Soft Skills Are the New Competitive Edge in a Tech-Driven World | EP 20

Imagine sitting down to work with your laptop, coffee sitting off to the side and suddenly realizing you’ve forgotten the one thing that makes your work truly matter: people. “Wait, how do we even do this again?” is this thought and eye opening conversation that we have. We know there’s more success than software and AI that makes your business run. Today, we’re talking about the human side of business, the emotions, connections, resilience, and understanding where these are the things that stick around when platforms and automation shifts. 

We break down the top soft skills that will define business resilience and growth going into 2026 and beyond. We reframe the pressure many entrepreneurs feel from tool overload and instead spotlight the skills AI can’t replace, emotional intelligence, communication and active listening, adaptability, critical thinking, teamwork, leadership, time and energy management, resilience, and stress management. With laughter, real talk, and practical reflections on life as business owners, we make the case that mastering these soft skills aren't optional, they’re foundational for businesses that thrive when things change. 

What to listen for in this episode

Why emotional intelligence matters more than any new software or AI tool and how it builds trust, strengthens relationships, and boosts retention.

The difference between communication and active listening and how real listening reshapes collaboration, decision-making, and remote/hybrid team dynamics.

Adaptability, leadership, teamwork, and resilience as survival skills are not just “nice to have” traits for business owners navigating change and uncertainty. 

Which of these skills feels strongest for you right now? And which one do you keep putting off because it feels uncomfortable?

Transcript

You're listening to Entrepreneurial Encounter, the podcast where soft skills meet real talk for creative business owners who are building with purpose. I'm Dana, a Pinterest marketing strategist and agency owner helping wedding pros and creative entrepreneurs get seen without burning out. And I'm Sara, a business and team strategist who helps small teams and podcasters communicate clearly, lead with empathy and grow sustainably. Together we're unpacking the messy, side of entrepreneurship.

from boundaries to burnout, leadership to listening, so you can build a business that actually fits your life.

We know change happens. We see it every single day, know, new software, new AI tools, new people in our space. And sometimes it feels like the rules of business are shifting so fast that it's sometimes it's hard for us to keep up. And it creates this low level pressure, maybe even subconsciously of, I doing enough? Am I behind? Is it too late to catch up? Am I missing something that everyone else has already figured out?

especially us as business owners, creative leaders, creative entrepreneurs. Like we're not just keeping up with the work. We're trying to keep up with people with decisions, with growths and anything else in between. And here's the thing we don't talk about enough. And in most of the stress isn't coming from the tools. It's coming from the human side of running a business. Now, before we get into it.

make sure you hit subscribe, follow so that you do not miss any future episodes and as always all of our information is going to be in the show notes.

So as we dive in, let's talk about like a reframe of feeling behind sometimes isn't really our fault. It's just what's happening around us. Progress is going to progress whether we like it not. And as we head into a new year, a new quarter, a new season, like we want to pause and reflect on the soft skills or we encourage you to do that that are actually going to help you run your business.

smoothly and effectively, not just being busy for the sake of being busy. So whether you're in a creative space, leading a team, running a business solo, which Sara and I both are doing ourselves, or you're growing an incredible list of clients, soft skills matter more than ever, even with the rise of AI, like a lot. It matters a ton.

Yeah, exactly. It doesn't matter how big or small your business is. It's the foundation. And if the foundation isn't there, things start to feel like they're out of place. And that's when the pressure starts to show up. And this isn't new. Think about maybe like years ago when you applied for a job, you filled out an application, updated your resume, and there's always a section for soft skills. And more often than not, those soft skills mattered more than anything else.

on that page. So today we're going to talk about the top soft skills going into the new year at the time of this recording is 2025 and we're already looking at 2026. These are the ones that aren't going away. These are the ones that AI cannot replace. AI is a tool. You still need that human effort. You still need these soft skills. So what's interesting about this list before we dive in is that

with all the focus on AI and automation, like you can't go anywhere without hearing about this. Human skills are actually becoming more more viable, not less. Like that human touch, showing the human behind the business, recognizing that these are tools and not just replacements is very important because machines, they can move fast, but they can't read the room. They can't even read an image that you're seeing. They can create an image.

but you have to feed it information first. They can't build trust. They can't lead through uncertainty. They can help you. They can guide you. They can do that logistical hard skills, but they can't do the soft skills part. And that's where these skills come in. They're not just nice to have anymore. They're survival skills for business owners as we head into a AI and automation heavy environment.

So let's get into this amazing list of the top skills for 2026. This is actually a really great list of soft skills. And if you are wondering like, well, I'm not sure how to improve or what the soft skill looks like. Keep listening and just know that all these soft skills you can always improve on and ask questions and talk to people to figure this out. So the first

soft skill is emotional intelligence. This one is definitely going to rank at the top. It's your ability to understand and to manage your own emotions and to read others accurately. High emotional intelligence builds trust, strengthens relationships and helps you navigate conflict without blowing things up. Leaders with high emotional intelligence are going to naturally inspire

loyalty with their team and with their clients. They're able to stay grounded under pressure and their teams feel safer showing up fully. And thinking about this in the long term, that creates retention. So often, especially lately, I've been seeing like the average lifespan of an employee is like three years and then they move on to the next phase or venture or something. Whereas like,

Before, Grano, we didn't have as many options like our parents and grandparents. They were there their entire lives, like 30, 40, 50 years. But with these options and utilizing these soft skills, we can have that same longevity with our team and with our clients, but from a healthier foundation that keeps you grounded as well as your team. Exactly. Now, like when you are

and tuned with your own emotions and like, you know how you're showing up for those around you, having that emotional intelligence, putting yourself in those shoes of other people too. So as the time does change as you know, again, like going back to like the soft, the software and all of that stuff, AI is not going to give you that emotion. It's not, but being in a room full of people and showing up for one another and helping them.

grow and thrive, no matter the role that somebody is in. As you're growing your business, that longevity that Dana was talking about, then I would hope that we would see a longer stay in a position for somebody. And as you're creating your business and building your business, and then you start to bring people into your space, showing and having these skills for emotional intelligence is definitely important for

view and your business in the long run. Next in this, surprise to anyone that tunes into this episode, this podcast is communication and active listening. And this goes beyond just talking clearly. It's about listening without already planning your response. That internally means you're just ready to explain and put yourself in the center and not shy to solve the problem of the person talking.

And that problem doesn't necessarily mean there's a fire. It could just be, they need someone to connect with. How you communicate shapes how ideas land, how teams collaborate and how decisions get made now, three months from now, six months from now, especially in these remote and hybrid environments that are still formulating clarity and listening are everything. Yes.

Clarity and listening, I love that. You gotta listen, because if you don't listen, then you're not gonna know. Number three, the next soft skill going into 2026 is adapting and growth mindset. Adapting is so huge because when there's so many things changing with the software and the AI tools, you want to make sure that you have that growth mindset because

If you don't, then you're going to be stuck in this little bubble and not grow in a way that you want to grow. So if you're like, I want to learn how to use this tool and it's holding you back from your business or you are ready to learn about emotional intelligence, learn about communication. Like you want to be able to be in that growth mindset, because if you don't want to grow, you're going to be in this one spot forever. And I know all of you listening.

You don't want to be in one spot forever. You want to continue to grow. So make that pivot, learn, take in those resources, have those conversations, stay curious instead of defensive. And this mindset, adapting and the growth mindset is going to help you in the long run. It definitely trickles down into the entire org chart that you may or may not have in your business.

Adaptability leads us actually into the next set of soft skills, which is critical thinking and problem solving. AI, ChagBT, whatever platforms that you're using can analyze data extremely well. There's no arguing that point, but humans still lead with judgment. We have to take that analytical data and assess it and turn it into something else.

So critical thinking means assessing ambiguity, challenging assumptions, and not reacting emotionally to every single problem. I'm not saying don't react emotionally at all because I do that, but I have learned and have worked really hard over the years to not take everything personally. It's not always a personal attack. I have learned to look at things through other lenses so that being able to make decisions quickly and effectively

separate strong leaders from reactive managers. If you are in a constant state of reactivity, it's exhausting and you are going to lose a lot of time in your day, week, month because you're always reactive and you're not trying to get ahead and prepping for something else. Exactly. And then another one that comes to mind too with this critical thinking and problem solving is micromanaging. If you're continuing to micromanage,

anybody that's in your space, especially if you have a team, then nobody's going to have the capacity to be able to critically think or problem solve because that person that's being micromanaged is under a microscope. Essentially, like you have to figure out why you're doing that. If you're micromanaging or if a problem is coming up, you have to

take a step back and look at everything as a whole and figure out like, okay, why is this not working? Why am I micromanaging? Why am I leading this way? And let me ask questions to gather feedback and don't be offended because if you were to come to me with a question and you're like, just give me an answer, I'm gonna give you an answer. The whole beat around the bush, there's no sense of doing that because again, you're not gonna be able to solve that problem. It could be,

small, it could be big depending on you know what it is. But in order to get from A to B you have to figure that out. So problem solve, how do I solve this puzzle? Like why is these two pieces not going together? You have to analyze that situation. Which leads us to the next one which is teamwork and collaboration. And this is going to look differently for everyone. So this one is

to me is kind of difficult to even talk about or to like elaborate on because there's no cookie cutter team. There's no cookie cutter way to collaborate. Business results rarely come from one person. They come from teams aligned around the shared purpose. And you could be a team of one in the sense of being a solopreneur, but you might have subcontractors. Your clients are part of your team, your network, if you're in a coworking space or your

in a virtual community, like you have a shared purpose together in some way and you collaborate across personalities, various roles on different digital tools. And this is going to be a core skill going into 2026, recognizing how to collaborate with others, whether it's a strategic referral partner or just a virtual friend who also gets what it is that you're doing.

Both of these are important to your overall growth as a business owner. Most of the shifts in my business came from me just connecting and collaborating with people during a masterclass. They didn't even fully realize how much they were fueling and feeding me things that I needed to make the shifts because I didn't really ask, hey, you want to be my coach? You want to be my business coach, my life coach? No, we were just communicating. We were like...

connecting one-on-one and feeding each other our own experiences, which then led me to creating something with a stronger foundation and that I'm really proud of. Isn't it great to collaborate with people like that's what we're doing. We're collaborating. We're helping each other out. We have this podcast and all the things, but every person that you interact with is going to be different. And it's really nice to talk to people that have been in your

Shoes been in that situation at one point, maybe they're 10 years ahead of you and you're having those conversations. But collaborating and teamwork, like Dana said, it's more than just having a team in your business. It's everybody that you interact with, everybody that you come across. You're networking and one-on-one calls with somebody in the coffee chat. Like you never know who you're going to come across and those that are beneficial to you, keep those people close.

You never know. It really keeps saying game changer, but there's no other better word to me. There's no other word. It really is a game changer, a life changing thing to have. And I think leading us into the next one is leadership and initiative are the next soft skills. Leadership isn't a title. It's about taking ownership. It's about empowering others, inspiring action, not just, here's some great manifestation.

But how are we going to take this vision and turn it into action? How are we going to execute these steps with a team, with a partner, with a whatever? So how are you going to set the tone and shape the culture of your ecosystem and create space for innovation in whatever niche or industry that you're in? That is a very important skill to focus on and to cultivate going into 2026. And really after that, I don't see this one.

leaving anytime soon. Like before starting my business, I always thought that leadership meant a title. Like I was like, okay, well, this person's higher up than me. So I'm supposed to follow them in a sense like, you know, working in corporate or whatever, thinking that because their title, it made sense to me. But as I'm growing personally and professionally, yes, it's about taking ownership. Take

accountability for yourself and your actions and be that person that somebody wants to come to, to just vent, to brainstorm, whatever it is, because that one little conversation, maybe one sentence can change somebody for the better. I'm all about that. Going from there, we're going to talk, now we're moving into like the less aspirational and more of the nitty-gritty soft skills that we see.

on the, not even really on the rise, but are staying steady. Let's use that one. It's staying steady. And that is time management and self motivation. Time management is like that coveted, everyone talks about work life balance and that doesn't exist. Harmony or rhythm is really what we mean when we talk about time management. So with more autonomy comes more responsibility. Time management.

really is all about energy management. That coveted 20 hour work week. What does that actually look like? How can you actually make that happen? First, you need to know how you operate internally. If you are not a morning person and you keep trying to schedule your like deep focus client work in the morning, you are going to struggle because you don't have the energy for it. You need a slower morning and maybe it's in the afternoon.

I am a morning person. I'm also a night owl. like their afternoon is hectic and crazy for me because I behind the scenes work from home and I have to be together with my husband. have five kids. And so the afternoons are just a whirlwind of crazy. So I do deep focus work in the morning as soon as I dropped them off. And then I do it if I have to in the evening after half of them have gone to bed and then everything else that doesn't require a lot of

focus like responding to emails, making sure my project management tool tasks with ClickUp are a crazy madness and two weeks behind. I do that where it doesn't take me a lot of focus and I do use AI tools to help me automate and move through that quickly, but it's helping my brain function faster so that I can execute better. I'm focused and I don't have to log as many hours.

I know the last time on it I did, I was working like 40 some odd hours because I wasn't properly managing or utilizing my energy flows and was trying to force something that didn't work. Exactly. I know for the longest time, time management was just like, well, I'll get to it when I get to it for me. But now things have changed and what works for me is not going to work for you. Like everybody's...

how they manage their time is differently. I literally just write a list and spend two hours checking off that list. That's how I've been managing my time and things get done. you know, some people color code their calendar and time block or whatever it is that they do. no matter how you are motivating yourself to get things done and you know that they're supposed to get done, that is how you get things completed.

Everybody's day is different. Everybody's life is different. People have kids. Some people don't have kids. So depending on what is going on in your life is how you're going to manage your time and motivate yourself to get that stuff done. have a variety of ways. So like with my energy and I feel like there should be grace, but time blocking in a way that fits is great. But allow yourself grace. You'll see different rooms. I'm grading through buy back your time again. Reading it again.

going through and just kind of revamping as I want to have these big lofty goals in 2026. I just wanted a refresher. And one of the things, he gives three different variations of how to set up your perfect week, but it all boils down to knowing your boundaries when you work, when you don't work. And all three, like some people like to crank out 12 podcasts in one day and get them all done, like back to back to back to back because they're in that mindset. And so they don't have to shift their focus.

It's already there, ready to go. And that is not going to work for me, but someone listening right now, that's going to work for you. if that sparks joy in your heart, well then go for that. But with that resilience and stress management is the next set of soft skills. Resilience is so important. Stress management, because like 12 podcasts in a day, that gives me stress. Like I'm removing that from my thoughts.

But resilience and stress management, the ability to bounce back when things don't go as planned. That's life. We can have this perfect week and we can get it as close to possible, but life is always going to happen in some way, shape or form. It could be something small like someone got sick. I thankfully work from home, so I'm going to dash over and go get kids, set them up, and then I can get back to focusing on whatever it was that I was focusing on before. Or it could be something major like your spouse gets injured at work and now...

Your whole life is upside down. Or in the case of it's Christmas season, it is two days till Christmas. And you know, my kids like to remind me every five minutes that Christmas is coming. And there's a lot of pressure around that right now. This is not my favorite season whatsoever. I will be, I do not try away from admitting that this is a very crazy, hectic season. It is not my favorite. So we are relying heavily on stress management tools to adapt.

and keep the momentum going. I'm also leaning into resilience so that I don't collapse under pressure of adding all these extra things, all these financial things that are happening that every year I think I'm going to be so well prepared. And we're just not. Never. But resilient leaders do not collapse under pressure. We have no problem saying, I have no idea, but I will figure it out. don't say internally, can I do this thing?

We ask questions, how can I make this happen? That's not collapsing on a pressure. That is a solution focused movement. Cause if you say can you're opening the door to say, no, no, I cannot do that. Whereas how can I, there's a resilient in that you're not giving up. You're almost becoming obsessed with finding a solution to make that outcome happen. How are you going to get from A to B? How am I going to survive Christmas break with up to five children?

while also growing my business. How are we gonna do that? Can I do it? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, but I'm gonna find a figure out how to make it work. So it's a resounding yes. Exactly. So yeah, so all these soft skills are definitely on the rise for 2026 and beyond to be honest with you because soft skills are going to be the foundation of your business. We need more humans and

the business space. Yes, AI tools are there to help you grow like with data, with helping you come up with ideas. But when it comes to people and your clients and your customers, all these soft skills are going to tie in together and help your business thrive in many ways that you probably don't even know. So here's something to think about as you're tuning in binge, we're listening to our podcast.

Which of these skills feels strongest for you right now? And which one or two do you keep putting off because it feels uncomfortable? That answer usually points to your next level of growth. What are you uncomfortable with? It's probably the one you need to work on the most. So feel free share with us over on LinkedIn and the comments on Instagram, which one you're working on, which one you want more support with, and we will make sure that we share resources with you.

that will help you move forward and progress without it constantly being uncomfortable. We're super glad you spent time with us today. And as you head into the new year, remember tools are going to change. Platforms are always going to be evolving, but the way you lead, communicate and show up as a human will always matter. If this episode resonated, share it with another business owner or leader who needs to hear it. And whether you're growing your visibility through Pinterest marketing or streamlining your podcast operations and team management will help you build systems that work.

for you and not against you. And all of our information is going to be in the show notes. You can now follow us on LinkedIn at entrepreneur encounter.

Thanks for spending time with us today. If something in this episode gave you a fresh perspective, share it with a friend or send us a DM.