Gold folks can often suffer criticisms like these:
- I get it. Would you move on?
- Listen, I have to get off the phone now. Would you get the info to me in an email, please?
- Body Language: looking at watch frequently, texting right in front of you, getting antsy and moving toward the door, folding arms and closing eyes, etc.
For all the laudable strengths that people of all Colors have, some of those assets come off as more annoying than laudable, especially when delivered in large doses.
In the case of Golds, even their core value of "responsibility" actually can appear as going too far - and that is most easily seen when a Gold person is verbally giving information.
Think about it. You value responsibility above all else, so when you deliver important information, you are tempted to be absolutely correct and absolutely thorough. It could be something basic like giving directions to your house. Or it could be a whole novel by John Grisham who is notorious for writing paragraph after paragraph of laundry lists, slowing down the pace of a story to a snail's.
Now if you find that your listener - through verbal reactions and body language - is completely absorbed by your every word, then carry on with your careful, responsible narrative.
On the other hand, if you hear any of the criticism listed above, then consider taking steps to monitor and edit what you are saying. If your listener is Orange or Green, you can bet that they are looking for the most interesting, most efficient, and quickest version of what you need to say. Folks of those Colors are impatient by nature - and very easily bored. And whether or not they understand your point absolutely completely is usually irrelevant to them - why? - because they know and feel they can quickly figure out on their own what they did not get from you. If what you are saying is complex, they would rather have quickly-accessed alternative sources like email attachments, websites, a memo with bullet points, etc.
What will happen if you do not monitor the listener and gauge their interest? For one, they will stop listening. Worse, they will avoid having meetings with you because they are impatient with a lot of verbal processing that, in their mind, wastes their time and saps their energy.
Out of natural politeness and incurable empathy, Blue people will listen to your lengthy presentations, but know that they will just as politely avoid you in the future.
So the suggested New Year's resolution for Gold folks would be to discover how the important people in your life genuinely feel about having a conversation with you. Of course you want to enjoy using your natural strengths and expressing your natural values. On the other hand, what can you learn from Blues, Greens, and Oranges to make your conversations more attractive and effective?
Just like in your English 101 class, identify who your target audience is and edit your work to accommodate it.