The number 19 way to show your value reads:

19) Learn the difference between e-communication and real communication. Communicating with people is an opportunity not only to transfer information, but also to build relationships with them at the same time. With all the forms of electronic communication available today, our conversations are becoming more and more impersonal.

“Not only are texts and e-mails inefficient and sometimes carried to ridiculous extremes, they are also costing us our personal relationships,” says Loomer. “I want employees who will interact with people and solve problems. If you can’t interact with people directly, you have no value.”

I know as well as anyone that it is much easier and quicker to tap out an email and move on. If you find yourself doing that same thing, stop and think for a moment – is the email going to move the relationship forward, backwards, or stall it? Then, decide if you should hit “send” or walk to someone’s desk or pick up the phone and have a real conversation.

Tuesday Tidbits are weekly messages I send to my leadership team. They are generally short & sweet, often focused on leadership or teamwork, always positive and, hopefully, motivational. I hope you also find some meaning in them.

Then, while skimming my morning updates, I read a post about International Women’s Day, written by daughter, Heather Whaling, aka @prtini.  Inspiration took over, and here is the result.

Two years ago, I wrote a post called Is International Women’s Day Still A Good Idea? bemoaning the fact that - or at least questioning why – there is still a need for this day.

Today, my daughter’s post, Ladies, Get Our Of Your Own Way, explains why there is.

Today (and every day), I am thankful that Heather Whaling is my daughter.

Heather is a wildly successful entrepreneur, founder and president of Geben Communication.  Her business is growing daily, it seems.  She is an excellent public speaker; she really knows her stuff.  She is an expert writer on all things public relations, especialy in today’s social media world.  She has been published numerous times on well-known industry sites and publications, and her blog is a resource for many.  Heather co-moderates PR2.0 chat on Tuesday nights and frequently speaks to PR classes at local colleges.  She truly is an expert in her field.  She doesn’t just talk about “communicating…connecting“, she lives it.

Heather has a heart for those in need and takes action to help.  She visited Haiti to see firsthand how the Heart of Haiti program is helping local Haitian artisans rise above the earthquake horrors.  When she lived in another state, she served on the board of a battered women’s shelter.  Here locally, she supports The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio.  Over the years, she has offered countless tips and hours of help to various non-profits whose missions she believes in.

As her Mom, all of the above are reasons to be proud of her.  But, she’s much more.  She is joyful, compassionate, and dedicated.  She’s comfortable in nearly any social situation.  Heather is both intelligent and wise.  She loves politics (Election Day is her favorite day of the year!). Heather loves the New York Yankees, red wine, vegetables and off the beaten path restaurants.  And shoes.  She has a strong marriage to a wonderful guy, who is also a successful entrepreneur.  Heather and Mike are a perfect match for each other.  They do not “complete” each other – they support each other’s greatness and give the other the space in which to shine.  Her friends are outstanding people in their own right, and I’m honored to know many of them.

So, why am I blabbering on and on about Heather?  To answer the question in the last line of her post today.

What women in your life will you celebrate today?

I’d like to challenge each of us to think of how words matter in our roles as supervisors and managers, mentors and coaches, motivators and leaders.

It seems somewhat fortuitous that it is also performance review time at our office. The words have been written; this week they will be spoken.  How will the feedback be delivered?  What words will be chosen to praise, to criticize, to encourage, to develop?  How carefully will leaders listen to the words that team members direct back at them as his/her performance last year is discussed and as continuing goals are set for this year?

Words really do matter. In writing and in leadership. Choose wisely.  Listen carefully.

Tuesday Tidbits are weekly messages I send to my leadership team. They are generally short & sweet, often focused on leadership or teamwork, always positive and, hopefully, motivational. I hope you also find some meaning in them.

Failing to plan is planning to fail. – Anon.

Planning is bringing the future into the present so you can do something about it now. -Alan Lakein

Let our advance worrying become our advance thinking and planning. -Winston Churchill

Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up. – A.A. Milne

Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work. -Peter Drucker

Tuesday Tidbits are weekly messages I send to my leadership team. They are generally short & sweet, often focused on leadership or teamwork, always positive and, hopefully, motivational. I hope you also find some meaning in them.

Jot Once, Remember Anywhere 

OK, notetaking isn’t exactly a leadership skill.  But, I happen to be compulsive about taking notes in meetings of all kinds, so this article drew me in.

Today’s newslink has some great tips for all different ways to jot quick notes to yourself – and keep them organized and handy.  From old-fashioned pen and paper to the best smart phone apps, click HERE and you might find a new tool to help you keep track of all the great ideas and many to-do’s that randomly come up in your day (or, maybe even the middle of the night)!  Today’s article was published online January 26 on FastCompany.com.

Newslink: Leadership features articles about the development and practice of leadership skills in today’s business world.

Introduce the activity to your team : “We are going to play a game that will show us some important things about communication. Pick up your sheet of paper and hold it in front of you. Now, close your eyes and follow the directions I will give you—no peeking! And, you cannot ask questions.”

Give the following directions, while doing the same with your own sheet of paper.  Pause a moment after giving each instruction to give the group time to comply:

“The first thing I want you to do is to fold your sheet of paper in half.  Now tear off the upper right-hand corner.  Fold it in half again and tear off the upper left hand corner of the sheet.  Fold it in half again.  Now tear off the lower corner of the sheet.”  (Do not specify which one.)

After the tearing is complete, say something like “Now open your eyes, and let’s see what you have. If I did a good job of communicating and you did a good job of listening, all of our sheets should look the same!” Hold your sheet up for them to see. It is unlikely any sheet will match yours exactly.

Observe and comment on the differences. There will probably be some laughter.

Ask the group why no one’s paper looks just like yours. (You will probably get responses like “You didn’t let us ask questions!” or “Your directions could be interpreted in different ways.”)

Then, lead into a discussion on the need for clear, concise, two-way communication in the workplace and on your team.

Tuesday Tidbits are weekly messages I send to my leadership team. They are generally short & sweet, often focused on leadership or teamwork, always positive and, hopefully, motivational. I hope you also find some meaning in them.

Stop Online Piracy Act.*

I don’t know enough about it, yet. I do know that bloggers are one population that could be seriously impacted.

You may have noticed yesterday that many tech websites were either blacked out or carried links to information about SOPA. The photo above is what wordpress.com (hosts this blog) looked like.

This post, however, is not just about SOPA.

Today, I am thankful to live in a society that allows, encourages, and embraces protest.

There are many countries around the world that would not tolerate such a protest. People are jailed everyday because they marched against a proposed government action. There are societies that would not allow the sharing of information about the potential impact of a new law. There are places, not too far away, where the government controls not only the law, but the dissemination of information about the law. In some places still today, disagreeing with the government is justification for that body to kill its own citizens.

The internet may have gone dark yesterday, but many were enlightened because of it. How great is that?

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*Interested in learning more about SOPA before it goes back before Congress next week? Click HERE to read the actual text of the bill as registered with the Library of Congress.

For additional opinions… THIS link will take you to an Op-Ed piece from Mashable; one man’s opinion on the dangers of SOPA. CNNMoney explains the pros and cons in THIS article, even though their parent company, Time Warner, supports the bill. Although nearly everyone agrees that content rights need to be protected, it is the possibilities of going too far that many are worried about. in THIS November NY Times editorial, the newspaper explains.

Sometimes, the hardest part of business is the softest part.  Commonly known as soft skills, things like inspiring teamwork, sharing a vision, welcoming two-way communication, can be the most difficult for many people in management positions.  However, they are critical for leadership.

Today’s newslink is to a CIO.com article written by Madeline Weiss and June Drewry, published  December 15.  Click HERE to read the full article, with three “soft skill” techniques for leading organizations, especially important in hard times.

Newslink: Leadership features articles about the development and practice of leadership skills in today’s business world.

One of the harder things to measure and impact is a person’s attitude, yet it can be one of the most important things that contribute to a favorable reaction.  You may have heard this story before, but it is a favorite illustration about positive attitude:

Many years ago two salesmen were sent by a British shoe manufacturer to Africa to investigate and report back on market potential.

The first salesman reported back, “There is no potential here – nobody wears shoes.”

The second salesman reported back, “There is massive potential here – nobody wears shoes.”

Both salesmen saw the exact same thing.  Nobody wears shoes.  Yet, one salesman viewed that circumstance as an overwhelming challenge to success while the other saw it as a clear opportunity.  Their attitude toward the situation made all the difference.

How do you look at challenges that face you?  What attitude do your team members observe in you?

Tuesday Tidbits are weekly messages I send to my leadership team. They are generally short & sweet, often focused on leadership or teamwork, always positive and, hopefully, motivational. I hope you also find some meaning in them.

Please note the emphasis of various phrases below is my addition.

“Criticism is driven by the frustration and fears of the giver, not from the needs of the recipient. The underlying assumption is that the recipient somehow “should know better” and needs to be set straight. The implied message is that the recipient’s intentions are questionable, that there is something wrong with the recipient that the giver of criticism knows how to fix. In criticism, the problem is all in the recipient.

In contrast, feedback has an air of caring concern, respect, and support. Far from being a sugar cookie, feedback is an honest, clear, adult to adult exchange about specific behaviors and the effects of those behaviors.  The assumption is that both parties have positive intentions, that both parties want to be effective and to do what is right for the company and other people. Another assumption is that well-meaning people can have legitimate differences in perception. The person offering the feedback owns the feedback as being his reaction to the behavior of the other person. That is, the giver recognizes the fact that what is being offered is a perception, not absolute fact.”

Gary R. Casselman & Timothy C. Daughtry, as quoted on givingeffectivefeedback.com

My take?  Feedback encourages the heart.  Criticism beats it down.  How would you define the difference?

Tuesday Tidbits are weekly messages I send to my leadership team. They are generally short & sweet, often focused on leadership or teamwork, always positive and, hopefully, motivational. I hope you also find some meaning in them.