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Soft Skills Winning Edge

Have you ever heard the phrase, Soft Skills before? Sometimes it is used in sports but most of the time its a phrase used in the business world. It is commonly used by corporate training departments to describe certain types of training programs. These programs tend to focus on improving human performance rather than teach technical skills. This is why they are called soft but nothing could be further from the truth.

These human performance skills are things like, confidence, balancing work and life, communication skills, visioning skills, focusing in present time, handling adversity, transitioning through change and so on. These are considered soft skills yet these are the skills that sit at the heart of your ability to produce your best and do it time and again.

Soft Skills = Winning Edge.

Of course, Im aware that GolfChannel.com readers exhibit a wide range of golf talent and interests in terms of improving the way they play the game. Some of you are professionals. Some of you are amateurs who truly want to improve and are always on the lookout for ways to do that. Some of you play occasionally and just want to have a good time and others play pretty regularly yet consistently run into the same issues that hurt your game time and time again. However, no matter what the level of your skill or interest in improving your game; a simple and undeniable truth remains

The best opportunity to improve human performance begins from how well or how poorly you demonstrate your soft skills.

Corporations may lose sight of this by viewing the items I listed above as soft and therefore not place the proper importance on them. They undervalue the importance of these skills by calling them soft and the winning edge they can trigger for those who learn to demonstrate them properly. I use the word win but its not always about winning a trophy, a championship or money and fameits about being your best and feeling great that youve allowed your best to surface under any conditions. I also know many golfers who lose sight of this just like corporations do. Why? I believe its a misunderstanding of what these skills really mean to who you are and how you play the game. Its a misunderstanding of not only the impact these skills have on you and your game but also how to truly demonstrate them with greater ease.

People who underachieve and under perform in life or in sports tend NOT to demonstrate these soft skills at a high level. You can witness this by looking at the number of people in the world who have a certain level of natural talent or ability yet under achieve and under perform. They sabotage themselves in some fashion by using these skills poorly or negatively. Do you know anyone like this? Ill bet you do!

Take a look at any of the big names in either business or sports. Read autobiographies about people you look up to or admire and youll find a common thread among them. This thread has to do with the strengthening and development of the so-called soft skills in order to achieve their dream. Youll probably hear them use phrases like, hard work and determination and persistence. All of these are great skills for sure and they are also under the soft skills category. Yet, theres nothing soft about them is there? Your development of them will lead you toward the winning edge of performance. As a result you are tougher, more resilient and stronger no matter what you do or the level you do it. The success stories of such individuals are probably filled with ups and downs, highs and lows and a combination of great and not so great choices. This is the nature of any journey you undertake. No matter what your particular personal journey though, your ability to properly demonstrate vision, resiliency, focus in present time, enjoy the moment, gain energy, see the bigger picture and a full range of soft skills are what make you stronger, give you a powerful edge and allow your best performances to show up more often. The question is not whether they are important. The real question is always, whats the best way to demonstrate them? Corporations can save time, energy and money by improving these skills. Golfers can increase energy, focus, enjoyment and consistency.

Does that sound soft to you?

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Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved. David Breslow is a national speaker, author and Performance Consultant. The book, Wired To Win is available at 888.280.7715. The Mental Game Video Training Course is available here. His clients include professional athletes (PGA, LPGA, other sports) as well as Business and the Private Sector. He brings a fresh, direct, no-nonsense revolutionary approach to unleashing Human Performance helping people make quicker and more powerful shifts in attitude, behavior, and action. His articles are read by over 400,000 people per month on GolfChannel.com and David frequently speaks to organizations of all sizes who want to create real shifts in how people, think, feel and perform every day. For more info on the Interactive Video Training Course, One on One consultation, E-Books and Presentations; please visit: www.theflowzone.net or email: David@theflowzone.net or call: 847.681.0247.