The Hard Truth about Soft Skills: Workplace Lessons Smart People Wish They'd Learned Sooner

By Peggy Klaus

Book Overview

Why do so many smart people find their careers stalled or derailed?

It's rarely a shortfall in technical expertise. The real problem is a lack of soft skills--the critical, nontechnical behaviors needed for successful career navigation. You can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you can't sell your ideas, get along with others, or manage your workload effectively, you're going nowhere fast.

For years, these essential skills were considered "nice to have" but not critical. That assumption is a career-killer. From self-management and handling critics to mastering communication, these abilities are the true foundation of long-term success. This book delivers the honest truth about what it really takes to thrive in today's workplace.

This is the definitive playbook for mastering the unspoken rules of the workplace, delivering 54 practical lessons and proven tools for:

Mastering Office Politics: Learn to identify the "shadow organization," find a mentor, deflect gossip, and manage professional relationships without committing political suicide.Effective Communication: Discover why listening is a critical skill, how to adjust your style for any audience, and present your ideas with confidence--without needing beta-blockers.Developing Your Personal Brand: Think of yourself as a cereal brand to stand out from the crowd, turn your accomplishments into compelling stories, and stop credit thieves in their tracks.Handling Critics and Conflict: Stay cool in the hot seat during performance reviews, deal with a bully boss, and understand why you don't need to be everyone's best friend to be respected.Strengthening Your Leadership Skills: Avoid the common traps of new managers, delegate effectively, and learn why people aren't mind readers so you can lead your team to success.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061284149
• ISBN13: 9780061284144
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Harper Business
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Great Book! (for entry -level and mature workers)

This book explained in detail, how to survive in the workplace. It has many examples on how to follow the unwritten rules (usually gained from many years in the work environment). I plan to purchase books for my employees and other young adults entering the workforce

Exactly what the title says

This book is spot on about being the "hard truth" about soft skills. We can often get caught up in what we think is "fair", what companies "should" do and how people "should" behave and all of those things are honestly irrelevant. It is not until people are ready to face the hard truths that they are able to make decisions about their willingness to make changes to their work styles that will impact their career track.

I wish this had been a college graduation present 20 years ago.

Peggy Klaus has an uncanny ability to lead us toward dissecting our shortcomings and self-destructive behaviors. Like the best of life coaches, she is benevolent and practical in analyzing workplace situations and suggesting behavioral strategies. This book will benefit everyone from the CEO, to the manager, to support staff, to teachers, to shop owners, to freelancers, etc... as it is really about interrelating even away from the office. I came away from this book with a list of easily assimilated action steps to incorporate into my working relationships. Klaus' use of case studies and alternate scripts makes this all the easier to think through and project into our own scenarios.

Soft Skills in My Real World

As someone who has read many self help books and taken a long look about improving relationships in my own workplace (Aa Montessori School), I have to say that Klaus' latest book has spoken to everything that I have experienced in the past 30 years. Where was Klaus' book 30 years ago when I begun my career. I found this book to be very inspirational and it helped me better understand the great need to even help my own employees (teachers) develop their special soft skills in our Montessori School, as well as work on my own skills. This book is a must for anyone feeling stuck at his/her workplace. Klaus' book on how to look at new behaviors; which encompasses personal social awareness, problem solving skills, critical thinking, self control and many other positive actions. Everyone learns how to do the skills in their job but no one has ever captured the importance of balancing skills with personal traits, attitude, confidence and risk taking. There is no substitute for real world experience; Klaus knows how to capture all levels of awareness to help everyone have a brilliant career.

Essential Soft Skills

The Hard Truth About Soft Skills is a self-help book in the deepest sense--the wisest and wittiest advice on not only staying clear-eyed at work, but also elevating oneself into the upper reaches of the work force. It is a lively, original guide on cultivating habits, staying positive and cool, listening, mastering company culture, eschewing gossip, transforming a tormentor into a teacher, among so many other essential and delicious necessaries. With a messianic zeal, Peggy Klaus's dazzling book insists on the freedom to change one's life, and implicit in change is the sense that we act for ourselves rather than are acted upon. The Hard Truth inspires us to hone our vital soft skills--people skills!--and deserves a wide readership among those who work, which is nearly all of us. Peggy's first book, the hilarious, energetic, and astonishingly practical Brag! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It, is about opening your eyes and reading yourself and, ultimately, how to live in the world, artfully bragging all the way. I am an ardent fan.