Purpose, PEOPLE SKILLS, Passion How are YOUR people skills?
Do people in general bug you or do they brighten your day? I guess that's all in how you see them. Some say that their personality type tends to fashion a loner mentality for them. They aren't comfortable around various kinds of people. That's cool...I get it. However, in considering your calling and in most, for that matter, the customer or target for what we do at the end of the day narrows in on individuals and groups - all with one aspect in common: they are a part of the human race. Our genuine interest in people really matters in everything we do. Here's a more probing question: What do people feel when they're around you? I've found that how I make people feel is typically how they will feel about me. My practice as a fellow member of the human race can be to make people feel like a million bucks or like a minuscule part of my world. Making people feel valuable starts by how I see myself and my calling. Consider these suggestions in practicing good people skills:
(1) Maintain good eye-contact when talking face-to-face.
(2) Listen so as to recall what was said.
(3) Call their name and do everything needed to remember it.
(4) Return phone calls and emails within a reasonable timeframe.
(5) Send random hand-written cards of encouragement.
This list may partially sound old school, but some of the cultural and technological changes tend to distance us rather than draw us to others we are to serve. So, sharpening our ability to be more people-oriented requires us to think in terms of family, community, network and relationships. Our ability to be friendly and make friends goes much farther than we can at times imagine. It's profoundly that simple...because it's really all about people!
Watch for part three on this topic to come...
A couple of the many resources to check into on this subject:
"Winning with People" by John Maxwell and "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi
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