#293 Take Charge of a Conversation
I’ve said before how I’m not really keen on talking to boss men in my company. I still talked to the president of my company about a less than comfortable topic.
Today I found myself at the last of the company holiday parties. I was talking with a few of my coworkers who are generally pretty outgoing people. I had a ton of work to do and wasn’t going to stay long.
Then the VP of our department came over. He was the one who organized this particular holiday party. He was new at the company and carrying on a tradition of an Irish Coffee and rugelach party from his previous company. Normally, in this situation, I wouldn’t say anything unless he talked to me specifically. Especially because of the people I was with. I was sure they could handle the brunt of the talking.
For some reason though, I got it into my head that I wanted to take charge of the conversation. In a natural way of course. I wasn’t going to bully or talk over anyone.
So when he came over, after everyone had greeted him, I asked him where this particular holiday party tradition came from. After he explained it and said he hope it would take hold as a tradition here, I said, “Well any tradition with drinking will last in this department.” And he really seemed tickled by that.
The VP thanked us for coming and was off to greet the next group of people. It was the perfect bit of conversation. No awkwardness. And I made it happen.
The thing is, I’m not normally like that. I’ll let other people do the talking. Or when I try, I get really nervous and make it awkward. It may not seem like a big deal, but for a guy who is not at ease in social situations, I probably looked pretty confident and relaxed. For me, a little moment like this makes me feel like I’m making progress. That SYED is making changes in me, small as they may be.
