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Managing life and relationships matters more than maintaining machines

What are soft skills? Why are they crucially important?

There is mounting evidence that soft skills matter much—for personal happiness, success and leadership. Most CEOs of large companies believe that, for success in business, especially in leadership roles, soft skills matter more than hard skills. In fact, according to the world-famous Forbes Magazine, “ninety-four per cent of recruiters believe that top-notch soft skills outweigh experience when it comes to promotion to leadership positions.”

Here is a surprising example.

When Ratan Tata, one of India’s most esteemed and successful business tycoons,  was asked what struck him most in his mentor, the legendary JRD Tata, he gave a totally unexpected reply. He did not refer to JRD’s phenomenal grasp of steel production or finance. The trait he most admired in him was humility! This powerful, sophisticated and much-admired captain of industry was noted for his modest demeanour.

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Fr Joe Mannath SDB

Soft Skills are a combination of a person’s social, communication and personality skills, balanced with his/her attitude. Soft skills are interpersonal skills which are used to describe your approach to life, work, and relationships with other people

All of us are born with skills that are needed to live a good life, but some soft skills need our constant practice to lead a peaceful life with others also.

All skills can be practiced and learned if one goes through the life manual of the giants who have lived before us practicing soft skills unknowingly. We can learn soft skills from the giants who walked the earth before us practicing soft skills without knowing the word ‘soft skill.’ Let us take a stock of the life of Jesus, Mary, the saints, prophets and other religious leaders.

The word ‘soft skills’ can be traced back to the US Military between 1968 and 1972. The practice of soft skills existed, of course, before the word was coined.

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Dr K Alex

Yes, they do—in both our personal and professional lives

Over two hundred Catholic students from rural parishes of the Diocese of Tiruchirappalli came together twice in the year 2010-11 in Campion School, Trichy, for a two-week soft skills training program. The late Bishop Anthony Devotta showed keen interest and was present personally along with me for the inaugural and the valedictory functions. The rural Catholic Tamil medium students hopped onto the stage to speak in English, or to deliver a declamatory speech in Tamil. While some took the microphone confidently and stood in front of the screen, others placed on the board the poems they had penned in Tamil and English; one student showed her computer animation skills. Many parents attended. They were pleasantly shocked to see the confident performance of their children. A proud parent said, “Initially, I was reluctant to take up the parish priest’s invitation to send my child to Trichy for fifteen days. But now I feel that the fifteen days given were too short.”

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Brother Paul Raj SG

Reflecting on her experience of life, Sr Biviyana shares what experience has taught her—a more realistic awareness of the beauty and limitations of religious life, her mother’s example, the relative immaturity of young religious, the politics of division, the need of freedom and initiative, God’s nearness and guidance.–Editor

When I joined religious life, I thought that religious are like God and they do not struggle with problems, and must be holy at all times. Gradually, I realized this was not true; my experience taught me otherwise. I am still a religious, as I feel called to follow what my inmost heart feels called to do.

I get attracted by the way some religious live their life serving in the mission, especially the way they interact with people. But deep down, when I reflect, the attraction is mysterious, as I feel God attracts each one of us differently.  I am deeply attracted by the love I experienced from God though my daily living and interacting with people. As I experience my life as a religious, I feel blessed and humbled. I have also felt that I am blest a hundred-fold as the Lord promises. When I give myself totally, I have felt even more blest. I feel this blessing is also poured on my family.

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Sr Biviyana Lepcha IBVM

FOCUS: Religious life has a focus.  Superiors are guardians and guarantors of that focus. Religious life is a radical following of Jesus Christ.  This is true also of priestly life.  We become religious and priests in order to follow the lifestyle (chaste, poor, obedient) and mission (establishment of the Kingdom) of Jesus Christ.  Therefore, the religious superior is to personally strive to become Christ-like and act as a help for others to become more and more like Christ.  To be Christ-like is not something exotic or unusual.  It is to be a good human being, to be a person of simplicity and integrity, to be person of joy and hope.  The striving to be Christ-like is to be the chief priority of religious and priests.  The superior and the community make their own the following prayer of St Nicholas of Flue, a mystic and ascetic of Switzerland: “My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you; give me everything that brings me closer to you; detach me from myself to give my all to you.”

CONTACT WITH GOD: We cannot advance in becoming like Christ without continuous contact with God.  Therefore, superiors ensure that the community has sufficient time and opportunity for prayer.  When there are many things to be done, prayer time does not become the first thing to be sacrificed.  St Francis de Sales used to say: “Everyone of us needs half an hour of prayer each day, except when we are busy – then we need an hour.”

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Fr Jose Kuttianimattathil SDB

Self Acceptance flows from Self-Compassion

To be emotionally healthy and lead a happy life, we need to look at our weaknesses and failures, get  healed, forgive ourselves and get involved in helping others.

According to Carl Gustav Jung, the journey of life is a movement towards wholeness. We can never be whole, unless we integrate the shadow side of ourselves with the positive traits we have. Self-acceptance means that we are comfortable with ourselves and embrace ourselves and our stories with all our imperfections.

Mark Twain was to say that the worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with ourselves. We are all fatally flawed. But, if we believe in ourselves, are content with what we have and are and accept ourselves, the more will the world accept us.

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Janina Gomes

KEVIN

Here is an intelligent look at the question: “Should we be more concerned to teach our children to pick up the skills to ‘get ahead’ (the hard skills), or to train them in the skills to ‘get along’ (the soft skills)? Where would technical competence lead without a good moral foundation? What do we want more—that our children be good or well-off?—Editor

 “Hard versus soft?”  This is a common question asked by restaurant waiters regarding how you might enjoy eating your eggs.  The fact of the matter is, whether prepared a little harder or a little softer, they will taste pretty much the same and be of the same nutritional value. Personal preference of how it is cooked doesn’t really change the egg or its value. If asked, most would say their preference is somewhere in between overcooked rubbery and undercooked runny. In the same way, I suspect that when it comes to educating our young people, most would agree that we don’t want our children to turn out too soft or too hard.   As we educate our young, whether that be at home or in the classroom, we want our children to be knowledgeable enough to be productive members of society, yet to be formed well enough to become good people who lead meaningful lives marked by love of God and love of neighbor.

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Crystal and Kevin Sullivan

The onslaught of Covid-19 pandemic triggered a panic buying of facemasks and hand-sanitisers.  The media focussed on the shortage of these commodities; a sudden, sharp spike in their prices and alleged hoarding of stocks by manufacturers and traders.  Hence, the Government of India brought face masks and hand-sanitizers under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (TECA-1955) and declared them essential commodities with effect from 13 March 2020 till 30 June 2020 to boost their supply and prevent hoarding.  On 08 July 2020, the Consumer Affairs Ministry said that they are no longer essential commodities as their supply is sufficient in the country.  This article explains the meaning and implications of this Act.

Origin of the Law:

During the first decade of its independence, India was facing a scarcity of food-grains.  The matter further worsened because of hoarding and black marketing.  The country had to import food to feed its population.  Hence, TECA-1955 was legislated in order to regulate the production, supply and distribution of essential commodities.  As per the provisions of this law, the Central Government (CG) declares certain commodities ‘essential’ in order to make them available to the general public at fair prices.

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Ravi Sagar

This is how the brave nun’s life ended.

She had woken up early to go to a community meeting which she had called for. She wanted to speak to the farmers about their rights. All of a sudden she saw two men emerge and block her. They asked her if she had any weapon. She took out the copy of the Bible she always carried and said, “This is my only weapon.” She opened the Bible and read out a favourite passage. “Blessed are the poor in spirit … Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”  One of the two hired assassins looked at the other and, when the other nodded, he fired a round at her abdomen. She fell down on her face. He fired another round on her back and four rounds on her head, killing her on the spot.

This happened on 12 February 2005 at a forest settlement in the state of Para in Brazil. The nun who was murdered was Sr. Dorothy Stang, a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur. Born on 7 June 1931 in Dayton, Ohio, USA, she became a nun in 1948 and professed her final vows in 1956. For about ten years she taught in schools run by her congregation, while nurturing her dream of working in China as a missionary. But she was sent to work in Brazil in 1966. Very soon she understood she was called to defend our planet and the poor.

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Fr M A Joe Antony SJ

Process spirituality (Magnet, August 2020) is discerning and responding to God present and acting in the events and experiences of our everyday lives, “in the bits and pieces of every day.”

Process spirituality finds a fine expression, as well as a useful tool, in the Examen of Consciousness which is at the heart of Jesuit spirituality – “finding God in everything.” We don’t need to be a Jesuit to practise the Examen. Every one of us, interested in growing spiritually, can do this no matter what our state of life.

The Examen of Consciousness is different from the Examination of Conscience, which is an evaluation of our day in terms of sins committed, expressing repentance and asking forgiveness for them.

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Fr Jose Parappully SDB