TakingStock - Cheng learns how to be a softie.
CIMA has at long last admitted what TS has known for some time – that accountants are sometimes not the brightest sparks on the block when it comes to people skills.
We know this from the rather rude responses to calls from TS, but CIMA has decided it can teach the skills, in its new BizNet seminars on emotional intelligence, that will turn ‘number crunchers (not a phrase TS would use) into ‘corporate strategists’ (definitely not a phrase TS would use).
Maurice Cheng, director of member services at CIMA, says ‘soft skills’, such as leadership and empathy, can be taught.
‘By giving delegates tools and encouraging delegates to appreciate how tools can be used,’ he says.
TS would like to remind CIMA you can give a man a crowbar but you can’t make him a burglar.