A few years ago, during Skill Talk Ep. 1, Dr. Michelle B. Lee told me about an article she was reading. “I found it interesting that they listed a driver’s license as a soft skill,” she said.

At one point in time, before I developed the Five Soft Skills Clusters framework, I had actually compiled a list of 107 soft skills. The words “driver’s license” did not make the list.

“Oh, so I take it that wasn’t in your 107,” she continued.

“A driver’s license is a thing,” I responded. “But I can see how getting your driver’s license might require you to use soft skills.”

Most of our everyday tasks, whether it’s professional or personal require all types of soft skills. So, I can understand what the writer may have had in mind, but the driver license itself is not a soft skill. Sometimes people get out of hand by trying to call everything a soft skill.

“Alright, so when you got your driver’s license, did you go to driver’s Ed?”

“No. I actually read the book.”

“You actually read that thing?”

“Yes, I read the book and then one day I went to my dad and I said to him ‘Let me borrow your car.’”

I was sitting there looking a little confused.

Michelle continued, “And he’s like, ‘You don’t have your driver’s license.’ And I said that I’m going to go get it.”

Ha!

Let’s take a look at some of these soft skills that Michelle was already demonstrating:

Self-discipline, initiative, and persuasion.

She took the time to get the book, study the book, find out when the test was , and persuaded her dad to let her take the car on her own to go take the test.

“So, he gave me the keys. He was laughing, of course. I had my friend with me who had her driver’s license. And so, we went.”

That’s teamwork and collaboration.

“I had to take a written test and part of it was verbal. And so, they had me look at signs and I had to identify the signs. And I remember that I didn’t quite remember what the ‘Merge’ sign was called. But I told him it meant coming off or on the ramp.”

That showed some creativity, problem solving, communication, and ingenuity. She couldn’t remember the exact name, but she was able respond in a manner that demonstrated she knew what the sign meant…kind of.

“The only criticism he had was that I was floating through stop signs.”

I laughed and responded, “A lot of people don’t come to complete stop. So, you got some criticism right there. How did you handle that?”

“I just said, ‘okay, thank you sir.’”

That’s being coachable. She took her criticism in stride and applied the feedback.

Moral of the story:

Thanks to all the soft skills Michelle used, we now have one less dangerous driver on the road.

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ACTIVITY – Soft Skills Daily

1. List three activities or tasks that are not school or work-related.
2. List 3-5 soft skills you use to successfully complete each activity or task.
3. How would improving those soft skills help you in your professional life?