School Counseling

Maritza Zea, Lower School Counselor Soft Skills for a Young Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs are ideas people. The personal traits that help students become successful entrepreneurs are commonly referred to as soft entrepreneurial skills. Soft entrepreneurial skills include collaborating with others, being resilient and curious, taking responsible risks, being creative or innovative, and having empathy.

At the Sagemont Preparatory School, counselors begin teaching soft entrepreneurial skills in preschool. Team-building and cooperation experiences help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and build on social, emotional, and behavioral skills. Cooperating with others carries over into all aspects of their lives and becomes the foundation for turning them into citizens who meet present and future entrepreneurial challenges.

Books like Katta Mapes's Stop! Think! Choose!: Building Emotional Intelligence in Young People (2000) argues that students must master cooperating with others since connecting to and maintaining relationships is a crucial soft skill for an entrepreneur. Soft entrepreneurial skills like cooperation are often directly linked with emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence involves the ability to understand and manage one's own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. This can be crucial for success in entrepreneurship, where building and maintaining relationships is often vital to success.

This month I centered my guidance lessons on building emotional intelligence in the students and stressed cooperating with others. Working together gave the students a chance to apply all that they have learned so far about connecting, communicating, and cooperating. We discussed basic skills and procedures that enhance the cooperative process of working together. Students learning to cooperate and work together on any project will help them in school and with their families and careers. I gave the groups an assignment to use straws and tape to build the highest tower they could in twelve minutes. Each small group must cooperate to compete with the other groups. Once all groups have finished, a neutral judge measures the towers. We discussed as a whole group teamwork on sports teams, how they are organized, who makes decisions, how they handle conflicts, etc. I made sure to include different personalities: quiet ones, vocal ones, laid-back and so on. Afterward, we asked processing questions, such as: was this easy or hard to do? Who emerges as a leader? Were there any conflicts or disagreements? If so, how were they resolved? Did everyone agree on how to build it? If not, how was the disagreement handled?

Good cooperative skills require a high level of emotional intelligence, as they involve understanding the needs and perspectives of others and working together to achieve shared goals.

Here are some ways to develop soft entrepreneurial skills in elementary school children:

Encourage creativity and problem-solving- Encourage children to think outside the box and find innovative solutions to problems. This can be done through various activities such as brainstorming sessions, hands-on projects, and encouraging them to develop their own ideas.

Emphasize the value of hard work- Teach children that success requires effort and perseverance. Encourage them to work hard towards their goals and never to give up.

Teach money management- Teach children about budgeting, saving, and investing. Encourage them to earn their own money and manage it wisely.

Foster teamwork- Teach children the importance of working well with others. Encourage them to collaborate on projects and to help each other out.

Encourage self-motivation- Teach children to take the initiative and be proactive in their learning and personal development. Empower them to set goals and take charge of their own lives.

Teach communication skills- Teach children the importance of effective communication, both verbally and in writing. Encourage them to practice their skills through role-playing, public speaking, and writing exercises.

Nurture a growth mindset- Teach children to embrace challenges and to view failures as opportunities for growth and improvement.

In short, building emotional intelligence in young students is essential in developing students' entrepreneurial skills.

Interesting read this month: In the Age of A.I., Major in Being Human-David Brooks - NYT 02-03-23