Building Trust, Winning Work: Mastering Soft Skills for Professional Success
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Why are technical skills not enough to get promoted in today’s workplace?
You can be the smartest person in the room. And still lose the run. Technical skill might get you hired. But communication is what gets you promoted. If you don't know how to build trust, you won't win the work. Period. Welcome back to Speaking with Confidence, the podcast that helps you build the soft skills that lead to real results. Communication. Storytelling. Public speaking. And showing up with confidence in every conversation that counts. I'm Tim Newman, a recovering college professor, turn communication coach. and I'm thrilled to guide you on your journey to becoming a powerful communicator. Today's guest is Ken Harms. Ken is an advisor. Speaker. And the author of Building Trust. Winning work. A book that helps everyday professionals build meaningful client relationships.
Grow with confidence and create lasting impact by leading with trust. Ken, welcome speaking with confidence, bud.
Hey, thank you so much, Tim. Pleasure to be with you today.
Yeah, you you come with Forty years uh uh watching technically brilliant people lose opportunities because they can't communicate. And I spent years watching students graduate without ever being taught how to communicate. Why is this gap still here when we know how important it is uh To to to have Good, confident, easy communication.
Well that's a great question. And that's why folks like you and I exist, is because there is that gap, right? And you know, I it it's it's a bit of a failure on our education system, particularly higher education system. Yes. I I train and coach and work with and mentored so many young people that have come out with great degrees, whether it's architecture construction management, engineering. Uh, and I ask them, you know, have you ever did you ever take a class in public speaking? Was it a requirement? And very rarely was it a requirement. Um they may have done it on their own, but they come out, as you said, with good technical skills, but relatively clueless in terms of what it takes to build a trusting relationship and help their company win work.
And just to reiterate what you were talking about, Tim, um I did a little bit of research through what the you know, the training and coaching I did. And so an outside source, not me, the Carnegie Institute, says that eighty-five percent of your future salary and compensation is going to be based on your communication skills and your ability to lead. Um the technical skills get you in the door. Everything else after that, you know, it's what we're talking about.
Yeah and it's Yeah, we we ca we can tell people th this Till we're blue in the face. And but they they've got to be to they've got to to want to be able to i improve in that area. And one of the stories I tell, you know, kind of on a regular basis is, you know, my last semester teaching Um I had this every class I taught they had to do presentations, but I had this gentleman who y a y young guy He did a pretty good job. um you know, for his age and I pulled him aside after class and said, Look Can I give you a couple of of tips to make it just a little bit better? He was at that that stage. And he said, No, I'm good. And I said, Well, you know He it's it's this isn't gonna t take a lot of work if you just try these couple of things.
He said Afternoon, when I'm I'm I'm good enough as I am. I a I said, okay. You know, you can't make them do it, right? You can't you can't make them um uh Try things. And I kinda kinda think back and you and I talked about this in in our pre interview call, you know, if if the greatest athletes of all time, the greatest of of And whatever it is. They're trying to get better at their craft. Why is it that that
How does the education system fail to teach communication and relationship‑building?
average people at whatever it is that that they do. Don't have that same drive.
You know, one one one thing that companies can do is once you get people in the door, particularly in today's uh door seller model, which is so prevalent in uh my industry, you know, the architecture engineering construction industries. the built environment, um, heavily relying on do or seller. And so Yeah, doer sellers are are successful project managers that have then reached that point in their career where leadership is saying, help us win work.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Why are technical skills not enough to get promoted in today’s workplace?
0:09–4:14
2
How does the education system fail to teach communication and relationship‑building?
4:14–16:33
3
What is the ‘doer‑seller’ model and why does it matter for architects, engineers, and construction professionals?
16:33–26:10
4
How can you listen with confidence using Ken’s WAIT (Why Am I Talking?) framework?
26:10–28:46
5
What preparation steps should you take before a client meeting or interview to build trust?
28:46–37:26
6
Why is reframing sales as service crucial for younger generations?
37:26–46:11
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Speaking With Confidence
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Unlocking the Four Communication Styles to Lead Any Team With Confidence
Unlocking Powerful Communication in the Age of Virtual Presentations
Talk Like You’re Right, Listen Like You’re Wrong: The Key to True Connection
Overcoming Cultural Barriers to Confident Communication