When I coach and counsel job seekers, I am often confronted with the age-old term “people person”. What is that exactly? I have a friend who is an HR professional. He tells me they use the tag line “Oh good. If you are a people person, we can pay you five people a week. Will that be OK?”
But seriously folks. Most of us know where that concept came from. Originally when someone said they were a “people person” it meant they could deal with others in a positive way. It also likely meant they liked doing that. Do you think people really do that anymore?
I fear the truth is we have lost some of the drive, desire, and ability to truly relate with people. Oh of course some of us are really good at it. But I don’t see where we teach that anymore. Instead, it seems young people are being encouraged to get better with computers and automated interfaces, but they do not get the same encouragement when faced with facing a live specimen.
Let’s rally together and do something different. If you struggle with making new friends, try baby steps first. Try simply saying hello to someone at the grocery store. Wave to a neighbor you haven’t spoken to in a while.
Let’s try to be a “people person”.
