Over-Prepared, Under-Developed

There is a chronic deficit:

The ability to communicate effectively–whether as a student pursuing an academic opportunity, or a professional developing their career–is a keystone of personal and professional success that many struggle to master. Why?

It starts earlier than we might think:

In school, we are scholastically over-prepared, but communicatively under-developed. A huge focus is placed on academic performance in formative pre-college and pre-employment years, but not enough attention is paid to the "soft skills" required to succeed outside of the classroom.

It hangs around longer than we want:

So what does that mean?

It means people are arriving at university and to the job market with under-developed self awareness, personal presence and communication skills–a deficit that continues to persist well into their working lives because they do not have the tools to address it.

What Does That Deficit Look Like In Practice?

The "Perfect on Paper" Fallacy

A fantastic job candidate has all the requisite experience, but misses out on the opportunity because they lacked the executive presence needed to impress in the interview.

The "Corporate Ladder Slide"

A highly intelligent, motivated, and qualified team member is not meeting their advancement goals. Strong ideas, productive contributions, and good leadership instincts are not recognized, because their delivery lacks confidence, purpose, and clarity.

The "First Interview Freeze"

A prospective college applicant short-changes themselves because they could not confidently articulate who they are and what they had to offer their school of choice in an alumni interview.

The "Academic Outlier"

A high school student is not the traditional 'academic high performer'. Their application potential falls by the wayside because they haven't been coached how to build their personal brand around what they are good at.