August 25, 2025 • 55 mins
Soft skills might not show up on your resume, but they often determine how far you’ll go in your career—and in today’s changing workforce, they’re more essential than ever.
In this episode, Coach Sherita Price shares her powerful message of “Skilling You Softly”—a fresh take on developing emotional intelligence, communication skills, and influence that truly elevate careers.
✅ Emotional intelligence as the foundation for leadership and growth
✅ Communicating effectively—especially when choosing the right channel for tough conversations
✅ Building relationships that create trust and drive performance
✅ Managing conflict before small issues become big problems
✅ Using creativity to keep teams engaged, especially younger generations
✅ Understanding why today’s workforce values flexibility and meaningful connection
✅ How younger professionals’ career expectations differ from previous generations
✅ Why companies must develop soft skills at every level to retain top talent
Visit Sherita at FSP Enterprises (fspenterprises.net) or connect with her on LinkedIn to explore her coaching, books, and apparel line dedicated to personal and professional development.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, today's episode is all about something that
doesn't show up on your resumebut often determines how far
you'll actually go.
It's called soft skills.
You know the quote yourtechnical skills may get your
foot in the door, but yourpeople skills open most of the
doors to come.
That wisdom comes from today'sspecial guest, coach Sherita.
(00:24):
She's known for her powerfulmessage of skilling you softly,
helping professionals build thekind of emotional intelligence,
communication and influence thattruly elevate careers.
Whether you're just startingout or trying to break through
the next level, this episodewill give you insight, real talk
(00:47):
and practical steps to level upyour soft skills and your
success.
Now let's get into it, hey, andwelcome back to the Transparent
Nature podcast, where we bringreal conversations to help you
(01:10):
navigate your career andworkplace challenges.
It's your host, prince Tate,and today we also have my
co-host, mario Hunt.
What's?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
going on.
Mario, what's up?
Prince?
Another time to sit down andhave a great conversation.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
I'm super excited about it, bro man every time we
have these episode recordings,it seems like we hadn't seen
each other in months.
It's actually true.
You know, sometimes it makes itseem like, oh my God, we hadn't
done this in a while.
But man, I'm so glad thatyou're here with us today.
(01:48):
Look, we're going to have areally awesome episode today and
we do have a really specialguest that we introduce in just
a second.
But hey, if you are returning,what are we going to tell them,
mario?
Speaker 2 (02:02):
He be catching me off guard.
Y'all, welcome back, welcomeback.
Welcome back If you'rereturning.
We're excited to have you back.
And for all of the new peopletuning in, come here, make it
home and stay with us, okay.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yeah, make sure you hit that subscribe button, make
sure you follow us, whateverplatform that you're listening
on.
Okay, we want to make sure thatyou also send this out to
someone who can benefit fromlistening to the Transparent
Nature podcast.
Hey, we're giving you realpractical advice in your career,
as with, as well as within yourworkplace.
(02:35):
So if you have questions, you,you, you, you have scenarios
that you want to talk about, hey, send it to us.
You know, send us a comment.
Let us know what it is that youwant us to talk about and we'll
talk about it.
Your support continues to helpus to continue to bring real
conversations and insights thathelp you succeed in your career.
(02:57):
Hey, so let's introduce ourguest.
Today.
We have Sarita Price.
How are you doing, sarita?
Welcome to the podcast, hey.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
I am awesome.
Thank you for inviting me,Daniel.
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Yeah, yeah.
So look, we all three of usworked at the same organization
once before.
We won't say the name of thisorganization, but what we will
do is say that we had a goodtime.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yes, we did.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
We had a good time, hey, so before we get into the
topic today, I want to go backdown memory lane for just a
quick second.
Soita, so, look, I think, okay,I believe out of all three of
us, I was the first one whostarted, and then Sarita came
and then Mario came right andthat.
(03:56):
So, look, I want us to go backdown memory lane real quick.
What, sarita?
What was your first impressionabout us?
I want to know what did you?
Did you think we were crazy?
Did you think like what did youthink about it?
What was your first impressions?
Speaker 3 (04:17):
well, no, actually my first impression was, okay,
this is cool, they're fun,because I mean, I mean, of
course I'm an HR professional wecome, come across as, but you
know, we have to have that.
I always called it that pokerface, right.
But you know, after theorientate knew how orientations
and we kind of got to know eachother and I'm like, oh, they are
(04:37):
so cool, we will laugh.
And it was an incredibleexperience both working with
both of you guys, because I'mthe guy.
I mean you're serious when it'swork time, but when it's after
the fact, you just laugh, andespecially if something happened
you're going to orientate, wewould just go in.
It would be, you know.
So you guys make work, you guysmade work fun.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Yeah, and you know what I think that's important.
I often tell people, especiallymy co-workers, my peers in HR.
I say you have to make HR fun,right?
Because?
a lot of times people, you knowthey'll say, oh, hr is very
diplomatic and you know, and thepolice Right.
But I always say you got tomake HR fun because if not it
(05:24):
can get stale.
Right, Because all we do ishear people's problems or the
organization's problem all daylong.
Right, so you got to make itfun, mario.
What about you?
What's your first impressionsabout us?
Speaker 2 (05:40):
OK, well, I'll do ladies first.
Sarita, as she stated, pokerface.
She's well put together, verypoised, always looking neat, as
she does now Face alwaystogether, hair always together,
looking perfect, speaks andarticulates very well.
So I was like, okay, so she'sprobably going to be super,
(06:00):
super you know, twist tighteverything together.
And then, after we startedtalking, talk and she kind of
let her guard down a little bitand saw it was a safe space.
Then I got to see morepersonality and, like now, that
huge, beautiful smile more ofteninstead of her looking so
business all the time, and itwas great.
It was really refreshing to seethat.
(06:20):
You know, in HR, like you said,we have to kind of water it
down and bring ourselves off ofalways dealing with issues.
Most of the time we're thefixers.
We go through and we coach andgroom the leaders.
We work with Sarita, work kindof in an area where development
and coaching, so we deal withthe ER side a lot and we have to
(06:42):
work with her to get togetherto kind of put it all together
to work, make it work.
So we're always synergizing,energizing, working really hard
to try to fix things for theorganization as well as the
staff and the employees, so wecould get so wrapped up in it.
Sometimes it's hard to findthat area where we can smile and
have fun, but it's great whenyou find people that make it
(07:04):
easy.
And so once we got to know eachother.
You made it easy, as well asDaniel.
When I met Daniel, he was veryyoung.
I'm still young.
We met at my interview actuallyand, as he said, I had my
three-piece suit on.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Oh yes, he had a three-piece suit on in the
interview I was like, come onwith it, Sarita.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
They talked about me so bad.
I was so ashamed when theyfinally got close enough to tell
me what they said about meafter my interview and I was
like y'all did me dirty no Like,really, because I wore my
three-piece suit, so I wore myblue suit and I was like y'all
did me dirty no like, really,because I wore my three piece
suit.
So I wore my blue suit and Iwore my best too, with my tie
and everything.
I wasn't thinking about church,but you know it's been in your
(07:51):
whole life, it's just been inyour whole life and so, if no
one else pointed out, it's beenin Daniel his whole life.
So I know he was the one thatstarted the conversation talking
about my three piece suit.
No one has to tell me whostarted that conversation, but I
didn't think about the factthat, oh, I'm gonna put on a
three-piece suit, I just put onmy blue suit.
You know you we're in hr, sowe're gonna put on those hr
(08:13):
coats for interviews gray blue.
You know those coats I put on myblue suit.
I thought I hated all together.
They ate me up when I left, butin the, in the end yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
I got the job, he got the job.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Now, one thing that they did tell me that made me
feel good.
They was like after I left out,they was like he's the one.
They was like it was.
No one had to question it.
Everybody was like okay, so Idid my job in my three piece
suit, he did it.
But once we started Daniel waskind of real, like you, poised,
you know you could tell he wasjust getting groomed, so he had
to keep it super professionaland I think after a few weeks we
(08:52):
slowly, slowly, slowly movedinto friends at work and then
kind of slowly moved into whatwe consider like brotherhood,
like it's been an amazingjourney, yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Yeah, man, it's been an amazing journey.
But so this organization thatwe worked at, this was my first
full time HR professional joband honestly, I did not know
what to expect, right,especially you have, you know,
more seasoned professionalscoming in, like yourself, like
(09:22):
both of you coming in likeyourself, like both of you,
right, and so I really didn'tknow what to expect.
But, coming in the door, sarita, I mean, we just connected
right, we was in orientation andyou know, we were talking and,
man, we just had a good timeright, and it's all about
personality, right.
Like, yeah, be professional butalso bring some personality,
(09:46):
because sometimes people theydon't come and bring their
personality and you don't know,you know how can I approach this
person, right.
But you came in, like, likeMario said, with that big old
smile on your face and, you know, really neat and poised, and
but at the same time we had agood time, right, and so we
quickly built our relationshipand you know, I would say that
(10:09):
if it had not been for thatrelationship, I don't know,
mario, I probably wouldn't havebeen as fun as I am Right.
But then Mario came in and I'mhonestly, I'm gonna say this
y'all I was super nervous.
When we hired Mario, I just Iknew he was really good and, you
(10:31):
know, me coming in, I didn'twant, I just didn't want to
slack, if that, if that makesany sense.
And this dude came in and hestarted mentoring me.
He started showing me the ropes.
He started showing me, like,how I get organized, how I
should, you know, handle certainindividuals and certain people
(10:53):
talking about you know, how toreally navigate in the workplace
.
I didn't know what to expectand so, man, working with Mario
has been really a blessing indisguise and making my
experience as my first time,first full time opportunity,
just a great one.
So, man, it's been an awesometime.
(11:15):
And don't get three of us in aroom, just don't.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Right Now, you get three of us on here.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
So, hey, thank you all for just you know, going
down memory lane.
And hey, if you're listening into this episode, whether you're
on YouTube or whatnot, hey, addsome comments about your
experience just working withyour coworkers, your peers.
Let us know how it's goingright.
Working with your coworkers,your peers, let us know how it's
(11:47):
going right.
Let us know if you hadn't foundthat really great environment.
We want to talk about it, right?
So, sherita, let's get intotoday's episode.
We're talking about skillingyou softly, those soft skills
that you need to continue toprogress in your career.
There's a quote that you haveon your website that you know
(12:09):
your talent will get you in thedoor, but those soft skills will
allow you to those doors tocontinue to open up, right?
So tell us about you.
Know what got you into doingcoaching, right?
And how did this thing skillingyou softly came about?
Speaker 3 (12:29):
All right.
Well, first, like I say, thankyou guys first for allowing me
on the show to talk about this.
I call it the skilling yousoftly experience.
So, of course, skilling yousoftly comes from soft skills.
So what soft skills are arethose transferable skills that
do not require obtainedknowledge, in other words,
(12:52):
they're people skills.
So you know emotion,intelligence, conflict
management, effective customerservice.
There's over 21 plus softskills.
And how I actually came?
It's really funny because in mycareer I've always been a
people watcher.
Didn't know why, but I was kindof watch people's behavior.
(13:12):
I started off my careeractually as an executive
assistant in many differentdepartments.
It took me 12 years to get anHR.
Wow, after I graduated fromcollege, 12.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Wow, I hear that a lot though.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
I said, I hear that a lot Like a lot of people that
actually go to school for HR.
It's really hard for them toget into the field.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Yes, it was very hard for me to get into HR.
But you know it's funny myjourney.
I was in sales, I was infinance, I was in all those
areas and I was just sofrustrated because I'm like, hr
is my passion.
But what I did not realize thosewere setting me up to learn all
(13:56):
the operations of a company.
So when I finally got into HRbut a previous employer, um, I
knew every function, theoperations part, how it worked,
and I just kind of watchpeople's behavior and I always
would watch my leaders, mysupervisors most of them were
VPs and different levels.
(14:17):
I will watch their leadership.
And I didn't really understandwhat soft skills was until after
, you know, probably after I gotinto HR.
So you know, and I always saythere, I always use soft skills.
Just, you know, give you whereI am now.
I don't know, daniel, maybe youcan want a little head, but soft
(14:39):
skills are really important forleadership because really to be
an effective leader you have tohave soft skills.
So that's when I kind of movedin 2015, before I started
working in a place of employmentwhere we were coaching and to
me, to be an effective leader,or it really to be a great
(14:59):
employee, soft skills arenecessary.
Yeah, so the skilling yousoftly actually came about
during the pandemic after 2020.
That's when I kind of shifted,after I left the place of
employment where we were and Iwent full time into my business
and I had developed over theyears over 17,.
(15:20):
I had developed over the yearsover 17,.
I've developed over 17 softskill courses, curriculums that
I've written.
Most of my coaching now I focussoft skills methods and
(15:46):
practice practices to developleaders and build high
performing teams.
So and I always say you know Itake a holistic approach because
I am a life coach that's whatthe BCCLA I'm a certified
Christian life coach as well asthe business side and I take a
holistic approach to my coachingand to my development.
(16:08):
I like to say I help you takecare of your being and your
business.
I'm skilling you softly to liveand lead with confidence and
boldness.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Wow, that's awesome.
Isn't it amazing how sometimesyou just walk into your purpose
like that, you know it's likeyou're, you're able to, and
sometimes we don't realize theroles that we work in, the
positions that we're in, how itall works together for us to
(16:38):
move to where we need to beRight.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
You know, and to me that's always amazing because
it's like or even you know, whenhard time comes Right, it's
like I don't want to go throughit.
But then later on, after you'vegone through it, you realize,
oh my God, I needed this skill,I needed to experience this to
get to where I am, or to evenhelp other people, and that's
(17:02):
really what it's all about I am,or to even help other people,
and that's really what it's allabout.
It's about helping other people, and sometimes it's not about
you, right?
Speaker 2 (17:11):
I always say that there's purpose behind
everything, even those difficultthings.
Sometimes, in those difficulttimes, at that moment you may
not understand, but surely downthe road you're going to realize
I needed that, I went throughthat for a reason and there's
always purpose behind it.
So sometimes, even when itseems challenging, I say just
ride it out, ride it out.
(17:32):
Always, do your part and giveyour best.
And when you've given your bestand you know that you've given
your best and done your part,then you know that there's no
more that you can do but justtrust.
You know, trust the process,trust God.
If you believe in God, trusthim, yeah.
And that there is a reason whyit's going the way that it's
going because you've doneeverything that you can do and
when you can't do anything, likethe Sunks just stand because
(17:53):
it's going to go in the way thatit needs to go.
It's going to work out how itshould work out.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Excuse my voice, I'm a little under the weather, but
we're making it work today.
Now are you good man, lookSarita.
So you talked about gettinginto this thing and really
coaching and opening up yourbusiness.
Can you tell us, as it pertainsto soft skills, why is it
really important, especially forleaders, to have these soft
(18:22):
skills to help lead anorganization or a team?
Speaker 3 (18:29):
So I always use this example when I am either
coaching or facilitating a class.
Many times we're so focused onthe technical skills, the skills
you need.
You know there are some skills,like if you're a doctor or
engineer, there's definitelytechnical skills you have to,
(18:52):
you know you need.
But if you choose to move upinto leadership, what to work,
just really work and work withyour coworkers in general, you
have to have soft skills.
Because, like you statedearlier, I use this example.
Let's just say, if you knowsomeone that's an engineer, top
(19:13):
notch, just do their job well,high performing, then they want
to.
Many times we want to promotesomeone into a leadership role
where you're supervising peopleand they have these great skills
as far as technical skills, butyet they have no people skills,
they have no soft skills.
So you promote them in thisrole.
(19:34):
They're more in a leadershiprole.
You guys know this.
It's not the technical skills.
Your top skills you need arepeople skills how you treat your
employees.
When you have employees, whenyou have conflict, you always
going to have some type ofconflict.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
That's true.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
When you're dealing with you know you supervise 10
people, 100, whatever, and yourskills need to be top skills,
need to be more soft skills thantechnical skills because,
you're going to need them if youwant to be a successful leader
or supervisor, and I always saythat, especially in these times.
I am real big on authenticitybecause your employees, people
(20:16):
know fake and they know real.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
That's true.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Some of the best supervisors I've had.
I've learned so much from themsupervisors I've had.
I've learned so much from them,not necessarily because of
their technical skills, butbecause how they treated their
employees, how their employeesreacted to them, the respect
that they have.
And I've had some greatemployees, great supervisors and
(20:39):
when I was in corporate Americaand I had some not so great
supervisors.
But here's the thing I stilllearn from the not so great
supervisors what I learn is whatnot to do.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
That is absolutely correct.
You learn what not to do right.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
What not to do?
That's right.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
And everything you're speaking is exactly one of the
most influential aspects ofbeing in leadership, which a lot
of leaders do not understandbecause you know we work on the
coaching side when it comes toER Right and a lot of the issues
, even with the employees.
And leadership is not technicalskills but more so, finding
(21:18):
that commonality on how tocommunicate properly, how to
lead properly.
A lot of leaders think thatjust being in leadership is just
telling people what to do allthe time, but a lot of time it's
more so if you can come in andyou have those good people
skills, build good relationshipswith people and you can get a
person to do everything you want, even the things that they do
(21:39):
not want to do, and get them todo it and feel like they should
and that they want to do it justbecause of the relationship
that you've built with them.
I tell leaders all the time ifyou take care of your people
when they need you to take careof them when you need to be
taken care of.
you won't have to beg, you won'teven have to ask.
Sometimes If something happensand you need them to come in at
a time that they don't have tocome in, they're off work, they
(22:01):
don't have to come in, theydon't have to hit that clock,
but they know that you need themand you've taken care of them.
They will volunteer, you willnot have to ask.
But it's because the lack ofpeople, skills, it keeps a lot
of leaders from getting to thatpoint to where they can develop
that relationship with theiremployees and their subordinates
, to where they could have thatfinesse of building a
(22:25):
relationship, along with thebusiness part.
This is the things that we needto take care of.
This is the great area in theroom where we can make it fun,
where we can make it flexible,where we can.
I scratch your back, youscratch your back and you have
to be really careful with that.
But at the same time, build thatprecedence to where you treat
people like people and not likeworkers.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Yeah, and you know, to me it's all about mutual
respect, right, like, as people.
They're not just robots readyfor you know your command, right
, and when I really think aboutthis from the ER side of HR,
most of the times when employeescome and have a complaint, it's
(23:09):
because that leader lacks softskills, and that's the reality
of it.
Yeah, you know, you're a goodworker, you have good technical
skills man, you know how to puta spreadsheet.
Worker, you have good technicalskills, man, you know how to
put a spreadsheet together.
But how do you talk to youremployees, right, and even as
peers and coworkers andprofessionals, sometimes it's
(23:30):
not.
You know that person don't knowwhat they're doing.
It's about, oh, how do theycommunicate?
Do they have emotionalintelligence to know?
You know that the conversationis not going well, right, and so
then you have employees comingto HR complaining about I feel
(23:52):
like I'm being bullied orharassed, and then we have to
look at okay, is it reallybullying, is it really
harassment, or is it the factthat your leader just don't have
soft skills or they're notfocusing on how to be really
great leaders from a people side, right?
And so you know, when I thinkabout this again, we have a lot
(24:16):
of employees coming to HRbecause of that right and the
employee they're not going tosee oh, they don't have soft
skills.
Since I've been in HR, I hadn'thad an employee come and say
hey, I want to make a formalcomplaint on my leader because
they don't have soft skills.
They're going to go directly to.
I feel like I'm being harassed,I feel like I'm being
(24:38):
discriminated against, I feellike I'm being bullied.
I feel like I'm beingdiscriminated against.
I feel like I'm being bullied,right, and so that's what
they're going to do.
So how do you really help notjust leaders, but people from a
holistic viewpoint?
How do you help them startattaining these soft skills that
they need in the workplace?
Speaker 3 (25:04):
these soft skills that they need in the workplace.
So, first thing, first you haveto do a self assessment.
You know, many times I alwaysuse, especially when I'm
coaching, sometimes it's notabout the answer, it's about
asking the right question.
So, you know, helping them toreally, just, you know, first,
focus on, maybe, especially it'sa situation if you, you know,
helping them to really, just,you know, first, focus on, maybe
, especially it's a situation ifyou, you know, dealing with an
(25:25):
employee, you know first, youknow, become, you know,
personable with them.
I always like to say let'sbreathe, let's, you know, calm
down, let's just have generalconversation to get to really
thinking about certain things.
So I would say, and I thinkwhat you're asking me, daniel,
(26:05):
is how do you, how saying thatthe person that is not bullying
or whatever?
We need to take aself-assessment of ourselves and
what are my strengths, what aremy weaknesses, and getting
clarity.
Because, if you know, there arefive components of emotion
intelligence.
The first one I always focus onis self-awareness.
(26:27):
Wow, being self-aware,self-regulated, how do I
regulate my emotions?
And I think, with leadersespecially, emotion intelligence
is to.
To me, it's one of the top softskills that you that is needed,
because when you are more awareof yourself and your reactions
(26:49):
and how you, you know you canreally relate more to other
people.
So you know whether that'scoaching, whether that's some
timing, it just depends on whatlevel you are.
I always say this I coachpeople but I don't coach
everybody, because I have anassessment that I give the
person and sometimes they mayneed a counselor before they
(27:12):
need a coach.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
Yeah, I don't, just often.
Oh, I'm a coach.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
Oh, I'm going to coach you.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
I have an assessment I've actually built myself,
because there's a saying where acounselor will actually help
you through your mess but acoach will give you a bucket and
mop and help you clean it up.
So you know, really,self-assessment to me is the
worst thing.
You got to set clear goals yougot to.
I'm just always starting withself first, Know and realize.
It's just like you don'trealize something and you said
something early.
People don't talk about softskills because people don't
really know what soft skills are.
(27:52):
They're more focused on theproductivity part and the
revenue part and see we as HR,we know that.
But I always say and I'm tryingto get these executives and
leaders to understand your lackof soft skills and the things
especially you guys knowincivility now is top, it's gone
(28:15):
.
I mean, people can't even getalong now and this is causing a
high turnover rate.
This is causing I'm just likeyou don't connect the lack of
soft skills, incivility withaffecting your bottom line.
Yeah, I don't know, maybe we'renot just doing a good job of
trying to tell them, becausewhen you have soft skill issues
or lack of that messes with yourrevenue.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
So go ahead.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Well, I actually you know you have five top soft
skills and I really want us todive into those top skills, and
you talked about one of them,which being emotional
intelligence.
So what are some of the othertop skills, the top five soft
(28:59):
skills that we're talking abouthere, that people need to be
aware of and need to beknowledgeable about?
Speaker 3 (29:07):
So and I'm going to put this out here before I say
that so what I've learned a lotof the soft skills that I.
They're interchangeable, one ison the other.
So the second one for me iseffective communication.
We do not know, as it's one ofthose soft skills that we don't
know, how to communicate witheach other.
Effective communication how isyour listening skills?
(29:30):
How are you communicating?
Sometimes, like you know, youhave the verbal and nonverbal
skills.
Like I'm practicing both.
I use my hands a lot when I'mtalking.
Listening skills you know, ifwe would stop and listen,
there's a technique to that.
Listen before we whip.
Sometimes, especially whenwe're in a conflict management
situation, which is another softskill, we're too busy trying to
(29:54):
think what I'm going to say andyou're not effectively
listening to the person.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
Have you seen that video on Facebook?
You say listen, linda, listen.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
I haven't seen that one.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
It's old.
We used to do that one a lot.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
Listen, it's a little kid Listen.
Linda listen.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
So, yeah, effective communication, emotional
intelligence, conflictmanagement oh my god, that's,
that's huge.
And, um, how to deal withconflict.
And one thing I'm noticing now,especially the younger
generation, um, that is one ofthe skills that is so lacking is
how to deal with conflictEverybody and to go back and
(30:43):
affect the communication youknow you have now with texting
and all those different types ofcommunication we need to.
One thing I'm noticing that weare not really Teaching, or
they're not being taught, softskills on when to use certain
tools.
If you're in a heateddiscussion or something, text is
(31:05):
not it, it is not.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Nowadays it is they want to text everything.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
If you want to really resolve a conflict, you need to
pick up the phone, your cellphone or person face-to-face,
because you can't see bodylanguage and tone over a text,
and I use that quite a bit whenI'm talking about effective
communication.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
But you know they can record now and see we're more
on the traditional side.
I'm with you, serena.
You know now they can hold thething and actually speak to you
and tell you what they want totell you and text it to you.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I still said that's still more
effective than just the words,because at least if you
recording it I do it a lot, youknow you can hear my voice, you
can hear my tone, you can hear.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Oh, she got attitude.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
No, she said that would have an attitude.
I see where she is, I see whereyou're at, I'm going to check
your temperature.
So at least with that, that'sbetter than just a text.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
And you can't hear any of that.
But I feel like, honestly, onthat point, while we're there,
for me, that is not enough forme.
Even with that, you know, Ifeel like sometimes that
personable conversation needs totake place and sometimes that
is what is the breakdown andmiscommunication.
When you're texting, whenyou're assuming based off of
(32:30):
something like that, a video orsomething like that, a lot of
times it's just being able tohave take five seconds.
I remember I used to get toldthis all the time and then when
I say this, you're gonnaremember it's not from that
institute where we worked yet,but another institute where we
worked together, another um.
I would.
I would always get a call frommy leader and she would say,
(32:51):
mario, stop emailing and justpick up the phone and call.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Oh yeah because he'll go in an email war.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
I will give you everything in an email, and, and
, but I'm I'm more articulatedthrough conversation.
I'm really good with people.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
I know.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
I have those conversations with people.
But sometimes, if I get an emailand I'm like you know, and so
all of that buffer from theconversation where you bring it
down and you change your tone.
You say, hey, sarita, so I gotyour email and it seems like you
may be a little something, mayhave pressed a few buttons or
(33:32):
something like that.
So can you kind of give me someinsight of exactly what it is
that you're saying, because Idon't want to take it the wrong
way.
That little bit of finesse canchange the tone, you know, and I
feel like that's missing in theworkplace with all this AI.
Like you said, right now a lotof leaders are just concerned
(33:52):
about numbers, metrics,performance, but they don't
understand how soft skills canchange that, completely change
it.
You know, instead of um managinga person through email, um
managing a person through ummetrics, having those
conversations, sometimes you dohave to go personal.
Sometimes you have to see ifI'm looking at sarita and I'm
(34:15):
seeing she looks tired.
All the time she comes in she'srushing, yeah, she looks like
she's got a lot going on Insteadof just pushing numbers and
emailing her and saying, hey,sarita, I need you to meet those
numbers today.
Hey, sarita, I need you to meetthose meetings, taking five
minutes to stop and say, hey,sarita, how are you?
You look like you've been alittle stressed or that you got
a lot going on.
Are you okay Sometimes justletting, just letting a person
(34:37):
know that you're concerned,having some empathy, having a
little time and giving them someenergy, that you care about
what's going on with them.
You'll find out that some ofthe things that they need that
you won't find out just fromwatching you'll get from a small
conversation.
So, those soft skills are super,super important and if you
(35:03):
think your metrics can turnaround by performance it can
really turn around throughperformance management If you
touch on soft skills.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
you can get a lot out of people if you just
understand where they are andwhat's going on with them.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
I agree, 1000% yes, and you know it's for me it's
not about trying to beat thesystem or be manipulative, right
, but it's really about beingintentional, right.
And so when people hear this,it's not to be like, oh, how can
I get them to perform better,but it's really about
(35:31):
authenticity.
And people, hey, they know whenyou're being authentic and they
know when you're just trying topull a wool over them, right?
So it's all about beingintentional and leading with
intentionality, right.
Sometimes I can't talk right, Ican't be worried.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Did you catch that Sarita Intentionality?
Speaker 3 (36:01):
I want to add this to , which brings me to the next
soft skill relationship building, soft skill.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
It is it's important.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
Yeah, so you know, and this shows how relationship
building it ties back to theother soft skills being
emotionally intelligent as wellas being an effective
communicator.
You've got to have those.
If you're trying to build arelationship, you have to have
authenticity.
You have to need to have a formof transparency as well when
(36:33):
you are because, like you greatexample that Mario gave you know
pay attention to your employees, build those relationships.
I would say, especially if youare a supervisor, what have you?
And, just in general, you knowthere is a fine line as far as
relationship.
You don't want to get toopersonable.
However, you want to knowenough about that particular
(37:04):
employee to build relationship,have them feel comfortable and,
like you stated earlier, have asafe space for them.
I remember I was working at acompany.
It was the first companyorganization that I worked for.
Actually, it was an HR role.
I'll tell you about my journeyin HR and it was a particular HR
manager.
He had been there at thiscompany.
I've got 25 something years.
(37:26):
Everybody loved this man.
It was at a carefree, was at awarehouse and I know there were
over hundreds and hundreds ofemployees.
There were over hundreds andhundreds of employees.
This HR manager knew everyemployee name in the warehouse.
He knew everything about everyone of them.
(37:47):
Every morning, when he got towork early, he would go through
the warehouse meet greet.
Hey, how are you?
How's your mother?
Did your daughter have her baby?
He knew everything about everyemployee, everything, and that
you don't find that anymore.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (38:04):
You know, I think he's retired now, but he's a.
He was part of the baby boomergeneration.
But it works, yeah, it works inall aspects.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
I'm going to call the name of a old friend of mine
but he just got a lot ofaccolades and it's not in in the
workplace as a leader but inacademia as a professor.
He's over the music departmentat Cordova High School and his
name is Adrian Macklin.
He just got awarded with theGrammy Awards awarded him for
(38:35):
the practice there.
One thing Adrian did and it wasa real big thing.
I don't know who started it, Idon't think he started it, but
he picked it up really quickly,or he may have started it, but
he did a clip that he posted outwhere he had learned his
students well enough to where hecould turn his back and if they
spoke he could identify whothey were.
(38:57):
Some very.
You know the word intimacy iskind of spread out, but that's a
real big relationship andintimacy to build enough with 20
to 25, maybe even 30 differentstudents or even employees and
just with your back turned ifthey say a word to you, you know
exactly who you're speakingwith, you've paid attention to
that person, you know the toneof their voice, you know them
(39:18):
when you hear them and you don'thave to see them and I think a
lot of places have lost touchwith that.
We don't get to know the peoplethat we work with.
We're hiring people in numbersjust to get the job done and
that affects all of those thingsfrom relationship building
because you haven't built arelationship, you don't know
them to the people skills.
(39:38):
You don't know how to talk toeach individual differently,
because we all are different.
Daniel takes conversations andprobably coaching, completely
different from me, as well asyou, sarita.
It's not a one size fits all.
Oh, I've learned emotionalintelligence.
I've learned how to you know,relationship, building
individuals in order to be ableto manage them and build
(40:01):
different relationships for eachone of them, and I think that's
where we're losing touch inbusiness, in the professional
world.
We're bringing in AI and I'mnot against AI, because it's
great that chat what is it chatGPT?
Speaker 3 (40:18):
Why did you say that I'm traditional?
I'm so traditional.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
He said that chat.
Let me tell you, Daniel speaksabout it all the time, and I'm
not trying to jump out ofcountry, but Daniel speaks about
it all the time.
You know, I own a clinic now,sabrina, and just yesterday I
had a nurse practitioner thatcame in.
She is actually one of ourpatients and she's in health
care too, and she came in.
Tiffany came in and she was.
(40:41):
She was like we have a thingwhere we're doing.
If you go on social media, onFacebook, and you check in while
you're there, we'll give you adiscount for your full service,
whatever you're there for.
And so she was like saysomething real nice about us.
Say something real nice we wantpeople to see and come over and
see us.
And she said you want me to goto Chad GPT?
I was like what?
And she said you want me to goto ChatGPT?
I was like what?
(41:02):
And she said, oh, that's thatthing that my friend uses all
the time.
And she was pulling up and Iwas like, oh, okay.
And I was like, well, I hearabout it all the time but I
still haven't used it.
She's like, oh, you got to getit.
It's real neat.
So I'm really interested andexcited about learning that.
But, that stuff is great, butsometimes that stuff is not
going to take away from thatpersonable interaction, having
(41:25):
those conversations, and I knowthat was a long way to get to
the point, but that's basicallywhat I'm trying to say.
Sometimes having those toolswork great for performance wise
and for management, but don'ttake away the personable side,
don't take away those softskills that we need in the
workplace and you know what?
Speaker 3 (41:42):
That's a great segue into the last.
The creativity is a soft skill.
People don't know that, but I'mlike you Now don't get me wrong
In all aspects.
Actually, I'm in the process of, I'm going to the next level.
I'm getting ready to get mycertification AI because I use
it.
I use it a great deal, but Iuse it more for an academic
(42:08):
Because, if you don't know, I'ma college instructor too.
I'm an adjunct professor andactually I'm at the University
of Memphis now.
Oh you go, girl.
All right, it's been time.
I teach entrepreneurship andinnovation at University of
Memphis, as well as Grand Canyon, and I'm constantly having to
(42:29):
soft skills versus, because alot of students now want to use
this to write their papers.
I'm like no, ai is for.
I'm so not anti-AI.
I'm not, because I use itsometimes to help.
Sometimes it helps you generateideas.
That's what it's really reallygood for.
But I am a creative so I liketo create my own.
You're picking shoes, but manytimes, as far as creativity
(42:55):
because someone asked me youthink AI is going to fix soft
skill creativity I said no, itshouldn't, because if you are
original, you like to createthings.
You have to know the balancebetween that.
And I always say to you know,get in your flow.
Whatever you know, be creative,and that's what I love.
Now I'm noticing more in theworld of HR.
(43:15):
Companies are allowing as faras employee engagement.
They're allowing theiremployees to be more part of the
team, to bring their creativityto the workforce.
It's not like.
This is how it is.
You're going to do it this wayand we don't want your ideas.
That's not going to work.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
But you know it's a lot of companies that's still in
the past, you know, and theydon't want your creativity.
I went through an interviewinterviewing with this company
and I provided a lot of great,you know, creative ideas.
And when I got to the interviewthey told me well, you know, we
(43:57):
want you to.
You know, just learn theorganization, see how we do it.
You know, see how.
And there's nothing wrong with,of course, learning you know
how that organization operates.
But when you stress that point,that's a red flag for me that
hey, there's no creativity atthis organization.
Speaker 3 (44:16):
And that's true, that's very true.
And it depends on you guys know, it depends on the company
culture, because the way I havebeen, I don't praise God, I
don't want to interview anymorewhen I used to go to different
companies and interview.
They're interviewing me, but Iam interviewing them Absolutely.
(44:38):
What I do does not align withtheir mission and vision and
their values they're not thecompany that I want to work for.
I think sometimes especiallymuch younger generation,
especially Gen Z.
I don't know, are youmillennial or Gen Z?
Daniel, which generation areyou?
Speaker 1 (44:53):
I'm right in the middle between both of them.
Speaker 3 (44:56):
I know you're a millennial right.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
Yeah, very much so.
He's on the top scale ofmillennial.
Speaker 3 (45:01):
I'm a Gen Xer myself.
He's on the top scale ofmillennial.
I'm a Gen Xer, so I try toteach some of the younger people
I kind of mentor, who are borninto the workforce, that you
interview them as well as havenothing.
It's important.
Have questions.
At the end Don't say I don'thave any questions, yeah, you
(45:24):
listen.
Put your effective communitylisten to what they're saying,
so you may determine that youmay not want to work for this
company because of that.
So creativity is very important.
A lot of companies are losingout because they do not allow
their employees and this onething and I just got to get this
in there we use the term in HRhuman capital.
(45:46):
I detest that word Because whenI heard the word human capital,
you know what it sounded like.
I'm hearing herd of cattle.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
Yeah, I get it.
Speaker 3 (45:57):
Seriously.
Speaker 2 (45:58):
I don't like it either.
Speaker 3 (46:00):
I don't like it.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
It's certain words that I do not like.
Speaker 3 (46:04):
That's one.
Speaker 2 (46:05):
I don't like the word or the term boss.
Who boss and who?
Nobody's?
Nobody's boss.
We're all adults here, leader,I always Leader, manager,
supervisor, but bossing mentor,no bossing.
I think that's in their mindwhen they get in some leadership
(46:28):
roles I'm the boss now.
I'm the boss now, you know?
No, please take that.
I don't like it.
You want to treat people aspeople.
Speaker 3 (46:37):
That's true.
Speaker 2 (46:37):
I don't want anybody to boss me around.
I want someone to lead me, helpgrow me.
Help me grow so that I can goin whatever direction.
I'm trying to go into the fieldthat I want to be in If I want
to progress up, if I'mcomfortable where I am.
But I want to be a littlecreative with my role and maybe
stay at the level that I'm inbut move in another role that
offers more flexibility, morecreativity, me to synergize or
(47:00):
energize or use other skills andsoft skills as well.
But a lot of companies nowthey're investing in AI.
You want to know why?
Because the new generation havetapped into exactly what you
just talked about, saritacreativity.
They have realized that I don'twant to come in your office and
work a regular eight to fiveevery day and dress up in your
suit, in your tie.
(47:21):
I can make my own money.
I can create my own job.
I can get right online and getright online and blog.
I can get right online.
They can do exactly what we'redoing right now and make money
off of that.
They can start their own onlinestores.
They are being creative andcreating their own job because
they do not want to go in andsit.
(47:41):
What we have adapted to beingas the workforce and the
professional environment is notwhat they want.
They want flexibility.
They want to progress, theywant equal and fair pay and
they're not afraid to say it,they're not afraid to fight for
it and they are not afraid towalk away, because they can
(48:01):
figure out a way to make moneyon their own, without your
business.
So it's very, very importantthat they allow these people and
especially the youth, to beable to use their creative
energy, to be able to come in,have that flexibility, to come
in and not be sit or not have tosit in an office from eight to
five because they do not want todo that.
It's a different workforce now.
Speaker 1 (48:23):
So it's important.
Yeah, and you're absolutelyright, mario.
You know, when I think aboutthat, a lot of the younger
generation, they've seen theirparents struggle, they've seen
their grandparents struggle, youknow, especially pensions.
You don't even hear that, nomore, right.
Speaker 2 (48:40):
Being loyal to a job, but it's only going to give you
3% to 6% every year, andsometimes not even that.
Speaker 1 (48:47):
Yeah.
So you know from the youngergeneration, they don't want to
have to go through all of thatand then at the end of it they
have nothing to see how hardthey work for right.
So, man, y'all this has been agreat conversation today, really
really awesome.
Sharita, you gave us five softskills that are really important
(49:11):
for today's workforce, not justfor leaders, but for
professionals as well.
Number one with emotionalintelligence.
Number two effectivecommunication.
Number three relationshipbuilding, creativity, creativity
and conflict management.
Sherita, before we get out ofhere, is there anything else you
would like to share about softskills and why it's really
(49:34):
important in today's workforce?
Speaker 3 (49:37):
With everything going on.
Yes, in today's workforce, it'skind of like soft skills is
becoming.
I'm seeing more and more,especially HR SHRM.
They're talking more and moreabout soft skills and it's to
the point where, if we want tobe a vital, productive working
force, we're going to have tostart engaging more hiring
(49:59):
coaches like me or differentpeople who are soft skill
experts to bring it in, becauseeven though with AI, you still
got to have people.
Speaker 2 (50:09):
That's true.
Speaker 3 (50:09):
One of the things I always say with the times that
we're going through and I usethis a lot soft skills get you
through hard times.
Speaker 2 (50:18):
Yeah, prince, if you may, or if you will, sarita, can
you just take about 60 seconds,because I know we're coming
towards the ending of the show?
Take 60 seconds and, with allthe information that you've
given us, all the details thatyou've given us about your
wonderful business, come on,give us a little bit of sell us,
(50:39):
sell us on it.
Let the people know what youbring to the table, tell us
about your business, where youcan be reached, what you bring
to the table so that, after thisis done and they see all of
these skills that you have, whatall you have to offer, they'll
know how to reach out to you andmaybe we can get you a little
bit more involved and help thesepeople understand how important
(51:01):
it is to have those five thingsthat you just brought up today.
Speaker 3 (51:04):
So I am actually on all social media platforms
LinkedIn, I'm on Facebook even.
Alignable is another platformthat's up and coming.
Linkedin is where I do majorityof you can reach out to me.
I also have a website and it'sFSP, like FSP which stands for
(51:24):
from Sarita's pen that's mywriter's name.
Fsp enterprises dot net is mywebsite, and as far as what I
can bring to the table, I haveworked in every industry.
I've worked in the medicalindustry, the telecommunication
industry, logistics, supplychain management, so it's not
(51:46):
any industry that I am.
Even in education.
I am not only, you know,academics, I actually work with
the school system too as well.
So, like I said, soft skillsare so needed and people don't
realize it would help you toreally really With your turnover
(52:07):
rate and it's really reallyimportant as far as if you want
to keep your employees happy aswell.
So it's that's how you canreach me and everything.
I actually have an apparel linetoo.
I don't know if you knew thatCome on apparel line too.
I don't know if you knew that.
(52:28):
Come on, my company ismultifaceted, it's just not only
coaching, but I actually havean apparel line.
You can find everything that Ido.
I'm an author.
I've just written a new book,last year as well.
Everything is self-development.
So you can find everything thatI do on my website, because I'm
all things, all things Memphisas well.
I just created a brand newapparel, new shirt called I Am.
(52:51):
It's ask you a question andmake a statement.
I'm fighting for Memphis, areyou?
Speaker 2 (52:57):
And what's the name of that book?
Sarita?
Speaker 3 (52:59):
The book that I have.
I have a copy.
I don't have a copy here.
It's called Wisdom fromSarita's Pen for Daily Living in
the Workplace.
It's inspirational quotes thatI wrote work in your daily life
and I talk a lot about softskills in the in the book and
there's a lot of spiritualinformation, because I have
(53:21):
learned how to connect ministryto the marketplace as well.
Speaker 1 (53:25):
Man, that's awesome.
Thank you so much, sherita, forjoining us, and that was going
to be the last question how canpeople connect to you?
So thank you.
Thank you, marcy.
I have an awesome co-host rightwe here.
So if you've enjoyed today'sepisode, be sure to subscribe to
(53:48):
the Transparent HR podcast,share it with a friend and leave
us a review.
Remember this your talent mightget you noticed, but it's your
people skills that build trust,open doors and keep
opportunities flowing.
Coach Sarita's message ofskilling you softly is a
powerful reminder that emotionalintelligence, presence and how
(54:11):
you treat others matter morethan ever before.
So take inventory of your softskills, speak up, listen well
and lead with empathy, and ifyou know someone that's trying
to level up, send this episodetheir way.
Let's keep building careersthat aren't just successful but
sustainable.
(54:31):
Again, it's your host, princeTate, along with your boy Rio.
Along with Mario, and until nexttime, keep navigating your
career with clarity.
And until next time, keepnavigating your career with
clarity and with confidence.
See you then.
Hey, today's episode is all about something that
doesn't show up on your resumebut often determines how far
you'll actually go.
It's called soft skills.
You know the quote yourtechnical skills may get your
foot in the door, but yourpeople skills open most of the
doors to come.
That wisdom comes from today'sspecial guest, coach Sherita.
(00:24):
She's known for her powerfulmessage of skilling you softly,
helping professionals build thekind of emotional intelligence,
communication and influence thattruly elevate careers.
Whether you're just startingout or trying to break through
the next level, this episodewill give you insight, real talk
(00:47):
and practical steps to level upyour soft skills and your
success.
Now let's get into it, hey, andwelcome back to the Transparent
Nature podcast, where we bringreal conversations to help you
(01:10):
navigate your career andworkplace challenges.
It's your host, prince Tate,and today we also have my
co-host, mario Hunt.
What's?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
going on.
Mario, what's up?
Prince?
Another time to sit down andhave a great conversation.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
I'm super excited about it, bro man every time we
have these episode recordings,it seems like we hadn't seen
each other in months.
It's actually true.
You know, sometimes it makes itseem like, oh my God, we hadn't
done this in a while.
But man, I'm so glad thatyou're here with us today.
(01:48):
Look, we're going to have areally awesome episode today and
we do have a really specialguest that we introduce in just
a second.
But hey, if you are returning,what are we going to tell them,
mario?
Speaker 2 (02:02):
He be catching me off guard.
Y'all, welcome back, welcomeback.
Welcome back If you'rereturning.
We're excited to have you back.
And for all of the new peopletuning in, come here, make it
home and stay with us, okay.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yeah, make sure you hit that subscribe button, make
sure you follow us, whateverplatform that you're listening
on.
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(02:57):
Hey, so let's introduce ourguest.
Today.
We have Sarita Price.
How are you doing, sarita?
Welcome to the podcast, hey.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
I am awesome.
Thank you for inviting me,Daniel.
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Yeah, yeah.
So look, we all three of usworked at the same organization
once before.
We won't say the name of thisorganization, but what we will
do is say that we had a goodtime.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yes, we did.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
We had a good time, hey, so before we get into the
topic today, I want to go backdown memory lane for just a
quick second.
Soita, so, look, I think, okay,I believe out of all three of
us, I was the first one whostarted, and then Sarita came
and then Mario came right andthat.
(03:56):
So, look, I want us to go backdown memory lane real quick.
What, sarita?
What was your first impressionabout us?
I want to know what did you?
Did you think we were crazy?
Did you think like what did youthink about it?
What was your first impressions?
Speaker 3 (04:17):
well, no, actually my first impression was, okay,
this is cool, they're fun,because I mean, I mean, of
course I'm an HR professional wecome, come across as, but you
know, we have to have that.
I always called it that pokerface, right.
But you know, after theorientate knew how orientations
and we kind of got to know eachother and I'm like, oh, they are
(04:37):
so cool, we will laugh.
And it was an incredibleexperience both working with
both of you guys, because I'mthe guy.
I mean you're serious when it'swork time, but when it's after
the fact, you just laugh, andespecially if something happened
you're going to orientate, wewould just go in.
It would be, you know.
So you guys make work, you guysmade work fun.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Yeah, and you know what I think that's important.
I often tell people, especiallymy co-workers, my peers in HR.
I say you have to make HR fun,right?
Because?
a lot of times people, you knowthey'll say, oh, hr is very
diplomatic and you know, and thepolice Right.
But I always say you got tomake HR fun because if not it
(05:24):
can get stale.
Right, Because all we do ishear people's problems or the
organization's problem all daylong.
Right, so you got to make itfun, mario.
What about you?
What's your first impressionsabout us?
Speaker 2 (05:40):
OK, well, I'll do ladies first.
Sarita, as she stated, pokerface.
She's well put together, verypoised, always looking neat, as
she does now Face alwaystogether, hair always together,
looking perfect, speaks andarticulates very well.
So I was like, okay, so she'sprobably going to be super,
(06:00):
super you know, twist tighteverything together.
And then, after we startedtalking, talk and she kind of
let her guard down a little bitand saw it was a safe space.
Then I got to see morepersonality and, like now, that
huge, beautiful smile more ofteninstead of her looking so
business all the time, and itwas great.
It was really refreshing to seethat.
(06:20):
You know, in HR, like you said,we have to kind of water it
down and bring ourselves off ofalways dealing with issues.
Most of the time we're thefixers.
We go through and we coach andgroom the leaders.
We work with Sarita, work kindof in an area where development
and coaching, so we deal withthe ER side a lot and we have to
(06:42):
work with her to get togetherto kind of put it all together
to work, make it work.
So we're always synergizing,energizing, working really hard
to try to fix things for theorganization as well as the
staff and the employees, so wecould get so wrapped up in it.
Sometimes it's hard to findthat area where we can smile and
have fun, but it's great whenyou find people that make it
(07:04):
easy.
And so once we got to know eachother.
You made it easy, as well asDaniel.
When I met Daniel, he was veryyoung.
I'm still young.
We met at my interview actuallyand, as he said, I had my
three-piece suit on.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Oh yes, he had a three-piece suit on in the
interview I was like, come onwith it, Sarita.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
They talked about me so bad.
I was so ashamed when theyfinally got close enough to tell
me what they said about meafter my interview and I was
like y'all did me dirty no Like,really, because I wore my
three-piece suit, so I wore myblue suit and I was like y'all
did me dirty no like, really,because I wore my three piece
suit.
So I wore my blue suit and Iwore my best too, with my tie
and everything.
I wasn't thinking about church,but you know it's been in your
(07:51):
whole life, it's just been inyour whole life and so, if no
one else pointed out, it's beenin Daniel his whole life.
So I know he was the one thatstarted the conversation talking
about my three piece suit.
No one has to tell me whostarted that conversation, but I
didn't think about the factthat, oh, I'm gonna put on a
three-piece suit, I just put onmy blue suit.
You know you we're in hr, sowe're gonna put on those hr
(08:13):
coats for interviews gray blue.
You know those coats I put on myblue suit.
I thought I hated all together.
They ate me up when I left, butin the, in the end yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
I got the job, he got the job.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Now, one thing that they did tell me that made me
feel good.
They was like after I left out,they was like he's the one.
They was like it was.
No one had to question it.
Everybody was like okay, so Idid my job in my three piece
suit, he did it.
But once we started Daniel waskind of real, like you, poised,
you know you could tell he wasjust getting groomed, so he had
to keep it super professionaland I think after a few weeks we
(08:52):
slowly, slowly, slowly movedinto friends at work and then
kind of slowly moved into whatwe consider like brotherhood,
like it's been an amazingjourney, yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Yeah, man, it's been an amazing journey.
But so this organization thatwe worked at, this was my first
full time HR professional joband honestly, I did not know
what to expect, right,especially you have, you know,
more seasoned professionalscoming in, like yourself, like
(09:22):
both of you coming in likeyourself, like both of you,
right, and so I really didn'tknow what to expect.
But, coming in the door, sarita, I mean, we just connected
right, we was in orientation andyou know, we were talking and,
man, we just had a good timeright, and it's all about
personality, right.
Like, yeah, be professional butalso bring some personality,
(09:46):
because sometimes people theydon't come and bring their
personality and you don't know,you know how can I approach this
person, right.
But you came in, like, likeMario said, with that big old
smile on your face and, you know, really neat and poised, and
but at the same time we had agood time, right, and so we
quickly built our relationshipand you know, I would say that
(10:09):
if it had not been for thatrelationship, I don't know,
mario, I probably wouldn't havebeen as fun as I am Right.
But then Mario came in and I'mhonestly, I'm gonna say this
y'all I was super nervous.
When we hired Mario, I just Iknew he was really good and, you
(10:31):
know, me coming in, I didn'twant, I just didn't want to
slack, if that, if that makesany sense.
And this dude came in and hestarted mentoring me.
He started showing me the ropes.
He started showing me, like,how I get organized, how I
should, you know, handle certainindividuals and certain people
(10:53):
talking about you know, how toreally navigate in the workplace
.
I didn't know what to expectand so, man, working with Mario
has been really a blessing indisguise and making my
experience as my first time,first full time opportunity,
just a great one.
So, man, it's been an awesometime.
(11:15):
And don't get three of us in aroom, just don't.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Right Now, you get three of us on here.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
So, hey, thank you all for just you know, going
down memory lane.
And hey, if you're listening into this episode, whether you're
on YouTube or whatnot, hey, addsome comments about your
experience just working withyour coworkers, your peers.
Let us know how it's goingright.
Working with your coworkers,your peers, let us know how it's
(11:47):
going right.
Let us know if you hadn't foundthat really great environment.
We want to talk about it, right?
So, sherita, let's get intotoday's episode.
We're talking about skillingyou softly, those soft skills
that you need to continue toprogress in your career.
There's a quote that you haveon your website that you know
(12:09):
your talent will get you in thedoor, but those soft skills will
allow you to those doors tocontinue to open up, right?
So tell us about you.
Know what got you into doingcoaching, right?
And how did this thing skillingyou softly came about?
Speaker 3 (12:29):
All right.
Well, first, like I say, thankyou guys first for allowing me
on the show to talk about this.
I call it the skilling yousoftly experience.
So, of course, skilling yousoftly comes from soft skills.
So what soft skills are arethose transferable skills that
do not require obtainedknowledge, in other words,
(12:52):
they're people skills.
So you know emotion,intelligence, conflict
management, effective customerservice.
There's over 21 plus softskills.
And how I actually came?
It's really funny because in mycareer I've always been a
people watcher.
Didn't know why, but I was kindof watch people's behavior.
(13:12):
I started off my careeractually as an executive
assistant in many differentdepartments.
It took me 12 years to get anHR.
Wow, after I graduated fromcollege, 12.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Wow, I hear that a lot though.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
I said, I hear that a lot Like a lot of people that
actually go to school for HR.
It's really hard for them toget into the field.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Yes, it was very hard for me to get into HR.
But you know it's funny myjourney.
I was in sales, I was infinance, I was in all those
areas and I was just sofrustrated because I'm like, hr
is my passion.
But what I did not realize thosewere setting me up to learn all
(13:56):
the operations of a company.
So when I finally got into HRbut a previous employer, um, I
knew every function, theoperations part, how it worked,
and I just kind of watchpeople's behavior and I always
would watch my leaders, mysupervisors most of them were
VPs and different levels.
(14:17):
I will watch their leadership.
And I didn't really understandwhat soft skills was until after
, you know, probably after I gotinto HR.
So you know, and I always saythere, I always use soft skills.
Just, you know, give you whereI am now.
I don't know, daniel, maybe youcan want a little head, but soft
(14:39):
skills are really important forleadership because really to be
an effective leader you have tohave soft skills.
So that's when I kind of movedin 2015, before I started
working in a place of employmentwhere we were coaching and to
me, to be an effective leader,or it really to be a great
(14:59):
employee, soft skills arenecessary.
Yeah, so the skilling yousoftly actually came about
during the pandemic after 2020.
That's when I kind of shifted,after I left the place of
employment where we were and Iwent full time into my business
and I had developed over theyears over 17,.
(15:20):
I had developed over the yearsover 17,.
I've developed over 17 softskill courses, curriculums that
I've written.
Most of my coaching now I focussoft skills methods and
(15:46):
practice practices to developleaders and build high
performing teams.
So and I always say you know Itake a holistic approach because
I am a life coach that's whatthe BCCLA I'm a certified
Christian life coach as well asthe business side and I take a
holistic approach to my coachingand to my development.
(16:08):
I like to say I help you takecare of your being and your
business.
I'm skilling you softly to liveand lead with confidence and
boldness.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Wow, that's awesome.
Isn't it amazing how sometimesyou just walk into your purpose
like that, you know it's likeyou're, you're able to, and
sometimes we don't realize theroles that we work in, the
positions that we're in, how itall works together for us to
(16:38):
move to where we need to beRight.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
You know, and to me that's always amazing because
it's like or even you know, whenhard time comes Right, it's
like I don't want to go throughit.
But then later on, after you'vegone through it, you realize,
oh my God, I needed this skill,I needed to experience this to
get to where I am, or to evenhelp other people, and that's
(17:02):
really what it's all about I am,or to even help other people,
and that's really what it's allabout.
It's about helping other people, and sometimes it's not about
you, right?
Speaker 2 (17:11):
I always say that there's purpose behind
everything, even those difficultthings.
Sometimes, in those difficulttimes, at that moment you may
not understand, but surely downthe road you're going to realize
I needed that, I went throughthat for a reason and there's
always purpose behind it.
So sometimes, even when itseems challenging, I say just
ride it out, ride it out.
(17:32):
Always, do your part and giveyour best.
And when you've given your bestand you know that you've given
your best and done your part,then you know that there's no
more that you can do but justtrust.
You know, trust the process,trust God.
If you believe in God, trusthim, yeah.
And that there is a reason whyit's going the way that it's
going because you've doneeverything that you can do and
when you can't do anything, likethe Sunks just stand because
(17:53):
it's going to go in the way thatit needs to go.
It's going to work out how itshould work out.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Excuse my voice, I'm a little under the weather, but
we're making it work today.
Now are you good man, lookSarita.
So you talked about gettinginto this thing and really
coaching and opening up yourbusiness.
Can you tell us, as it pertainsto soft skills, why is it
really important, especially forleaders, to have these soft
(18:22):
skills to help lead anorganization or a team?
Speaker 3 (18:29):
So I always use this example when I am either
coaching or facilitating a class.
Many times we're so focused onthe technical skills, the skills
you need.
You know there are some skills,like if you're a doctor or
engineer, there's definitelytechnical skills you have to,
(18:52):
you know you need.
But if you choose to move upinto leadership, what to work,
just really work and work withyour coworkers in general, you
have to have soft skills.
Because, like you statedearlier, I use this example.
Let's just say, if you knowsomeone that's an engineer, top
(19:13):
notch, just do their job well,high performing, then they want
to.
Many times we want to promotesomeone into a leadership role
where you're supervising peopleand they have these great skills
as far as technical skills, butyet they have no people skills,
they have no soft skills.
So you promote them in thisrole.
(19:34):
They're more in a leadershiprole.
You guys know this.
It's not the technical skills.
Your top skills you need arepeople skills how you treat your
employees.
When you have employees, whenyou have conflict, you always
going to have some type ofconflict.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
That's true.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
When you're dealing with you know you supervise 10
people, 100, whatever, and yourskills need to be top skills,
need to be more soft skills thantechnical skills because,
you're going to need them if youwant to be a successful leader
or supervisor, and I always saythat, especially in these times.
I am real big on authenticitybecause your employees, people
(20:16):
know fake and they know real.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
That's true.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Some of the best supervisors I've had.
I've learned so much from themsupervisors I've had.
I've learned so much from them,not necessarily because of
their technical skills, butbecause how they treated their
employees, how their employeesreacted to them, the respect
that they have.
And I've had some greatemployees, great supervisors and
(20:39):
when I was in corporate Americaand I had some not so great
supervisors.
But here's the thing I stilllearn from the not so great
supervisors what I learn is whatnot to do.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
That is absolutely correct.
You learn what not to do right.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
What not to do?
That's right.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
And everything you're speaking is exactly one of the
most influential aspects ofbeing in leadership, which a lot
of leaders do not understandbecause you know we work on the
coaching side when it comes toER Right and a lot of the issues
, even with the employees.
And leadership is not technicalskills but more so, finding
(21:18):
that commonality on how tocommunicate properly, how to
lead properly.
A lot of leaders think thatjust being in leadership is just
telling people what to do allthe time, but a lot of time it's
more so if you can come in andyou have those good people
skills, build good relationshipswith people and you can get a
person to do everything you want, even the things that they do
(21:39):
not want to do, and get them todo it and feel like they should
and that they want to do it justbecause of the relationship
that you've built with them.
I tell leaders all the time ifyou take care of your people
when they need you to take careof them when you need to be
taken care of.
you won't have to beg, you won'teven have to ask.
Sometimes If something happensand you need them to come in at
a time that they don't have tocome in, they're off work, they
(22:01):
don't have to come in, theydon't have to hit that clock,
but they know that you need themand you've taken care of them.
They will volunteer, you willnot have to ask.
But it's because the lack ofpeople, skills, it keeps a lot
of leaders from getting to thatpoint to where they can develop
that relationship with theiremployees and their subordinates
, to where they could have thatfinesse of building a
(22:25):
relationship, along with thebusiness part.
This is the things that we needto take care of.
This is the great area in theroom where we can make it fun,
where we can make it flexible,where we can.
I scratch your back, youscratch your back and you have
to be really careful with that.
But at the same time, build thatprecedence to where you treat
people like people and not likeworkers.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Yeah, and you know, to me it's all about mutual
respect, right, like, as people.
They're not just robots readyfor you know your command, right
, and when I really think aboutthis from the ER side of HR,
most of the times when employeescome and have a complaint, it's
(23:09):
because that leader lacks softskills, and that's the reality
of it.
Yeah, you know, you're a goodworker, you have good technical
skills man, you know how to puta spreadsheet.
Worker, you have good technicalskills, man, you know how to
put a spreadsheet together.
But how do you talk to youremployees, right, and even as
peers and coworkers andprofessionals, sometimes it's
(23:30):
not.
You know that person don't knowwhat they're doing.
It's about, oh, how do theycommunicate?
Do they have emotionalintelligence to know?
You know that the conversationis not going well, right, and so
then you have employees comingto HR complaining about I feel
(23:52):
like I'm being bullied orharassed, and then we have to
look at okay, is it reallybullying, is it really
harassment, or is it the factthat your leader just don't have
soft skills or they're notfocusing on how to be really
great leaders from a people side, right?
And so you know, when I thinkabout this again, we have a lot
(24:16):
of employees coming to HRbecause of that right and the
employee they're not going tosee oh, they don't have soft
skills.
Since I've been in HR, I hadn'thad an employee come and say
hey, I want to make a formalcomplaint on my leader because
they don't have soft skills.
They're going to go directly to.
I feel like I'm being harassed,I feel like I'm being
(24:38):
discriminated against, I feellike I'm being bullied.
I feel like I'm beingdiscriminated against.
I feel like I'm being bullied,right, and so that's what
they're going to do.
So how do you really help notjust leaders, but people from a
holistic viewpoint?
How do you help them startattaining these soft skills that
they need in the workplace?
Speaker 3 (25:04):
these soft skills that they need in the workplace.
So, first thing, first you haveto do a self assessment.
You know, many times I alwaysuse, especially when I'm
coaching, sometimes it's notabout the answer, it's about
asking the right question.
So, you know, helping them toreally, just, you know, first,
focus on, maybe, especially it'sa situation if you, you know,
helping them to really, just,you know, first, focus on, maybe
, especially it's a situation ifyou, you know, dealing with an
(25:25):
employee, you know first, youknow, become, you know,
personable with them.
I always like to say let'sbreathe, let's, you know, calm
down, let's just have generalconversation to get to really
thinking about certain things.
So I would say, and I thinkwhat you're asking me, daniel,
(26:05):
is how do you, how saying thatthe person that is not bullying
or whatever?
We need to take aself-assessment of ourselves and
what are my strengths, what aremy weaknesses, and getting
clarity.
Because, if you know, there arefive components of emotion
intelligence.
The first one I always focus onis self-awareness.
(26:27):
Wow, being self-aware,self-regulated, how do I
regulate my emotions?
And I think, with leadersespecially, emotion intelligence
is to.
To me, it's one of the top softskills that you that is needed,
because when you are more awareof yourself and your reactions
(26:49):
and how you, you know you canreally relate more to other
people.
So you know whether that'scoaching, whether that's some
timing, it just depends on whatlevel you are.
I always say this I coachpeople but I don't coach
everybody, because I have anassessment that I give the
person and sometimes they mayneed a counselor before they
(27:12):
need a coach.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
Yeah, I don't, just often.
Oh, I'm a coach.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
Oh, I'm going to coach you.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
I have an assessment I've actually built myself,
because there's a saying where acounselor will actually help
you through your mess but acoach will give you a bucket and
mop and help you clean it up.
So you know, really,self-assessment to me is the
worst thing.
You got to set clear goals yougot to.
I'm just always starting withself first, Know and realize.
It's just like you don'trealize something and you said
something early.
People don't talk about softskills because people don't
really know what soft skills are.
(27:52):
They're more focused on theproductivity part and the
revenue part and see we as HR,we know that.
But I always say and I'm tryingto get these executives and
leaders to understand your lackof soft skills and the things
especially you guys knowincivility now is top, it's gone
(28:15):
.
I mean, people can't even getalong now and this is causing a
high turnover rate.
This is causing I'm just likeyou don't connect the lack of
soft skills, incivility withaffecting your bottom line.
Yeah, I don't know, maybe we'renot just doing a good job of
trying to tell them, becausewhen you have soft skill issues
or lack of that messes with yourrevenue.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
So go ahead.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Well, I actually you know you have five top soft
skills and I really want us todive into those top skills, and
you talked about one of them,which being emotional
intelligence.
So what are some of the othertop skills, the top five soft
(28:59):
skills that we're talking abouthere, that people need to be
aware of and need to beknowledgeable about?
Speaker 3 (29:07):
So and I'm going to put this out here before I say
that so what I've learned a lotof the soft skills that I.
They're interchangeable, one ison the other.
So the second one for me iseffective communication.
We do not know, as it's one ofthose soft skills that we don't
know, how to communicate witheach other.
Effective communication how isyour listening skills?
(29:30):
How are you communicating?
Sometimes, like you know, youhave the verbal and nonverbal
skills.
Like I'm practicing both.
I use my hands a lot when I'mtalking.
Listening skills you know, ifwe would stop and listen,
there's a technique to that.
Listen before we whip.
Sometimes, especially whenwe're in a conflict management
situation, which is another softskill, we're too busy trying to
(29:54):
think what I'm going to say andyou're not effectively
listening to the person.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
Have you seen that video on Facebook?
You say listen, linda, listen.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
I haven't seen that one.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
It's old.
We used to do that one a lot.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
Listen, it's a little kid Listen.
Linda listen.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
So, yeah, effective communication, emotional
intelligence, conflictmanagement oh my god, that's,
that's huge.
And, um, how to deal withconflict.
And one thing I'm noticing now,especially the younger
generation, um, that is one ofthe skills that is so lacking is
how to deal with conflictEverybody and to go back and
(30:43):
affect the communication youknow you have now with texting
and all those different types ofcommunication we need to.
One thing I'm noticing that weare not really Teaching, or
they're not being taught, softskills on when to use certain
tools.
If you're in a heateddiscussion or something, text is
(31:05):
not it, it is not.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Nowadays it is they want to text everything.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
If you want to really resolve a conflict, you need to
pick up the phone, your cellphone or person face-to-face,
because you can't see bodylanguage and tone over a text,
and I use that quite a bit whenI'm talking about effective
communication.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
But you know they can record now and see we're more
on the traditional side.
I'm with you, serena.
You know now they can hold thething and actually speak to you
and tell you what they want totell you and text it to you.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I still said that's still more
effective than just the words,because at least if you
recording it I do it a lot, youknow you can hear my voice, you
can hear my tone, you can hear.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Oh, she got attitude.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
No, she said that would have an attitude.
I see where she is, I see whereyou're at, I'm going to check
your temperature.
So at least with that, that'sbetter than just a text.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
And you can't hear any of that.
But I feel like, honestly, onthat point, while we're there,
for me, that is not enough forme.
Even with that, you know, Ifeel like sometimes that
personable conversation needs totake place and sometimes that
is what is the breakdown andmiscommunication.
When you're texting, whenyou're assuming based off of
(32:30):
something like that, a video orsomething like that, a lot of
times it's just being able tohave take five seconds.
I remember I used to get toldthis all the time and then when
I say this, you're gonnaremember it's not from that
institute where we worked yet,but another institute where we
worked together, another um.
I would.
I would always get a call frommy leader and she would say,
(32:51):
mario, stop emailing and justpick up the phone and call.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Oh yeah because he'll go in an email war.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
I will give you everything in an email, and, and
, but I'm I'm more articulatedthrough conversation.
I'm really good with people.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
I know.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
I have those conversations with people.
But sometimes, if I get an emailand I'm like you know, and so
all of that buffer from theconversation where you bring it
down and you change your tone.
You say, hey, sarita, so I gotyour email and it seems like you
may be a little something, mayhave pressed a few buttons or
(33:32):
something like that.
So can you kind of give me someinsight of exactly what it is
that you're saying, because Idon't want to take it the wrong
way.
That little bit of finesse canchange the tone, you know, and I
feel like that's missing in theworkplace with all this AI.
Like you said, right now a lotof leaders are just concerned
(33:52):
about numbers, metrics,performance, but they don't
understand how soft skills canchange that, completely change
it.
You know, instead of um managinga person through email, um
managing a person through ummetrics, having those
conversations, sometimes you dohave to go personal.
Sometimes you have to see ifI'm looking at sarita and I'm
(34:15):
seeing she looks tired.
All the time she comes in she'srushing, yeah, she looks like
she's got a lot going on Insteadof just pushing numbers and
emailing her and saying, hey,sarita, I need you to meet those
numbers today.
Hey, sarita, I need you to meetthose meetings, taking five
minutes to stop and say, hey,sarita, how are you?
You look like you've been alittle stressed or that you got
a lot going on.
Are you okay Sometimes justletting, just letting a person
(34:37):
know that you're concerned,having some empathy, having a
little time and giving them someenergy, that you care about
what's going on with them.
You'll find out that some ofthe things that they need that
you won't find out just fromwatching you'll get from a small
conversation.
So, those soft skills are super,super important and if you
(35:03):
think your metrics can turnaround by performance it can
really turn around throughperformance management If you
touch on soft skills.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
you can get a lot out of people if you just
understand where they are andwhat's going on with them.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
I agree, 1000% yes, and you know it's for me it's
not about trying to beat thesystem or be manipulative, right
, but it's really about beingintentional, right.
And so when people hear this,it's not to be like, oh, how can
I get them to perform better,but it's really about
(35:31):
authenticity.
And people, hey, they know whenyou're being authentic and they
know when you're just trying topull a wool over them, right?
So it's all about beingintentional and leading with
intentionality, right.
Sometimes I can't talk right, Ican't be worried.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Did you catch that Sarita Intentionality?
Speaker 3 (36:01):
I want to add this to , which brings me to the next
soft skill relationship building, soft skill.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
It is it's important.
Speaker 3 (36:10):
Yeah, so you know, and this shows how relationship
building it ties back to theother soft skills being
emotionally intelligent as wellas being an effective
communicator.
You've got to have those.
If you're trying to build arelationship, you have to have
authenticity.
You have to need to have a formof transparency as well when
(36:33):
you are because, like you greatexample that Mario gave you know
pay attention to your employees, build those relationships.
I would say, especially if youare a supervisor, what have you?
And, just in general, you knowthere is a fine line as far as
relationship.
You don't want to get toopersonable.
However, you want to knowenough about that particular
(37:04):
employee to build relationship,have them feel comfortable and,
like you stated earlier, have asafe space for them.
I remember I was working at acompany.
It was the first companyorganization that I worked for.
Actually, it was an HR role.
I'll tell you about my journeyin HR and it was a particular HR
manager.
He had been there at thiscompany.
I've got 25 something years.
(37:26):
Everybody loved this man.
It was at a carefree, was at awarehouse and I know there were
over hundreds and hundreds ofemployees.
There were over hundreds andhundreds of employees.
This HR manager knew everyemployee name in the warehouse.
He knew everything about everyone of them.
(37:47):
Every morning, when he got towork early, he would go through
the warehouse meet greet.
Hey, how are you?
How's your mother?
Did your daughter have her baby?
He knew everything about everyemployee, everything, and that
you don't find that anymore.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (38:04):
You know, I think he's retired now, but he's a.
He was part of the baby boomergeneration.
But it works, yeah, it works inall aspects.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
I'm going to call the name of a old friend of mine
but he just got a lot ofaccolades and it's not in in the
workplace as a leader but inacademia as a professor.
He's over the music departmentat Cordova High School and his
name is Adrian Macklin.
He just got awarded with theGrammy Awards awarded him for
(38:35):
the practice there.
One thing Adrian did and it wasa real big thing.
I don't know who started it, Idon't think he started it, but
he picked it up really quickly,or he may have started it, but
he did a clip that he posted outwhere he had learned his
students well enough to where hecould turn his back and if they
spoke he could identify whothey were.
(38:57):
Some very.
You know the word intimacy iskind of spread out, but that's a
real big relationship andintimacy to build enough with 20
to 25, maybe even 30 differentstudents or even employees and
just with your back turned ifthey say a word to you, you know
exactly who you're speakingwith, you've paid attention to
that person, you know the toneof their voice, you know them
(39:18):
when you hear them and you don'thave to see them and I think a
lot of places have lost touchwith that.
We don't get to know the peoplethat we work with.
We're hiring people in numbersjust to get the job done and
that affects all of those thingsfrom relationship building
because you haven't built arelationship, you don't know
them to the people skills.
(39:38):
You don't know how to talk toeach individual differently,
because we all are different.
Daniel takes conversations andprobably coaching, completely
different from me, as well asyou, sarita.
It's not a one size fits all.
Oh, I've learned emotionalintelligence.
I've learned how to you know,relationship, building
individuals in order to be ableto manage them and build
(40:01):
different relationships for eachone of them, and I think that's
where we're losing touch inbusiness, in the professional
world.
We're bringing in AI and I'mnot against AI, because it's
great that chat what is it chatGPT?
Speaker 3 (40:18):
Why did you say that I'm traditional?
I'm so traditional.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
He said that chat.
Let me tell you, Daniel speaksabout it all the time, and I'm
not trying to jump out ofcountry, but Daniel speaks about
it all the time.
You know, I own a clinic now,sabrina, and just yesterday I
had a nurse practitioner thatcame in.
She is actually one of ourpatients and she's in health
care too, and she came in.
Tiffany came in and she was.
(40:41):
She was like we have a thingwhere we're doing.
If you go on social media, onFacebook, and you check in while
you're there, we'll give you adiscount for your full service,
whatever you're there for.
And so she was like saysomething real nice about us.
Say something real nice we wantpeople to see and come over and
see us.
And she said you want me to goto Chad GPT?
I was like what?
And she said you want me to goto ChatGPT?
I was like what?
(41:02):
And she said, oh, that's thatthing that my friend uses all
the time.
And she was pulling up and Iwas like, oh, okay.
And I was like, well, I hearabout it all the time but I
still haven't used it.
She's like, oh, you got to getit.
It's real neat.
So I'm really interested andexcited about learning that.
But, that stuff is great, butsometimes that stuff is not
going to take away from thatpersonable interaction, having
(41:25):
those conversations, and I knowthat was a long way to get to
the point, but that's basicallywhat I'm trying to say.
Sometimes having those toolswork great for performance wise
and for management, but don'ttake away the personable side,
don't take away those softskills that we need in the
workplace and you know what?
Speaker 3 (41:42):
That's a great segue into the last.
The creativity is a soft skill.
People don't know that, but I'mlike you Now don't get me wrong
In all aspects.
Actually, I'm in the process of, I'm going to the next level.
I'm getting ready to get mycertification AI because I use
it.
I use it a great deal, but Iuse it more for an academic
(42:08):
Because, if you don't know, I'ma college instructor too.
I'm an adjunct professor andactually I'm at the University
of Memphis now.
Oh you go, girl.
All right, it's been time.
I teach entrepreneurship andinnovation at University of
Memphis, as well as Grand Canyon, and I'm constantly having to
(42:29):
soft skills versus, because alot of students now want to use
this to write their papers.
I'm like no, ai is for.
I'm so not anti-AI.
I'm not, because I use itsometimes to help.
Sometimes it helps you generateideas.
That's what it's really reallygood for.
But I am a creative so I liketo create my own.
You're picking shoes, but manytimes, as far as creativity
(42:55):
because someone asked me youthink AI is going to fix soft
skill creativity I said no, itshouldn't, because if you are
original, you like to createthings.
You have to know the balancebetween that.
And I always say to you know,get in your flow.
Whatever you know, be creative,and that's what I love.
Now I'm noticing more in theworld of HR.
(43:15):
Companies are allowing as faras employee engagement.
They're allowing theiremployees to be more part of the
team, to bring their creativityto the workforce.
It's not like.
This is how it is.
You're going to do it this wayand we don't want your ideas.
That's not going to work.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
But you know it's a lot of companies that's still in
the past, you know, and theydon't want your creativity.
I went through an interviewinterviewing with this company
and I provided a lot of great,you know, creative ideas.
And when I got to the interviewthey told me well, you know, we
(43:57):
want you to.
You know, just learn theorganization, see how we do it.
You know, see how.
And there's nothing wrong with,of course, learning you know
how that organization operates.
But when you stress that point,that's a red flag for me that
hey, there's no creativity atthis organization.
Speaker 3 (44:16):
And that's true, that's very true.
And it depends on you guys know, it depends on the company
culture, because the way I havebeen, I don't praise God, I
don't want to interview anymorewhen I used to go to different
companies and interview.
They're interviewing me, but Iam interviewing them Absolutely.
(44:38):
What I do does not align withtheir mission and vision and
their values they're not thecompany that I want to work for.
I think sometimes especiallymuch younger generation,
especially Gen Z.
I don't know, are youmillennial or Gen Z?
Daniel, which generation areyou?
Speaker 1 (44:53):
I'm right in the middle between both of them.
Speaker 3 (44:56):
I know you're a millennial right.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
Yeah, very much so.
He's on the top scale ofmillennial.
Speaker 3 (45:01):
I'm a Gen Xer myself.
He's on the top scale ofmillennial.
I'm a Gen Xer, so I try toteach some of the younger people
I kind of mentor, who are borninto the workforce, that you
interview them as well as havenothing.
It's important.
Have questions.
At the end Don't say I don'thave any questions, yeah, you
(45:24):
listen.
Put your effective communitylisten to what they're saying,
so you may determine that youmay not want to work for this
company because of that.
So creativity is very important.
A lot of companies are losingout because they do not allow
their employees and this onething and I just got to get this
in there we use the term in HRhuman capital.
(45:46):
I detest that word Because whenI heard the word human capital,
you know what it sounded like.
I'm hearing herd of cattle.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
Yeah, I get it.
Speaker 3 (45:57):
Seriously.
Speaker 2 (45:58):
I don't like it either.
Speaker 3 (46:00):
I don't like it.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
It's certain words that I do not like.
Speaker 3 (46:04):
That's one.
Speaker 2 (46:05):
I don't like the word or the term boss.
Who boss and who?
Nobody's?
Nobody's boss.
We're all adults here, leader,I always Leader, manager,
supervisor, but bossing mentor,no bossing.
I think that's in their mindwhen they get in some leadership
(46:28):
roles I'm the boss now.
I'm the boss now, you know?
No, please take that.
I don't like it.
You want to treat people aspeople.
Speaker 3 (46:37):
That's true.
Speaker 2 (46:37):
I don't want anybody to boss me around.
I want someone to lead me, helpgrow me.
Help me grow so that I can goin whatever direction.
I'm trying to go into the fieldthat I want to be in If I want
to progress up, if I'mcomfortable where I am.
But I want to be a littlecreative with my role and maybe
stay at the level that I'm inbut move in another role that
offers more flexibility, morecreativity, me to synergize or
(47:00):
energize or use other skills andsoft skills as well.
But a lot of companies nowthey're investing in AI.
You want to know why?
Because the new generation havetapped into exactly what you
just talked about, saritacreativity.
They have realized that I don'twant to come in your office and
work a regular eight to fiveevery day and dress up in your
suit, in your tie.
(47:21):
I can make my own money.
I can create my own job.
I can get right online and getright online and blog.
I can get right online.
They can do exactly what we'redoing right now and make money
off of that.
They can start their own onlinestores.
They are being creative andcreating their own job because
they do not want to go in andsit.
(47:41):
What we have adapted to beingas the workforce and the
professional environment is notwhat they want.
They want flexibility.
They want to progress, theywant equal and fair pay and
they're not afraid to say it,they're not afraid to fight for
it and they are not afraid towalk away, because they can
(48:01):
figure out a way to make moneyon their own, without your
business.
So it's very, very importantthat they allow these people and
especially the youth, to beable to use their creative
energy, to be able to come in,have that flexibility, to come
in and not be sit or not have tosit in an office from eight to
five because they do not want todo that.
It's a different workforce now.
Speaker 1 (48:23):
So it's important.
Yeah, and you're absolutelyright, mario.
You know, when I think aboutthat, a lot of the younger
generation, they've seen theirparents struggle, they've seen
their grandparents struggle, youknow, especially pensions.
You don't even hear that, nomore, right.
Speaker 2 (48:40):
Being loyal to a job, but it's only going to give you
3% to 6% every year, andsometimes not even that.
Speaker 1 (48:47):
Yeah.
So you know from the youngergeneration, they don't want to
have to go through all of thatand then at the end of it they
have nothing to see how hardthey work for right.
So, man, y'all this has been agreat conversation today, really
really awesome.
Sharita, you gave us five softskills that are really important
(49:11):
for today's workforce, not justfor leaders, but for
professionals as well.
Number one with emotionalintelligence.
Number two effectivecommunication.
Number three relationshipbuilding, creativity, creativity
and conflict management.
Sherita, before we get out ofhere, is there anything else you
would like to share about softskills and why it's really
(49:34):
important in today's workforce?
Speaker 3 (49:37):
With everything going on.
Yes, in today's workforce, it'skind of like soft skills is
becoming.
I'm seeing more and more,especially HR SHRM.
They're talking more and moreabout soft skills and it's to
the point where, if we want tobe a vital, productive working
force, we're going to have tostart engaging more hiring
(49:59):
coaches like me or differentpeople who are soft skill
experts to bring it in, becauseeven though with AI, you still
got to have people.
Speaker 2 (50:09):
That's true.
Speaker 3 (50:09):
One of the things I always say with the times that
we're going through and I usethis a lot soft skills get you
through hard times.
Speaker 2 (50:18):
Yeah, prince, if you may, or if you will, sarita, can
you just take about 60 seconds,because I know we're coming
towards the ending of the show?
Take 60 seconds and, with allthe information that you've
given us, all the details thatyou've given us about your
wonderful business, come on,give us a little bit of sell us,
(50:39):
sell us on it.
Let the people know what youbring to the table, tell us
about your business, where youcan be reached, what you bring
to the table so that, after thisis done and they see all of
these skills that you have, whatall you have to offer, they'll
know how to reach out to you andmaybe we can get you a little
bit more involved and help thesepeople understand how important
(51:01):
it is to have those five thingsthat you just brought up today.
Speaker 3 (51:04):
So I am actually on all social media platforms
LinkedIn, I'm on Facebook even.
Alignable is another platformthat's up and coming.
Linkedin is where I do majorityof you can reach out to me.
I also have a website and it'sFSP, like FSP which stands for
(51:24):
from Sarita's pen that's mywriter's name.
Fsp enterprises dot net is mywebsite, and as far as what I
can bring to the table, I haveworked in every industry.
I've worked in the medicalindustry, the telecommunication
industry, logistics, supplychain management, so it's not
(51:46):
any industry that I am.
Even in education.
I am not only, you know,academics, I actually work with
the school system too as well.
So, like I said, soft skillsare so needed and people don't
realize it would help you toreally really With your turnover
(52:07):
rate and it's really reallyimportant as far as if you want
to keep your employees happy aswell.
So it's that's how you canreach me and everything.
I actually have an apparel linetoo.
I don't know if you knew thatCome on apparel line too.
I don't know if you knew that.
(52:28):
Come on, my company ismultifaceted, it's just not only
coaching, but I actually havean apparel line.
You can find everything that Ido.
I'm an author.
I've just written a new book,last year as well.
Everything is self-development.
So you can find everything thatI do on my website, because I'm
all things, all things Memphisas well.
I just created a brand newapparel, new shirt called I Am.
(52:51):
It's ask you a question andmake a statement.
I'm fighting for Memphis, areyou?
Speaker 2 (52:57):
And what's the name of that book?
Sarita?
Speaker 3 (52:59):
The book that I have.
I have a copy.
I don't have a copy here.
It's called Wisdom fromSarita's Pen for Daily Living in
the Workplace.
It's inspirational quotes thatI wrote work in your daily life
and I talk a lot about softskills in the in the book and
there's a lot of spiritualinformation, because I have
(53:21):
learned how to connect ministryto the marketplace as well.
Speaker 1 (53:25):
Man, that's awesome.
Thank you so much, sherita, forjoining us, and that was going
to be the last question how canpeople connect to you?
So thank you.
Thank you, marcy.
I have an awesome co-host rightwe here.
So if you've enjoyed today'sepisode, be sure to subscribe to
(53:48):
the Transparent HR podcast,share it with a friend and leave
us a review.
Remember this your talent mightget you noticed, but it's your
people skills that build trust,open doors and keep
opportunities flowing.
Coach Sarita's message ofskilling you softly is a
powerful reminder that emotionalintelligence, presence and how
(54:11):
you treat others matter morethan ever before.
So take inventory of your softskills, speak up, listen well
and lead with empathy, and ifyou know someone that's trying
to level up, send this episodetheir way.
Let's keep building careersthat aren't just successful but
sustainable.
(54:31):
Again, it's your host, princeTate, along with your boy Rio.
Along with Mario, and until nexttime, keep navigating your
career with clarity.
And until next time, keepnavigating your career with
clarity and with confidence.
See you then.
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