By the time I’m hired as a speaker for any organization, there has already been a conversation that goes something like this, “should we hire someone who talks about leadership, or time management or productivity? Or should we hire someone like Brad Montgomery who talks about people skills and social support and how we can help grow our people as individuals?”

Fun Fact

Here’s a fun fact—most of the people in my audiences think they need more training in business strategies and tactics. But statistically speaking, those around them think they need to improve people skills. And ironically, when it comes to selecting training, people tend to pick competence building skills for themselves, but choose people skills for those around them.

People Skills Matter

Here’s a spoiler alert—business competency is important, but not entirely sufficient for growing and thriving.  According to the Harvard Business Journal, social support, not business competence, is the key factor in driving both business and educational outcomes.  

Improving the Bottom Line

No matter what type of business you are in, you are working with people and for people. This means that becoming fantastic at projecting warmth and being excellent at social support will improve your bottom line.  Those soft skills will help propel your organization towards success.

What Does This All Mean?

What does this all mean? If you want to improve your business metrics, from productivity to profitability, the surest way to get what you want is to invest in the people around you. Investing in your people pays big.  And who does’t want a big payoff for their investment?