Being labelled different is never easy.
As a child, I was too quiet.
I didn’t fit into the usual social cliques.
I was drawn to the outsiders, the outliers.
The others who just didn’t fit in.
Growing up didn’t change a thing.
I learned skills to portray a more confident (talkative) version of myself for key times. At job interviews I could be shake my anxiety and be anyone they needed.
But I am not a more outgoing version of myself.
I am myself.
I have learned how to fully embrace the side of me that once held me back, and use it to lead. My best introverted leadership quality? Listening to the team.
I am still drawn to the outsiders.
I like to see what traits they have which others see as holding them back, and perhaps we can use them to actually push them forward.
To build a stronger team.
What traits do you have, that others may have spotted as weakness, and you have now built into strength?