Written by: Vickie Sullivan | July 09, 2024
The Rise of Soft Skills: What Leadership Experts Need to Know
Good news for a lot of leadership experts: The soft skills you teach are becoming increasingly important.
The 2023 World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report says, “Emerging technologies such as generative AI are reshaping workforce demands, and employers are placing greater emphasis on ‘soft’ skills. These skills allow companies to respond to change and are resistant to automation.”
Another study from Cashnet USA lists the soft skills that are important, especially for high-paying jobs. These include strategic thinking, negotiation, and persuasion.
Before you do a happy dance, though, we must ask a bigger question. If your services are in demand, do you still have to do things to stand out in your market? Or do you get a free pass?
2 Reasons Why Leadership Experts Must Update Their Marketing Strategy
The fact of the matter is the battle now switches from promoting the need for your leadership expertise and services to promoting you as the best option. Two market dynamics cause this:
• Larger shops will automate this learning. Where there is big money, you will find big competitors that can scale quickly (and undercut your price). Thanks to AI, scaling this education will bleed over to small- medium-sized businesses) quickly. Low-cost competitors will be everywhere.
• Industry associations and online organizations will jump on this trend. Their active membership and sponsor platforms provide them with a market advantage, and their built-in distribution system makes for an easy introduction. Additionally, these groups will undercut your price.
The common thread here is that when people have an urgent need for something, lots of providers will show up with solutions, which lowers the price. That is why you still need an effective brand and marketing strategy. Because getting the contracts and being paid your worth are two different challenges.
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