“How can you collaborate with Chen? I can’t stand her!”
That’s what a candidate once told me that they overheard in a conversation between an ex-colleague and a 3rd person.
Ouch.
For context – it was their response to me saying that I’m 100% aware that not everyone likes my style.
And that’s the thing.
When you put yourself out there, you have to accept that there will be some people who won’t relate to you and/or like you or your style.
It’s not fun, especially when you have good intentions, but the benefits outweigh the risk.
I’ve also learned that those who criticize the most are often those who do the least, so you should ignore the noise, get out there, and do whatever it is that you want to do.
P.S. candidates – I recommend not saying things of this sort in an interview 😊 I’m not driven by ego rather by goals so in my case, I hired the person, but many other managers won’t be able to see beyond it.