Soft Skills Hard Results A Practical Guide to People Skills for Analytical Leaders

by Anne Taylor

Everyone says a great leader needs EQ, Emotional Intelligence, soft skills, blah, blah, blah. What does that even mean? Where do you start? Where’s the line for that on the P&L?

You might think that business is all about facts and figures. You probably prefer it that way. The truth is that as uncertainty and business complexity increases, successful leaders need to embrace soft skills to get the best out of their people in a sustainable manner.

In this succinct, no-nonsense approach, Anne Taylor shares:

Key soft skills relevant for leadership and practical applications of how to use them every day drawn from real-life case studies
Straightforward tools to better understand yourself, because your leadership starts with YOU
Simple frameworks to communicate with others to get things done while building a stronger relationship with them (at the same time, how efficient!)
Logical ideas you can try immediately with on-line support if you want it.
All done in an easy to read, logical, organized manner for people who prefer facts and don’t consider themselves natural ‘people people.’
In a direct yet professional manner, Anne combines the results-oriented focus from her extensive business background in Fortune 100 corporations with her passion for personal awareness and conscious choice to help you get better results through your people, fast.
The Practical Principles in this book, when applied, practiced and honed, can improve your effectiveness, impact and bottom-line results.

Genres: Business

216 pages, Paperback

Published January 23, 2020

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emotional Intelligence (EI/EQ) is a key area of personal development and overall workplace capability. Daniel Goleman wrote his book Emotional Intelligence, where he demonstrated that biology and biochemistry, alongside specifically developed skills, play an enormous part in our reactions to situations and our ability to espouse the characteristics of leadership. Since then, EI has gradually developed to the mainstream position it has in business and personal development. Prior to the term Emotional Intelligence, we often referred to the underlying intrapersonal and interpersonal skills as Soft Skills - a term Anne Taylor returns to in the title of her book, Soft Skills Hard Results A Practical Guide to People Skills for Analytical Leaders.

With the number of personal development and business books I've read, it becomes very difficult to read a book without a significant amount of the material being repeated from previous books. This book, understandably, is no exception but what it does try to achieve is the direct correlation between EI, leadership and business metrics, particularly the bottom-line. Although top-line figures have always been associated with strong soft skills this book is illustrating the impact associated with cost centres.

I am always fascinated in the neuroscience involved with a discussion around emotional intelligence because I then know it is rooted in science. The impact of hormones and chemicals released into the body at times of need or stress helps explain a lot to an analytical person like me. The body's response to hormones and chemicals such as Adrenalin, Cortisol, Dopamine and Oxytocin could be covered a bit better but then another reader may wish to have this section removed.

We can consider four main areas of emotions intelligence which is often illustrated in a four-quadrant grid where one axis is Self and Other and the other axis is Knowing and Doing. This consideration enables us to address the understanding and actions of emotions with regards ourselves or others. Various 2 x 2 models are used throughout the book including the Johari Window useful for self-awareness and understanding relationships. Anne Taylor's book is also structured in four parts as - Inside, Outside, Between and Beyond. There are also ten principles discussed, each with its own chapter and each chapter with a concluding challenge to encourage additional practice.

What I really liked was the detail provided and in one example the reader is requested to email a group but they are provided with a sample email with the wording she feels important and why that format is important. Coaching is an important role and as vividly as possible, Anne Taylor creates a workshop feel to the material where she discusses motivations, worries, styles, language, courage and achieving balance.

The material in this book comes from an experienced business leader with considerable knowledge in coaching and mentoring business executives. It feels like a trusted insight into the area of emotional intelligence and its correlation to results and hard business metrics is invaluable. I would recommend reading this book and I would like to thank Practical Inspiration Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC copy in return for an honest review.

[AcademicEditor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personally I hate the nomenclature of "soft skills," as if these skills are somehow weaker or less serious than technical skills. The truth is that it takes a variety of skills and qualities to make an effective leader or colleague, and these are essential to the success of any endeavor, as anyone who's suffered through bad leadership or a toxic environment knows well.

This book is actually a wonderful bridge, though. It seamlessly leads a person who might have been oblivious to people skills on a journey to competence in interpersonal communication and leadership. It is logical and practical, answering the resistance and frustration that usually arises when these topics come up. Buy it for your floundering boss and lousy coworkers ASAP, and get yourself a copy too--we can all use a little more emotional intelligence.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.

[Paul Laughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The journey of developing vital Soft Skills in analytical leaders

Given the focus of my business, a book entitled “Soft Skills Hard Results” was always going to get my attention. Once I picked it up and read the subtitle, “A practical guide to people skills for analytical leaders”, I knew I had to read this one.

The book in question is by Anne Taylor. She is a qualified executive coach with a background in senior leadership within global corporations. Her experience comes both from her personal story (she is very open) and her experience with senior clients around the world.

My motivation for sharing this book review comes from both having read this book & sharing my views at an excellent business book club. After that event, I realised that I had perhaps been too critical. There are flaws in this book, which I will come to, but it also has much to offer. I think the key to benefitting from the author’s approach is how you read it and with whom. So, this post aims to help you get the most out of this book. So you can benefit from the lessons that Anne has learnt the hard way.

Why is such a book on Soft Skills relevant for Analytical Leaders?
A number of fellow guests at that book club event mentioned that they appreciated how this book started. There is a section entitled ‘Note to Reader‘ that covers why this subject is relevant for the reader, now & how the book should help. Next, the author really focuses on an analytical audience. She walks through an estimate of the cost of neglecting Soft (People) Skills development for such leaders. This is well done & comes to a figure that should catch any executive’s attention. Sadly, it is also the last time in the book that the contents explicitly focusses on analytical leaders. Too much reads as simply for a general leadership audience.

But that should not put off the reader if they are a leader in the world of data & analytics. The contents of this book are still relevant to their challenges. I know that because of the work that I do day to day with such leaders and their teams.

Seven years ago I took a punt that I would find enough businesses out there like those I knew; where a focus on developing the leaders & softer skills in their analysts would give them the best ROI. Seven years on and I have never been short of clients. I’ve had the pleasure of working with organisations large & small. In each of them, I see the difference a focus on the #PeopleSideOfData is making in their business. During that time I have consistently seen very technically able analytics leaders benefit from developing their softer skills.

What to expect from this book – the ingredients
Anne structures her book around the four parts of her model of human interactions (which will be familiar to students of Gestalt coaching). Part 1 focuses the reader on their inner world. It is all about becoming more self-aware. Part 2 shifts the reader’s focus to others. Being more present to notice & engage more effectively with stakeholders; getting to know them better. Part 3 is clearly influenced by both Gestalt and Psychosynthesis schools of coaching. It focuses on what emerges between the reader & others. Covering authenticity, adapting your style to suit others & courageous vulnerability. Part 4 is a more personal focus on values. She shares the benefits of a gratitude practice & living a life of no regrets.

One of the positives of this content is how much is covered in a relatively short book. In under 200 pages, Anne touches on a lot of the best practices in this field. Any executives who have been on personal or leadership development courses will find material that is familiar. Anne complements this amount of theory with personal experiences & case studies from clients. It is all structured into 10 principles that are relevant for all leaders (including analytical ones). Plus, each chapter ends with a challenge & exercises for personal reflection.

So far, so good. Where this book runs into trouble is the volume of what has been included at a high level. It feels a bit like the mistake I always make as a trainer when creating a new training course. I try to stuff in too much content. Likewise, this book can read a bit like a bullet point summary of all relevant theory. Which can at times feel a bit like a whirlwind tour without having fully grasped or explored any one subject. I fear that will not work well for analytics leaders with their attention to detail. The exercises too are overwhelming in terms of the questions asked. Sitting down with such a list can feel like an interrogation with the ‘tyranny of choice‘ effect putting off some readers from completing the exercises.

How can you get the most out of this book?
On reflection, I realised a lot of what drove the problems I experienced above was the way I was reading this book. As part of my annual personal development plan, I aimed to read this book within 3 weeks. Such a deadline did not lend itself to 10 exercises intended to be completed over at least a week each. My more rapid reading also meant I was not pausing to reflect as often as would help with this book.

To overcome the potential twin problems of superficiality and information overload, I recommend going more slowly. Allow yourself time to stop and reflect each time you have been presented with a new principle. Identify those models, advice or others resources that sound relevant. Then use the bibliography provided to springboard more detailed study & learning. For the challenge at the end of each chapter, take at least a week to complete that and book in time to reflect afterwards. For those reflections times, don’t worry about the question overload in the book, select 1-3 questions that resonate with you and reflect on those.

Beyond that advice, I suspect that Anne is right to end this book by explaining more about her work as a coach. It would help leaders reading this book to work through it together with a coach or mentor. I can see how mentoring could really help as a safe reflective space to clarify insights and commit to actions at each stage. Go slow to go faster. Given that advice, I do actually recommend this book for analytical leaders. Those who are willing to go on such a voyage of self-discovery. But only if you are willing to take 10-12 months to work through the material in this book, complete the challenges & reflect with your mentor.

What is helping you develop Soft Skills as an Analytics leader
I mentioned above that I train & mentor leaders of data & analytics teams. As I’ve outlined in this post, Anne’s book could also be a resource to support such work (even with an internal mentor). What else works for you?

Given almost every data leader I know recognises the need to develop such skills, how are you doing so? Are you working with a mentor or coach? Is a different book or online resource helping you? Are you protecting time in your diary for reflection? Please share what has worked for you, so we can all grow into the data leaders we aspire to be. I look forward to hearing from you & thank you for this book, Anne.