When your boss reviews your work, typically she’ll suggest some improvements and correct some errors. It’s the errors that are really dangerous to your career.
There are two kinds of errors. First, there’s the harmless kind, where you make a mistake that just about anyone in your shoes would make. You are new on the job, for example, and still learning the ropes. There are lots of other acceptable ways in which you might screw up.
The second type of error is the career-killing sort. If your boss finds easily preventable errors in your work, you will be lucky to keep your job and definitely won’t be promoted if you repeat them regularly. What’s an easily preventable error? That’s an error that –
you could have detected yourself by checking your own work or
you’ve been trained not to make and to watch for or
is due to haste, inattention and carelessness.
When you make easily preventable errors, you’re telling your boss that you need babysitting. Trust me, she doesn’t want to be your babysitter! If you really want a promotion, you will need to show your boss the opposite, that you are ready to babysit others.
Show your boss you don’t need babysitting by checking your work carefully before delivering it:
Proofread by reading out loud – you will catch many more mistakes, if not all of them. Next, scan your writing backwards. Yes, I mean that – start with the last word on the page and work your way from right to left, bottom to top. Both of these techniques prevent your brain from running on autopilot, which is how you miss mistakes.
Have a coworker or friend review your work. Sometimes you are too close to a project and know too much about it to step back and see it the way it will be perceived by others.
Give it a real-world test. Run through the process from beginning to end without skipping any steps or making any assumptions.
Make checking your work a habit and you’ll build trust with your boss that will eventually get you promoted.
Get the ebook! If you liked what you read here, and think you may want to refer back to this guide later, grab the Kindle version – we’re hoping you’ll thank us with a five-star review on Amazon if you found this material helpful. The ebook also includes our job search guide.
It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you in trouble.
It’s what you know that just ain’t so. — Mark Twain
First Officer: We did something to the altitude! Capt. Bob: What? First Officer: We’re still at 2000—right? Capt. Bob: Hey—what’s happening here! Control tower: Eastern 401, I’ve lost you on radar—and your transponder. What is your altitude? Pilot: Miami Approach, this is National 611. We just saw a big flash—looked like it was out west. Don’t know what it means, but we wanted to let you know. Pilot: Lan Chile 451—we saw a big flash—a general flash, like some kind of explosion.
Capt. Bob Loft’s last words were spoken on approach to Miami International Airport on a clear December night with 10 flight attendants and 162 passengers on board. With 30,000 hours of flying experience, Bob piloted his airworthy Lockheed L-1011 (Eastern 401) into the Florida swamp in 1972. Pilots call this CFIT or Controlled Flight Into Terrain and it’s a leading cause of airplane accidents responsible for over 9,000 deaths in the history of aviation.
When you want something, whether it’s landing a passenger jet safely or asking for a raise from your boss, it helps to pay attention to your surroundings.That’s called situational awareness. It helps you get what you want, and it helps to practice. Practice will help you detect danger when it exists and dismiss the source when it poses no threat.
Better situational awareness would have saved the lives of the crew and passengers on Eastern flight 401. The pilot and first officer got wrapped up in solving a tempting little puzzle and lost sight of the big picture — flying the plane. The distraction? An indicator for the landing gear in the nose did not light up as expected.
Because the captain failed to delegate, everyone in the cockpit was involved in troubleshooting and flying the plane became an afterthought. In the middle of it all, First Officer Albert Stockstill noticed an increase in airspeed and assumed it to be an acceleration in level flight, but he should have checked to see whether the plane was accelerating in descent. As a result, he eased off the throttles making one of several deadly mistakes made by the crew.
Asking your boss for a raise seems harmless compared with piloting a passenger jet, but there are still potential dangers to your career. How’s your timing? Who are the real decision-makers? What’s on your boss’s mind and what is his decision-making process like? How is the company performing financially? How does your boss feel about your performance? What does your boss’s voice tone and posture tell you? Ask at the wrong time and place in the wrong way and you’ve just performed the equivalent of controlled flight into terrain with your job.
You develop and practice situational awareness by asking questions. Notice the questions above? You ask yourself the questions when the answers can be learned by observing and you ask others when you can’t learn the answers on your own.
Backup and you’ll see that the very first step is for you to believe that your awareness is incomplete, that what you don’t know is important. Then you will start asking more questions, listening more and paying closer attention to changes in the scenery. As you gather more information, you’ll find some clear-cut situations where additional information will point to better decisions and more successful outcomes. However, more information won’t always lead you to obvious answers.
Fortunately, when you are paying attention to your surroundings, often your body and your subconscious mind will know things you can’t put into words.Trust your gut – listening to those gut feelings is an important part of developing situational awareness.
Situational awareness requires practice so it won’t interfere with your activities or your performance. Until it becomes second nature, it will be uncomfortable and may get in the way. Practice is about getting through your day relaxed but aware and only shifting gears into focused awareness when you perceive threats.
Ultimately, situational awareness is not just about getting a raise from your boss. It’s a critical ingredient for working smart and exercising good judgment. Without it, you’ll always be the one in your group that needs babysitting. With it, you’ll be the one your boss relies on and promotes.
In fact, author Mike Spick asserted in his book about air combat that good situational awareness is “the ace factor.” He concluded that the top-scoring aces of World War I and II typically avoided high confusion entanglements preferring to pick off stragglers. They succeeded through awareness of their own limitations and by keeping out of situations they could not cope with – essentially good situational awareness.
How to develop better situational awareness (developed by the military and aviators):
cross-train on group members’ tasks – learn your coworkers’ jobs
discover the mindsets and motivations of group members
You don’t wait until you’re in an unexpected storm to discover that you need more strength and endurance. You don’t wait until you’re shipwrecked to determine if you can eat raw dolphin. You don’t wait until you’re on the Antarctic journey to become a superb skier and dog handler. You prepare with intensity, all the time, so that when conditions turn against you, you can draw from a deep reservoir of strength (knowledge). And equally, you prepare so that when conditions turn in your favor, you can strike hard.
Get the ebook! If you liked what you read here, and think you may want to refer back to this guide later, grab the Kindle version – we’re hoping you’ll thank us with a five-star review on Amazon if you found this material helpful. The ebook also includes our job search guide.
[mks_dropcap style=”letter” size=”52″ bg_color=”#ffffff” txt_color=”#000000″]T[/mks_dropcap]o get hired, you need to be number one on a recruiter’s shortlist and it helps to ask for the job directly. Here’s how to do it – in a nutshell, spend more time preparing than any other candidate. Use the checklist below (like a good surgeon might) and nail every single “little” item.
Recruiters like me are desperate for these simple things you can deliver with a bit of effort. Okay… taken together it’s much more than a little effort, it’s more like a full-time job. And remember, if you screw up these “little” things, the recruiter is thinking something like, “Wow, he didn’t even bother to _______!” as he crosses your name off the list.
The complete job search guide is an important read for anyone who hasn’t had the privilege of running an organization. That’s because when you know how managers think, job-search becomes a little like shooting fish in a barrel. So, read the long version first and then use this checklist to track your progress with every job application:
The starting line
Know yourself. Know what you are good at and what you enjoy. Search out positions that will engage you fully.
Hunt down companies that are thriving in your neighborhood. If willing to relocate, hunt down thriving cities first.
Spend about a third of your time on job boards, but no more. Remember that employers make roughly 33% of their hires using job boards, that means 66% come from other sources.
First contact – cover letters and value proposition letters
Talk about the needs of the employer – not what you want.
Keep it short – two or three short paragraphs (6 to 9 sentences total).
Say what you do, how you do it and what the outcome is (what impact you’ve had).
Explain why you are job searching and, if this is an unsolicited value proposition letter, include desired salary range.
Research the company, management, and your interviewer. This is critical – take your time and read everything you can find.
Know why you want to work for this company and be ready to explain it.
Write down a couple of high points and low points for every job you’ve ever held. Be ready to tell a story for each that illustrates your strengths, the impact you had or what you learned from a mistake.
Write down a list of questions that emerged from the research you did (but ask about compensation at your own risk).
Ask your interviewer to describe the qualifications of the ideal candidate, early in the interview. You want to confirm what you think you already know about the job before leading the interview in the wrong direction.
Proofread all the materials you plan to offer – read them out loud to yourself.
Pay attention to your body language and your interviewers.
Make a connection: Don’t smoke before the interview, be on time, dress well, no perfume or cologne, turn your phone off, shake hands firmly, make eye contact, smile, and use the interviewer’s name. Treat everyone you meet equally well and remember the name of everyone you meet. Look for mutual friends or shared interests and bring them to the interviewer’s attention. Be confident and positive – don’t badmouth a previous boss.
Ask for feedback in the interview, then ask for the job (the close).
Follow-up quickly with a thank-you e-mail after every phone call or in-person interview and give the recruiter something to remember you by. Here’s an incredible example (yep, she got the job).
References
Keep in touch with your previous supervisors and coworkers so you can offer them as references.
Know what they will say about you before you offer them. Ask them how they would rate you on a scale of 1 to 10, ask for the reasons, and what it would’ve taken to increase your rating.
Presentation
Understand that cultural fit is an important factor in every hiring decision and you are being scrutinized for it.
Research the company so you can fit in better by dressing, looking and speaking like the team.
Don’t smoke or use perfume, cologne or anything else that smells.
Get feedback from someone who will tell you the cold hard truth about your clothes, your grooming, your speech, your handshake, your blog/website, and your writing.
Want your boss to trust you and delegate more responsibility to you?
First, be very careful to separate fact from opinion in your mind and in your speech. Your boss wants the facts first and your opinion second. Give them in that order and make it clear which is which. Separating fact and opinion is the foundation for good judgment and good judgment is the foundation for trust and responsibility.
Second, never bring your boss guesswork without also bringing two ways to fact check your guesses. If you feel compelled to speculate — offer to research or experiment as necessary to draw a solid conclusion. So, if you speculate, follow it up with – “I’ll find out by…”
Why go to the trouble of researching answers? Because you’ll:
discover you can answer a lot of questions yourself
become a source of positive energy
build confidence in yourself
show you understand that your job is not to pose riddles but to solve them
Show your boss that you are good at gathering facts, telling the truth about what you found and forming reasonable opinions around those facts. Do that and you’re well on your way to making yourself indispensable!
Get the ebook! If you liked what you read here, and think you may want to refer back to this guide later, grab the Kindle version – we’re hoping you’ll thank us with a five-star review on Amazon if you found this material helpful. The ebook also includes our job search guide.
[mks_dropcap style=”letter” size=”52″ bg_color=”#ffffff” txt_color=”#000000″]I[/mks_dropcap]nformational interviews really work (as Steve notes below). But, not all interview requests are created equal – I’m regularly asked to have coffee with someone wanting to “pick my brain.” I struggle to reply politely because I have a strong allergic reaction to this offensive phrase (reasons why at the bottom).
While not everyone will respond so poorly, I promise you can do much better searching below for a template that fits with your personality and situation. First though, a little motivation from Steve:
The informational interview works! 5 years ago I called my now current supervisor and started asking him questions about the company, the department I am now in, its roles, responsibilities, challenges, and other pertinent information. We talked for at least an hour. We exchanged contact information, and I spoke with him one other time afterwards when I inquired about specific software that is used. 5 months later I received a call inviting me to apply and interview for the job. I was hired in 2007. –Steve
Email templates
When you try these e-mail templates out, please come back and share your results in the comments!
Note that the ‘ask’ shows up in bright blue in each template – that’s the alternative to ‘pick your brain’.
When you have a mutual friend:
Subject:Eric – request to chat from a friend of [warm contact]
Hi [Name]!
I’m a [your profession] who has worked with [name of warm contact] and I’m currently making time to develop my skills and focus on what’s really important in [profession] when it comes to hiring a [professional] for a project. I’ve had a look through your website and especially enjoyed the [whatever].
I’d love the opportunity to spend 20 mins with you to discuss your decision making process with regards to [professionals] and what your expectations are when working with them. Would it be possible to drop by your office or chat by phone sometime next week?
If you are free, I’m available during the following times:
Fri 2/12 from 3 to 6 pm Sat 2/13 from noon to 4 pm Mon 2/15 from 6 to 8 pm Tue from 2 to 4 pm Wed from 1 to 4 pm Thur from 4 pm – 6pm
Best regards, [your name] [your phone]
With a mutual circumstance:
Subject:Eric – request from a [use connection here]
Greetings [Name],
My name is [your name]. We [shared some connection] and [probably ate the same lousy cafeteria food] day in and day out. Now after [whatever happened since] I continue to study [fill in your topic] on my own to reach next level. When I look at your career journey I’m inspired to ask for your guidance on a few questions – would you have about 15 minutes to meet on the phone or over coffee?
Best regards, [your name] [your phone]
Cowboy approach to meeting someone potentially at colleague level:
Subject:Eric – request to chat from a fan
Hey [Name],
I was hoping I might be able to stop in and grab 15 minutes of your time sometime over the next week or so.
Quick intro: my name is [your name] and by day I work for [your company]. I also manage [this], do [that], as well as some previous work with [the other]. [Another name] is also an old friend and it’s awesome to see how [something or other].
I’m a big fan of the job you guys are doing [with whatever], and it would be great to meet up for 15 or 20 minutes to chat about the strategy behind the success you’ve had in [something].
Let me know if you have a few minutes to meet up over the next week or two – it would be great to connect!
Best regards, [Your name]
[your phone]
From a friendly blog reader approach:
Subject:Eric – request to chat from a reader
Hi [name],
My name is [your name]. I first started reading your blog [why and/or when] and noticed you recently [something].
I’d love to hear your take on the future of [something not in the blog] for 20 minutes, if at all possible. I currently work on [whatever] at [your company], but have felt the itch to work on [something better] that [whatever].
I know you’d be a well of information about [here industry] and hope you can shed some light on your work at [your company]. I’d especially love to know what your transition has been like with [some change you know about].
I can meet you for a coffee whenever or wherever is most convenient for you–I hear [name of coffee shop] down the street from your office is great. Either way, I’ll work around your schedule.
Think you’d be interested?
Thanks, [name]
[your phone]
From a follower:
Subject:[name] — request to chat from a fan
Hi [name],
Your recent work on [subject] was very inspiring, and I’m quite passionate about your particular [something]. My name is [your name] and I currently work for [your company] doing [whatever]. Could I ask for 20 minutes of your time over coffee or lunch to ask for your insight on [something more specific]?
I understand you are very busy, and would appreciate even a quick response to point me in the right direction should your schedule be inconvenient.
If you are free, I’m available during the following times:
Fri 2/12 from 3 to 6 pm Sat 2/13 from noon to 4 pm Mon 2/15 from 6 to 8 pm Tue from 2 to 4 pm Wed from 1 to 4 pm Thur from 4 pm – 6pm
Sincerely,
[name]
[your phone]
From a recent graduate:
Subject: [name] — request to chat from a recent grad
Hi [name],
I saw the article about you [somewhere] and as someone who just graduated and has been interested in [whatever] over the past couple of years, I was really impressed and inspired by your work. I know that it’s tough to make it in the [something] world and I’d love to hear your story if I could have 20 minutes of your time.
If you are free to talk, I’m available during the following times:
Fri 2/12 from 3 to 6 pm Sat 2/13 from noon to 4 pm Mon 2/15 from 6 to 8 pm Tue from 2 to 4 pm Wed from 1 to 4 pm Thur from 4 pm – 6pm
Let me know and congratulations on the awesome work you do!
Best regards, [name] [your phone]
Someone who might remember you:
Subject: [name] — hope you remember me
Hi [Name],
I’m hoping you remember me from [somewhere you met or worked together] in [month and year]. I enjoyed my time [wherever] and felt I learned a great deal about [something] from your [teaching,etc].
Would love to hear your perspective on [whatever] and hope you might be willing to meet me for a cup of coffee in the coming weeks. Your advice and insight would be valuable to me as I prepare to [graduate or whatever].
Thank you for your time!
Best Regards,
[Your name]
[Your telephone]
From someone who helped you:
Subject: [name] — thanks and request for to chat
Hi [Name],
I’m a [profession] and have benefited from your [writings] – particularly the [specific detail], which helped me land a job at [company] doing [something].
Would you consider sharing 15 minutes of your time on the phone or Skype to discuss a couple questions I have on how to approach my first 90 days on the job?
Thanks so much for the help you’ve given me.
Sincerely,
[Your name] [Your telephone]
Here are some more interesting approaches to consider using:
I have three specific questions on XYZ that I would love to get some insight on over a cup of coffee. Can I ask for 20 minutes of your time?
I’m new to this field, and have great respect for the work you have done, particularly in [something] and [something else]. I…
I would love to hear your story and ask a few questions about your career path.
I’d really value your input and professional advice.
I’d really love the chance to talk to someone who can offer personal insight on [this position, this company]. Would it be possible for me to sit down with you to ask why you went in this direction with your career and what steps you took to reach this level of success? As a [something you have in common], I’d really value your advice.
Do you have 10 minutes to talk with a young person?
I’m trying to find out more about the challenges facing [profession/industry] teams in today’s business world, and I’m hoping you’d be willing to answer a few questions about your group over coffee or on the phone.
A deeper understanding
When you say ‘can I pick your brain?’ you sound like a parasite. That’s the last impression you want to give when you want somebody to be your mentor – instead, you want to do your homeworkon this person. A lot of it! You spend an hour or three reading everything you can find in Google, any social media stuff like Twitter and Facebook feeds, and blog posts. Read their book if they’ve published one.
Let the person know how it impacted you and ask a question about what you learned – how it might apply to something you are doing. This is a great reward for the person you are contacting. You are showing them their impact on the world and helping them reap the good karma of their actions. But, you must do your homework to give this gift.
Can you see how different this approach is to the ‘can I pick your brain?’ strategy? One is about giving and the other taking (with an air of entitlement).
Here’s an example of a masterful email pitch sent to F.W. de Klerk (Nobel Laureate and former President of South Africa) in 2010 and his reply here. This e-mail nicely illustrates the sort of success you can have when you approach someone sincerely after doing your homework:
Dear Mr. De Klerk,
I’m a student who attended a speech you made at DePauw University in May, and was inspired by one of your comments to contact you.
In the few months before hearing you speak, I’d heard many speakers list the world’s challenges (terrorism, famine, climate change); but, when you made your point about “diversity as the main challenge” facing society today, I felt as though you’d identified the deeper cause that linked together all of the superficial challenges listed by the other speakers (Steven Levitt, Karl Rove, Howard Dean).
For the past few months, there have been two questions on my mind that I’ve desperately wanted to ask you. First, was there a specific book, person, conversation – life experience – that led you to this conclusion? Was there an epiphany? Second, if you could insert one experience into the education of every American student, in the hopes of leading them to the same conclusion as your own, what would it be?
I’d be delighted to hear from you.
Sincerely, Kevin McLoughlin
Now you know how to do it, so go out and knock ’em dead and let me know how it goes!
Lack of doubt and overconfidence are toxic to your career. A curious mind, on the other hand, is invaluable in business and a healthy sense of doubt is one of the most important characteristics of effective people. People in power know that learning and growth start with questions. We pay attention to the questions you ask in job interviews and meetings.
Questions like these really matter and change people’s lives (from big to small):
What should I do with my life?
Is this job a good fit for me?
Where am I going in my job this year?
How valuable is my work to the company?
What will I accomplish this quarter?
Am I getting enough feedback and guidance from my boss?
Am I on track this month?
How does this work? Why?
How could I improve this?
What can I learn from this?
Am I prepared for my conference call this afternoon?
How do I know when a new member of the team is unlikely to work out? It’s usually someone who asks few questions during training, then sits down to work and charges ahead with full confidence (usually doing the wrong thing) without checking in for feedback until I request an update.
Some people are naturally more curious than others — but forget about that because you can create your own healthy sense of doubt with practice. Our minds generally do what we ask them to – ask and ye shall receive.
So use this checklist:
Hang a list of daily questions for yourself in your bedroom and/or your office.
Put questions in locations that will remind you at the right time in the right place. I keep a card on my monitor that says “Prepared? Specific enough? Documented?” No, it doesn’t always work, but I’m still a little better with the reminder than without.
Ask yourself “What am I missing? What other possibilities are there? What consequences might flow from this?“ Consider a longer list of options and try to include some wacky ones. Get outside your comfort zone for a moment.
Spill your guts. When you’re tempted to ask something but feel inhibited or fearful about asking, pay close attention – it’s usually a question that needs asking. Just ask. You’ll find the cost of not asking is almost always higher.
Get the ebook! If you liked what you read here, and think you may want to refer back to this guide later, grab the Kindle version – we’re hoping you’ll thank us with a five-star review on Amazon if you found this material helpful. The ebook also includes our job search guide.
In the best job search guide online, I recommend that you blog to show your talent and passion. But, that’s not the full story – I’ve screened out more job-seekers than I’ve hired because of their blogs.
To make sure no one ends up unemployed because they followed my advice, here’s a guide to making sure your blog doesn’t kill your chances of getting hired.
First, let’s look at the blogs that have killed my interest in a candidate – they’ve included a job-seeker:
promoting himself as an online marketing ‘get rich quick’ expert
with pictures of himself firing his automatic assault rifle
talking enthusiastically about his binge drinking
and a few with tragically ugly websites
There’s a lot of common sense advice to give about blogging which I’ll dish out before moving on to my favorite topic – the easiest mistakes talented writers are prone to make.
post consistently and keep it up-to-date (once a month at least if job searching)
include your resume in an attractive format (word or pdf)
share your personal life (family, friends, pets, interests, and hobbies) but keep it PG or G rated
be genuine – let your readers hear your thoughts
be positive – you can bleed some, but always find the silver lining
talk about what’s happening in your profession
keep an updated blogroll to show who you follow and read
Now, for the mistakes most easily made by talented people! That’s the presentation – your book cover. You can write great, meaty, wise, or brilliant content, but if the cover of your book is terribly dull, ugly or error-riddled – many recruiters will write you off at the cover. Aim to fascinate with your blog‘s elegance. Give yourself some mystique!
First, your grammar and your spelling should be nearly perfect. Use spellchecker! Beg your friends and family to proofread you. Here’s why – easily preventable errors tell your future boss that you’ll need babysitting.
Second, you need a pretty dress. Ugly does not sell. If you’ve been told you don’t have much fashion sense, that’s a sure sign you’ll need help making sure your blog isn’t ugly. Sure, you can find a few examples of ugly blogs written by rich and famous authors like Mark Cuban. Don’t let those throw you off the trail.
Look at these fashion makeovers! Are those really the same women? By the way, if you don’t see much difference in the before and after pictures, you need to let someone else make your blog design decisions. Let me show you a few examples of good/great blog design, the simple and clean look you want for a professional blog:
I know a developer who lusts after all the sexy projects. He asks for them and he wants to talk about them. You might think this kind of enthusiasm makes you a star in your boss’s eyes. And it can, up to a point. But what if my developer wants to talk about the sexy projects with a handful of unfinished ones still on his plate?
That’s a dangerous habit for your career because it can give your boss the impression that you’re a lightweight – someone who will try to take on everything that comes your way leaving unfinished and half-ass work in your wake.
Those who really succeed, do so by handling a few important projects really well. Below are two critical ingredients to making that happen.
1. Know your boss’s priorities and live by them. He’s the one who decides what’s important and what’s not. If you are not getting clear guidance, you’ll need to ask questions until you really know how to rank what you’re working on. Help your boss understand the trade-offs.
If you want to talk about something that’s not currently near the top of your list of important projects, make sure you first give an update on the top projects presently underway before bringing up a new subject.
2. Say ‘no’ when low priority items will degrade your performance on important projects. Just as it’s tempting for you to take on every project your boss mentions, it’s also tempting for your boss to give you too many projects. We all have eyes that are too big for our stomachs. When you say ‘no,’ you are simply introducing some reality into the discussion and that’s a mark of maturity.
You’d be wise to say ‘no’ gently, however. You might say something like “Eric, can you help me prioritize that in relation to my other projects?” and follow up with “Based on those priorities, I’ll probably be hitting that project next quarter, does that work for you?”
When you focus religiously on your boss’s priorities, you’ll earn a reputation for strong execution, for accepting guidance well and good teamwork. Your boss will know that you understand the meaning of ‘less is more’.
“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to remove.”
–Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Get the ebook! If you liked what you read here, and think you may want to refer back to this guide later, grab the Kindle version – we’re hoping you’ll thank us with a five-star review on Amazon if you found this material helpful. The ebook also includes our job search guide.
[mks_dropcap style=”letter” size=”52″ bg_color=”#ffffff” txt_color=”#000000″]A[/mks_dropcap]good conversation is often like a game of ping-pong — the ball goes back and forth with a steady rhythm. Speak, PAUSE, speak, PAUSE, etc… but, when you fail to pause after a thought, it’s like you just threw a basketball on the ping-pong table… and your boss is thinking:
“Uggh, I bet he does this when talking to our customers also.”
“F*ck, I bet he’s annoying everyone else in the company.”
“What am I going to do with this guy?!”
We’ve all over-explained because when in the presence of power, we tend to babble. In the business world, this usually takes the form of unnecessary explanation of details. Details are important, but the babbling of them is an inappropriate form, usually delivered at an inappropriate time. Don’t.
Don’t explain unless asked. Think rhythm instead and be a pro! STOP, PAUSE… Keep it short and you send this unspoken message, “I trust you to ask the right questions at the right time.” If instead, you dump all you’ve got on your listener, you’re implying, “You don’t get it and I’m going to smarten you up!”
Here’s a real-life example of over-explanation. All he needed to say was “Thanks for the advice. I’ll be on top of it by the 15th!” This worthless babble is what he actually wrote:
Thanks for the advice on inetwork and the other stuff. I will need a week or two more to get on top of inetwork…..Over the last 10 days, other priorities have kept me from jumping on that…..My projects combined with assuming Isabelle’s job and WebFarmers have me overloaded right now. I think it’s fantastic that we have Isabelle focused on where the money is, and I’m extremely willing to contribute by taking on the additional work. I just ask for your patience…some of the smaller stuff is not going to get done immediately…. And, Jack, please don’t respond with your blame/responsibility shtick…..”
Consider how long it took him to write this email, instead of the short powerful email he could have written. Consider that this is typical communication, and he largely spends his days communicating messages like this, and begin to see: he could probably get ten times more done every day if he was communicating better.
This is how we make the jump from being worth $100,000 a year to creating the kind of value that is worth $1 million a year. Don’t over-explain. The efficiency of competitive sports is a useful comparison. Imagine a footballer in the World Cup, running down the field, who stops to tell his coach:
Thanks for the advice on passing the ball and the other stuff. I will need a week or two more to get on top of my kick…..Over the last 10 days, other priorities have kept me from jumping on that…..My projects combined with covering for the fullback and the new halfbacks have me overloaded right now. I think it’s fantastic that we have new attacks focused on where the goal is, and I’m extremely willing to contribute by taking on the additional work. I just ask for your patience…some of the smaller stuff is not going to get done immediately…. And, coach, please don’t respond with your blame/responsibility shtick…..
Shut up and play!
Now, for all the derision we’ve placed on the email, his email is fantastic in three ways – keep these great things separate and strive for them!
Proactive communication: Without being asked, he’s initiating communication that sets expectations about his performance. Great!
There’s a lot of explanation here, but no blame. At the end of the day, he’s taking responsibility for everything. Feel the Power!
In the last line to Jack, the author is anticipating the next email response and answering it now. A great idea, though a little clumsily executed.
Finally, good examples of terrible behavior are so rare and precious! Thanks to this footballer for providing us such a rich topic and remember: “Perfection,” as Antoine St. Exupery wrote, ‘is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove.”
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