Why ‘Soft Skills’ Were Essential on My Journey as a Successful Entrepreneur

by Startacus Admin

Digital entrepreneur Aiman Kabli shares insights on his own business journey and how important 'soft skills' were to his overall success.

Deciding to take a leap and become an entrepreneur is well-known as being challenging and unpredictable. If you decide to leave behind your desk job to make a start at becoming an entrepreneur, it’s common to find this new world of business overwhelming and – at times – tricky to navigate.

Most people tend to shift their focus to growing their ‘hard skills’. This refers to technical skills, analytical skills, and management skills. There’s no doubt that operating with successful ‘hard skills’ is fundamental to entrepreneurial achievement, but individuals often spend so much time cultivating them that they disregard ‘soft skills’ and their importance.

What are ‘soft skills’?

‘Soft skills’ promote the holistic development of an individual and may include basic self-care, personal growth skills, and spiritual practice. The aim of ‘soft skills’ is to help an individual grow their emotional maturity and resilience, which will better allow them to communicate within their team and lead successfully.

Over the last seven years, I have had the privilege of speaking at numerous engagements as a mentor, speaker, judge, consultant, panellist, lecturer, and coach on the topic of better developing the entrepreneur’s arsenal of ‘soft skills’ and how this can impact on entrepreneurship culture.

My own experience with entrepreneurship, plus the experience of advising tech start-ups and investors, has led me to fully appreciate how ‘soft skills’ can enhance your decision-making skills and help you to ‘weather the storm’ as an entrepreneur.

How I developed my ‘soft skills’ and how they enhanced my entrepreneurial journey

Developing my own ‘soft skills’ required a beginner’s mindset – I had to go right back to basics. This meant looking at how I cared for myself and ensuring I was hitting all the right bases. Eating the right kind of food, sleeping well and for long enough and regular exercise were all part of me discovering how to unlock my full potential and helped to aid me in making the right decisions with good mental clarity and outlook.

Once I had these basic life skills in place, I could focus more on personal growth. It became important to me that I set aside time to further my personal development, by reading about current trends or unwinding with a thought-provoking documentary.

I have also had the privilege of frequent travel, which has actually been necessary for my life as an entrepreneur. Travel really gave me the freedom to experience new cultures, observe different experiences and open myself up to different viewpoints. Travel meant I was constantly needing to adapt to new surroundings and engage with a positive mental outlook to make the best out of my experience.

Spiritual practice has also aided me along the way through my journey. This can takes of many forms depending on each person's beliefs and preferences such as reading scripture, meditation, yoga, journaling, daily affirmations, introspection or practising gratitude. Clearing the mind so you are ready to face whatever may come your way day to day as an entrepreneur is important and this is a good way to tackle this.

By developing my ‘soft skills’, I have been able to found a global movement that advocates for individuals to embody the lifestyle of success and fulfilment. My purpose has always been to promote thought leadership and help other entrepreneurs reach their potential.

By encouraging the brain to constantly search for ways to adapt and to see potential obstacles as challenges to face, ‘soft skills’ can help make it much easier for an entrepreneur to navigate the world of business.

Encouraging the development of ‘soft skills’ may seem less important than their ‘hard skill’s equivalent. What must be remembered is that ‘soft skills’ give an individual the foundation from which to work. I have seen first-hand how entrepreneurs that prioritise themselves can better lead their teams from a place of stability and positive engagement because they have a strong foundation of good physical and mental strength to draw from when it comes to solving problems.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aiman Kabli is a digital entrepreneur, serial author, blogger, and speaker. Aiman is the founder and Movement Leader of a global movement to advocate for embodying the lifestyle of success and fulfilment, FELS (Flourishing Entrepreneurial Lifestyle). He is also co-founder and COO of the virtual startup accelerator platform, eleva8or, and is co-founder of various apps and web platforms.

Subscribe to our newsletter

If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.

• #
• #entrepreneur
• #skills
• #tips
• #insights

Published on: 12th July 2022