We’re glad to have hosted Reuben Oruaru for our Soft Skills training session last Sunday. If you’re clueless about soft skills, I checked Investopedia, and it had this definition: Soft skills are character traits and interpersonal skills that characterize a person’s ability to interact effectively with others.
I think it serves the purpose; definition.
But our guest speakers scratch deeper beneath the surface, and Reuben’s insights and real-life anecdotes served as a lesson on soft skills and how they make us better equipped for today’s workplace.
He didn’t stick to workplace and professional mobility but also explored how these soft skills make us better human beings.
I found his insights eye-opening and incredibly relevant in today’s digital age, and this is my attempt at sharing the key lessons from the session.

Disrupt Yourself or Be Disrupted
Reuben started the session with a thought-provoking question: “Do you know that robots are getting smarter?”
He emphasized the urgency of adapting to the pace of digital change. It’s a disruptive time to be alive, and thus you either “Disrupt yourself or be disrupted” as he quoted a book he’d read.
The class, chilled and anticipatory, propped their seats and took notes. The session, having begun a few minutes later than scheduled, was finally taking off with an energetic speaker, an attentive audience, and lessons on soft skills and life.
“If a robot can succeed without a certificate, so can you. In fact, since you’ve got a certificate, you can do better than a robot.” He opined, setting the premise for the training that would see us seated for almost two hours taking notes and contributing to the conversation.
This is the digital age—the Fourth Industrial Revolution—where many tasks we perform can now be handled by machines.
“And we have so many machines, we call them robots. And as a country, we have so many robots. While this reality can be scary, it also presents an opportunity.”
“It’s scary in the sense that all of us are going through school, and we all just want to be productive, but then so much work has been reduced to the work of machines.”
“Where will we get the jobs if the robots are taking them? And do you know the robots are smarter or do a better job than humans?” He asked the attentive audience.

Soft Skills for Personal and Professional Growth
In a world where machines can do everything, it helps to humanize everything we do. Having these soft skills is a huge step toward actualizing this. Reuben highlighted key soft skills that are essential for staying relevant in the digital age:
- Digital Literacy: This goes beyond just using apps on your phone.“Can you use the apps on your phone to make a living? Are you just a consumer, or can you navigate the digital landscape to your advantage?”
Reuben asked.
He stressed the importance of understanding digital tools and platforms for productivity and professional advancement. - Data Literacy: He also taught how our online activities generate data that companies use to target us with relevant content.
“If I’m a football fan and I follow a lot of football on IG and other social media, then I will get more football ads. If I like shopping for clothes, the things that’ll be pushed to my page will be related to clothes.” He explained how algorithms work.
“Data is the new currency,” he noted, urging the audience to take a keen interest in data literacy, as data informs everything in today’s world.
- Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving: Critical thinking and problem-solving is a powerful combination that improves our communities. When you can think critically and act right in time of need, you become useful in solving problems.
“If there’s a fire here, can you think critically about using the fire extinguisher?” He challenged the graduates to see problems as opportunities and to develop solutions creatively. - Self-Awareness and Emotional Intelligence: Dealing with people requires emotional intelligence. We’re communal beings, and we need to work with others.
Most jobs require team effort and collaboration, and you’ll need self-awareness and emotional intelligence to fit in teams and contribute to the greater good. Understand your emotions and those of others for fruitful collaborations. - Creativity: “Creativity is all about turning imaginative ideas into realities,” Reuben explained. He encouraged the graduates to think beyond the status quo and use creativity as a tool to thrive in the present and conquer the future.
- Collaboration: The work environment has changed significantly, especially after COVID-19. “Can you work from your bedroom and be disciplined enough to work without returning to bed?” Reuben asked. Flexibility must be backed by responsibility.
Today, organizations don’t care where you work from as long as you can meet your job goals. Now, companies outsource expertise a little easier than in the past as employees can work more flexibly today, but to fit in this new work routine, you need to work better as a team player. - Time Management: Time is a scarce resource. “Spend the first hour of your day meditating,” he advised. “Visualize how your day is going to be.”
I checked online and found this advice shared by great world leaders and high achievers. Here’s what Steve Jobs said about meditation:
“If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your mind is. If you try to calm it, it only makes it worse, but over time it does calm, and when it does, there’s room to hear more subtle things — that’s when your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly and be in the present more. Your mind just slows down, and you see a tremendous expanse in the moment. You see so much more than you could see before.”
Still, you don’t have to adopt the same morning routines. You can have a morning ritual that sets you up for success. Noting what you need to do for the day is a good place to start. Make a to-do list and follow it through.
Apportion time accordingly. You can break your tasks into manageable chunks and apportion time for each procedure. That way, you can map out your entire day, then work through it.
- Curiosity and Continuous Learning: The illiterate of the twenty-first century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.
Find a mentor or just someone you look up to and then emulate their journey. People who have done incredible things have many lessons they’ve picked along the way.
Learn from them.
You can pick the lessons from the information they share publicly with their followers, but you can go further to benefit from them.
Follow them on LinkedIn. Read about them; their education, the nature of their work, and their daily routines (if you can get to it). The closer you zoom into what they do, the easier you can learn from their experiences.
Do you read autobiographies? Leaders leave a trail to their success as stories told in autobiographies. If your mentor has one, get your hands on it and learn something.
Whatever you do, stay curious. That’s how you get new information. - Resilience: Reuben highlighted the importance of resilience in navigating life’s challenges. He observed that most young people have been brought up in a world where things are handed to them easily.
They don’t know how to put up with pressure, and so they can give up on their goals much faster. You need resilience to navigate through life’s challenges and thrive.
He encouraged the learners to continue working towards their goals, despite the challenges and failures they may encounter along the way.
- Empathy: Recognize and appreciate the feelings of others. When you show empathy, you become important to others and are recognized as a resourceful member of the community.
Empathy is what allows us to recognize people’s needs and rise up to help them as needs may dictate. - Discipline and Initiative: Discipline makes a man. You need discipline if you’re intentional about making a worthwhile impact in the world. It’s what keeps you doing the right thing even when you’ve got excuses not to. While everyone can start something, it’s only those with discipline who finish the projects they begin.
Also, be someone who takes initiative. Can you take the lead and offer guidance when the need arises? Do not be someone who only waits to be led, take charge and lead your team to success.
Values That Get You Ahead in Your Professional Journey
Reuben concluded the session by emphasizing some core values that gets you ahead in your professional journey. Combine these values with soft skills above to create a better reality for yourself and the world.
- Integrity: Being truthful and transparent in all dealings.
- Accountability: Taking responsibility for your choices and actions.
- Respect: Valuing different perspectives and treating everyone with dignity.
Reuben’s insights were a powerful reminder of the importance of developing soft skills to stay relevant and successful in today’s world. As MustardSeed, we’re grateful he found time to come and share these lessons with us.
Which one of these soft skills has impacted your life the most? Let me know in the comments. Cheers!