According to one management expert, 75% of senior managers don't have the necessary “soft skills” to be effective in business today. This conclusion is based on psychological assessments of more than 60 top-level executives in the past 36 months conducted by Dr. Ken Siegel, management psychologist and author of the upcoming book, “The Moron Manager Survival Guide: Becoming the Leader You're Not.”

According to Siegel, “It's important to remember that people are hired for technical skills. But, they are fired or demoted because they lack the soft skills—empathy, openness and integrity—that build trust and loyalty and that define good managers and leaders. I call it Gentle Giant Syndrome, because these people have to appear to be solid and dependable and loom large in their employees' minds, yet at the same time be able to listen and empathize with their employees on a daily basis. Especially in today's climate, an inability to do that is a recipe for disaster.”

He adds, “When you look at how skittish investors are these days, it's a safe assumption that employees are twice as nervous about their futures. In this climate, effective leadership is doubly difficult. Whether you're a C-level exec or a front-line manager, if you can't inspire people to get up and want to go to work and actually produce something while the world is falling down around them, then the chances that your company is going to meet with success are very slim. In my experience, the number of managers out there who are doing this effectively is horrifically low.”

If you would like to sharpen your “soft skills” or prepare for a leadership role, consider these AMA seminars:

• AMA’s Leading with Emotional Intelligence
• Preparing for Leadership—What It Takes to Take the Lead
• Leadership Skills for Supervisors

For a listing of all of AMA’s seminars, click here.