10 More Phrases You Need to Know to Get Ahead in Business

In my previous article, “10 Phrases You Need to Know to Get Ahead in Business,” I explained how The corporate world is different from the real world. People think in different terms and deal with different concepts, and provided a run-down of 10 commonly used phrases that are essential if you want to get ahead in business. Here’s the advanced course: 10 more phrases you need to know to get ahead in business.

Sporting Analogies

The use of sports analogies and terminology is as de rigueur in the business world as it is cringe-inducing. This is largely on account of phrases like “stepping up to the plate” being used by middle-aged bozos who clearly have no interest in sport – or indeed anything outside of work – in order to build some kind of connection with their (usually younger) staff who do have outside interests. In the UK, it’s bad enough when these so-not-down-with-the-kids-it-hurts management types make assumptions about the hobbies and interests of their staff and start shoehorning in references to “goals” and “getting over the line” and “getting a hole in one” and “kabaddi kabaddi kabaddi” (ok, I made that one up), but when they use phrases that relate to sports not played – or watched – in the UK, the absurdity of the use of sports-related terms becomes particularly apparent.

Skills: Hard and Soft

Whatever your line of work, you need skills. Without skills, you can’t do the job – whatever it may be. So, it stands to reason that companies need skilled employees, whatever their line of business, be it refuse collecting, shelf-stacking, pizza delivery, brain surgery or aeronautics. But it’s only really in an office environment that you’ll find people extolling the virtues of the staff wit the right “soft skills.” According to a recent BBC report, “many graduates lack soft skills.” But what are these skills, which, apparently, “recognised as key to making businesses more profitable and better places to work” according to a number of sources?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the definition is as broad as to be near meaningless, as is often the case with the “conceptual” aspect of business. Fundamentally, soft skills relate to a person’s interpersonal skills, their possessing a responsible demeanour, their ability to self-manage, negotiate, and their levels of honesty and integrity. Of course, soft skills don’t necessarily reflect one’s ability to actually do the job. Moreover, if an interviewer simply isn’t keen on an applicant, even if they have the best experience and are the best qualified for the job, they can turn them down with the excuse – sorry, justification – that they “didn”t possess the right soft skills.’ And what the hell is a “hard skill” is such a thing exists?