Last night I was doing the ‘meet and greet’ at Fallbarrow Hall (one of our Lakes venues) for a group of graduates, from one of our major clients who are up with us for a couple of days. For the most part, they are highly technical but have well developed social skills so that the conversation is always a pleasure, and never a chore (to coin a phrase).
Over dinner, I sat with a group of them and the talk turned to the cost of house prices and the difficulty of getting onto the housing ladder. One of the girls, living in the south, said that she thought that she would have to rent for her entire life, although she was very keen to buy. Another mentioned that the average age of a London first time buyer is 39 (I actually thought it would be more than that). Another said that he was going to buy a house in Scotland (where he comes from) although he may never live in it as he is living and working in London.
As I drove home last night after this rather sobering conversation I reflected, and not the first time, on the different world we now live in. I bought my first house in the late 70’s for £10,000 which of course seemed a huge amount at the time. At the time I earnt the princely salary of £3000 pa!
As I reflected further I realised that one of the many things I think we do very well in our business is to help groups and individuals we work with see the value of the so called ‘soft skills’. This has always struck me as being a rather odd phrase because I believe that the skills of building strong relationships, and being aware of who you are and what you’re good at, are fundamental to the success (and happiness) of individuals inside organisations. Of course, the irony of this phrase is that, for many people, these skills can be hard to acquire but immensely valuable, once acquired.
My final thought (and, by the way, I really was concentrating on the road while thinking all this through) was that, whilst the world we live in is in a state of continuous change, there is still a place, and an important place at that, for the way we as human beings interact with each other.
More PgTip to follow.