COMMUNICATION
I like to explain, to describe, to host, to speak in public, and to write. This is my communication theme at work. Ideas are sometimes dry at the beginning and I feel a need to bring them to life, to energize them, to make them exciting and vivid and so I turn events into stories and practice telling them. I take the dry idea and enliven it with images and examples and metaphors. I believe that most people have a very short attention span. They are bombarded by information, but very little of it survives. I want your information whether an idea, an event, a product’s features and benefits, a discovery, or a lesson to survive. I want to divert their attention toward me and then capture it and lock it in! This is what drives my hunt for the perfect phrase and what draws me toward dramatic words and powerful language. This is why people like to listen to me. My word pictures pique their interest, sharpen their world, and inspire them to act.
POSITIVITY
I’m generous with praise, quick to smile, and always on the lookout for the positive in the situation. Some call me lighthearted, others just wish that their glass were as full as mine seems to be, but either way, people want to be around me. Their world looks better around me because my enthusiasm is contagious. Lacking my energy and optimism, some find their world drab with repetition or, worse, heavy with pressure. I seem to find a way to lighten their spirit. I inject drama into every project. I celebrate every achievement. I find ways to make everything more exciting and more vital. Some cynics may reject my energy, but I’m rarely dragged down. My positivity won’t allow it. Somehow I can’t quite escape my conviction that it is good to be alive, that work can be fun, and that no matter what the setbacks, one must never lose one’s sense of humor.
WOO
Woo stands for winning others over. I enjoy the challenge of meeting new people and getting them to like me. Strangers are rarely intimidating by me. On the contrary, strangers can be energizing. I’m drawn to them. I want to learn their names, ask them questions, and find some area of common interest so that I can strike up a conversation and build rapport. Some people shy away from starting up conversations because they worry about running out of things to say. I don’t. Not only am I rarely at a loss for words; I actually enjoy initiating with strangers because I derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection. Once that connection is made, I’m quite happy to wrap it up and move on. There are new people to meet, new rooms to work, new crowds to mingle in. In my world there are no strangers, only friends I haven’t met yet and lots of them.
HARMONY
I look for areas of agreement. In my view there is little to be gained from conflict and friction, so I seek to hold them to a minimum. When I know that the people around me hold differing views, I try to find the common ground. I try to steer them away from confrontation and toward harmony. In fact, harmony is one of my guiding values. I can’t quite believe how much time is wasted by people trying to impose their views on others. Wouldn’t we all be more productive if we kept our opinions in check and instead looked for consensus and support? I believe we would, and I live by that belief. When others are sounding off about their goals, their claims, and their fervently held opinions, I hold my peace. When others strike out in a different direction, I will willingly, in the service of harmony, modify my own objectives to merge with theirs (as long as their basic values do not clash with mine). When others start to argue about their pet theory or concept, I steer clear of the debate, preferring to talk about practical, down-to-earth matters on which we can all agree. In my view we are all in the same boat, and we need this boat to get where we are going. It is a good boat. There is no need to rock it just to show that we can.
INCLUDER
“Stretch the circle wider.” This is the philosophy around which I orient my life. I want to include people and make them feel part of the group. In direct contrast to those who are drawn only to exclusive groups, I actively avoid those groups that exclude others, I want to expand the group so that as many people as possible can benefit from its support. I hate the sight of someone on the outside looking in. I want to draw them in so that they can feel the warmth of the group. I’m an instinctively accepting person. Regardless of race or sex or nationality or personality or faith, I cast few judgments. Judgments can hurt a person’s feelings. Why do that if you don’t have to? My accepting nature does not necessarily rest on a belief that each of us is different and that one should respect these differences. Rather, it rests on my conviction that fundamentally we are all the same.
