Window of Opportunity

I like being open.

I tell people that I don’t have a smartphone.

This elicits different reactions.

Scenario 1. A friend noticed that I was using a flip phone. He intimated that I was making myself look outdated by using a flip phone. I didn’t enjoy how he said it, but yeah I know that he has a point.

Scenario 2. More recently another friend took a more thoughtful approach to my admission. He said he was interested in how I came to my decision to stay smartphone-free.

You open up a window of opportunity when you are open and take on a curious stance. People will open up to you, which in turn could lead to a meaningful conversation.       

  

In Scenario 1, I reacted to my friend’s comment by shutting down and wanting to move on to a different subject. The comment felt judgmental to me. In Scenario 2 I was happy to explain my reasons to my friend. I took my friend’s comment as being interested.

I think the more open you are, the less power (in your mind) something has over you.

I feel a stigma to not owning a smartphone, but the more often I say “I don’t have a smartphone”, the less power, perhaps, it will have over me.

I wrote a post recently called “Call Me Maybe – Part 2.” Edmond Skowronski posted a wonderful comment in response.  In part he said:

“Daring to be different isn’t difficult. The most difficult thing is to dare to be yourself.”

In my mind not having a smartphone looms large whereas it might not even register a passing concern with others.   

Lately I’ve been thinking about job applicants, because I am facilitating job search workshops for older workers.

I know that interviews are foreboding and loom large in applicants’ minds. I get that interviews are important as a stepping stone to a job. But I also think that interviews can be thought of as a conversation between applicant and interviewer. You want to come across as being confident and that you have done your homework, but ultimately you are hired for being you. You aren’t hired to be who you think the interviewer wants you to be. Relax, take some pressure off and be yourself.

A window of opportunity to meet new and interesting people comes up when we are willing to open ourselves up to possibilities and strike up a conversation with someone at a networking event. I’ve talked about this several times, but at a Tuni Talk networking event, I suggested to my friend that we make our way to another part of the room and talk to someone who was standing alone and engaged on his smartphone. I decided to strike up a conversation with this person who has turned out to be a great friend and mentor!

In this post I extol the virtues of being open and being yourself which in turn opens up a window of opportunity to learn when we talk with others in everyday conversations, in interview situations and at networking events.

Oscar Wilde once said:

“Be yourself – everyone else is already taken”

And I for one think his point is well-taken.

Also Published on LinkedIn on:  March 17, 2017

Image Credit:  Pixabay