Soft Skills Aren’t Soft — Trust Is the New Currency of Leadership

Truth is being trampled.

Wrong appears to be winning.

Wrong is never wrong.

And right — has no might.

— Rev. Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III

In a moment where cruelty, arrogance, and deception dominate headlines, something refreshing is happening in business: people are quietly rediscovering the value of what we used to call “soft skills.” They’re craving something different — leaders who see them, hear them, and tell the truth.

What used to be dismissed as “soft” — empathy, listening, humanity — is proving to be the real power behind trust, influence, and change.

Trust is fragile, people are skeptical, and brands can’t buy loyalty the way they used to.

In marketing, research, media, and advertising — industries built on understanding people — there’s a growing truth we rarely admit:

It turns out we didn’t lack insights.

​ We lacked the courage to see the humans behind them.

And here’s what that means:

When You Don’t See People Clearly, You Break Trust

The Cost of Getting It Wrong

Take Swatch’s “slanted eye” imagery campaign targeting Asian consumers. It was meant to be playful — it landed as dehumanizing. Young Asian audiences rejected it instantly. It didn’t just miss the mark — it violated dignity.

The silent message? We don’t see you. But we still want your money.

Or consider the Renegade dance story. A young Black teen, Jalaiah Harmon, created the dance that dominated TikTok. White influencers were celebrated, booked, paid, and mainstreamed — while Jalaiah was initially erased.

It looked like entertainment; it was extraction.

When you silence people, sanitize their stories, erase their history or steal their contributions — you don’t just get it wrong.

​ You break trust.

Soft Skills Are What Prevent This

Leaders who avoid these failures aren’t just diverse — they’re awake.

They:

• listen before they speak

• tell the full truth, not the comfortable version

• treat humanity as strategy, not window dressing

Soft skills shape what we ask, who we include, how we interpret, and what we’re willing to name.

Truth without dignity doesn’t land. Messaging without belonging doesn’t stick.

A Shift Is Underway

As political culture normalizes bullying, erasure, and deceit as leadership styles, people are craving the opposite.

I’m seeing more articles, conversations, and executives speaking about empathy, trust, and humanity — not because they suddenly became moral philosophers, but because they are seeing the cost of ignoring it.

We’re rediscovering something Black communities have always understood:

You cannot lead people you refuse to see.

Why Business Leaders Should Care

Soft skills are now creating openings for market expansion and the new authority of leadership.

They help leaders:

• hear the story beneath the statistic

• identify who is missing from the narrative

• name tension rather than smoothing it over

• restore credibility when trust has been broken

How Do You Rebuild Trust?

Start with belief — not because every belief is accurate, but because beliefs drive behavior. People don’t always believe what’s true; they believe what feels true — even when it isn’t. If you don’t understand what people believe, you can’t influence what they do.

Second, find the gap — the Insight Space — the place between what people say, how they live, and what they need.

Finally, ask courageous questions — the kind that change how teams engage:

• Who isn’t being seen?

• What truth aren’t we naming?

• What comfort is blocking clarity?

• What trust is being lost — and what is it costing us?

• What courageous shift would restore understanding?

Those don’t sound like leadership competencies — but they are.

The Bottom Line

Soft skills are the new hard skills — requiring clarity, courage, and accountability.

In a world saturated with noise, people are choosing leaders who practice humanity.

Because when people feel understood, they don’t just listen — they trust you.