Hardcore Soft Skills Podcast

In this show we discuss the skill of Self-Assessment. Before you know where you are heading in your career, you must know where you are. You must know what moves you, what you are good at. My guest offers a comprehensive approach to gain clarity on this. Dr Gary Crotaz ( https://garycrotaz.com/ ) is a mindset coach and author of the IDEA Mindset book. In this episode he talks about the step-by-ste...

-------- As remote work becomes a new kind of normal, we cannot assume that the same skills to manage a team in an office will apply for virtual teams. As a worker, you have the ability to work from the comfort of your home. As a manager though, how do you keep employees engaged, create trust and manage the day to day? This is why I invited Hasnain Rizvi ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/rizvi/ , http...

While it may sound sexy to call ourselves innovators, we have to really consider how are we promoting innovation in our work life. Is it because we think we have brilliant ideas? Is it because we enable others to be innovative?  My guest today considers that being an innovator is not reserved for the Elon Musks and Steve Jobs types. We can all help cultivate innovation and most importantly, this i...

This episode originally aired in December 2020.  ------------------------ Curiosity is a very important skill which gives us a competitive advantage. According to research people with high curiosity are more inquisitive and generate more original ideas. Curiosity can also help us have more positive engagement with our teammates. My guest today is driven by curiosity and inspires others to cultivat...

You probably have heard the term FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). How about the term FOBO (Fear of Better Options). Today I speak with the creator of both terms. Patrick McGinnis ( https://patrickmcginnis.com/) coined the term FOMO in a 2004 article in the student newspaper of Harvard Business School. FOMO has since been added to the dictionary and FOBO has become an increasingly popular framework to d...

Resilience is a skill we can develop over time and in our guest has shown an example of persistence to achieve his dreams. Jesse Iwuji ( https://www.jesseiwuji.com/ ) is a race car driver and member of the US Navy Reserve. He is also a big supporter of NASCAR diversity and inclusion, and speaks to many audiences about leadership and resilience. In this episode he talks about his career, and his fa...

In this episode we will talk about Humor with Andrew Tarvin. He is a Humor Engineer. While he started his career in the world of computer science, he is a now a speaker and coach who teaches people and organizations how to use humor to be more effective while having fun.  In this episode we talk about this transition in his career, the steps you can take to apply humor and the different personas y...

In this episode we discuss a skill many of us want to improve at: Persuasion.  In the book Persuade , Andres Lares  and Jeff Cochran gives very practical advice, including the building blocks to create persuasion. Andres Lares is a Managing Partner at the Shapiro Negotiations Institute and his expertise is in dealing live negotiations with major sports clients. He has lectured on the topic of nego...

Do you consider yourself a motivated person? How about a person who can motivate others?  Motivation is not a matter of getting the right speech for your team or about reading motivational quotes. It takes understanding yourself and others, it is about dealing with change.  In this episode you will learn about Motivation with Clinical Psychologist Dr. Bobbi Wegner ( https://www.drbobbiwegner.com/...

Welcome to Season 5 of the Hardcore Soft Skills podcast.   Today we talk about Body Language with an expert who has been voted as a number one body language expert. Mark Bowden (https://truthplane.com/home/people/mark-bowden/ )  is a bestselling author who has been featured in CNN, CBS, the Dr. Phil Show, and many others to share his expertise on body language and human behavior. You should take a...

This is the final episode of Season 4. In this episode we republish an interview from the podcast Innolatino https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/innolatino/ hosted by Gonzalo Pena https://www.linkedin.com/in/gonzalopena/ .   ------------------ Do you feel stuck in your career or organization? This episode will help your breakthrough! This episode features Tech Consultant Yadira Caro. She's the c...

This episode originally aired in July 2021. ------------------ In this episode we will talk about what you need to do make change happen. My guest is the authority on change. John P. Kotter ( https://www.kotterinc.com/ ) is a best-selling author, award winning business and management thought leader, business entrepreneur and Harvard Professor. One of his books Leading Change was selected by Time m...

This episode was originally aired in February 2021.  ------------ Negotiation is not about winners or losers, playing tough or misleading. It is about seeking a deal where everyone can benefit. In this episode we learn how to become better negotiators from Diana Buttu, a lawyer specializing in negotiations, international law, and international human rights law. Buttu worked as a negotiator on the...

The book Getting Things Done, by David Allen, was published over 20 years ago and today is it as relevant as ever.  The book, has which been published in 30 languages, has turned into a whole methodology called GTD and it is now being taught by coaches all over the world.   This episode originally aired in March 2021.  ----------------- I spoke with David about the origins of GTD, and he shared sp...

This episode originally aired in February 2021.  -------------------- Networking is an essential skill which can determine the success in our careers. However, many of us neglect it or do not know the correct way to do it. In this episode, Jordan Harbinger ( https://www.jordanharbinger.com/ ), Wall-Street attorney turned podcaster, shares how networking has driven the success of his career. To acc...

My guest today, Oscar Trimboli ( https://www.oscartrimboli.com/ ), shared some fascinating data that made me realized, we are barely listening to each other. Oscar is the author of Deep listening and Breakthroughs, professional speaker and host of the apple award winning podcast Depp Listening. This episode is a master class on listening. We talk about some fascinating concepts including listening...

My guest today realized how essential mentoring is and create a whole network to help both potential mentors and mentees. Dr. Deborah Heiser holds a degree in Applied Developmental Psychology and she is also the founder of The Mentor Project ( https://mentorproject.org/ ) which connects mentors in science, technology, engineering, the arts, mathematics, with the community. Today we talk about what...

Hardcore Soft Skills Podcast was launched a year ago! Therefore, we are re-broadcasting a recent interview from the Empathy for Breakfast podcast with Mimi Nicklin which features an interview with Yadi Caro. Yadi shares more about her career and the importance of cultivating soft skills. If you want to receive more information, subscribe to my newsletter via https://www.hardcoresoftskillspodcast.c...

In today's episode we will talk about Meeting Management. No matter if you work in office, at home or if you have your own business, you must attend meetings. Seems like a lot of our life is spent in these and oftentimes these are not productive at all. Today you will learn how to be the person that creates meeting people want to actually attend. We will learn about scientifically proven methods....

In todays' episode we talk to author and TedX speaker Mark Metry ( https://www.markmetry.com/ ). He was one of the first guests we had on this podcast ( https://www.hardcoresoftskillspodcast.com/self-awareness/ ) and during that episode he shared his story about growing up with social anxiety. how he fostered the skill of self- awareness and take steps towards becoming a better version of himself....

This episode marks the end of Season 3. We have learned about skills such as curiosity, agility, mindfulness, change management, writing, grit and others. One skill that for many of us is quite difficult to master is personal branding. How can we make this less uncomfortable or basically how can we just feel better about promoting ourselves? In this episode you will learn each step to do so. My gu...

In this episode we talk about Mindfulness. My guest Jon Macaskill ( https://macaskillconsulting.com/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmacaskill/ ) is a a retired Navy Seal Commander who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Panama. He is now co-host of the podcast Men Talking Mindfulness ( https://mentalkingmindfulness.com/) and he is also a mindfulness and meditation teacher. Jon talks how m...

Today we will talk about Confidence. Have you felt at any point in your career that you were underqualified for a role? Or perhaps you fear that at any moment someone will find out that you don't really deserve that position? Impostor Syndrome is very real and frequent among many of us. My guest has focused his career studying this and providing solutions for people on how to beat self-doubt. Dr....

Today we will talk about what you need to do make change happen. My guest is the authority on change. John P. Kotter ( https://www.kotterinc.com/ ) is a best-selling author, award winning business and management thought leader, business entrepreneur and Harvard Professor. One of his books Leading Change was selected by Time magazine as one of the most influential books ever written. We talk about...

This week's interview was one I had wanted to do for a long time. I work as Product Owner working closely with software developers creating apps at a military organization. We use the Scrum framework, which is one of the multiple agile approaches focused in delivering solutions quickly to customers. The approach is not just about being technically savvy, but on making good use of those critical sk...