You can’t change people. You must be the change you wish to see in people and be their mentor.

In many professions soft skills become more and more important. As i often experience people struggling with the development of their soft skills i was thinking about some important principles for their efficient development. So let me write what i have come to.

Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them show you their potential.

Many times a leader hopes to improve on employee´s performance.

How do you identify a project management methodology or process that is over-engineered? How do you draw the line to minimize time/effort wasted on building a tool or process that may be unnecessary?

After graduating Politics and Diplomacy I was fortunate to start working as a PA for the former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. On my first day of work, I went to his room to sing some papers. I said "Mr. Olmert…" but soon he stopped me, looked into my eyes and said "You can call me Ehud". From that day I always watched carefully how he communicate with every person that came to our office, or even when we walked on the street. No matter if it was a Prime Minister from another country, a CEO of a big company, an executive leader or just someone that came to ask for help. Every time his approach was to treat that person respectfully and genuinely, without making him feel that he is above nor inferior.

About 15 years ago I was a young soldier, serving in the Israeli navy. After spending a weekend at my grandparent’s house in the city of Nazareth, I was waiting at the bus station to travel back home to Tel Aviv. An old lady from a different community was sitting next to me and just like that, we started talking. Although we were neighbors, I knew very little about her culture and language. We talked for a few moments until the bus arrived. And right before I got on the bus, the old lady asked me to stay. “Let's talk a little longer,” she said, and I decided to stay and wait for the next bus, Later on that evening when I arrived home I watched the news and saw that the bus that I was supposed to go on had been bombed during a terrorist attack. That day I realized that the voices of peace are not being heard in our news, but they can be heard if we simply listen. You see, a small conversation between two women had the power to save our lives. While the world heard the news, they heard a story about those who died, I heard a story about those who are living. This experience paved my desire to seek out and share the untold stories. In my work, I am a communication skills trainer and storytelling coach. For the last 15 years, I have made it my mission to guide and inspire agents of change; managers and organizational leaders and help them to make better results.