Stop being undermined

No one questioned me.

When I worked in finance, no one questioned my accounts. 

People didn’t interject with opinions about how to reconcile a ledger – I had the authority of accounting standards and regulations. 

When I worked in HR, and later marketing, all kinds of people had an opinion. Usually unsolicited.

Because ‘soft skills’ professions have a barrier to entry problem.

It’s too low.

The skills required to do the job well are hidden from view so stakeholders think their perspective is just as valid as yours.

And if your stakeholder is high enough in the pecking order, their not liking something – a marketing campaign, a training program – can be enough to kill it.

How galling if you are the HR or marketing professional involved.

👉 That’s why I’m so keen that soft skills professionals develop a hard edge.

The hard edge of behavioural science. 

I want you to raise the barriers to entry.

👉👉 To have the ability to say, “thanks for your opinion, but that’s not what the science says.”

Speaking of which, I'm thrilled to be joining Seth Godin, Janine Allis and Hamish Blake as speaker at Intuit Mailchimp's upcoming "From Here: To There" marketing conference in Sydney, 23 July 2024.