Skip Navigation
Play Video

Why Soft Skills Aren’t a ‘Nice to Have’ Anymore

Listen
Share
LinkedInFacebookTwitter

Episode Summary

Akua Mensah, Senior Director of Process Engineering & Business Enablement at CIBC, joins host Mudassar Malik on this episode to explore the real drivers of transformation—and why soft skills aren’t just a “nice to have,” but a strategic necessity. Drawing from her work leading process design, service improvement, and enterprise change across banking and consulting, Akua brings a grounded perspective on how large organizations actually move forward.

The conversation begins with how Akua’s team centres the customer’s “why” in service design, data, and Lean Six Sigma programs across the bank. She shares how transformation work must balance operational logic with human insight—and how resilience, adaptability, and diplomacy serve as the glue that holds major initiatives together.

From there, Akua shares why communication is still the top failure point in large-scale projects—impacting timelines, budgets, and trust. She explains how leaders can set the tone through clarity, active listening, and confidence built through competence. The discussion also dives into conflict resolution, creative problem solving, and the importance of coaching that goes beyond instruction to true development.

The episode closes with Akua outlining the human success factors she sees as non-negotiable for the post-AGI enterprise: communication, coaching, problem-solving, meta-learning, and confidence built on real competence. For leaders navigating change, it’s a clear call to invest in what really drives outcomes—your people.

Featured Guest

  • Name: Akua Mensah
  • What she does: Senior Director, Process Engineering & Business Enablement
  • Company: CIBC
  • Noteworthy: As the Senior Director of Process Engineering and Business Enablement, Akua is accountable for architecting change initiatives and leading large-scale programs in tech modernization as well as overseeing key business enablement functions including Service Design, Business Management, Financial Analysis and Business Diagnostics.

    For 15+ years Akua has led the end-to–end program delivery for enterprise changes in both contact centre and digital transformation. Over the past several years her focus has been portfolio management and strategic business transformation for new foundational cloud applications and enhancements to the digital client onboarding experience.

    Akua’s passionate about leadership and the importance of helping leaders refine their interpersonal skills as we move into the AI driven future.

    Akua is a sports and music lover, attending local shows, international festivals and recently started to learn how to DJ as her hobby.

Connect on Linkedin

Key Insights

Soft Skills Are the Drivers of Transformation
Transformation isn’t just about systems, tools, or roadmaps—it’s about how people work together to deliver them. In fast-moving enterprise environments where alignment across business and technology is critical, the cost of overlooking soft skills shows up as delays, miscommunication, and rework. In fast-moving enterprise environments where alignment across business and technology is critical, the cost of overlooking soft skills shows up as delays, miscommunication, and rework. Akua emphasizes the impact of communication, stakeholder management, adaptability, and resilience in navigating complexity and change, emphasising the strategic value of interpersonal skills in large-scale transformation.

Poor Communication is the Biggest Threat for Large Initiatives
Technical success depends on communication discipline. It’s not enough to have the right tools or frameworks—execution requires clarity, audience awareness, and active listening. Poor communication as a core threat to any large initiative. Even in well-scoped projects, Akua has seen skilled teams struggle when ideas aren’t conveyed clearly or when key contributors can’t align. Akua points out that communication is still a top reason projects fail globally. For executives leading complex portfolios, this insight is a call to treat communication as an enterprise capability, not just a personal trait—one that directly affects delivery timelines, stakeholder trust, and bottom-line results.

Conflict Can Be Productive
Addressing a challenge many executives sidestep, Akua reframes conflict as a productive force. Clarity often emerges from moments of disagreement, and leaders need to create space for tension when it’s rooted in strategic stakes. Akua also points that conflict can be an indication of people being passionate about their position. “As a leader, it’s important for you to understand that there’s tension… but so much clarity can be obtained on the other side of that conflict.” Avoiding conflict to preserve harmony often delays critical decisions or leaves risks unspoken.

As you're growing and upskilling, pay attention to those interpersonal skills.

Episode Highlights

Customer-Centric by Design

Akua explains how her team anchors process transformation in customer and employee perspectives. By combining Lean Six Sigma with service design, they ensure that operational changes reflect real needs and context—not just internal priorities. It’s a grounded look at how customer journey thinking shows up in practice.

“Incorporating the why of the customer as it relates to changes that we’re trying to make and making sure that both the customer and the employee perspective is included in the design changes.”

We Built It Like It Was Ours

Reflecting on the Simplii Financial offers management system, Akua describes how business vision, collaborative energy, and engineering leadership came together to deliver a high-impact product. It’s a standout moment that shows what happens when teams are truly committed.

“We were all giving birth to this thing that we had worked so hard and we committed to.”

People Skills Over Project Plans

Akua lays out her non-negotiable soft skills for today’s enterprise leaders—communication, coaching, and meta-learning. It’s a practical take on what many leaders overlook when focusing solely on technical delivery.

“The number one reason why projects failed worldwide is poor communication. That should tell people how important this skill is.”

Conflict Isn’t Dysfunction—It’s Data

Akua offers a confident take on why leaders should stop shying away from conflict and instead learn to facilitate it. She explains how tension often leads to clarity and stronger outcomes—if it’s managed with respect and purpose.

“There’s so much clarity that can be obtained on the other side of that conflict.”

Confidence Comes From Competence

In a candid reflection, Akua discusses where her confidence comes from—and why it’s not about posturing but about putting in the work. For anyone mentoring future leaders or evaluating talent, this is a valuable reminder.

“I’m still kind of growing in my competency… that makes me even more confident, right? Because you can’t fake it all the way.”

Get new Behind the Growth episodes — right in your inbox

By submitting this information, you agree to receive episode updates from the Behind the Growth podcast. We take your privacy seriously, keep the information you share confidential, and never send any unwanted emails. Check out our privacy policy to learn how we use your details.

Thank You!

We have sent you a confirmation email.
Please check your inbox.

More Episodes

chatsimple