decided on the changes you want to embrace, surround yourself with people who are supportive of your changes, and who exhibit the characteristics you want to adopt. Enthusiasm is contagious, and keeps you motivated to overcome the challenges you might face on your road to change. Having a supportive and energized network around you will make your journey easier. If you really want to make personal changes, you must create an action plan, and hold yourself accountable. It's not enough to say "I need to change this," or "I want to adopt that behavior." Without an action plan, these intentions will not get you anywhere. Intentions do not create any change in the status quo of your life or situation. Create a list of actions you will take, give yourself a deadline, and write down the benefits you will experience from your changes.  And finally, this one is really important and will become your favourite reason to change. You must remember to celebrate your successful changes. Nothing feels quite as rewarding as setting a goal for yourself, and achieving it.

Self-talk is our inner communication with ourselves, unfortunately for some, their self talk is predominantly negative.  We use self talk every day, all day long. There are two main types of self talk - positive and negative. Positive self talk will help eliminate stress from your life, while negative self talk will usually increase stress. Positive self talk can help reduce stress in your life. By using positive self talk, you will become more optimistic about life, and have a more positive outlook on it and have a want to attitude. The harder you work on it, the more you will see yourself replacing negative self talk with positive self talk, consequently, you will see the level of stress in your life decrease. You will no longer sweat the small stuff. You will have a much easier time seeing your glass as half full, as opposed to half empty. Listen along as Damien talks about two excellent methods you can use to help practice positive self talk.

Your core values help to shape your belief systems. Core values can be developed through your circumstances and life experiences. Often times, beliefs come out of a negative experience. Belief systems can be developed from adverse reactions to situations or experiences. We receive messages throughout our lifetime, beginning in childhood. The messages we hear, whether they are positive or negative, become the foundation of our belief system. You may hold beliefs that you've had for so long that you can't even pinpoint their origin. If you came from a large family, you may hold beliefs about how many children make up the right size family for you. If you had a scary experience in a swimming pool as a child, you probably developed a belief that includes an aversion to water sports. All of your childhood experiences, positive or negative, shape your adult view of the world. So for some, it may be time to Challenge your Beliefs Listen along as Damien talks about his own experiences and what it truly takes to change your beliefs.

Sometimes in life, negativity seems to come from all directions. If we watch the morning news, we hear about murders, robberies, car jackings, and many other negative things. If we read the online news, we are going to read about the same things. Surrounding ourselves with such negativity makes it easy for us to engage in negative self talk, which, in turn, can have the affect of decreasing our confidence levels and no one wants that. In addition to the media spreading negativity, many advertisements, in this day and age, leave people feeling bad or encourage them to be hard on themselves. For example, if a person who is struggling with their weight views a commercial for clothing aimed at say thin men and women, they are likely to engage in negative self talk, and decrease their confidence even more. In order to avoid becoming so discouraged by the negativity in life, you need to learn to replace negative self talk with positive self talk. This is easier said than done, however, it is one of the best ways to boost your confidence, but can also be a big challenge for many people. In order to successfully be able to replace negative self talk with positive self talk, you have to make a firm decision to be a more optimistic person. If you do not truly want to be a more positive person, there are no tips, tricks, or techniques that will turn you into a positive thinking person. To replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you need to learn how to stop negative self talk in its tracks. If you start to have a negative thought, tell yourself to stop that, and begin to think of how the situation could be better. It’s about changing the picture in your mind that’s feeding your self talk. Words trigger pictures, that create emotion. Change the picture!

Listen along as Damien talks about the 4 Key Areas for Personal Change in 2023.  No matter what kind of personal changes you want to embrace, begin by feeling deserving and appreciative of your current life circumstances. There is no more powerful a place to begin change than from a place of gratitude.

Your comfort zone is the emotional and mental state you experience when you routinely go about your day. You engage in behaviors and habits that come naturally to you, your personality, and your lifestyle. You experience a certain level of ease in work settings, social settings, lifestyle behaviors, recreational activities, and so on. Based on how you see yourself, and your belief systems on what are acceptable behaviors for yourself and others, you develop boundaries around what feels acceptable and comfortable for you. The values and ideas you were raised with as a child play a huge role in developing your comfort zones. The way in which you see yourself, or the esteem you hold for yourself will play a huge role in the type of social settings you are comfortable in. Your internal beliefs about a great number of things will solidify your comfort zones.  Listen along as Damien explains how not expanding your comfort zone can be holding you back from living the life you want and deserve.

Two benefits that come out of goal setting, one is the ability to improve motivation and the second is to build confidence. However, if the goals you set are unrealistic, the process can backfire. Listen along as Damien explains how setting realistic goals will improve your quality of life. If you set goals for yourself that are too challenging or unrealistic, chances are you will never meet them. By setting goals that are too far outside of your comfort zone, you may end up damaging your confidence and you'll lack the motivation and confidence to go after them.

When people want to embark on a journey of personal development, they often find themselves stuck. It's easy to point out what isn't working in our lives, and it's not difficult to say we actually do want to change what isn’t working. However, The area most people struggle with, is the desire to make changes, while remaining comfortable, or put another way, remaining safe in their "comfort zone." Your comfort zone is very powerful in restricting your growth towards realising your true potential.

What was planned as a celebration to mark the 50th Episode of the Take a Minute podcast, has turned into a personal mission to make a difference in the lives of others. 

In order to feel good about ourselves, our lives, and our circumstances, it's necessary to consciously feel appreciation for ourselves, our lives and our circumstances. The most effective way to feel appreciative is to use positive self talk. From the time we're small children, throughout our adult lives, we hear messages about ourselves. These messages might be positive, or they could be destructive. Kids who grow up hearing "you'll never amount to anything," tend to believe what they hear, and then turn it into a self fullfilling prophecy. On the flip side children who hear positive messages about themselves tend to fulfill those identities as well. Everyone has an internal dialogue that plays in their minds throughout the day. The language we use and the way we speak to ourselves has a huge impact on all of our experiences. Our belief systems generate the ideas we hold about ourselves and others. What we expect from ourselves and what we believe about our abilities is generated through our self talk. Here’s a question - Do you ever pay attention to what you say to yourself? Affirmations are a way of creating positive beliefs and expectations. Affirmations are simply statements of truth. We believe whatever we tell ourselves. If you are conscious of your self-talk you can positively impact all of your experiences. Affirmations not only fuel a positive attitude, but can lead you to expect the best out of life, and then experience situations that generate more positive feelings. But, are affirmations really worth the effort?

A business without customers will not remain a business for long. Therefore it is imperative to find ways to improve customer service if it is not currently at an acceptable level within your organization. Dale Carnegie said "The person who gets the farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare." In order to be competitive, a business must revolve around meeting the needs of its customers. How far is your business willing to go to provide exceptional customer service? When customers feel that their needs are a priority it inspires loyalty, and a loyal customer base is key to a company's longevity. A culture of putting customers first sets a company apart, and with many markets being saturated with the glut of competition it is important to stand apart. So How can you instill the principles of good customer service in employees? There are a couple of steps that must be followed to accomplish this goal. So, listen along as Damien discusses 6 areas that can be done to improve the customer experience?

With so many businesses fighting for your hard earned dollar these days, Damien points out why customer service will be your point of difference during tough times – and right now we are entering some challenging times both as a consumer and a producer. The tough economic times have finally pushed many organizations to the point where prices have to be raised on products and services. While we know that the price increases are motivated solely by the harsh economic times, how will customers perceive the action? While customers are concerned about price, in almost every instance a customer will be willing to pay a bit more to receive better service. Why is this the case, and how can this fact be used to the advantage of an organization?

Outstanding customer service is the cornerstone of every successful business, and if the standard level provided by an organization is not exactly where it ought to be, then steps need to be taken to improve in this regard. Talking with employees to find out ways that they think improvements can be made is useful. In general there are some larger principles that should be kept in mind to provide outstanding customer service. Listen along as Damien shares his three biggest skills needed to provide outstanding customer service.