Me-Ism
Posted March 5, 2007 by Margie Zable FisherIn the February 28, 2007 edition of USA Today, I read a great column from Craig Wilson. It was about the spread of “me-ism.”
According to a reader from Oklahoma City, he and his wife found that even when they spent a great deal of time with recent acquaintances, those people never ask a personal question. They also said that when they travel abroad, fellow travelers spend all their time talking about themselves, and never ask anything in return.
The column author, Craig Wilson, said that he thought it was just him, and maybe that it was a Washington, D.C. thing. But it sounded like it was a bigger problem.
I remember saying “thank you” out loud to Craig for writing that column. One of my personal pet peeves is people who don’t ask questions.
From a personal P.R. perspective, this is a major problem. Do you want to be known as the loud mouth, the person who dominates conversations without caring about others? In business, and in life, this doesn’t bode well for your relationships.
When you’re talking with someone, make sure that every few minutes or so you stop and think about something you can ask that person.
Dale Carnegie got it right. In his book How to Win Friends and Influence People, many of his thoughts refer to being a good listener. And asking good questions, along with listening well, will serve up better relationships for you.
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