Identifying the soft skills behind… Santa’s precious work!
Soft skills are personal traits and abilities that allow us to work well with others. Also known as people skills, soft skills can help us communicate effectively, demonstrate professionalism and manage our relationships. These skills, which range from problem-solving, empathy, creativity, flexibility, teamwork and much more, are present in all aspects of everyone’s lives.
And by everyone, we mean EVERYONE! Even Santa and his elves need soft skills, to be able to successfully prepare and deliver Christmas gifts. Let’s explore why!
The beginning: reading letters & crafting gifts
Every year, Santa receives tons of letters from children worldwide, mentioning their wishes and desires. In order to be able to actually understand these wishes, Santa needs to be able to listen actively. Meanwhile, his empathetic viewpoint allows him to deeply connect with the children’s needs and feelings. This motivates him to deliver all presents on time! And let’s not forget about his positive attitude, without which Christmas would probably not be that fun anymore!
After he has read all the letters and listened to all the wishes, it is time for action! That’s where his precious elves come in, to help him craft, wrap and send all the presents, using their excellent organizational skills. These skills allow them to monitor and plan all the tasks: from the creation of millions of presents to the appropriate wrapping, elves have to make fast decisions and work well in teams to deliver the presents on time.
The journey: reindeer work together to deliver
The presents are now ready to be delivered! Rudolf, having resolved all the reindeer drama, is more than excited to take the lead and push the sleigh all over the world. But this is not a job for one. It takes a great deal of collaboration between the reindeer, thus requiring excellent communication skills and teamwork.
Without conflict and relationship management, leadership, communication skills and teamwork, being in a group is impossible. And let’s not forget; teamwork is everywhere. From playing sports to working at a company, from playing board games to running for school president!
The arrival: Santa climbs through the chimney
The final moment has arrived. Santa is ready to come down the first chimney. But something smells…burnt! The house owners have lit the fireplace, so it is impossible for him to come down the chimney. This unexpected event calls for flexibility and creativity on his side. He needs to come up with a solution; it is his responsibility to deliver the gifts on time and put a smile on the kids’ faces.
Are you beginning to see the importance of soft skills?
If it wasn’t for these skills, Santa would not have been able to successfully prepare and deliver the Christmas gifts. If Santa couldn’t actively listen to every child’s wish, or if the elves were disorganized and messy, or even worse, if Rudolf hadn’t managed the conflict with the other reindeer, then Christmas would have been a total loss.
Active listening, empathy, positive attitude, organizational skills, teamwork, and decision-making are just some of the 42 soft skills we enhance at Morphoses. Our interactive activities motivate learners to become more curious and find creative solutions to solve a series of riddles and mystery stories they are presented with. We help kids explore their emotional world and enhance the most important skills of all, soft skills.
The importance of soft skills is what initiated the creation of Morphoses in the first place. To save Christmas and every other day!
