Advice

Should you take someone's advice?  Good question and here are the reasons we end up taking someone's advice according to author Jeffrey Gitomer:

                                      1. Your firends with them.
                                      2. You trust their expertise.
                                      3. You have a relationship
                                      4. Your immediate family.
                                      5.  Battling logic verus emotion as you receive this advice.

Taking advice is a very sensitive and delicate process because it usually means someone else has helped you make a decision or made the decision for you, and you were willing to accept it based on a combination of your gut-level feeling and your trust.  I still ask is that what you should do? 

The last person's advice I trusted was the math teacher who told me that algebra would be useful to me someday.

Think you are tops?

What's the  worst personal quality that a bos can display, accordign to 1,000 workers recently survey by Hogan Assessment systems?  Arrogance.  Followed by manipulative, emotionally brittle, a micromanager, passive aggressive and distrustful.   Source: Chad Brooks/Live Science.com   Interesing point of view huh?  I've had some great bosses in my caree and they have all been respnsibile, inspiration, tactful and foremost trustworthy. 

There is nothing like a trustworthy boss.  You will do soo much for the individual even without them asking you, or I would.  That is not everyone's story.  Trust yourself.  You know more than you think you do.  Dr. Benjamin Spock.

Do you trust yourself?  Have you ever looked back a decision you made and got angry with yourself?  I know that I've done it and I will probably do it again.  It is always easier to see what one could have done or should have been done after the fact.  I've learned that as I trust myself with decisions, my trust causes me to get more clarity in decision making.  Then the next time I'm faced with a decision which is difficult I decide to trust myself and move forward. I will get an A, B, C or D, but, I won't fail because I'm learning.  If I make it a mistake it will teach me to be more in tune to my judgment.   It is a great stepping stone for building trust within myself.  Trusting self is a very important step to beginning to trust others.

This means you have to trust your thinking, your wisdom, your knowledge, your judgment, your instincts, your powers of observation, your powers of deduction, your ability to reason, and your ability to discern.  It's in your gut, however, it's whether you choose to trust it or ignore it. 

I say trust yourself, its a great opportunity to grow!!

Email Management

Did you know you email is controlling you?  Here are a few tips so that you can control your email.

1. Why cc or bc- it just give you more replies and increases the email traffic.  Only do it if necessary.
2. How many emails are in your in box - 100 many people have 300-500 email.  This is psychologically destroying you.  It is like having 1000 physical sheets of paper all over your desk. Now you wouldn't think of doing that would you?
3. Stop responding to email when it comes in.  A lot of people use email for procrastination.  Decide to respond to email 2 or 3 times in the morning and again in the afternoon (time trap) shut down the alert or even close the email.
4. Do no check your email in the evening or on weekends.  Enjoy the evening and weekend.
5. Don't send partial emails just to get back to people.  Use the draft feature, save and send later.
6. When emails turn into a back and forth discussions (time trap) just pick the phone.
7. Use subject titles to people using black berries/iphones.  Use EOM - End of Message, NTN -No Thanks need, NTR- No reply needed.
8. People give you 5-7 seconds to say what is necessary in your email.  State the purpose of the email right up front.  Use lots of white space because it is easier on the eye. Stop the on going saga......
9. Begin to coach everyone on minimizing the number of emails coming through.  This is a great coaching opportunity. Go see them face to face.
10. Last but not least set up email folders. 

If you will only use three of the above referenced tips you will begin to eliminate waisting time and control your email rather than it controlling you.  Then you will have more time to work on your negotiations skills to ask that big fat raise you want or maybe just the corner office.