Monday, July 27, 2009

things learned in VIX - not a people person (yet)

I am not a people person. This goes far beyond the whole eye contact thing too. Perhaps more accurately, I should say that I am not a salesman.

I can be a people person in a sense. If I enjoy something, believe in it, and/or am enthusiastic, then sure, I like speaking to people about whatever it is and trying to teach them about it or convince them how great it is. And I like to believe that I can be fairly convincing. (Yes yes, people like passion, are drawn to it, love a captivating speaker.) However, for the most part, people kind of bother me. I know, what a terrible thing to say, especially for someone who ostensibly works for a service company.

Frankly, I find most people boring and predictable. I have trouble listening to people because I usually know what they are going to say or cna at least figure it out when they are half-way through and then need to fidget through the rest of their speech. Suffice to say, my listening skills need a lot of work.

The good news? I understand the need to be polite and professional. I certainly want to be treated professionally so I try to do likewise and while I do not always succeed, I think I know when I'm being a jerk, though it's usually too late to stop the jerkiness from emanating from my lips. Patience. So under-valued by me for so long.

4 comments:

taiwanfun said...

I try to finish people's sentences for them in an effort to speed things up. I am also not a people person! Note to self, remind me to switch up conversations the next time we have a meal to keep you guessing!

Scott Hayman said...

I'm with you on the patience thing.

What's VIX?

buickguy said...

Check out one person's life experience to better performance by reading an email posted to you dated 7/30/09.

Brian said...

VIX = Victoria, TX