ON WOO-ING

We went out to a hibachi restaurant last night. As there were four of us, we ended up sharing our grill with another family of four - a father, mother, and two kids.

As the meal started, the father engaged us in a little conversation. Rather, he tried to engage us in conversation. I wasn't interested in talking with this guy - who was he? As the meal continued, my friends talked more with them, even asking him to "act disgusted" at one part of the meal. By the end of our time at the restaurant, we realized we had had a pretty interesting conversation with this family of strangers.

There's a program on leadership skills called Strengthsquest. A person takes a long quiz and then the program tells them which of 37 "strengths" are their top three. And when I initially heard about this program, I wanted to be a WOO - which stands for Winning Others Over. WOOs strike up conversations with people easily - such as at a hibachi grill table. Based on last night - I am not a WOO.

I do not meet others easily, unless I am absolutely prepared for the whole situation. Job search conferences are a situation where I know I have to be outgoing and friendly and willing to strike up a conversation, so I can WOO as necessary there. On the other hand, I am not likely to come off as very friendly if I am by myself in the grocery store checkout line. I'm a little more guarded and not WOO-y.

Meeting people is a skill I need to work on, but more than that, it's a skill I need to WANT to work on. Really, what is the worst* that could have happened if I tried to talk with these people I didn't know at the restaurant last night? They think I'm weird and have a story for their friends. Whatever. I think I was more nervous about my friends saying (when we got to the car) "Wow, Brad, you really wouldn't shut up. That poor family..." I don't want to embarrass myself OR my friends through inappropriate WOO-ing.

* - for a "worst thing," this is pretty tame.