These Aren’t Soft Skills—They’re Power Skills!

I just delivered a webinar for IPRA University called Mastering the Art of Leadership: Cultivating Essential Metaskills for Success, and it reminded me how essential these skills are in today’s world. We often label metaskills “soft skills,” but there’s nothing soft about them. I like to call them power skills—because they’re the high-level attitudes, mindsets, and energies that shape how we lead and how others experience us.

Metaskills aren’t about the tasks on your to-do list or the technical expertise you’ve acquired over the years. They’re about how you approach every conversation, decision, and challenge. They’re the secret sauce that fuels connection, inspires collaboration, and helps leaders navigate complexity with confidence.

Think of metaskills as your leadership operating system. They influence how you communicate, how you handle challenges, and how your team feels when they work with you. Curiosity, for example, opens the door to better listening, deeper empathy, and more thoughtful questions. Adaptability makes you more resilient and agile in uncertain situations. Integrity builds trust and steadiness when things get shaky. Focus brings clarity and alignment so you can move forward without confusion.

When you use metaskills intentionally, they don’t just make you a better leader—they create a ripple effect that elevates the entire team.

In my work, I see leaders wrestle with the same challenges over and over again. Communication breakdowns can leave people feeling unheard or undervalued. Avoiding conflict often lets tension grow until it undermines trust. Resistance to change—especially from leaders—can stall progress and keep teams from innovating. The reality is, technical solutions alone won’t fix these problems. The energy and mindset you bring into the moment are what make the difference.

One of the simplest ways to start leading with more intention is to use what I call the 4-Step Metaskill Method:

1. Notice your energy—ask yourself, “What state am I in right now? Is it helping?” Self awareness is the place to start.
2. Read the room—what’s the mood, the need, or the tension? What is the energy there?
3. Choose a metaskill—select the stance that will serve the moment best. (Check out the wheel pictured to get some metaskills suggestions!)
4. Align your actions—match your tone, words, and body language to that metaskill. What will you say and do if you are embodying that energy?

It sounds simple, but these small shifts can transform the way people experience you. Over time, they build trust, improve collaboration, and help you guide your team through both challenges and opportunities with confidence.

So here’s my challenge to you: over the next week, pick one metaskill—just one—and commit to using it on purpose. Bring it into your conversations, your meetings, your decision-making. Then notice what happens: What changes? Who responds differently? How does it shift your own mindset?

If you’d like a tool to help you get started, you can download my Leadership Metaskills Wheel here: Download the Wheel. Use it to identify the skills that come naturally to you—and the ones you want to strengthen—so you can start showing up with more of the energy and intention that inspires success.

Your leadership impact starts with how you show up. Let’s make it intentional—and if you’d like to explore how metaskills could transform your leadership or your team, reach out to me at marcy@engagingplay.com. I’d love to help you put these power skills into action.