Among the soft-power skills are emotional intelligence (self-control and the ability to use emotional cues to attract others); vision (an attractive portrait of the future that balances ideals, objectives, and capabilities); and communication (the ability to use words and symbols to persuade both an inner circle and a broader audience). For the use of hard-power resources, two skills are particularly important: organizational capacity and a Machiavellian proficiency in bullying, buying, and bargaining to form winning coalitions.
不管领袖的目标是变革性的还是渐进性的，他们都需要一定的软实力和硬实力技能来增加效率。软实力技能包括情商（自我控制和利用心理暗示吸引他人的能力）、愿景（平衡理想、目标和能力的有吸引力的未来描述）以及沟通（用词语和符号说服内部圈子和外部听众的能力）。在使用硬实力资源方面，两种技能特别重要：组织力以及在通过欺压、收买和讨价还价中形成获胜联盟方面的无所不用其极。