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A senior engineer I coached admitted this to me recently:
“I’m trying to grow into a leadership role … but the ‘soft skills’ feedback I get feels like a riddle.”
And honestly? He’s right and not alone.
Power skills (how I like to call them instead of “soft skills”), matter more than ever, but the way we talk about them make it difficult to comprehend and measure how ‘better’ we’re getting at them.
We throw around big words:
“Be more resilient.”
“Think creatively.”
“Communicate better.”
“Show leadership.”
All true.
None specific.
Power skills don’t feel vague because they’re mysterious.
They feel vague because we describe them like personality traits instead of teachable behaviors.
Today’s piece gets into why that happens, and how to turn these skills into something you can measure, grow, and use.
Power skills feel vague because we use big words, no behaviors, and no context.
💡 Our Language About Power Skills Need Some Fixing
1. We talk about them at the wrong altitude.
“Be creative.”
“Lead better”
“Improve communication.”
These are categories, not behaviors.
It would be like telling someone: “Be better at software,” without saying which part.
2. We assume they look the same in everyone.
Just like AI adoption has different learning styles, power skills have different expressions (a topic I unpacked here).
They don’t manifest the same way across personalities or contexts.
Your creativity may be structured.
Someone else’s may be chaotic.
Your influence may be quiet.
Someone else’s may be energetic.
The skill isn’t vague, the expression is personal.
3. We don’t tie them to business outcomes.
When “creativity” isn’t tied to solving a constraint, it becomes a motivational poster.
When “leadership” isn’t tied to decisions, it becomes a personality contest.
Power skills only make sense when they’re anchored to actual business outcomes.
4. The world changed faster than our language.
The old distinction of “hard skills = valuable” and “soft skills = optional” is gone.
Today, as the WEF and OECD data show - something I explained in this previous edition - the fastest-rising skills through 2030 are:
Creative thinking
Leadership and social influence
Resilience and flexibility
Curiosity and lifelong learning
Analytical thinking
These aren’t soft.
These are strategic differentiators, because AI can’t do them for you.
Which brings us to the fix.
NEWSLETTER WORKSPACE
🚀 Make Power Skills Measurable Through Behaviors:
Here’s how to move power skills from abstract → practical → measurable.
1. Shift from “traits” to “behaviors.”
Instead of:
❌ “Improve your communication.”
Try:
✅ “Share the context, options, risks, and call behind every decision you make this week.”
Instead of:
❌ “Be more creative.”
Try:
✅ “Solve this problem with half the budget or half the time.”
Instead of:
❌ “Think more strategically.”
Try:
✅ “List 3 assumptions you’re making and find 1 counterexample for each.”
These are reps, like at the gym.
2. Tie each skill to a business outcome.
When a skill connects to the work, it stops being vague.
Creativity → reduces cost, unlocks faster solutions.
Influence → aligns teams, speeds up decisions.
Resilience → stabilizes teams in ambiguity.
Curiosity → drives experimentation, fuels innovation.
Leadership → creates clarity and safety when things shift fast.
When skills is tied to defined outcomes, they stop being soft.
The behavior becomes obvious.
🧠 The Bottom Line
Power skills are not personality traits.
They’re muscles.
And muscles grow with reps.
They only feel vague when we keep them abstract.
But once we translate them to behaviors, decisions, and outcomes, they become the most concrete competitive edge you have.
Not fluffy.
Not optional.
Foundational.
Which power skill feels the most “vague” to you in your current role?
Hit reply - I’d love to hear from.
And if you want help turning power skills into something you or your team can build, reply to this email.
I’ll help you break down the skills you’re working on and design a short sprint around it: practical, tailored and clear.
THE HUMANxTECH QUOTE OF THE WEEK
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
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