In a recent online chat with our business school team, worldwide directors noted the importance of delivering both “hard” and “soft” skills knowledge to business students.  Many of the directors (who also happen to be in my generation) believed that we do not place adequate emphasis on the development of people skills in educating our future business leaders.   Younger directors didn’t particularly perceive a problem and thought we needed to place more emphasis on the hard skills courses (statistics, research, etc.)  To our dismay, we see very bright scholars exit our programs without having developed the ability to lead teams because they lack leadership or team-building skills.  Having technical theory alone does not make a good business manager.   Charm without substance may affect the bottom line.  Keeping up, keeping current, and keeping relevant places significant challenges on educational institutions in an era when students want fast delivery.  Is there a new trend emerging in education that focuses less on soft and more on hard skills development?  What will be the fallout for our companies and employees?

Your thoughts?