When it comes to networking, you have to remember that you’re not going to be everyone’s cup of coffee… and that’s okay.
There’s a lot of different kinds of coffees—or personalities—out there.
For example, your coffee might be a light roast. You could come off as a bit dry to some people—not enough humor or flavor.
Or you could be a bold roast and come on a little too strong— meaning you’re perceived as forthcoming, perhaps too forward and over the top.
A medium roast falls in between a strong and a weak personality. It’s well-balanced, catering to every type of personality.
However, you also have to remember that there will always be coffees you feel strongly about one way or the other. There will be ones you love and ones you hate. And sometimes, you just get a cup of coffee you really don’t like.
When Someone Isn’t Your Cup of Coffee
If you aren’t compatible with someone, it’s okay. But it’s important to maintain basic civility to one another.
In any networking scenario with such a person, you should behave in the following manner:
- Never raise your voice
- Never curse or swear
- Be an upstanding citizen
- Always be respectful
- Always be kind
Why? Because at some point, you may find that your opinion of a person who you initially didn’t gel well with changes. You may eventually find that they are your cup of coffee—perhaps just packaged in a way that you didn’t expect.
Or, maybe your opinion of them doesn’t change. That’s okay too. But if you don’t remain civil, kind, and respectful, you will needlessly cement a negative relationship between yourself and that individual. That negativity can ripple out into other relationships and ultimately hurt the reputation within your network.
Being unkind to someone at the risk of damaging the network you’ve worked hard to build is just not worth it.
Just be the best Latte you can be.
I share this because I know every human in the world deals with this struggle. My personality can come off as loud, giant, overconfident, too energetic, and even arrogant and egotistical to some. But I can tell you that definitely isn’t my intent and that this is just the way I’m wired.
I do my absolute best to cater to all people but sometimes even Luckett has shortcomings! Guess what? It’s okay! It’s called LIFE!
All we can do is be kind and look for ways to incrementally improve ourselves.