Maybe I just act like one. Maybe I had a different idea of what that term meant. So I figured I'd better check out an official definition.
According to Dictionary.com: an outgoing, gregarious person with good communication skills. And the Macmillan Dictionary online: someone who enjoys being with other people and easily becomes friends with them
Hmmm...I do enjoy being with other people. I don't think I'd last very long as a hermit. My communication skills are above average (if I do say so myself). But am I "sociable"?
You may have heard (or read) me discussing that I sometimes even have trouble picking up the phone to call my friends. I need to work a little more on my mingling skills, especially in an unfamiliar setting. You'll rarely see me walk up to a stranger and start up a conversation.
On the other hand, I'll make chit-chat in the checkout line. Or engage in some small talk with parents at my son's school.
But I also love being alone for awhile. Free to do whatever chores or watch whatever movie I want, on my own timeline.
At my old job, I was rarely in a position to talk to clients. And that suited me just fine. I would just do my proofreading, move some projects through the office, and leave the more public responsibilities to the account services team. Sure, eventually there were clients that I knew were easy to talk to, and communicating with them didn't bother me a bit.
At my new job, however, I frequently email clients and vendors/partners, and actually talk to them, too! That's part of what I'm expected to do. I used to be "just" the proofreader, almost better seen and not heard. Now, I'm in a position of...authority. I feel empowered to make decisions and be that point of contact for anyone doing business with us.
I'm realizing that it boils down to how I see myself. I don't have to be that shy girl in the background, worried that other people are judging me on my imagined shortcomings. I can be that confident woman who knows what she's doing and isn't afraid to live up to her potential.
Don't you think it's time that I start behaving like the people person other people see me as, instead of just a people-I-know person?
