Email "signatures" - no big deal?

I have been working with a lot of accountants on their email habits lately. Surprisingly to me, the signature you put at the bottom of emails has been a big topic of conversation.

Some considerations:

• If you are looking for a consistent way to represent your organization's "brand", a consistent signature seems appropriate.
• If you are focused on providing the other person what they probably most need from your signature .... how can they contact you immediately if they want to talk live (i.e. email is just not efficient based on the issue(s) that need to be discussed) then give them your phone number. Some I've worked with get creative with this. They will have one signature with their office number and one with their mobile number depending on where they are that day. (Obviously these folks want to be immediately reachable!) Nothing can be more frustrating to someone to try and look through an email thread and not be able to find your phone number!
• Too much really can be too much! It might be nice to provide all of your contact information. (That makes it easy for us to create a contact file of you.) However, when you add your twitter account, your facebook page, your blog, your resume, and your life history, we may get annoyed. Note for twitter and linkedin and facebook pages, there are small icon-links you can create to save space. For example, here are the directions for linkedin. Facebook and Twitter directions are here.
• Don't spend too much time in focusing on your signature. Maybe create it once and be done with it?! If you have considered these options listed above, you are probably going to have a "responsible" signature. If you want to change it every so often go for it. It may have a "branding" impact (and that may be important to some) but don't let this consume too much of your time .... so you can get back to all those emails!!

If anyone wants to learn how you can save hundreds of hours a year for yourself, become more sane by getting out from inbox overload, or save thousands of hours for your organization contact me at brian@moxiepartners.com.

Procrastinating? Start simple - call yourself out on it

Have you found yourself procrastinating lately on some "big" thing? First off - call it out!

Call what out you ask?

Call yourself out!

(1) I am procrastinating.

The next question is why? There are lots of reasons for procrastination. Maybe the biggest? Fear.

So again, call yourself out.

(2) I have a fear right now.

Now, the natural next question ... What is that fear? But you don't get that far along until you first "call yourself out."

Links to other posts on Procrastination:

Reason #4 Lack of Confidence

Reason #3 Lack of Real Commitment

Reason #2 Fear of Failure

Reason #1 Getting Started

Fire-Fighter ?!

Have you ever used the term fire-fighter to describe your day, or to describe your (all too common) role?

Many of us would not relate the word fire-fighter to hero. A real fire-fighter swoops down on a fire and with all her/his great dexterity and skill, they put it out. Most I know don't see this label that way. They see it as major burden, as something they don't want to do (putting out fires) .... something they would rather not do in fact.

A real fire-fighter does not know where the (next) fire is going to start or when it is going to happen, but that is their job and they are ready. Most leaders I know who describe their fire-fighting role describe it in similar ways. "It is something new every day." But is it?

The question is -- is firefighting your job? Or is it a role you have grown into in your current role?

The other question is -- what does being more and more of a fire fighter tell you? What does it tell you is lacking? In your team(s)? In yourself?

Were you a coward today? It shows.

Cowardice in the workplace. What does that mean?

I'll try and define it : cowardice in the workplace is lacking the courage to take desired action where there is a perception of opposition. What happens? Inaction.

Have we all experienced this? Sure.

An example - holding a "difficult conversation" (what a buzz term that is these days!) Are you able to hold the conversations you need to get the organizational or personal results that are required ... even when these conversations are not perceived as "pleasant"? What a great opportunity to show some cowardice! Just avoid it!

Guess what though? It is a perpetual thing. If one feels cowardly after not taking an action or holding a needed conversation, then the best way to reinforce that is by continuing to do it.

WHAT WE TYPICALLY DON'T REALIZE: Our bodies don't hide this. If you act cowardly enough, it will show up in how you talk, walk, and even in your posture.

It can go the other way too...

Have you ever heard somebody say something like: "I finally mustered the courage to stand up to John and it felt great." I'll bet that breakthrough carried forward with that person, their confidence grew, and their courage to make similar actions grew. I'll also bet they started to hold their head a little higher, and their back straightened up slightly as well.

If you want to practice becoming less "cowardly" by using your body as an aid, try this:

If you have a difficult conversation ahead of you, practice it with a colleague and for the first 20 seconds hold your body in the most "cowardice" way you know (slouched, head down, whatever that means to you.) Now stop yourself after those 20 seconds and try it again. You can say the exact same things you said the first time, now you must hold your body in the MOST confident way you know (upright, head high, good eye contact, whatever that means to you.) Notice how your perception of yourself changes because of the way you intentionally choose to use your body. Notice how your perception of the future action may have changed. Now try and be intentional about using your body strength to help you "strengthen" your actions.

Simple To-Do list tip to help you feel more proactive

If you are big into To-Do lists, and I know a lot of accounts who are ...

Try one simple thing tomorrow when you are reviewing it. Ask yourself, what is the MOST important action I can take today that is not on this list? Consider your career and your team and your organization from a "big-picture" perspective. What is that ONE thing that might make the most difference if a new outcome can be achieved by doing a new action (that was not on your list.)

Now, since you have just potentially added something to your calendar and list of commitments, challenge the other things on your list. What are the TWO things that are of such lower priority that you can either remove them all together or move them to a future date?

You add one thing, you take away two. That sounds good! Also you have started not with your To-Do list as your starting point for priorities .... you have started with thinking outside of your To-Do list to prioritize your actions based on a longer term perspective.

The first step to BETTER EMAIL

Email overload! Ever heard of it? Ever really .... really .... really ..... felt it?

It seems to me I have never ever met someone who has told me ....

"Brian I don't receive enough emails"

"Brian I don't really spend enough time in processing emails"

"Brian I always get my inbox down to zero every day. I wish that were more challenging."

OK, email can be a very complex issue for some, though in some ways, it SHOULD be a simpler issue, but we'll save that for another time.

First, let's start simple and end this blog post: If you feel like you could be more effective in the way you process email, just ask yourself ONE question before you write or read EVERY single email you work with from now on .....

What is the call to action?

Just ask yourself that question and see what happens.

The question you MUST ask when you miss a deadline

Missing deadlines stinks! There are lots of reasons why they happen. Let's focus on what happens when they DO happen ... when you missed a deadline.

First off, one or many people are probably mad if it is a high priority item.

It is easy to:

• Blame others.
• Talk about how the deadline was unfair (now after it's too late) or how circumstances changed.
• Provide excuses.

The question that can really help is one that may seem counter-intuitive to "excuse-providers" .....

"How did missing this deadline affect you personally?"

This does not have to be the first question, and maybe it should not be, but it needs to be asked. Also, if it affected more than one person, you will have to ask it more than one time! (Because most everyone will have a different answer.)

What this question may do:

1.) Right away it shifts the attention to where it should be - the impact. By asking that question, you are telling the other person you care because you want to know what this (missed deadline) has caused.

2.) It makes it personal and while people understand organizational impact, they "feel" personal impact much more easily. In short, the question is a sign of empathy.

3.) It shows a willingness to want to solve the issue. Before you can do that you need to know the issue (which may be bigger now that a deadline has been missed). So, it boldly inquires about where you are now (and does not try and sweep anything under a rug.)

4.) The answer to the question may open up new possibilities .... How do we adjust now? What can be done, salvaged, etc.?

5.) It shows you want to LEARN from the event. It shows ownership not just in the specific deadline missed but in working forward to ensure it does not happen again. You can work with their answer in making changes going forward.

Hopefully you will never miss a deadline in your life again, but chances are we all will. Can this question really "do" all those 5 things? Try it.

What do you bring to the Toughest situations?

The New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association almost set the record for the most losses in one season in the history of the NBA this year. They were real bad for a real long time.

I was shocked to see how well the NJ Nets coach (Kiki Vandeweghe) endured and "reacted" to those tough times. You could see the pain and the passion. You could not see total negativity.

In our careers, just like in sports, when things go bad an opportunity arises. How do you handle it? How do you respond? How do you "show up" during tough times?

When a project goes "south", when a colleague "stabs you in the back" .... That is when your leadership qualities will show up (or not). It's easy just to react negatively. It is much harder to react based on what is important to you (defined even before the event occurred.)

We all will probably feel negative towards such events, the question to you, right now, before the next one happens .... how do YOU WANT to react in a way where you show up at your best? If you don't know, if you have not thought about it, your choices are more limited.