This document outlines 12 essential soft skills for software architects and project managers, which are divided into four categories: relationship skills, personal skills, business skills, and technical skills. It discusses how soft skills are needed to break through the "technical glass ceiling" and advance to higher levels of leadership. Relationship skills include gracious behavior, communication, negotiation, leadership, and politics. Personal skills include transparency, passion, and context switching. Business skills cover business knowledge, innovation, pragmatism, and vision. Mastering these soft skills in addition to technical skills is important for career progression.

2. 12 Essential Soft Skills
for Software Architects
and Project Managers

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12 Essential Soft Skills -
Agenda
 What Are Soft Skills?
 Technical Glass Ceiling
 Relationship Skills
 Personal Skills
 Business Skills

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Soft Skills?
The soft stuff is always harder than the hard stuff
– Roger Enrico, Vice Chairman, Pepsico

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Executive
(C-Level)
Executive
(VP)
Director
Manager
Executive
(VP)
Director
Architect
Technical Glass Ceiling
Technical Glass Ceiling
Tech Lead
PSE
SSE

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Breaking The Technical Glass Ceiling
Business Skills
Personal Skills
Relationship Skills
Technical Skills

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Relationship Skills

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Gracious Behavior
Communication
Negotiation
Leadership
Politics
Relationship Skills
Business
Skills
Personal Skills
Relationship Skills
Technical Skills

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Gracious Behavior

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Gracious Behavior
Your ability to be gracious
with others in
all circumstances

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Communication

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Communication
Your ability to effectively interact
with others

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Negotiation

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Negotiation
Your ability to get things done

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Leadership

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Leadership
Your ability to influence
what and how
things get done

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Politics

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Politics
Your ability to interact in a
political marketplace

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Personal Skills

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Transparency
Passion
Context Switching
Personal Skills
Business
Skills
Personal Skills
Relationship Skills
Technical Skills

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Transparency

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Transparency
Your ability to operate and
interact with other people, and
to have all of the cards on the
table, face up

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Passion

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Passion
Your ability to fully engage in
what you are doing

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Context Switching

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Context Switching
Your ability to quickly and
effectively refocus your attention
at a moment’s notice to a new
context

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Business Skills

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Business Knowledge
Innovation
Pragmatism
Vision
Business Skills
Business
Skills
Personal Skills
Relationship Skills
Technical Skills

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Business Knowledge

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Business Knowledge
Your ability to truly understand
the language of business and the
drivers that come into play when
making tough decisions to enable
the business to grow

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Innovation

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Innovation
Your ability to bring new and
innovative ideas forward that
aren’t just technically “cool,” but
rather facilitate revenue growth
and sustained viability

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Pragmatism

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Pragmatism
Your ability to make decisions
that are the best ones for the
company as a whole, rather than
simply promoting the latest and
greatest technology as a
requirement for the next project

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Vision

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Vision
Your ability to see where the
business is going, to help
formulate where the business
could go, and to help the business
safely navigate the treacherous
waters of technology projects

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Business
Skills
Personal
Skills
Relationship
Skills
• Business Knowledge
• Innovation
• Pragmatism
• Vision
• Transparency
• Passion
• Context Switching
• Gracious Behavior
• Communication
• Negotiation
• Leadership
• Politics
Recap

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 12 Essential Skills for Software Architects
 Dave Hendricksen
 https://www.amazon.com/12-Essential-Skills-Software-Architects/dp/0321717295
Reference

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