Tuesday 20 January 2015

If Content is the Hard Skill, Communication is the Soft Skill – Blend them to Achieve Your Leadership Success – Professor M.S.Rao





“If we don't fight for what we 'stand for' with our passionate words and honest actions, do we really 'stand' for anything?” ― Tiffany Madison, Black and White


In one of my leadership development training programs a senior leader asked me whether content is more important than communication. I explained to him as follows:

It is a debatable topic with different views and opinions. It is always the type of topic we take matters a lot in life. What we convey matters more. People are wise to assess whether the person has the content or communication. They may often get attracted by communication initially but ultimately they look at the content. If there is no substance, people won’t take the person seriously. Some people persuade through their communication skills but they must appreciate the fact that it is the content that survives and lasts forever. People fall flat on the ground with communication and without content. It is like style over substance. Ultimately, substance matters more than style. It is true that actions speak louder than words.

There are many leaders in the world who rose due to communication but vanished as they lacked in content. In contrast, there are leaders who lasted for a long time due to their content despite having initial hiccups due to dearth of communication.  Remember, both ‘what’ you speak and ‘how’ you speak are important but at the end of the day what you speak is more important than how you speak.  When you market goods people often look at the external appearance and buy them. If the goods don’t deliver promised results, they lose relevance as there will be no repeat orders. There are authors who write books and market aggressively. Readers may buy once due to marketing strategy but finally they will recommend to others only when the book has the content. They will also read the other titles of the same author if the book has the desired content.

I am an author and wrote 30 books on leadership with two of my award-winning books are the bestselling globally - 21 Success Sutras for Leaders URL: http://www.amazon.com/21-Success-Sutras-Leaders-ebook/dp/B00AK98ELI that has been ranked as one of the Top 10 Leadership Books of the Year – 2013 by San Diego University, USA URL: http://www.sandiego.edu/soles/departments/leadership-studies/thought-leadership/book-award.php and  Success Tools for CEO Coaches: Be a Learner, Leader, and Ladder URL: http://www.amazon.in/SUCCESS-COAHES-LEARNER-LEADER-LADDER/dp/9351102491  is the Community Award Winner for 2014 by Small Business Trends, USA URL: http://bookawards.smallbiztrends.com/management-2014/success-tools-for-ceo-coaches-8/.  As an author, I create ideas and insights and send the manuscript to my publisher. My publisher gets my manuscripts edited by experts who convey my content effectively through right written communication skills. As an author, I create the best possible content and as an editor, the content gets better communicated to the readers. As a result, my books are sold and I could grow internationally as an award-winning author.  

When we look at American President Abraham Lincoln, he had both content and communication. Communication is essential to reach out to people with a promise. It gives visibility. But it is the content that gives credibility. Both credibility and visibility are essential to achieve professional success in this world. If content is infrastructure, communication is the superstructure. And both are essential to ensure durability and longevity. If content is the hard skill, communication is the soft skill. A judicious blend of both hard and soft skills is essential to achieve your professional success. Hence, both content and communication are two sides of the same coin and one without another doesn’t have any meaning. To conclude, if content is the king, communication is the queen. Both king and queen are essential to rule the world.  


“The 'difference' = What you say you'll do - what you actually do” ― George Akomas Jr



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Life is great!

Professor M.S.Rao, India
Founder of MSR Leadership Consultants India
Listed in Marquis Who's Who in the World in 2013
Vision 2030 Webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBCO-gWmTRk
Twitter: @professormsrao  
21 Success Sutras for Leaders: Top 10 Leadership Books of the Year (San Diego University) Amazon URL: http://www.amazon.com/21-Success-Sutras-Leaders-ebook/dp/B00AK98ELI




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