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I work as a dispatcher who sees the chance for movement upwards in the next two to three years. I have been doing a lot of listening to these podcasts as well as others concerning public speaking. A lot of the skills and techniques seem to work for dispatchers. In limited context of course.

My problem is when I talk with people, I find myself talking better and more professionally now and it sounds so foreign to me. I occasionally pause after saying something that I know "is not me" and it makes me wonder how others perceive me.

I really want to make supervisor or even assistant director, so I don't plan on stopping my study and or practicing. I guess my question is; When will the professionalism mesh with who I am?

jhack's picture

It takes time.  The more you adopt a "professional" voice, the more natural it will become over time.  There isn't a "real" you and a "work" you:  there are many facets, and those facets come out in context:  at church/synagogue/mosque;  at work;  with family;  in sports competition;  alone.   

You won't behave the same in all these situations; you become comfortable with the way you are in each.  

John Hack

stephensan's picture

I completely agree with John. 

A lot of the the changes I picked up from MT did not feel very natural at first.  The first time I said 'Can I give you some feedback', it came out sounding very stilted and without real conviction due to my lack of experience.

The more you use the tools you are learning the more it will become your natural behaviour.

If you haven't already started them I'd strongly recommend the DISC podcasts and downloads.  The effectiveness of adjusting your communication to someone based on their behaviours is stunning.  I have been blown away at how this has changed my working day.  Meeting lengths have been slashed in half and relationships with my  directs, peers and leaders have never been so productive.  Again, this felt very strange to me at first, especially in meetings with mixes of D's, I's, S's and C's.  At the start I was constantly thinking 'Someone is going to ask why I'm talking differently to each person', but no-one did and now I can't imagine not doing it that way.

You say "My problem is when I talk with people, I find myself talking better and more professionally now and it sounds so foreign to me. I occasionally pause after saying something that I know "is not me" and it makes me wonder how others perceive me."

I'm going to suggest that if you are developing yourself to being more professional then that's how others will perceive you and nothing makes my day more than having an opportunity to deal with someone like that.

Don't worry about it, have a 2 minute bask in your own glory before taking on the next development challenge and know that it all pays off.

Stephen
 

jacenprice's picture

Thanks for the encouragement and advice. One of the things I've struggled with most of my career is worrying about other people's opinions. Being a dispatcher has helped me out tremendously in speaking with others. I enjoy talking with others, but have always worried about their thoughts towards me. I enjoy performing skits, acting out and doing other things for laughs, but the serious stuff like speeches, discipline, and delegating has caused me discomfort time and time again. I have an awesome supervisor who has given me a multitude of advice. I look up to her and cherish any guidance she has to offer. I also have a father in law who has achieved many promotions in Chevron due to his supervisory skills that continually offers advice on people management. And my father owns his own business. I go to these people frequently for their advice and opinions. But I also welcome any outside input as well.

I stumbled across MT before I was promoted to dispatcher, and immediatley recognized the value of this website and their podcasts. My goal is to be a supervisor and also a premium member of this site. I have gained much knowledge by just listening and applying what I have heard that I look forward to the day I can be a suscriber.

Thanks again, and thank you MT.

Jacen