I was recently contacted by Christine Lu of the China Business Network re: our MBA trip to China, our MBA program, and our MS in Industrial Technology (IT) program.

Click HERE to listen to the radio interview (5 minutes) re: our annual China trip.

Click HERE to listen to the podcast (20 minutes) about our MBA and MS in IT program.

For the record, the latter 20 minute podcast is a textbook case of how an interviewee (me) can muddle up an interview.

In my enthusiasm for what we seek to accomplish and are doing at Cal Poly I talked waaaaay too much, should have let her talk more, should have let the dialogue naturally flow. Drs. Whitaker and Beamon, who teach your Communication for Mangers course, would rightfully and justifiably take me to task for this blabbing. I would rate my own performance a “D”, at best. I am clearly rusty at giving interviews.

Listen … and learn … how not to do it. Christine Lu was very good and a gracious interviewer. I was not a very good interviewee this go-around.

My main point for this self-criticism is to actually make and educational point: More and more the soft skills are becoming the hard skills in business. 

It can be tough for some students and professionals to swallow that something without a formula, something so subjective as communication, can really knock them on their behinds.

My secondary point is that these skills can easily atrophy. They need to be nurtured and developed and refreshed throughout your career — a one time MBA class dealing with communication issues only means you are on your way, not that you are set for life in this important area of business. Don’t assume that just because you made it through your MBA communication course that you can now run back to the back room of your firm and you never have to speak or write in front of people again.

Don’t believe it? Then click HERE and HERE for these recent Wall Street Journal articles [subscription may be required] on this topic.

Ms. Lu has such an interesting background — as I understand it she moved to the US from Taiwan with her family when she was very young, grew up in the Los Angeles area in a Latino neighborhood, did her undergrad at Boston University, spent 4 or 5 years in Shanghai working with/for the Home Shopping Network seeking to make inroads into the Chinese market, and she is now back living in the San Diego area.

I have been perusing her blog. It’s great. I wish I had 1/100th of her web and technology skills. It is a wealth of information and resources. Check it out.