Networking is Tougher When You're Shy

There was a terrific Baldo cartoon that I wish I could send to everyone who is nervous about networking. Baldo is a teenager and he was walking into the school cafeteria. His only thought was that everyone else was staring at him. Instead, every one else in the room was also thinking that everyone else was staring at them.

Unless you are a celebrity, or the heralds announced your name as you walked into the room, no one is looking at you. Maybe the host or the hostess, who should be by the door to welcome you. But in business, there is no room to be shy about business networking.

Since I'm not shy, I have to go by what shy people tell me. They seem to worry more than average about what other people are thinking about them. They feel like they are being judged. But do they realize that deciding other people are judgmental is being judgmental themselves?

I used to say there were two kinds of people in the world. The kind who say to themselves "That person doesn't like me. What wrong with me?" And those who say, "That person doesn't like me. What's wrong with them?"