The Power of Soft Skills

We’ve grown up in a world that taught us to focus on the hard stuff.

Traditional systems.
Shaped.
Brainwashed.
Educated.
Call it whatever you want.

We’ve been encouraged to value the things we can learn.
The things we can do.
Whether it’s technical know-how, manufacturing, processing, making things, shaping things.

And sure, those skills matter.
They’re important.
But we forget the foundation.

How do you approach the tool? The software, the project, the task - what is the energy behind it? What is the you that meets the work?

What’s the sweetness?
The softness?
The blood and flesh that animates the solid bones of your skills?

What makes your work move - and how do you move it?

Most people don’t talk about that.
Some have forgotten altogether.
And yet… it’s everything.
It’s at the very core of who we are.

That’s why my passion project - The Human CV - lights me up. It brings me so much joy. And I know it does the same for everyone involved.

The people who visit the website and create their own soft skills CV.
The person who greets our guests, films the interviews, edits the video, tweaks the audio.
And of course, the beautiful humans who’ve come close to the heart of this project - by being guests on our YouTube channel.

Each one of them contributes something real,
something warm.
When we put their Human CV stories out into the world, something big happens.

People feel it.
They get goosebumps.

Because they’re hearing from someone like them.
Someone with similar strengths.
Similar personality insights.
Similar values and Sustainable Development Goals.
All those things we often overlook.
But they matter.

We write about them in the Human CV.

We name them.
Celebrate them.
Claim them.
And yes, we still call them “soft skills.”

But now it’s time to stop underestimating softness.
Isn’t it the softness that we’re most drawn to in another human being?

The soft hug.
The gentle stroke over our head that calms our mind.
Kind supportive touches.
The deep breath that nurtures us again after the body has pushed too far.
The relaxed exhale that lets us drop into rest, into sleep, into meditation.

That’s the foundation.
That’s what makes the rest of it even possible.

So to everyone who’s sent me kind messages, who’s trusted me with their story, who’s made a Human CV, liked my posts, subscribed to the Youtube channel or shared the project with friends - thank you!

You’re fuelling something in me I’ve never felt from any other kind of work.
From my heart - I thank you.
Thank you for joining me on my mission and cheering for soft skills!

Photo credit: Kai J. Lee