Podcast | Best Christian Workplaces

Encore Episode: The Soft Skills Every Leader Needs

Written by Best Christian Workplaces | July, 11 2022

Are you looking for ways to improve your leadership effectiveness? Dr. Gene Habecker is Senior Fellow with the Sagamore Institute (Leadership Development and Capacity Building) and President Emeritus of Taylor University. He’s also an Adjunct Professor in the PhD in Leadership program at Capital Seminary and Graduate School as well as the former President and CEO of American Bible Society. He’s the author of The Softer Side of Leadership: Essential Soft Skills That Transform Leaders and the People They Lead. With 35 years of CEO experience, listen in as Dr. Habecker outlines four ways to improve the softer side of your leadership.

 

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In this episode:

  • Trust is the glue of any organization
  • A distinguishing leadership trait that should be treasured (2:59)
  • Leadership is more about the people you serve than it ever is about you the leader (3:21)
  • “David knew that the Lord had made him king of Israel and that he had made him a powerful ruler for the good of his people.”  2 Samuel 5:12 CEV (4:06)
  • Understand better what leadership involves (5:36)
  • How you relate to people and the importance of soft skills (8:09)
  • “There’s more to effective leadership than just mastery of hard skills” (8:26)
  • “Soft skills: a collection of primary qualitative skills, behaviors, practices, habits, disciplines, and attitudes that characterize how people interact and behave with one another” (9:41)
  • 5 soft skills that are essential for every leader and should be mastered personally (10:54)
  • The need to protect sacred space and to enable deep thinking (11:13)
  • Make sure your leadership is built on the right foundation (11:24)
  • Engage in self-discovery learning (11:50)
  • The need to stay connected not just to your head but to your heart (11:59)
  • Leaders need to take care of themselves personally (12:05)
  • What are the soft skills that help organizations survive the difficult moments? (12:27)
  • Organizations need to understand and celebrate creativity (12:38)
  • The importance of embedding trust in an enterprise (13:02)
  • The need to have accountability (13:11)
  • The importance of having an attitude of forgiveness (13:43)
  • The leader follower dynamic (13:50)
  • The importance of love (14:20)
  • Many leaders have no idea what God has called them to do in their leadership (21:06)
  • Our colleagues play a huge role in a leader’s self-discovery (30:56)
  • How does forgiveness play in organizational life? (40:53)

Additional Resources

Buy Gene's Book: The Softer Side of Leadership: Essential Soft Skills That Transform Leaders and the People They Lead

Buy Simon Sinek's book: Leaders Eat Last

Read the Transcript

Download a complete, word-for-word transcript of episode here.

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