Do you know the difference between Power Skills and Meta Skills?

From a good manager to a leader who leaves their mark

Power skills (or soft skills) are specific, trainable abilities that directly impact how we perform our tasks and, therefore, the success of projects. These skills are practical and can be improved with specific techniques. Examples of these skills include:

• Delegation
• Conflict resolution
• Assertive communication
• Active listening
• Stress management
• Decission making
• Etc.

No, simply taking a course does not guarantee your development. But, if we think about it, there are practices and ‘tricks’ that, if we apply them on a daily basis, will help us develop the skill. An excellent manager will have these skills well developed, which will have an impact on the success of projects.

On the other hand, metaskills are deeper and more complex competencies: they are not easily trainable in a direct manner. These skills are the result of constantly working on power skills, and they have a broader impact, affecting the culture of the organisation and ourselves!

Examples of metaskills include:

• Build psychological safety: This comes from combining power skills like active listening and integrity, creating an environment of trust.
• Growth mindset: This is formed as we develop resilience, self-reflection, and the ability to see failure as a learning opportunity.
• Self-awareness: This involves recognising and adjusting our own emotions and behaviours (both conscious and unconscious).
• Facilitating change: This emerges when working on skills such as empathy, stress management and storytelling, helping people to navigate change.
• Adaptability: Developed when we train emotional flexibility and problem-solving skills in uncertain environments.
• Etc.

Metaskills require introspection, reflection, and time to mature. Learning spaces can be created for them (seeking to accelerate their development), but we cannot do much more than generate deep reflection and ‘train’ their observable side: their power skills. For example, during a Psychological Safety workshop, we create conversations and reflections that generate deep value. However, when providing a toolkit, it will be based on practices linked to power skills, such as giving effective feedback. Yes, there are psychological safety games and activities (which are amazing!), but they lead us to introspection: not directly to training the skill.

A memorable leader who leaves their mark (a leader is not the same as a manager), in addition to good power skills, has outstanding metaskills. And not only that: developing metaskills brings us closer to a fuller, more purposeful life.

Finally, both power skills and metaskills share a common challenge: measuring their effectiveness. The simplest way to assess impact is still to evaluate project results. However, we must also consider well-being indicators that go beyond performance, such as the impact on team satisfaction or personal happiness.

What Power Skills are key to your projects? Which metakills are important to your culture?

– Claudia Salas –