Going soft

‘Soft skills’ is a term I am not entirely comfortable with. Like ‘human resources’, it reduces our interaction with an employer and the people we work with – and for – to a tradeable commodity. ‘Soft skills’ are just something else today’s professionals deploy to ‘sell’ themselves to their bosses, or their clients. 

In truth, as we all know, it is one’s intellectual or technical attributes that really matter in both the genesis of a career and its progression. That’s why aspiring professionals sit exams at 16, again at 18 and once again in their twenties (or later still).

Moreover, being a nice person and a good listener won’t get you that next job as a senior associate or partner – it’s all about how good you are at harvesting those fat fees.

If you consider the above to be appallingly cynical, let me offer a disclaimer. I am playing devil’s advocate – though only to an extent. ‘Soft skills’ are indeed a commodity, but if they are perceived to be increasingly important in the law then this is all to the good. It ought to be self-evident that personality traits such as empathy, emotional intelligence and active listening are indispensable to the contemporary lawyer. If not (yet) always essential, they are at least highly desirable. Especially in an era when technology is fast assuming the burden of the ‘grunt’ work.

As Rachel Buckley, joint managing director at The Family Law Company, tells the Gazette: ‘The legal industry is arguably more competitive than ever, and whether you work in an emotionally challenging role like family law – or are configuring corporate contracts for a top-100 firm – there are expectations on us to play a part in driving new business, retaining and growing current clients while supporting both our own and our colleague’s wellbeing. All are soft skills that weren’t traditionally taught.’

They are being taught now; and not before time.

Allow me to express one further reservation, though, and it is implicit. ‘Soft’ connotes non-essential – even trivial; while its antonym ‘hard’ connotes ‘must-have’.

This is unfortunate, as is the lingering gender bias associated with the term. The notion that men can reasonably be exempted from demonstrating ‘soft’ skills (‘woke nonsense’!) is curiously durable.