Description: Explore the importance of human connection in a tech-driven world through a personal narrative about a blood test experience. Discuss the skills gap in professional training, the teachability of interpersonal skills, and the future of customer-facing roles in the age of AI and automation.

I hate getting blood drawn.

Like, I don’t know anyone that loves it, but I hate it. So when my doctor said the words, “fasting blood test” I almost passed out on the spot.

Not only am I getting blood work, but it’s fasting, too?

Damn.

I booked the test for the earliest time available in order to minimize the amount of awake time without eating. The morning of, I woke up just 35 minutes before the test itself. Literally just enough time to get in the car and drive there in time to check in.

The test takes place in the back room of a Walgreens. Classy.

After signing in on the tablet (ew), the lab tech opens the door and calls out, “Brian?”

Is it too late to change my mind? Or my name?

Her name is Jenny. She greets me with a smile and leads me to the torture chair. We start chatting. She asks about my morning, commiserates about how terrible fasting tests are and how she also hates having to do them. She asks about my work and what it’s like having a toddler.

Before I know it she’s telling me to put pressure on the gauze.

It’s over.

The Unexpected Lesson

“Sit as long as you like. Do you have anything to eat or drink?”

We swap stories for a few more minutes until I feel steady to get up. She tells me I did a great job, better than most.

“Thanks so much, Jenny,” I say.

And then just before leaving I ask her one more question.

“How long do you go to school to become a phlebotomist?”

“Well,” she starts, “it depends. It’s 2-4 years of classes depending on what level and your responsibilities. Varies state to state.”

“And in that time, how many classes are dedicated to the patient experience? Not drawing blood or doing the technical work, but the art of interacting with people?”

“None,” she states definitively. “I always thought that was crazy. We learn all this technical stuff, the science, even the business. But we don’t get any formal training in how to interact with patients.”

It’s not the first time I’ve heard that from someone in the medical field.

The Most Common Gap in Professional Training

In 2018, LinkedIn’s CEO Jeff Weiner stated that according to their newly published research, the No. 1 skills gap in America was interpersonal communication.

In other words, the top thing employers needed and couldn’t find in their applicants was the ability to make others feel heard, understood, and valued.

I don’t have an updated study for 2023, but it’s hard to imagine that after the loneliness epidemic, a global pandemic, and now the AI revolution, that it’s gotten any better.

Why am I bringing it up? Because anybody can learn how to take blood.

I’m not saying that to diminish the dedication or work required to learn the skill, but to say that it’s a very teachable skill.

Connecting with people, however, is an art. Making people feel heard, understood, valued, and in the context of medicine, safe – some people are naturally good at it, others aren’t.

Except, that’s not true.

Human connection is an Art, AND a Skill

There’s not a baby born who knows how to make others feel valued.

It’s something we have to learn. But hardly any field offers formal education in human connection.

That’s bananas!

It’s the ONE skill that separates good from great. The job of a lab tech is NOT to draw blood. It’s to make the patient feel comfortable and at ease during the visit.

Jenny is a master, and I’m so grateful for her.

The Future Belongs to Humans Acting Human

If you’re in any customer-facing role today, your real job is human connection, regardless of what it says on your business card or in your email signature.

In 2023 when AI and automation is destroying livelihoods across an impossibly large swath of industries, it is the people who learn to look others in the eye – to show up with kindness and generosity, to say, “I hear you, I see you” – who are safe from the robots.

Everyone else should learn how to code.

Oops, those jobs are gone too.

So, what’s left? Human connection. The ability to make others feel heard, seen, valued, safe.

If you’re ready to sharpen your connection skills, I’ve got something that can help.

Grab a free copy of my ebook, “7 Ways to Talk to Anyone without Looking Like an Idiot.” It’s time not just to join the human connection revolution; it’s time to lead it.