Question: As a technical IT manager, do I really need to take classes on soft skills like active listening and interviewing?  I hate that stuff, aren’t I better off learning something new technically?

Ok, I admit it. I was the biggest offender of the advice I am suggesting to you here.

As an individual contributor, I never took soft skills classes. I loved training, but if I couldn’t pick up an additional technical tip or two I wasn’t interested.

For many years, if I had the choice between Oracle Database Internals, Advanced Techniques in Function Overloading, or Active Listening, guess which two courses I took? Well, I’ll give you a hint. It wasn’t Active Listening or other soft skills related classes. I’m really glad I took the hard skills classes, the technical information I learned helped me grow as a technical professional.

In retrospect, however . . .