The Complete You Architecture: Learn How to Rise Above and Stand Out in Your Career

By Chris Bradshaw

Career growth isn't determined by college degrees, professional certificates, or working hard. It is determined by your ability to demonstrate mastery of soft skills.

Specifically, your ability to link 12 different skills across three domains that influence how you think, how you feel, and how you act.

Dr. Chris Bra

• Language: English
• Publisher: skilldweeb
• Release date: Apr 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798987205914

Book preview

Section 1 - Filling a Void

At the end of this section, you will:

Understand the differences between two basic skill types and why the skills most critical to your success have not been well-taught.

See the findings of a multi-year longitudinal research study.

Be introduced to the Complete You Architecture™.

Be able to differentiate the Complete You Architecture™ from other skill models.

Research Study Quick Facts (*As of May 2022)

A longitudinal study that is > 4 years

73 International Organizations

1,238 Participants

Key Findings

4 out of 5 young professionals said their education did not prepare them with the soft skills needed to succeed once they entered the workforce.

41% of study participants(~507) self-identified as young professionals with less than five years in the workforce 

87% of the participants agreed that soft skills were a development gap within their organizations. 

Two-thirds of participants reported their careers plateaued by the time they were 37 years old.

Research Study Demographics

Highest level of completed eduction of those who participated in study.Highest level of completed eduction of those who participated in study.

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Career level of study participants,

Chapter 1

Understanding the Different Skill Types

We work in a society where skills determine our value. Your ability to perform a set of skills influences your paycheck, ability to provide for your family, career development, and many other tangible facets of life. While we can argue that specific skills are more valuable than others, we can not dispute their importance. For proof, look no further than the last time you applied for a job and prepared your resume or CV. 

Even the interview process itself is an examination of your skills. The daunting task of turning your experience, education, strengths, and accomplishments into an eye-catching document that a recruiter or hiring manager will spend more than 5 seconds on is not a simple exercise. We then must endure an interview or two so a hiring manager can assess if our skills meet their hiring needs. The traditional job hiring process is a testament to how essential skills are to our success. 

But are we focusing on the right ones? The research behind the CYA suggests that we do not. Allow me to explain. 

Do you know that skills fall into two simple categories? 

Do you understand their differences and why soft skills are more critical to your long-term career advancement? Yet most of our education and on-the-job training is focused on hard skills. 

If you think that does not make much sense, you are right.           

We are most accustomed to learning and exhibiting hard skills at work—commonly defined as technical or applicable knowledge that teaches you how to perform or complete a task. 

For instance, a typical complex skill for a software developer would be coding. A nurse must know how to take a patient’s vitals and administer medicines. A sales rep must understand how to demonstrate the product, features, and customer benefits of the items they sell. 

Each of these is an example of the hard skills acquired through the factual, procedural, and conceptual knowledge (see Table 1) gained while earning a college degree, or more commonly, on-the-job training.

Table 1: Four Dimensions of Knowledge

Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy on the Four Dimensions of Knowledge

Conversely, soft skills are personal traits, character attributes, or relational aptitudes. These are generally associated with metacognitive knowledge about oneself and how we think. Examples of soft skills would be how a nurse shows compassion to a patient in a lot of pain, how a manager can read a room while giving a presentation, and adjust her style to engage the audience better. Or how a junior executive can take control of a room to make a bold idea and have it accepted by her senior executives.  

Tough Talk

To plainly state the observed difference, hard skills get the required job done. In contrast, the right soft skills improve relationships, productivity, creativity, and career trajectory.

This is why you see elevated soft skills in executives and senior managers. Individuals in those roles have moved past coding or demonstrating product, feature, and benefit descriptions to using skills associated with coaching, critical thinking, influencing others to act, etc.

That’s not suggesting someone with a big fancy title has all the necessary soft skills to succeed. Having coached c-suite executives for over a decade, I can promise that even the highest-ranking leaders have blind spots and skill gaps.

Another critical difference between these two types is why hard skills are more widely taught during primary education or on-the-job training programs our employers provide and why soft skills are often not given as much attention. Measuring the new knowledge gained when learning a hard skill is extremely easy. Did the learner get the concept? Were they able to demonstrate it during training or on a test? Did they perform it when they returned to their job? 

Organizations investing in hard skill training can easily correlate new knowledge and job performance to show a return on investment. In contrast, soft skills are much more challenging to measure and nearly impossible to associate with individual job improvement or organizational financial performance. The result is that too much time, money, and energy are spent on the least essential skills to your personal growth and development simply because they are easier to teach and measure. 

My research proves that our ability to demonstrate an elevated maturity of soft skills will significantly impact our career trajectory more than hard skills.

Chapter 2

The Research and The Architecture

Years ago, while studying for my doctorate, my research focused on working professionals’ knowledge and motivational influences. Synthesizing across decades of academic and industry publications, I found a massive gap between the soft skills employers needed and those taught in colleges, professional certification courses, or on-the-job training programs.

As a research fellow, I extended my study to understand better the soft skills an individual needs to be successful. I found that 4 out of 5 young professionals say their education did not prepare them with the soft skills vital to their success in the workforce. 

Determined to expand the awareness of this disparity and provide a data-driven solution, I began a multi-year research study that has gone on to include more than 1,200 participants from over 70 international organizations. 

As of 2022, I am in my fourth year of this longitudinal study, and the findings show that there is a huge need for individuals to learn and master soft skills.  

In addition to the results shared earlier, my research yielded the following results:

Nearly three-quarters of the 73 organizations reported spending less than 25% of their overall training budgets on building employee soft skills. 87% of the study participants agreed that these skills were a development gap within their organizations. 

Two-thirds of the participants who classified themselves as middle managers claimed they had peaked in their careers by 37. This is what I refer to as career plateauing. 

During observations, individuals with advanced soft skills used an average of 4.4 different skills in a single, hour-long meeting.

Last, 81% of participants who indicated they had hiring responsibilities as a part of their job said their hiring decisions were predominantly based on the soft skills an individual displayed during the interview. 

With the early pieces of this research,  I started to create a better way to learn, apply, and refine soft skills. After several prototypes, I arrived at what you see today as the Complete You Architecture™ or the CYA. 

The three personal domains and 12 breakthrough skills are the most sought-after in the job market.

Image 2: The Complete You Architecture™

The full Complete You Architecture™ outlining the 3 Domains and 12 soft skills that are most important to career success.

It did not take long to arrive at two separate conclusions about learning and applying soft skills. First, this is way too important of a topic to ignore. And second, no one, and I mean not a single college or organization, was doing anything new to improve how we learn soft skills and apply them in our professional careers. 

Sure, universities and colleges will bury the conceptual definition of emotional intelligence or critical thinking in a course you might have taken. And I am confident that you quickly selected the correct answer on a multiple-choice exam. But that is usually the extent of soft skill learning you received if you attended college.

On top of that failed learning investment, your employer will spend thousands of dollars giving you quality on-the-job training specific to your role. Or they might even send you through a leadership academy with multiple gates or levels. But, what skills did you learn? How did that training and education help you develop the soft skills needed for your current role and future career?

Top 5 soft skills managers look for in employees:

Critical Thinking

Interactions

Execution Mindset

Resourcefulness

Courage

Like many of you, I have plateaued once or twice in my career and reinvented myself to get ahead. I have seen others advance faster than me, not because they were better educated, more intelligent, or more capable. They had soft skills that reflected a more polished professional at that time. 

Soft skills are the most critical factors for advancing and achieving the success level you want. The brilliance of the CYA is that it links skills across three personal domains: how you think, feel, and act. Let me give you some examples:

Strong critical thinking skills don’t help you much if you can’t communicate and influence others to understand your point of view and inspire them to take action.

Being entrepreneurial and wanting to start a new venture won’t work if you lack an execution mindset to take the first step, the self-efficacy to see it through to a positive conclusion, and the resourcefulness to bring it to life.

Emotional intelligence alone won’t help you if you lack the courage to be a self-advocate and are unwilling to take a firm stance and show courage when needed. 

The CYA isn’t about learning a single soft skill. Still, instead, it is about creating a unique architecture that develops the right skills to balance each other and then learning how to link them together to do amazing things. 

I have identified employers' four most sought-after skills for each of the three domains. The CYA consists of 12 breakthrough skills that all professionals should aspire to master. 

Warning

This skill training is not intended to replace formal education or on-the-job training. Still, it should be complementary and build off the knowledge foundation you have already earned.

Chapter 3

Introduction to the Three Domains

A domain is a sphere of activity, influence, or knowledge. 

For instance, the mindset is a domain in which you influence or take action over how you think. A person can learn how to improve any of the three domains that make up the CYA through the proper steps and steadfast commitment. This chapter will explore the three domains and why each is equally important to your career success.

Image 3: The Three Domains of the Complete You Architecture™

The Three Domains of the Complete You Architecture™

How You Think Domain

Most popular literature and models on soft skill development focus on the mindset. Which made my research into it the most complex of the three domains. Conventional thought would suggest that all 12 of the breakthrough skills which make up the CYA could, in theory, be part of the how you think domain. 

For that reason, I had to better define the domains, how the skills are classified, and how you learn to link them. 

The four breakthrough skills that make up the how you think domain are; critical thinking, emotional intelligence, execution, and entrepreneurial mindsets. These skills are unique in that they characterize how you think when you approach and respond to events in your daily life. More importantly, they reflect how you handle yourself when confronted with a new, unusual, or stressful situation. 

How you respond during a heated discussion during a work meeting starts with how you think. Do you raise your voice back at the person who affronted you? Or do you show a high degree of emotional intelligence by keeping calm? Thus, you would be de-escalating the situation. 

When you approach a new problem, do you have the critical thinking skills to seek information through inquisitive questioning and an execution mindset to take quick action to get things done? 

How you think is frequently the starting point to creating skill links through the other two domains. As you learn to link skills and develop structures, you will often be drawn back to strengthening the four skills that make up the how you think domain. 

How You Feel Domain

How you feel humanizes you through controlling your fear, acceptance, and perceived personal value. I refer to the four skills in this domain as your metaphorical heart. These skills influence how you internalize or outwardly express feelings when interacting with others. 

The breakthrough skills that make up the how you feel domain are; compassion, inclusion, courage, and self-efficacy. 

Do you demonstrate a willingness to take action towards self-improvement by building self-efficacy? 

Are you compassionate in your daily life by helping those around you when you see an opportunity?

A great example of this is generating the courage to have a difficult conversation with your boss when you witness them have a lapse in judgment. 

Are you inclusive by working to create an open, safe working environment for everyone? These efforts are all influenced by how you feel.    

How You Act Domain

This third domain is the window you provide the world into your soft skills. Your outward projection of skills is how you demonstrate knowledge, mastery and receive feedback from those around you.

Simply put, it is how others view and perceive us. An outward projection through interaction is usually the only way an individual’s soft skills can be evaluated, and a potential gap is identified. Thus, making this domain and its four skills crucial to success.

No Brainer

Have you ever heard the phrase, actions speak louder than words? Well, this is it.

Tying it back to the earlier point I made in Chapter 1, the how you act domain is often the building block you need to create a powerful, eye-catching resume. Take a quick moment to think about the last time you wrote or updated your resume. You highlighted actionable events and outcomes of actions you took. You highlighted the positive results of those actions. Once you entered the interview, the hiring manager probably asked open-ended behavioral questions to evaluate your skills through your past activities.  

Here are a few interview questions I have used when assessing a candidate’s potential: 

Tell me about a time you had to overcome a difficult challenge at work. 

When was the last time you took the initiative to try something new, and how did you approach it? 

How do you set personal development goals and ensure your direct manager helps you achieve them? 

These interview questions are complex and require candidates to illustrate several soft skill links. More importantly, they need the candidate to show an action or outwardly projected behavior.   

Then there is the flip side to this domain we must acknowledge. As observers peering into the windows of our peers, managers, and direct reports, we use this domain to evaluate their soft skills. It is also the main focus of our efforts when providing constructive feedback or coaching others. To illustrate this point: 

A person can’t claim to have emotional intelligence if their everyday interactions with others are emotional or aggressive.

A desire to be inclusive only becomes a reality when you take action to surround yourself with individuals who are different from you. Not only from the commonly accepted demographics perspective (gender, race, sexuality, etc.), but they should have contrasting backgrounds, experiences, and points of view.

We should agree that your outward projections are used to evaluate your soft skills. Failure to improve the skills that make up this domain could slow your career trajectory or prevent you from being as successful as you could be. 

Through the CYA, you will learn that the first two domains, how you think and feel, must be linked to how you act. My research shows that more than three-quarters of all soft skills break down during the how you act domain. It also showed that a person’s outwardly projected behaviors might not entirely reflect the hidden strengths of their skill set.

No Brainer

When applying and refining your newly learned skills, you must outwardly project them so that others see an improvement.

Years ago, I worked with perhaps the most intelligent person I have ever met. He was a masterful critical thinker who could take action and execute at a very high level. His critical thinking and strong execution mindset helped him stand out amongst his peers early in his career. He quickly rose to senior vice president of a large sales division. But then his career plateaued. By achieving this level in his career, he found himself surrounded by other critical thinkers who also knew how to get things done.

Now the underdevelopment of other skills, particularly interactions and influencing others to action, caught up with him. It’s been several years since he and I have worked together, but I know that this gifted leader, who had aspirations of one day being a CEO, is still in the same role as a vice president. 

The moral of the story is that it takes more than just one or two soft skills to reach your full potential. You must learn to master several skills across all three domains and be able to link them to create a personal architecture that can be built upon as you progress in your career.

Chapter 4

What Makes the Complete You Architecture™ Different?

The CYA is one of a small handful of models, approaches, or methodologies focused on developing soft skills.  Most are specific to leadership or coaching traits that organizations try to build within their workforce. While you might notice similarities with some of these models, the CYA is entirely different.

You need more than just a mindset.

First, let’s discuss the increasing amount of attention spent on how an individual’s mindset impacts their behavior. Yes, I agree that a person needs to have a growth mindset and be willing to take on new challenges when they arise. But then, what's next? 

Social psychologist Carol Dweck introduced the Two Mindsets (fixed and growth) in 2006. Her best-selling book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, describes the two mindsets related to an individual’s intelligence and where they believe it originates. 

During a 2012 interview with the education publication OneDublin, Dr. Dweck describes the two mindsets this way:

In a fixed mindset, students believe their basic abilities, intelligence, and talents are just fixed traits. They have a certain amount, and their goal is to look smart and never dumb. In a growth mindset, students understand that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching, and persistence. They don't necessarily think everyone's the same or anyone can be Einstein, but they believe everyone can get smarter if they work at it.

Source: OneDublin.org interview. June 19, 2012.

It’s a brilliant work that influenced millions worldwide and profoundly impacted how organizations approach employee and leadership development.  

Image 4: Carol Dweck’s Two Mindsets

Carol Dweck’s Two Mindsets

Source: Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

Notwithstanding its impact on society, my research into soft skills concluded that having a growth mindset does not always translate to success or positive outcomes when it is time to act. 

An example of this came in the winter of 2019 when I observed an executive host a meeting of directors. During the meeting, she pitched a new idea to solve a lingering problem the team had faced for years. After several minutes of open discussion, I witnessed a significant shift in the mindset of those in attendance. The directors quickly went from doom and gloom to enthusiastic participants with a growth mindset.

The group collectively expressed that their challenge should not be a barrier. They were ready to take it on and finally have the persistence to succeed. The executive’s elevated skills with interactions and influencing others turned the tide of the team discussion and convinced those in the room to embrace a growth mindset.

My engagement with this executive concluded about six months later. The problem was never resolved, and all efforts were abandoned again. The plan didn’t succeed because it wasn’t a good idea, or the motivation to fix it wasn’t there. The team had demonstrated a growth mindset in that they embraced the challenge and were persistent in their action plan.

Instead, the collective team had failed in a few areas tied to other equally