I’ve always been rather proud of not having any ‘people skills’. Of not being able to ‘talk to people’, smooth things over, talk them out of their way of seeing things, talk them over to my way, persuade, influence, manipulate, control. No wonder supervisors, salespeople, and customer relations people need good people skills. And no wonder I resent them: I’ve always been the subordinate, the consumer, the customer – I’m the one the people skills are used on.
Of course, subordinates are expected to have good people skills too, but what’s meant then is the ability to get along, follow, fold, obey. And, well, as I said, I’m not very good at that.
But no, no, I’m told, you’ve got it all wrong. Continue reading
