Business school soft skills

In keeping with keeping it real my big realization over the last few months was the importance of soft skills. Yes, I did attend the networking workshop, went to coffee chats and wrote “thank you” emails. I am talking about the Business-school type soft skills – the common interests that lead to interactions outside the office and build rapport. Worry not, SOM clubs pick up where the curriculum leaves off.

Raise your paddle at the Internship Fund Live Auction
It doesn’t get better than schmoozing at the New Haven Lawn Club in friendly rivalry over items of subjective value. The auction was a safe environment to act impulsively, test other bidders’ commitment, and watch pre-established strategies fail. True SOM style – the winning teams often invited the losing teams to share in the enjoyment of the auctioned item.

Raise your club at the Women in Management annual golf lessons
Yes, the first few times may not be suitable for socializing, but if you learn now you get to play later. Who better to teach you than the Yale Golf Course Director Peter Pulaski, assisted by your pro classmates, some of whom incidentally took lessons from Peter as undergrads here at Yale? My first hint – hold the club out in front of you so your arms and the club make the Yale Y.

Raise a glass at the Food & Wine first ever single malt whiskey tasting
At Yale club Mory’s, tasters pondered a two-by-two matrix of whisky brands plotted along the Light-Rich and Smokey-Delicate axes, this is business school after all, before diving into the amber liquid. Diageo’s Master of Whiskey guided the group through the taste representatives of the six whiskey regions in Scotland among stories of rolling barrels, caves, and the “angel’s share.” Curious? I will tell you all about it over a poker game.