9: The Soft Skill That Will Make or Break Your Career

The Soft Skill That Will Make or Break Your Career

We hear a lot about hard skills—degrees, certifications, technical know-how. But what about soft skills? You know, the ones that actually determine whether you thrive in your workplace.

In this episode of Five with Fry, we're talking about the soft skill that people love to avoid: conflict management.

Too often, conflict gets labeled as a workplace problem when, in reality, it’s an opportunity for growth, innovation, and stronger team dynamics. The issue? Most of us haven’t been taught how to navigate it. Organizations talk about wanting leaders, but do they prioritize skills like communication, problem-solving, and de-escalation in their hiring processes?

Here’s what we’re digging into:

• Why the soft skills vs. hard skills debate is misleading
• How conflict resolution can transform work culture (and your career)
• Why companies need to rethink job descriptions to highlight what really matters

Conflict isn’t something to avoid. It’s something to get better at. Tune in to this conversation and start seeing soft skills as the real power moves in your career.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Episode Overview
• 39:00 The Importance of Soft Skills in Job Descriptions
• 1:49:00 Conflict Management as a Core Soft Skill

Transcript

Dr. Jen Fry: 0:00

Friends, welcome to Five with Fry, where five is the magic number, whether it's five minutes, five questions or anything that fits in five. I dive into the big topics that matter, sometimes alone and other times with a friend. From navigating sports conflict to family dynamics, travel, tech, hard-hitting issues and even politics. Nothing and I mean nothing's off the table. This is where curiosity meets conversation, and we always sit at an intersection. I'm your host, dr Jen Fry of Jen Fry Talks. Let's get into it, friends.

Dr. Jen Fry: 0:39

Welcome to the newest episode of Five with Fry, and I am Jen Fry, and today we are going to talk about the theoretical idea of soft skills, and whenever we think about jobs or working, we always have this designated line in the sand between soft skills and hard skills, and right and hard skills have three pages within the job description of what is needed technically to be able to do the job. And then we have the idea of soft skills, and soft skills are kind of the yeah, we would like to have them, and many times the soft skills are with things such as need to have a knowledge of Microsoft Word, of Microsoft Excel, of email Bruh. In the day of 2025, if you don't know Excel or Word, I don't know what to tell you, but the reality of it is that soft skills should not be designated to the end of a job description, the end of what someone needs to work with other people. In reality, soft skills can get you fired, potentially even quicker, I would argue, than hard skills, and to me, a soft skill that one should really elevate to the top of the list is how to navigate and deal with conflict. I think it is a skill that can truly affect someone's experiences, someone's success in a position, someone's promotion. It can affect every aspect of their job.

Dr. Jen Fry: 2:30

But we don't think of it that way because we don't like to talk about conflict, because we're conflict avoidant. And so why would someone who is conflict avoidant, who is conflict avoidant, put it in their job description that conflict is important? Why would someone who is afraid of conflict put in the job description conflict is important? And so I really want to push people to rethink this idea of soft skills and to think of it as something that is critical to the success of a position, because this affects how they work with someone, it affects how they troubleshoot issues, it affects how they take feedback, it affects how they give feedback, it affects all aspects again, of their experience and other people's experience with them, and if you situate the ability to handle and navigate conflict as critical to the success of this person, then what you're telling them is that they need to start really reflecting and understanding how they handle it if they are going to come into this job. You are showing them that it's critically important, not only to their work but to the culture of the organization, that people who come into work understand how to navigate and manage conflict, because when you have people coming in that don't know how to navigate conflict, it is going to drastically affect your innovation, your relationships and your culture.

Dr. Jen Fry: 4:24

Well, friends, that's it for this episode of Five with Fry your dose of five insights, ideas and inspiration. If you love what you heard, don't forget to head over to where podcasts are played, to subscribe, share and leave a review. Got a topic you want us to tackle? Drop us a message. We love to hear from you. You can come, follow me on IG, twitter, the TikTok at Jen Fry Talks, or join me on LinkedIn. Look for me at Dr Jen Fry. Until next time, stay curious, stay bold and keep the conversation going. See you on the next Five with Fry.