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?
You might really enjoy a book called HOW AM I SMART? by Dr. Kathy Koch, who used to be an education professor at GB. It's a really good description of the 8 ways in which we're all "smart" (two of which are "people smart" and "self smart," the terms that equate to the parts of yourself you've described here. Sounds to me as if you have a good mix of both, but are only realizing the "people smart" aspect of yourself now that you've been placed in a position where you've stretched that. The book talks about that, too - about "activating" each smart. It's available at Amazon and many other places. :^)
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