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July 6, 2009

Trust: The New Business Imperative

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , — Admin @ 9:04 am

Social media and trust are two concepts not often used in the same sentence. But in a linked-in world where applications and sites including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are rapidly changing the way people communicate with each other, social media and trust will play increasingly important roles in determining how your company is perceived by employees, customers and other stakeholders. They may also have a real impact on your company’s ability to achieve its strategic goals.

The explosion of social media and social networking tools has fostered two fundamental changes in the business world. One, consumers now have at their disposal a wealth of information about your company and its product or service. As anyone who has spent some time on the Internet knows, some of this information is more accurate and reliable than others.

Two, and more important, you can no longer control the communications messages the public receives about your business. You still have to put your message out there. But now it is just one more message amidst all the social media “chatter” about your company. In order for your messages to have credibility, people must trust you, which is why trust has become one of the new business imperatives.

Low trust can inflict organizational damage on many levels. Low trust makes it harder to:

  • Recruit, hire and retain good employees
  • Attract needed investment
  • Build customer loyalty
  • Secure strong vendor relationships
  • Develop efficient internal processes and systems
  • Motivate high performance
  • Resolve interpersonal conflicts
  • Develop effective relationships with government and regulatory agencies

Conversely, several studies have shown a direct link between high trust and financial performance. Companies with high levels of trust tend to have stronger brands. They enjoy more positive word of mouth advertising. And when they make mistakes, stakeholders are quicker to forgive, as long as the company acts quickly to rectify the mistake.

So, what is trust and how do you get it?

In organizations, trust is the belief that management’s actions, words and deeds are intended to benefit and enrich all stakeholders, not just those who run the company. For trust to exist, your customers, employees, suppliers and stockholders have to believe that you are acting in their best interests as well as your own.

Strategies for building trust include:

  • Act with integrity. In other words, walk your talk.
  • Develop a strong, unifying mission and vision. Let people know why you exist and how that will make the world a better place for everyone involved with the company.
  • Define and clarify organizational values that determine how you will behave internally and externally. Live those values on a daily basis.
  • Communicate constantly, not just about the decisions being made but why they are being made.
  • Treat people with respect. Create an environment where people are encouraged to express their opinions, and listen when they do.
  • Provide ongoing feedback. Let employees know what you expect from them and tell them how they are doing on a regular basis.
  • Develop a culture of accountability. Reward high performance and hold people accountable for improving poor performance.
  • Communicate constantly and cascade key messages throughout the organization. This includes telling employees how the business is doing overall and where you see it headed in the next one to three years. It also includes constantly updating employees on shifts in the external environment (markets, competition, regulations, etc.) and defining why you will still win.

Perhaps the biggest change wrought by the advent of social media is the demand for transparency. In the past, many companies controlled public perception by limiting the amount of information people had access to. With social media and the resulting flood of information, transparency in business has become an expectation.

In today’s world, secrecy breeds suspicion. When you withhold information, both the intent and the actual content become open to misinterpretation. In the absence of information, today’s bloggers, twitterers and forum posters will make it up for you. The last thing you want is for others to dictate how the public perceives your business.

Creating trust as a strategic objective represents a new way of thinking for many of today’s business leaders. But the next generation of market leaders will be those companies that do the best job of building and maintaining trust with their key stakeholders.

June 29, 2009

How to Give Your Employees the Positive Feedback They Want and Need

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — Admin @ 8:10 am

Have you told an employee what a great job he/she is doing recently? Have you received positive feedback for going above and beyond in the past month? Have you overheard others in your organization praise someone for doing more than was expected?

Positive feedback has long been recognized as a critical element in high performing workplaces. During these tough economic times, when job security has vanished and employee trust in their employers has sunk to an all-time low, it has become more important than ever.

Interestingly enough, one of the greatest problems with positive feedback is that many managers don’t feel comfortable giving it. It takes too long, feels insincere or “too soft”, or it just gets in the way of day-to-day activities. Some managers don’t like discussing another person’s behavior, or giving feedback just “isn’t their style.” Yet, few actions will do more to build trust and boost morale than ongoing, sincere feedback of a positive nature.

Humans have an innate need to seek feedback on how we are doing. Without it, people tend to make up information — almost always negative — to fill the void. Giving positive feedback helps to prevent destructive “information gaps,” and strengthens relationships between employees and their supervisors. It also leads to improved work quality, increased accountability and a higher-performing work environment.

Positive feedback starts with knowing when and how to praise employees. Specifically, it involves recognizing and praising employees for particular behaviors and accomplishments that go beyond the everyday expectations of their jobs.

For example, praise employees when they:

  • Turn a difficult customer into a promoter
  • Reach new levels of accuracy
  • Produce more than the amount produced by any predecessor
  • Develop or contribute significantly to another colleague
  • Create a new process, product or approach
  • Present an idea for doing something differently (even if the idea is not implemented)
  • Do an exceptional job of influencing internally or externally
  • Excel at a presentation
  • Participate significantly in a community event on behalf of the company

The idea is to let employees know that you are paying attention and that you appreciate their efforts. Taking a few moments to express your appreciation can have a powerful impact on employees’ self-esteem and their attitudes toward their work and the organization as a whole.

To maximize the impact of your positive feedback, make it:

  • Immediate. Give the recognition as soon as possible after the event.
  • Specific. State specifically what the person did that met or exceeded your expectations.
  • Impactful. Explain how the event or behavior affected you, the team or the organization.
  • Encouraging. Focus on the positive only. Be appreciative without mentioning other things that might need to change or be adjusted. These should be saved for times when you are giving constructive feedback.
  • Focused. State how the performance or action was positive and contributed to success. This will help prevent other messages, often made up, from taking the employee off track.

For example, “Susan, I really appreciated the way you stepped up to the plate and filled in on the XYZ contract when Richard was out with the flu. Your efforts helped us land a new customer that should increase sales by 10% over the next year.” Or, “Paul, nice job on the presentation today. You got the message across in a way that enabled everyone to have a much better understanding of our objective and why it is important.”

Most of all, positive feedback must be sincere. Never give positive feedback unless you mean it. And don’t praise employees for showing up on time or doing the basics of their job. Employees have very accurate “b.s. detectors,” and will quickly see through any false praise. Insincere positive feedback will just make recipients wonder what your real agenda is or what you are trying to hide. And the next time you give legitimate praise it will have far less impact.

Also, the time has come to jettison the “sandwich” technique, whereby you say something positive, sneak in something you want the employee to do differently, and then finish with a positive. For years, this approach was used to soften the impact of critical feedback, and it worked reasonably well with Baby Boomer and Traditionalist workers.

Gen-Xers, however, quickly saw through this strategy and openly questioned the hidden agenda behind the positive feedback. And the youngest generation, the Millennials, are so accustomed to direct (and often brutal) feedback that they see no point in wasting time by trying to sneak positive feedback into a constructive feedback conversation.

So keep your positive feedback positive, focus on specific events and behaviors that exceed your expectations, and let employees know how much you appreciate their efforts. You’ll improve morale and enhance trust while encouraging higher levels of performance. And today’s stressed-out employees will appreciate your efforts to meet their workplace needs.

May 27, 2009

How to Inform, Inspire and Engage Employees in Today’s World

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Admin @ 8:41 am

Have you ever noticed that no matter how much some things change, others remain the same? The modern workplace has changed almost beyond recognition, yet, many companies still manage their employees as if we were in the 80′s.

Twenty-five years ago, managers basically gave employees tasks to complete, providing only as much detail as needed to get the job done. Workers were almost never asked for their ideas, input or critical thinking.

Today, effective leadership involves a lot more than just telling people what to do. To achieve success you must inform, inspire and engage employees so they will choose to go where you are attempting to lead them.

Inform
Informing is the first step in aligning employees and getting buy-in. It starts with sharing the why, what and how of your strategic plan. Then discuss and get clear on individual roles in meeting the goals necessary to achieve the plan.

To feel informed, today’s employees need clarity on:

  • The mission statement (why you exist)
  • Guiding principles (how you will behave)
  • Value propositions (what you offer to key stakeholders)
  • Destination points (where you are going in one to three years)
  • Strategies (key areas of focus for the entire organization)

Although the need to communicate has not changed over the years, the tools we use to communicate have. Thanks to the Internet and other new technologies, today’s leaders can (and should) communicate in many different ways.

The old standbys — memos, meetings and newsletters — still have their place, only in most cases these have gone digital. In addition to these tools, today’s leaders and managers use e-mail, intranets and online newsletters to communicate quickly and effectively with employees. They also use blogs, webinars and video clips to educate and update employees about company goals and objectives.

Companies with geographically dispersed workforces use conference calls and video teleconferencing to simulate face-to-face interactions. And the more tech-savvy companies, especially those with younger workforces, are even using instant messaging and Twitter to stay connected. Whatever technologies you employ, the key is to communicate often in many different ways to ensure that all employees are focused and aligned.

Inspire
Today’s employees want to believe that their work is making a difference in the world. To inspire others:

  • Share a compelling vision of what tomorrow looks like. How will that vision make the world a better place and improve their lives?
  • Constantly discuss the aspirational components of your model. Why should employees aspire to achieve the goals your organization has set?
  • Share why you believe the destination is compelling. What is it about where the company is going that inspires you?
  • Communicate with enthusiasm and passion. Become a cheerleader for the organizational goals.
  • Ask employees what the vision means to them. Share their responses via e-mail, intranet and in company meetings.
  • Share positive customer feedback. Give people reasons to feel good about what the company does.
  • Celebrate achievement of milestones. We all want to be part of a winning team, so recognize the progress and success along the way to your goals.

The ultimate goal is to get employees talking about what the vision, mission and goals mean to them individually. The more they focus on these areas, the more likely you are to get buy-in and alignment.

Engage
Engaged employees bring more than just their bodies to work. They bring their hearts and souls as well as their best thinking. To keep employees engaged:

  • Visit with them throughout the year to check on their progress. Make sure all individual goals remain aligned with company goals.
  • Share stories of how teams are aligned and achieving goals. Highlight team accomplishments and link them to the strategy they support.
  • Create an employee pledge wall or flip chart where people can affirm their commitment by listing one thing they will do differently to support the goals.
  • To measure employee understanding, commitment, inspiration and engagement, take quick surveys following team or company meetings.
  • Solicit questions via email or intranet and address them in open forums. Publicly thank employees for raising the issues.

Remember that as a leader or manager, your behavior speaks much louder than your words. What are you doing (and not just saying) that communicates the importance of the company’s goals? Conversely, what are you doing that might send a conflicting message? The more your behavior is in alignment with what you are saying, the more you will inform, inspire and engage your employees.

May 19, 2009

Thinking Differently Around the Globe

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , — Admin @ 11:04 am

I just spent four days in Shanghai, China working with one of my global clients. We were focused on supporting a group of key leaders and managers in thinking differently – to try new approaches to cut fixed costs from their multibillion dollar organization. I have now worked with this client in numerous locations around the world and continue to be fascinated by both the similarities in cultures and how they impact the ways we work at work.

In my experience, similarities globally for leaders and managers today include:

  • Getting stuck in our thinking process especially when we are successful
    • We appreciate the comfort and presumed certainty of doing things the same way over and over and achieving the same results we always have (especially when it works well for us). The dilemma is that everything around us is constantly changing. Just imagine for a moment that you are running your business, your team, your department the same way it was being run ten years ago…highly unlikely you would be successful. We have to constantly update our mental models (our beliefs, biases, and ‘thought bubbles’) about almost everyone and everything to be a great leader or manager today. Learning and unlearning have become critical to success. We must incorporate the new (including things like social media, shifting consumer expectations, new technology, changing competitive environments, etc.) while maintaining our core values and beliefs. It’s a tough juggling act around the globe.
  • Losing focus on the right things to spend our time on
    • I have yet to meet anyone in the global workforce today who is not stretched too thin, doing too much with too little. And we are surrounded by so much noise (hundreds of emails, constantly changing data, continuously shifting priorities, etc.) that it is increasingly difficult to focus. We get our emails on our PDA’s but don’t keep our top goals and strategies in front of us. We get clear in our head on what we expect or want to happen, but forget to communicate it to all of the stakeholders involved. I often find employees working hard on initiatives and strategies that are outdated or should have been abandoned. But no one told them or for some reason they chose to stick with what they knew even if it was the wrong thing. Or worse, individuals continue doing things because “that is the way we have always done it…I know leader X thinks this is important because one time, in a meeting two years ago she asked about it…”
  • Believing we have communicated enough and gotten others engaged in what we are doing
    • By the time most leaders and managers have communicated where you want others to go, you have had the opportunity to really think about and process it. You have worked out all the reasons for the journey and destination and rationalized away most of the fears or hurdles you might have. Unfortunately, you have to slow down just a little and get your whole team up to speed. Otherwise you are like the runner breaking through the tape at the end of a race, but your team is at a different stadium or just starting to warm up – you are in different places. Inform others and then work constantly to inspire and engage them. Remember, they have a lot competing for their time and attention too!

Get back to basics even when everything around you tries to divert you into complexity. We are living in a time when there will always be more to do than you can. Things are only going to get faster – today is likely to be the slowest it is going to be as you move forward.

  • Make strategic planning a way of life because it involves exploring the environment you operate in and considering different approaches. Ask yourself and others “what if…we considered a different angle, took a different approach, we are wrong, this information means something different to someone else…?”
  • Set clear expectations of what excellence looks like so you and everyone around you can focus on the right things
  • Communicate constantly about strategies and excellence so that you and your team are informed, inspired and engaged in doing the right things
  • Constantly learn & unlearn. Test yourself every time you are absolutely, positively sure you are right or find yourself doing it exactly the same way you have always done it. Pause and ask “what if…I am wrong, there is another way, things have changed around me…?” Try to constantly update your mental models about the world, your work and everyone in it.

Although doing some of the actions noted above will feel a bit like you are going slow, remember: There is never time to do it right but always time to do it over is NOT the mantra of winners! Pause to think differently, focus, set clear expectations, communicate and unlearn every now and then to get it right the first time.

April 28, 2009

Tips for Decision Making in Today’s World

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , — Admin @ 8:33 am

Uncertainty has become a norm today. The world is moving at a pace that is hard for us to manage physiologically and the future is less predictable than we ever imagined it would be. Our history (including our successes) is less and less predictable. Based on these constantly changing conditions, how do we make timely and good decisions today? How do we deal with the fact that there is so much information available to us, changing so rapidly that we can’t possibly get all the data we sometimes want?

First, remain sensitive to the symptoms of poor decision making:

  • Ideas and options have been discussed ad nauseum – they have been talked about, put on a ‘parking lot’, set aside, and keep popping up in meetings with no resolution or action taken
  • Decisions get made with no discussion or data available – sometimes based on who talks the loudest or has the most seniority in the meeting
  • Alternatives are ignored or risks are minimized beyond reason
  • Meetings go on and on but there are no notes, no follow up and no actions taken as agreed
  • Decisions get made but not communicated
  • Decisions get made and changed, again and again for no apparent reason
  • Facts or data are ignored because they are uncomfortable or ‘politically incorrect’ to discuss
  • Same issues/opportunities/challenges keep coming up over and over
  • There is never enough time to fully discuss something

Second, state your intentions and commit to making good decisions:

  • Describe what a good decision looks like to you as a leader (this does not have to include lengthy or bureaucratic processes) – just a simple, “we will discuss the data available, examine alternatives, and review risks in a timely fashion…”
  • Focus participants in decision making on exposing their thinking process: what data do they have, what does the data mean to them, what assumptions are they making and therefore what action(s) are they recommending
  • Establish what criteria you will use for the decision (i.e. one criteria in purchasing is usually price). Don’t discount less quantifiable criteria such as customer service.
  • Allow people to be heard no matter their level or expertise – great ideas and different perspectives often come from those who know less than the experts
  • Compare your options to your definition of winning or excellence for your organization – does the ‘answer’ get you closer to your defined destination or not

Third and perhaps most importantly:

  • Do the things you stated as your intentions above. Practice creates excellence and your words will mean little if your actions don’t align.

Don’t:

  • Pretend there is a decision to be made when there isn’t. If there really are no options, there are no decisions.
  • Make a decision and then change it after conversation with one person or if you get one piece of additional data without discussing it with all the people initially involved.
  • Delay because you don’t have all the info – you probably never will
  • Delay by second guessing yourself to death – get clear on whatever is stopping you from making the decision and discuss it. You might be surprised that others were thinking the same thing or even have an answer or data to address your concern.
  • Hide decisions. It is better for people to know the truth than have to fill in the blanks guessing – they most often make up much worse stories than the real one.

Not knowing or not getting a decision is often times much worse than bad news or tough decisions. If you have ever worked in an organization that was in a holding pattern or had a boss that could not make decisions, you know firsthand how frustrating it can be. Whatever decisions you make, make them with the best data you can get, measured against criteria you have considered, with a good understanding of the advantages and disadvantages for whichever course your choose. Discuss and share them openly so everyone stays aligned and focused on winning.

March 17, 2009

Leading Effectively In Uncertainty

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , — Admin @ 9:39 am

Tips for being aware, asking the right questions, and making timely decisions

One of the few commonalities of almost every article, study or book about leadership is an agreement that self awareness is critical to be a great leader. Today, more than ever, it is important to understand what is driving you – what is influencing your behaviors, your decisions, the data you gather and the choices you make? What mental models, assumptions and beliefs do you have about the world, the economy, your company, your competitors, your employees, etc?

Following are a few questions to ask yourself to indicate how you are performing as a leader in tough and uncertain times:

  • Are you delaying important decisions?
    • There is nothing worse for employees than uncertainty right now. Make tough decisions even if you don’t have all the data you would like to have. You can almost always change them later, but not making them causes tremendous anxiety and a real lack of focus in your organization, draining energy and productivity.
  • Are you spending too much time in your office, avoiding communicating?
    • Even if you don’t have all the answers and there are things you cannot communicate, talk about what you can. Tell employees as much as you can – the good and the not so good. They are making up much worse in the breakroom, so fill in the blanks with more accurate information.
  • Are you ignoring the input and insight of the market, competitors, customers, employees, others?
    • Those closest to the customer often know the most about what you should and could change quickly to retain customers, market share, etc. Ask them! And if ideas are offered, even those that seem like a stretch, consider them seriously.
  • Have you considered multiple ways of winning?
    • If you are still trying to do the same things you were six or seven months ago, wake up and smell the burnt coffee. Things have changed and you must adapt your strategies and actions to adapt to the new realities.

Following are a few tips for continuing to be a great leader in tough and uncertain times:

  • Spend time evaluating what is and what isn’t possible.
    • Take stock of what you do know about your industry and the economic climate. Be cautious to check your understanding – just because you knew it a year ago, does not mean it is still accurate. Invest in getting better business intelligence right now. It will serve you well.
    • Do scenario planning to expand your brain’s ability to see multiple alternatives and course of action. Ask yourself and others “What if…?” You’ll be amazed at what people can come up with if you give them a target and then ask questions to help them see it and believe it is possible.
    • Examining and considering multiple possibilities will help you be prepared to take action if an opportunity presents itself.
  • Prioritize so that you and others remain focused on the right things.
    • Once you have reset your strategies and tactics, make sure everyone in your organization knows what they are. Most people are working incredibly hard today. The problem is, some are working on the wrong things – projects and initiatives that are now unimportant or less important to success. But no one told them! Constantly communicate priorities and the ‘why’ behind them.
  • Deepen customer relationships.
    • Make sure you have a senior executive assigned to connect with significant customers on a regular basis. Customers are making tough decisions on where to spend limited dollars, so make sure your name is front and center because you have built a good relationship.
  • Work on building as much resilience in your organization as possible.
    • Things are changing at a pace that is almost impossible for us to absorb and assimilate. Resilient organizations are focused, proactive, positive, flexible and organized. Don’t assume your employees can constantly adapt to all that is going on. Make it one of your areas of focus and invest the energy to build the capability to deal with the accelerating pace of change.
  • Examine everything!
    • Just because something served the organization well a year ago, does not mean it is the best approach today. Pause and consider all the things that are ‘set in stone’ and consider changing them to adapt to the current environment.

Someone will win. Will it be you and your organization?

March 9, 2009

Trust

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Admin @ 9:24 am

What creates it & how do you maintain it today?

Trust is the state of readiness for unguarded interaction with someone or something. Trust is built and maintained by many small actions over time. Trust is telling the truth, even when it is difficult, and being honest, authentic, and reliable in your dealings with customers and employees. Trust exists on many levels in an organization: with the direct manager, with the leadership, with the team and with the company.

Individuals must have a capacity for trust based on his/her experiences (with the current manager and company as well as with previous employers). The experiences we each have develop or diminish the capacity and willingness to risk trusting others. In the current business environment, there is a continuing decline of trust in companies and leadership overall. Employees watch the news, hear stories and wonder constantly if “it” (being laid off, denied a promotion or raise, having their project stopped, shutting down the company, etc.) is going to happen to them.

Individuals must perceive and believe in the ability of others they work with to perform competently at whatever is needed. During tough times, this belief in others tends to erode especially when communications are lacking concerning how changes impact the organization and success. Couple that with the increasing amount of communication about all the problems in the economy and you quickly have a lopsided equation with the negative far outweighing the positive. Employees are deeply concerned about who is going to be the next company or ‘leader’ exposed in some sort of scandal or unethical behavior.

Lastly, but incredibly important to trust, is a belief that the actions, words, direction, mission, and/or decisions are motivated by mutually-serving rather than self-serving motives. Employees have to know you care about them and are considering their best interests as well as the company’s. During tough times, there is an even greater likelihood that employees will fill in the blanks with negative intentions if they are not getting constant communication about what is going on, how the company will still win and what is in it for them to stay, work hard and remain productive. In almost every breakroom around the country today, employees are wondering how some leaders and senior managers are asking for and getting multi-million dollar bonuses as they are laying off employees and their businesses are failing by every measure. What kind of beliefs does an individual have to justify that sort of behavior and why would you expect that they will ever consider your interests?

There are critical leadership & management behaviors to build and grow trust in today’s environment:

Read the whole post here

February 23, 2009

How Do You Keep Up as a Leader or Manager Today?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , — Admin @ 2:42 pm

Focus on continual learning and unlearning. There are almost no jobs left that will remain the same over time and the demands of leaders and managers are continuing to evolve. Pause and think about the changes in the past year alone. Leaders and managers that are successful today are constantly learning and developing themselves. The problem with successful adults is that our brains are constructed to help us prove ourselves right. And the more successful we are, the more energy we spend on doing this. But the things that served us well last year or even last week, might not be the best approach anymore based on all the change around us.

Really great leaders and managers today have the following characteristics in common. They:

  • Like to master things
    • They are motivated and driven to constantly get better, knowing full well that they will not, and should not, be perfect
  • Are observant and flexible
    • They can consider multiple perspectives to create general guidelines that help them make sense of what is around them
  • Focus on problem solving
    • They consider current issues from the perspective of making things better versus blaming or worrying
    • Their thinking is characterized by a balance of the ability to visualize what might or could be, and an effective day to day approach to get the right things done
    • They can distill complexity
  • Are self aware…

Read the whole post here

February 8, 2009

Talking to the laid-off

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , — Admin @ 11:37 am

Keep the person positive and looking to what could happen in future

Almost all of us know someone well who has been laid off recently. So what do you do to be most supportive? Do you give them advice at a cocktail party? Tell them it will all be okay as they’re walking out of their office or plant with box in hand? Should you text them words of encouragement? Or should you just leave them alone?

The main challenge many of us face is that we worry for the other person and project how we might feel if it happened to us. We tend to see those laid off as helpless victims. We don’t know exactly what to say, but we desperately want to say and/or do something. In our rush to be supportive, it is easy to say or do the wrong thing.

Sometimes we also feel bad for our own good fortune in not being laid off as well. What may be at play in this situation is something called survivor syndrome. Sometimes people who still have jobs feel guilty and also worry that they could be next. Those feelings could negatively impact your relationships with unemployed friends. Suddenly you’re just two sad sacks wallowing in bad vibes, and that helps no one.

You don’t want to wallow in pity, but don’t go overboard raving about how great your life is when you meet up with a friend at a networking event and discover he or she has lost their job. You can share the fact that you’re going on a vacation or just got a promotion but also acknowledge what they’re going through. “Say ‘I’m sorry.’ Offer them support, and be specific.”

If your laid-off friend likes to communicate on a social networking site, it’s OK to use that technology. Although some believe the phone is preferable, e-mail also is acceptable. Understand that your friend might have a lot going on, and might even prefer to deal with some of the emotions she is feeling via email versus in person. Don’t take it personally if he or she doesn’t respond right away…

Read the whole post here

© 2012, The Human Factor, Inc.