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SmallBizResource Blog -- Women in Business


Wednesday's Woman: Soft Is The New Hard

Posted by Gayle Kesten Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008, 01:28 PM ET

Have women, queens of the soft skill called communication, won the gender war? In a word, yes, according to a guy named Guy Garcia, whose book, The Decline of Men, came out this month.

Garcia maintains that changes in the job market play into women's strengths, particularly our "innate networking and social skills." "Women tend to know their customers: other women. The ability of women consumers to make or break a brand is being felt in industries from publishing to health care. Women, armed with advanced degrees and expanding spending power, are increasingly seen as the decision-makers in housing, autos, and technology," he said in this excerpt.

Great to read, though I'm personally not a big fan of the war analogy he uses in an accompanying video. Hey, Guy, why so divisive? It takes a wide smattering of skills to run a business -- it's not an either/or by any stretch.

"If I know that a client has a big weekend planned, I’ll make the extra effort to send them well wishes in a Friday afternoon email," writes Kristen Fischer on the Freelance Switch.

How nice/easy/smart is that? (Very/very/very.) Still, it's good to see Garcia, and hopefully others, acknowledging the value of so-called soft people skills. Several years ago, a manager once wrote in my review that "Gayle is the glue that holds this department together." To this day, I consider that a career highlight. It also brings up another point: Your people skills are just as important interally, within your business, as they are externally.

In search of your unique value proposition? Take a look in the mirror.

Recent Wednesday's Woman articles:


The Wednesday's Woman series is written for today's community of hard-working, small-business women, featuring profiles, industry trends, research, work/life balance issues and other topics of interest. Send your ideas to Gayle Kesten.

Women in Business




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