In addition to being able to learn and improve your dev skills, very important factors for being more likeable and progressing your career are:
1) being able to identify other people's preferences, likes and dislikes
2) intentionally moulding how others see you
Every single word you say, every word you don't say, every laugh, every smile, every frown, every yes, every no, whether you say 'yes', 'ya', 'yep' or 'yea', will alter how people think about you, consciously or subconsciously, for better or worse.
Essentially, treat all of your coworkers as if they are someone you are interested in getting to know well.
Things to pay attention to:
What ruins their day? No morning coffee? late night deployments? Sitting in meetings? Listening to Fred talk for more than 4 minutes?
What results in a good mood? A good dinner the night before? Watching Netflix for 7 hours? Finishing a feature? Hanging out with friends?
What do they like to do in their free time? Most people welcome an opportunity to talk about things they enjoy
does Tom like to chit-chat before getting asked work questions? Does he prefer to have you get straight to the point?
When Tom is having a bad day, does any of ^that^ change? What about a great day?
does Tom prefer to be emailed, or pinged on Slack?
You have the opportunity to present a slightly different version of yourself to each person you interact with, and I recommend doing so.
The takeaway from this is that whether you decide to work on becoming more aware of how others perceive you or not, does not change the fact that people's perceptions of you have the potential to change every single day, and you have the opportunity to make the most of it.
Top comments (2)
Some excellent pointers! Being aware of what makes people tick is important, but also being self aware. Friends and family are good about pointing out our flaws but workmates may be more hesitant to. Always good to take self inventory, and try to root out annoying traits.
Definitely! much more likely for friends and family to actively make you aware of something then coworkers.