To Be Interesting, Be Interested.

Do you think you are interesting?

Being interesting doesn’t just help with performance at cocktail parties. Being an interesting person has been proven to provide loads of career benefits. First and foremost, interesting people tend to be great communicators, able to connect with others and articulate their ideas clearly and effectively. This skill is rare and therefore highly valued in many industries. On average, those who are interested in others earn $29,000 more than people who are not.

Interesting people often have a broad range of interests and experiences, which can make them well-rounded and adaptable in their work. They may also possess a strong sense of creativity and innovation, which is highly sought-after in fields such as marketing, design, and technology. Interesting people are often highly engaging and can inspire others, which can lead to opportunities for leadership and management roles. Being interesting enhances one's professional development and creates a competitive edge in the job market.

So how does one become interesting?

I have had the privilege to work with a wide variety of people from all walks of life: scientists, artists, engineers, politicians, tradespeople, journalists, filmmakers. professors, executives, supply chain professionals, performers, and more. I've worked alongside people at the beginning of their career to those in their legacy season. Not all of them were interesting. In fact, the ones you would think would be the most interesting, like some of those who were blessed with a touch of fame, wealth, or success, tend to be the least interesting for one simple reason. The most interesting people are those who are the most interested in the people around them.

To be interesting, be interested.

People who are genuinely interested in the world are constantly seeking out new experiences, and perspectives, and they tend to be open-minded and genuinely curious about other people’s lives. They are not content with the status quo, but instead actively seek to expand their knowledge and understanding of others. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but interesting people talk less and listen more.

They have a thirst for knowledge and a willingness to challenge their own beliefs and assumptions. They are also willing to engage in debate and discussion, and are always looking for opportunities to learn from others. They are not afraid to ask dumb questions or to admit when they do not know something, because they know there is no such thing as a dumb question, only dumb answers.

It’s fair to equate being interested in others as a form of emotional intelligence. True Story. Once after a talk I did at a conference a guy came up to me and told how much he liked what my team and I were working on at FRDM . Here was a stranger showing genuine interest in me and it naturally made me more interested in him. So I asked him what he did and he said he teaches and writes a little. That was an understatement, which is characteristic of interested people, because his name was Daniel Goleman, the author and psychologist who coined the term emotional intelligence, wrote ‘the’ penultimate book on the topic, and who 'wrote a little' (12 years) for the New York Times. Clearly a correlation between being interested and being interesting exists.

Interesting people have a passion for what they do. They are infectious, driven by a sense of purpose and committed to achieving outsized goals for the greater good. Whether it is a scientist working to unlock the mysteries of the universe, or an artist creating works of beauty and meaning, the most interesting people are those who are deeply passionate about their pursuits and how they can benefit others.

Interesting people put themselves in someone else's shoes and see the world from their perspective, which enables them to form meaningful relationships and make a positive impact on the world. Your ‘world’ is their ‘world’. They are open-minded, curious, and willing to challenge their own beliefs and assumptions based on what they learn from others. By cultivating these qualities in ourselves, we can become more interesting and engaged with the world around us.

So if you want to be more interesting, try being more interested.