The power of being a people person.

Have you ever stopped to think about whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert?

Or an introverted extrovert?

Or an extroverted introvert?

Does it really matter?

Beyond knowing yourself a little better — and therefore being able to move through life in a way that feels good to you — my view is - kinda not really. Or, as my Australian friends might say, “Yeah, but nah.”

I would identify more closely with extroverts.

I love community. Company. Being around people.

Connecting, sharing and helping.

I love to laugh, host, remember things and ask about them.

I love looking into someone’s eyes as I shake their hand.

I love being generous with my network and proactively connecting people who I believe should know one another.

So it is perhaps unsurprising that my whole career has centred around people.

Events. Travel. Teamwork. Coaching. Facilitation. Speaking. Strategic advisory.

Every service I have ever offered has had people at the heart of it.

I love being a people person.

But, professionally, that statement means more than simply enjoying company.

It means reading a room.

Noticing what is happening beneath the words.

Understanding different perspectives.

Creating enough trust for people to speak honestly.

Helping people feel seen without allowing a conversation to drift.

Connecting ideas.

Translating complexity.

And helping a group move from discussion towards clarity and action.

These are often described as “soft skills”. But there is nothing soft about their impact.

The quality of connection inside an organisation affects:

• How clearly people communicate.

• How confidently they contribute.

• How quickly problems are raised.

• How well different functions collaborate.

• Whether decisions are understood and acted upon.

• Whether people feel ownership or merely comply.

• How teams respond to pressure, uncertainty and change.

It is possible to have brilliant people, a strong strategy and sophisticated systems — and still struggle because the relationships and communication between people are not strong enough to support the work.

This does not mean everybody has to be best friends. It does not mean creating endless opportunities to talk about feelings.

And it certainly does not mean avoiding standards, challenge or accountability.

Strong connection allows those things to happen more effectively.

When people trust one another, they can challenge one another more honestly.

When expectations are clear, accountability becomes fairer.

When people understand the wider purpose, they can make better decisions without waiting to be told.

When teams know how one another communicate and operate, less energy is wasted on repeated misunderstandings.

Self-awareness can help with this. Understanding whether you tend to think aloud or process internally.

Whether you prefer detail or direction. Whether you make decisions quickly or need time to test an idea.

Whether you naturally challenge, stabilise, initiate or analyse.

But the purpose of understanding yourself is not to build a wall around your identity.

It is to help you take responsibility for how you affect the people around you.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom” is often attributed to Aristotle.

But knowing yourself should help you connect more thoughtfully with other people — not decide, in advance, that they are too different from you to understand. And I think this matters more than ever.

We are saturated with information. Endless scrolling. Hot takes. Ten-second clips. Constant stimulation.

Content engineered to keep us watching, reacting and consuming.

Nuance disappears. Black & white thinking wins out. We lose the beauty and colours in the margins and blurred lines.

Gradually, often without noticing, we can become disconnected from ourselves and from one another.

The antidote does not always need to be complicated…

Turn away from the relentless stream of information > turn towards something with a heartbeat.

Call somebody. Look someone in the eye. Ask a thoughtful question. Listen properly. Introduce two people.

Remember what mattered to someone and follow up. Have the conversation instead of making another assumption.

Connection is built through small, deliberate acts.

Inside organisations, it is also built by creating the right time and space for the conversations people cannot have properly while rushing between meetings and deadlines.

That is a large part of my work. I help teams understand how they operate together.

I facilitate important conversations. I create protected spaces where people can reconnect, address what has become difficult and agree how they want to move forward.

Because connection is not a soft extra. It directly affects communication, confidence, collaboration and performance.

Where could one better conversation make a meaningful difference in your organisation?

Thank you for reading and see you next time!

Heather x