As an Introvert, and especially as someone who is most definitely not neuro-typical, I sometimes struggle with reading a room. That is to say, some of the things that make me uniquely Me are not for public consumption, and are especially not for professional consumption.
Drawing those lines can be a little difficult in today's day and age. The boundaries of work and home have become almost inextricably entwined. Whole articles and books are dedicated to the idea of "Weisure" (Work/Leisure) because we have become so connected that work comes home and home comes to work in the form of mobile work stations and emergency family notifications (hooray for laptops, mobile phones, and tablets).
The difference between adaptive communications and maladaptive communications can be as simple as a given norm in an organization or division, department, or family. The bottom line is that, similar to NYS ethics laws as applied to public officials, the appearance of impropriety is as bad if not worse than actual impropriety. So the careful application of situational logic is key.
I took constructive feedback yesterday that I passed on to one of my stepsons as an example of it being OK to misunderstand situational norms as an adult, and to learn from the experience rather than focusing on petty details in the moment. I believe that one of the worst feelings is that of self-castigation after it becomes clear that a norm was not followed that should have been self-evident from the start.
In order to grow, everyone must let go and learn. None of this would be possible without the ability to acknowledge and make room for their own minor missteps along the way.
