The Hard Truth about Soft Skills

Technical skills may get you in the door. What happens next often depends on something else entirely.

Can you read the room? Adapt when the plan falls apart? Handle a difficult conversation? Earn trust? Stay composed under pressure? Make the people around you better?

The founder of Plinth Advisors, the coordinator of the Virginia Prostart program, and the author of Turning Tables come together for a conversation about the qualities too often dismissed as “soft skills”—and why they may be among the hardest and most valuable skills to develop. From the restaurant floor to the boardroom, they’ll explore how adaptability, resilience, judgment, communication, teamwork, and professional character become powerful assets at every stage of a career.

Come prepared to rethink what it really means to be good at your job.

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