Of late, the accountancy industry has been the subject of a slew of negative media headlines, especially in the auditing space. Scrutiny has surrounded the administration of high-profile businesses like BHS and Patisserie Valerie at a time when the number of UK companies going into administration hit a five year high. News of a lack of accountability has been rife: the Charity Commission recently accused auditors of'letting down' their profession and clients after a study found only half of sample charity accounts met the required standards set by the watchdog. While not necessarily a fair reflection of the whole industry, trust has undoubtedly been knocked. Not only has accountancy been battling a wider crisis in confidence, but we have been doing so during the'rise of robots'.

It's a fact that all businesses today are trying to become technology companies--and digitally enabling the workforce is a challenge we all face. Businesses of all kinds are responding to new demands in a variety of ways, all with an eye to keeping pace with customers' demands for better products and services with a greater digital experience. The pressure is on for us leaders of companies to infuse technology throughout our business to get smarter, faster and more efficient. I'm a former English major who now lives in the heart of Silicon Valley, and I often worry that amid all this bright digital change, business leaders risk forgetting about the importance of soft skills or emotional intelligence--communication, relationship building, writing, persuasion and the art of storytelling. Digital skills are powerful, but without the human-to-human connective tissue that makes business and society function, we will actually lose out on many of the benefits of technology. Here is why we can't lose sight of cultivating communications skills in the digital world: Digital skills alone won't grow your business.