INTERVIEW RIN HAMBURGH
Blunt is a word that applies to me. I say what I think, defend my opinion and don’t mind arguing with people. I suspect it’s because I hate dishonesty in any way, even sugarcoating the truth. Last year, I realised I’d slipped from being straight-talking to being plain rude. I had an argument with long-time friends which ended with two of them not speaking to me for a few days.
Myfirst thought was that they were overreacting but my partner is a counselor and, as we talked about it, I realized that their reaction was because of my behavior. I was shocked because I’d always thought of myself as polite – saying please and thank you; opening doors for people. I’m observant – I notice people’s behavior and thought that was me being emotionally aware. Now I know it’s not, it’s just me being observant. Emotionally, I was selfish, I understood my opinions and thoughts and no one else’s. Later, I went to a branding workshop – about creating customer personas – for my business. You need to get into the mindset of the people you want to market to and I struggled. I knew I had to make changes; to get better at not just observing people but connecting with them, and learning to react in a less offensive way.