Sensitivity
No not that type silly!
I’m aware as an individual I’m pretty thin-skinned. I enjoy being sensitive & transparent emotionally. Wearing my heart & subsequent feelings on my sleeve makes me (as far as I’m concerned) a better business person & a better human being. I’d be a crap Poker player, but I’m ok with that.
We all encounter interpersonal conflict and criticism, even as adults both in the workplace & in our personal lives. It happens in our families & within our social circles. It’s absolutely happened to me as a blogger and the advice I generally get is “I should developer a thicker skin”
Whilst on the receiving end of that advice I know it comes from a good place when given, but I don’t see anything wrong with being affected. I also don’t see anything wrong with admitting you’re affected.
When I’m criticized I fee l it. I’m not that fella on the right. When people are properly rude or insulting I *really* feel it. Although age & the subsequent wisdom which comes from it tells me to just step over the issue I’m proud that these things bother me. It reminds me I’m human, & not a robot.
The amount of business books I’ve read in the past, you know, the ones you see on peoples desk which are what I like to call “statement books” because a bit like Zen – and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance or ‘the Art of War’ as good as they are, it’s usually more important to be seen to have them than to actually heed what’s in them – we’re told on numerous occasions that ‘emotion doesn’t belong in the workplace or in business’ & I don’t think I’ve ever disagreed with something so much in my life.
I’m not talking about the kind of emotion you’d feel if you caught someone kicking a box of crippled puppies, or when you cry into your Mocha Latte because your football team didn’t win, but expressing heartfelt and true feelings is the absolute backbone of human – to – human interaction. In business, selling a product, service or such like is always more effective when emotion is used honestly.
Could I be cold, stoic & expressionless when in the heat of a pre-merger take over worth millions (?), yes I can because I have been involved in such a situation, but day to day, I’ll take emotion every time.
