Ready For Real Life: Unpacking the Five Essential Soft Skills Great Leaders Instill in Their Students

by Andrew McPeak

Our technology-fueled world is faster and more convenient than ever, but are we better for it? The evidence now shows that for our youngest population — Generation Z — life has not gotten better. They are the most social generation in history, but they are also the loneliest. They are the smartest generation in history, but they also struggle in basic social interactions. They have more opportunities than ever before, but they tend to feel overwhelmed rather than empowered. And students aren’t the only ones who are struggling. Shorter attention spans, shifting learning styles, standardized test preparation, and continuously changing policies, are all creating frustrations for educators as well.

To address these challenges, the world’s greatest educators and leaders are changing their strategy. Instead of just emphasizing grades and tests, these leaders focus on instilling their students with skills they can use to make more positive life choices for themselves. These timeless soft skills go by many names in the modern world, but no matter what we call them, they all lead to one young adults who are ready for real life.

Ready for Real Life defines the five core soft skills all students need. Using compelling stories and practical insights, this book shows how these five skills, though timeless in human history, are still our best strategy to prepare young adults for the 21st century.

263 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 18, 2023

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My professional development required read. The concepts covered were relevant to the struggles I’ve seen in my career, however the author taught as long as I have before beginning his research. I wanted to buy-in, but some of these strategies felt a little pie in the sky without support or buy-in from others: parents, colleagues, admin, students.

The book is structured with short stories to illustrate concepts which broke up the lists, visuals, and strategies nicely. Some of the chapters seemed out of sequence, but I used the table of contents and jumped around to help offset a definition coming chapters after talking about it.

I would have picked it up on my own because it is a new release, referring to teaching overall but addressing how COVID has changed the world we’re preparing students to enter. I felt seen with new terms like “dry cleaner parenting” but probably wouldn’t have finished it unless it was required reading for our faculty.

[Derek Griffon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing leaders produce some of the most profound and practical books out there to lead the next generation well! So good!

[Kara Mallory · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re looking to learn about who this next generation is, what they need from the adults in their lives and the motivation to keep going as a parent, educator, or coach…this book is for you!