Openness

I’m an open book.

If you ask me a question about myself, I am very likely to answer it, even if we hardly know each other and it is a private topic. And even if you don’t ask, I might just spontaneously volunteer some piece of information about myself or my current state of mind anyway.

I usually keep it short, and funny or witty if I can. It’s not about hijacking the conversation. It’s more of an ice breaker.

I’m also very open in more formal contexts. Occasionally a customer would call me up because I was late or had otherwise screwed up. I would then offer up the whole explanation, usually without making excuses but rather taking full responsibility. When my business failed, I called a few friends who had lent me money to let them know they’d have to wait a little longer for it. Such conversations always seem to go well, which over time has taught me not to fear them.

(I make an exception when a business wants information that’s not warranted. Data scarcity is a prerequisite for strong data privacy.)

I only recently became of aware of this trait of mine, and I think it’s a good one, both in private life and in business.

I can’t remember a single time when being open affected me negatively. I can’t remember that anyone took advantage of it in any way. But I can think of many, many times when something good happened to me because people trusted me or were willing to help me out when they didn’t really have to. People just respond well to openness, it seems.

“It’s none of your business” is just not part of my vocabulary, and that’s a good thing.