ITLP Tuesday Readings

For today's Tuesday Reading, I thought we might revisit the topic of email. The piece, "How to craft an email that gets a reply", which appeared at the cbs.com business blog, arrived along with a batch of email that seemed to violate its principles and reminded me of the importance of taking the time to write good email.

The author, Dave Johnson - who worked for Microsoft from 2004 to earlier this year, has written three dozen books and covered technology for a long list of magazines that include PC World and Wired - suggests we follow five simple rules:

1. Make it clear who the message is addressed to. If it's a request for action or information, one person in the "To" field. More than that reduces the likelihood that anyone will act.

2. Put the bottom line up front. Get your request into the first sentence. Provide the details afterward.

3. Formatting matters. Long dense paragraphs discourage reading. Use short paragraphs. Guide the reader along. Use bolding to lead the reader to the next point.

4. Be clear and specific. Say what you need, when you need it, and who should provide it. Don't play a guessing game with your reader.

5. Be as brief as possible. Take the time and energy to simplify your request to the bare essentials.

As you write your email today, remember these five rules. I believe you will see the results.

Have a great week. . . . . jim

Posted by Jim Hall at 4:43 PM | Permalink

"The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do, well." ~ Henry W. Longfellow

Ask yourself, "Is there anything I can do?" Do it. Do you say "I can't"? Say, "I can learn how."

How do you know what your capable of if you don't test the limits? Remember, doing something well does not mean doing something perfect. Just do it.

Posted by Jim Hall at 3:06 PM | Permalink

Today's Tuesday Reading, "I Have Terrible News: Value of Communication in Honesty", is a Jack Zenger article which appeared at Forbes.com. Zenger is CEO of Zenger | Folkman, a Utah-based consulting company focused on leadership development. He and his partner, Joe Folkman, are authors of The Extraordinary Leader.

The key idea in this article is that even though leaders and managers typically score, in 360 feedback reviews for example, high on honesty and integrity, a recent experience demonstrated to Zenger than we could do better.

The experience, which Zenger describes, has to do with the death of his son from an uncommon stomach cancer. What struck Zenger was the oncologist's "incredibility honest presentation of the facts." At the end of his recitation of facts, "he asked, if my son understood. And, he did."

As Zenger reflected on this, he couldn't avoid thinking about the leaders he had known who couldn't master the courage to tell a colleague of the negative consequences of their behavior. With his son, the physician had been compassionate but he did not sugar coat anything. The patient and the family deserved to know the truth. The physician presented honestly all the facts and the consequence.

A fundamental principle of leadership is treating others with respect and speaking honestly with each other. Zenger's research on 360s has shown that leaders who score high on honesty and integrity also scored high on

• approachable
• acted with humility
• listened with great intensity
• made decisions carefully
• acted assertively.

The first four of these qualities you might expect from an individual who is known for being honest and showing respect. The fifth quality is not as obvious. But as Zenger pointed out through his story of his of his son that had the oncologist not been assertive, he would have avoided the extremely difficult conversation that his patient deserved to have. As Zenger notes, the assertiveness is the engine that drives this part of honesty.

As I read this article, I became painfully aware that too often I have not been as complete and respectfully honest as I should have been in giving feedback. I'm going to work on this and I invite you to join me.

. . . . . jim

Posted by Jim Hall at 10:48 AM | Permalink

Today's reading - Stop Chasing the Wrong Priorities - comes from the pens of Kelly Goldsmith and Marshall Goldsmith and appeared in a recent CBS News blog. Marshall Goldsmith is a well-known author, leadership thinker, and executive coach. Kelly Goldsmith is assistant professor of marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

The reading builds off interviews of retired leaders and their response to the question: "What is the key to having a great life?" Their key responses:

1. Be happy now. Don't get so wrapped up looking at what you don't yet have that you miss what you do have.

2. Appreciate your friends and family.

3. If you have a dream, go for it.

The Goldsmiths believes that this is good advice to leaders:

1. Having fun at your job is key. If you don't enjoy what you're doing, it will be very hard to make your colleagues enthusiastic.

2. You need to take the time to help your colleagues. Coach those who work in your organization, give feedback to them. The relationships you have are far move value than any of the other trappings of your told.

3. "Going for it" is the most important thing you can do for yourself. You may not succeed - you could even fail badly - but at least you can look in the mirror and say that you really tried.

Good advice to all of us. Take a few moments of your reflection time this week and ask yourself the very personal questions implied by this advice. And, if you come up short, be intentional about making some changes.

Have a great summer week. . . . jim

Posted by Jim Hall at 10:10 AM | Permalink

"All that's necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing." ~ Edmund Burke

What is happening around you that you don't think is right? What are you doing about it?

Ask yourself: Is there anything that I can do to help move this in a positive direction? If so, do it. If not, talk to someone who can.

If you choose to do nothing, choose not to complain.

Posted by Jim Hall at 4:03 PM | Permalink

Today's Reading is a blog entry "6 steps to resolve conflict" by Robert Pagliarini which appeared recently on the CBS News MoneyWatch website. Pagliarini works to inspire others to live life to the fullest by challenging the way they invest their time and energy.

We all experience conflict and the emotional turmoil that ensues. So, what can one do to regain your equilibrium in such a situation? Pagliarini suggests a six step process that you may find helpful:

1. DRILL DOWN - When you are upset, your emotions come full-on. Your first task s to regain your focus by drilling down to identify the one thing you are most upset about. What's at the core; what's the root cause. "The answer will have a profound effect on how you handle the situation."

2. GET POSITIVE - When you are upset, your nature is to go negative, why did he do that to me? It is very hard to resolve a conflict if you believe the other person is out to get you. Turn the situation around. Search for the positive outcome the other individual was trying to achieve.

3. STEP IN THEIR SHOES - Pretend you are the other person and answer three questions:

   • What are your goals?
   • Which human need - Certainty, Uncertainty/variety, Significance, Love/ connection, Growth, Contribution?
   • What must I have been thinking and feeling in order to act as I did (remember, positive intent)?

4. RUB THE "MAGIC GENIE" LAMP - Exactly, what is it that you need to have happen. Focus on the minimum you really need to have for the conflict resolved.

5. CREATE A GAME PLAN - What can you do to increase the likelihood that what you need to have happen does happen. Focus on what you can control. Schedule a meeting. Have a civil conversation. Take responsibility for what you should have done differently. Create a situation to move the situation forward.

6. EXECUTE - Go get it done.

Conflicts occur. The next time you are in one give this process a try. I believe you will find it helpful.

Have a great week. . . . jim

Box of Crayons :: Great Work Provocations

Name 3 things you're tolerating right now. I think that these "tolerations" are one of the subtle and insidious ways our energy and focus gets drained. So if ou had to pick one of those three to tidy up and get out of the way, which one would you pick? And what would the first step be?

Posted by Jim Hall at 2:24 PM | Permalink

"The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny." ~ Albert Ellis

How have your decisions and/or reactions to the decisions of others led you to where you are today?

What lessons have you learned from your past decisions and reactions, good and bad? What future values and decisions will guide you to your desired destiny?

Posted by Jim Hall at 11:21 AM | Permalink

This week's Tuesday Reading 12 Things Good Bosses Believe comes from Bob Sutton's pen and appeared in the Harvard Business Review blogs. Sutton is Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University. He studies and writes about management, innovation, and the nitty-gritty of organizational life. He is author of Good Boss, Bad Boss.

Part of Sutton's research has sought evidence for what makes a boss great. As part of this research he has identified some key beliefs that are held by the best bosses - and rejected or never thought about, by the worst bosses. Here's a sampling of the 12 he lists in the post:

1. I have a flawed and incomplete understanding of what it feels like to work for me.

2. Having an ambitious and well-defined goal is important, but it is useless to think about them much. My job is to focus on the small wins that enable my people to make a little progress every day.

3. Bad is stronger than good. It's more important to eliminate the negative than to accentuate the positive.

4. Because I wield power over others, I am at great risk of acting like an insensitive jerk and not realizing it.

You will find the remaining eight in Sutton's post along with URLs for additional information.

Do take the time to work through the entire list and see where you might sharpen how you are as a boss.

. . . . jim

NORE: Presentations from the 2012 IT Leaders Conference can be found at www.morassociates.com/2012Conference/Agenda.html

Posted by Jim Hall at 12:47 PM | Permalink