Management Consultant, Author, Blogger, Skier, Husband, Dad, and Mini Cooper owner, but not necessarily in that order.
This is Bulls**t: Work/Life Balance
This is Bulls**t: Work/Life Balance is an original piece from Seiden Leadership.
With all due respect to the very sharp Josh Bersin and fellow bloggers Laurie Ruettimann, Lance Haun, Sharlyn Lauby, and Kris Dunn, this is ridiculous.
First of all, the term “weisure” is a joke. We’re blending work and leisure? No, we’re not. These two things don’t mix. Ever see those billboards in airports showing smiling people sitting on the beach with their laptops? That’s weisure, and it’s pure fiction. In real life, if I’m on the beach with a laptop:
- I’m grumpy because my computer is getting sand in it.
- I’m annoyed that I can’t relax and enjoy my vacation.
- My head hurts from squinting on account of the glare from the screen.
- My family is upset that I’m not mentally present for them.
- My coworkers are wondering what the hell is wrong with me that I can’t step away from my laptop even when I’m at the beach.
So no, there’s no such thing as “weisure.”
Secondly, all the other terms to describe the same concept, including:
- Work/life balance
- Work/life choices
- Work/life integration
are equally as pathetic.
The problem here is the use of the term LIFE. See, the opposite of LIFE is DEATH; creating a second “opposite” of LIFE and calling it WORK creates a subliminal connection between WORK and DEATH. It’s subtle, it’s profound, and dooms the entire conversation into a bad set of choices.
(Work/life choice? I’ll choose LIFE, thank you.)
The work/life conversation also implies an external source of your problem: if your LIFE’s out of whack, then clearly the root problem is your a-hole boss, who is obviously loading you up on WORK and failing to realize this is your LIFE we’re talking about.
Bring in the integrity
If you like being moderately miserable, then by all means, continue this bullshit conversation. Go ahead. Keep trying to find a balance between LIFE and SOMETHING THAT IS NOT LIFE.
But, if you truly want to succeed, find your balance, and smile that easy, carefree smile you used to have as a child, then let’s start having a more honest conversation.
Repeat after me:
- There is no such thing as work life balance.
- There is no meanie boss harshing on your personal life.
- There is only you and your courage.
The only reason you are “out of balance” is that you are being a puss-ball about something in your life. Ask yourself: are you…
- Failing to dedicate yourself to a single goal, aka, “keeping your options open”?
- Setting backassward priorities, aka putting off that one big decision?
- Holding yourself back, aka out of fear of… something?
- Allowing others’ priorities (read: your obligations) to crowd out your passions?
You can complain you’re out of balance, but that’s bullshit. The problem is you. You’re not doing what you need to do to succeed. Instead, you’re pussy-footing through life, which is basically the same as asking others to push you around.
Take control of your time. It’s not a question of balance, it’s a question of courage.
Get some.
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How to Self-Destruct. FREE. This week only.
How to Self-Destruct. FREE. This week only. is an original piece from Seiden Leadership.
It has taken me 18 months to get comfortable with the fact that I wrote a successful book.
- Yes, How to Self-Destruct is funny.
- Yes, it really does help people stop being so damn afraid of their own shadows.
- Yes, reading it has translated into real performance improvement.
These things were evident immediately, but it took some time before I could accept it wasn’t all just wishful thinking. Now I get it, and now I wonder what the hell took me so long—I’ve let 18 months slip by!
I have another book coming out in a few weeks, called Super Staying Power, and in short order I will be kicking into high gear to promote it. But first, I want to take one week to really rev up momentum on How to Self-Destruct. So, I’m giving it away. For free. By the box. From now until Friday, November 6th.
You probably want details.
Details
General managers, HR VPs, training directors, event planners, team leaders, association coordinators, ambitious team members, and social chairpersons: I will send you a box of 38 real-life, hold-’em-in-your-hands copies of How to Self-Destruct—rounded corners, illustrations, red text, and all—at no charge. Give copies to your team members and watch them laugh their way to fearlessness, better decisions, and more collaboration. All of which means more dollars to the bottom line.
In other words: ZERO RISK, big potential upside.
Getting the books is super easy. You have 3 options:
- Option #1: Find me at the Fail Spectacularly! party in Chicago on 11/4.
- Option #2: Fill out this handy little form.
- Option #3: Email me: jason@seidenleadership.com. (Include your phone number!)
All of these options will get the ball rolling. The ball then rolls to me confirming that you are legit and that I have stock left. Then I figure out shipping fees, which you pay—this is my way of making you prove you’re for real. Finally, you prepare to receive a box of 38 awesome!
You will love this book.
Gold medal, endorsements, reviews, blogger love, super duper trailer… How to Self-Destruct is goodness through and through. You’ll like it. And if you don’t? Hell, use ‘em as coasters, what do you care. They were free.
Why do it this way?
Because I don’t have time to fart around. Because the best way to learn about H2SD is to experience it firsthand. Because this lets me do good for you and your career, which is the whole point of my job. Because you might decide you want me to deliver a keynote presentation for your organization. Because you might be thinking of coaching will discover how I can help you. Because this book can only help you if it’s in your hands.
So, are you in?
Better get moving, you’ve only got until November 6th.
When Friday happens, this… offer… is… done!
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You’ll probably fail. I can help.
Think what you will of yourself.
Odds are, you’re average. And that means all those extraordinary things you want for yourself? Those things reserved for the top 5% of performers? Right. They’re not for you.
But don’t let a silly thing like “reality” stop you!
If you’re really like Mr. Average, struggling to have a life that really isn’t possible given your ability level, you—like Mr. Average—probably will find yourself playing politics, taking shortcuts, holding others back, stealing relationships, and praying for a little luck, in order to achieve what you can’t get on merit.
One problem: like Mr. Average, you probably don’t know you’re average. You’ll engage in all that crap and think—quite honestly—that you’re doing what any Top 5%er does.
Oh, joy.
Look, you need my books. Both of them. You need H2SD so you can see exactly what you look like when you try to live above your pay grade. And you’ll want Super Staying Power so you can see how to make the best of what you do have.
Fortunately for you, if you have a team, How to Self-Destruct is free… but only until Friday, and maybe not even that long if people keep scooping them up as quickly as they did yesterday (Monday).
Super Staying Power launches later this month in Washington, DC, at an event sponsored by SmartBrief Workforce. That’ll be followed with a Chicago launch in January. (Because face it: there ain’t much happening in Chicago in January. This’ll be my way of shedding a little warmth in early 2010.)
So, what are you, average? Hell, no! You’re special! After all, your kindergarten teacher said so!
Which means its time to get off the average-person’s merry-go-round of typical business books and typical frustrations, and get with my program, which will put you on a path of SPECTACULAR success or SPECTACULAR failure—the operative part being that whatever you end up doing with yourself, your results will be as SPECTACULAR as you are.
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Is the P&L Dying?
Is the P&L Dying? is an original piece from Seiden Leadership.
More and more, my clients are moving to more sophisticated, matrix organizations, where ownership for final products (or services) is held jointly by various experts rather than by a single individual.
What’s interesting about this to me is how it’s diminishing opportunities for individuals to assume full responsibility for their actions. More and more, their successes are continent upon others also pulling their weight; it’s getting more and more difficult in some of these organizations to draw a direct line between an individual’s efforts and the impact that individual has on the organization’s (or even the team’s) overall health. This has become particularly apparent to me as I’ve head general managers and others bemoaning their lack of clarity into their own P&Ls (profit & loss statements)… one manager needed four minutes and a pen and paper to explain to me how revenues and costs are recorded, “rolled up,” and then re-allocated back to his line of business.
This is neither an anti-establishment rant nor a wistful longing for some old days. It’s merely an announcement that change is underway—so step lively. And by the way, for the uninitiated, a P&L, or Income Statement, is a financial document that reads like this:
Gross revenues (receipts)
-Cost of goods sold (direct costs that can be specifically attributed to each item)
-Net revenues (wait… we’re not done with costs…)
-SG&A (sales, general, and administrative expenses… stuff you need the cost of which gets spread over all sales; that ream of paper you swiped from the storeroom? That’s an SG&A expense. So is the laptop your company gave you and, if you’re in HR, Finance, or anywhere at corporate, so is your salary.)
-Income (wait… we’re still not done with costs…)
-Depreciation/Amortization (a 2 yr old car is worth less than a new one… the IRS has a specific document that tells you by how much. Depreciation is how a company removes a little more “value” from its books every year as its equipment gets older)
-Interest Expense (from all those bank loans)
-Taxes
-Net Income
The whole document is usually done in a spreadsheet, with 5 or 13 columns, each column showing either quarterly or monthly results, and the last one showing an annualized aggregate.
In a world where people can aspire to “own” a P&L (profit & loss), the good (clear responsibility) comes with the bad (parochial, short-term thinking). Companies driven by local P&L centers often struggle to unify those centers much the same way geopolitical blocs struggle to bring sovereign nations together for the common good. This seems to be the problem many organizations are now solving by consolidating expertise across all P&L centers at a single, headquartered location. But while this solves the unification problem, it creates a void of clear ownership, which can create execution challenges that don’t exist in a P&L world.
Doh!
The upshot? I’d say that if you sense this shift occurring within your organization, pay more attention to your political skills. Now more than ever, your going to have to convince multiple stakeholders to go along with your ideas to see them implemented… people who each have their own ideas, by the way! If you don’t hone these skills, then you might achieve temporary agreement with your peers, but you’ll struggle to hold the group together through implementation.
Your first move in thriving in this type of political environment is to recalibrate the way you view the political process: it’s not a necessary evil; it’s the mechanism by which a group of people who all want to lead determine who the real leader will be. Until you make this mental shift and ditch your pre-judgment of politics, your attempts to engage politically will go over about as well as a lead balloon.
And of course, if you’re the type of bull-headed freight train that fixates on what you want to do and refuses to work with other people, then I’m not sure I want you with P&L responsibility, either… why reward small-mindedness?
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Psst, Gen Y! Play Time Is Over, You Missed the Bell!
Talking with a woman the other morning while dropping my daughter off from school, she told me she needed to hire an executive assistant—someone seasoned.
I asked what happened to her last assistant, and why she was so sure she wanted someone older. (I know some very capable younger folks who I had been thinking of recommending.)
She said the young assistants (plural—she’d been through a string of them) weren’t working out. The last one had quit abruptly after deciding the job wasn’t challenging enough. No other job lined up; she just… quit.
This story is far from isolated.
My favorite is the person who quit a rock solid job at a first-class institution in a high-demand role to wait tables at a ski resort for a season. (Look, if anyone understands about taking time off from life to go skiing, it’s me… but not even I had the chutzpa to simply check out from a good job.)
Gen Y, by quitting a game you don’t understand, you’re not avoiding older generations’ mistakes, you’re simply repeating them in a different way. If you have any interest in making sure all your hopes and promise vanish and turn into a world of poo, you need to pull your act together… fast!
Start by reading these three posts:
- Get some perspective on why it’s difficult to establishing a career today.
- Learn why the idea of going off to “find yourself” is a total and complete waste of your time.
- Find out how to get passionate about the work you already do.
Life isn’t being fair, and it’s not playing nice, but it is your reality.
Play time is over, you missed the bell.
Time to start running.
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Fail Spectacularly: Clips from a Live Presentation
Imagine the scene: an auditorium filled with over 330 people. On the stage, the towering, purple curtains are drawn, revealing a monster movie screen. It’s time to go to work, punk monkeys. My on-screen self peels his sunglasses off as my voice booms out from all directions: “People want to fail. I’m Jason Seiden.” The music swells. There is an on-screen explosion that reverberates through the theater.
And then, from behind the purple curtain, I appear. Applause spontaneously erupts.
I’m not even kidding you, that is exactly how my introduction went last Thursday night when I spoke at Spertus. What a treat—everyone should get to play star for a day.
If you missed it, maybe because you’re not in the Chicago not-for-profit networking world, I’ve linked to a few video clip highlights. (Of course, YouTube is “down for maintenance” right now, so I can’t embed them. Newman!)
Clip about why work/life balance will doom you to a life of mediocrity
Clip about only making logical arguments to settle debates
Clip about our fear of failure (from the conclusion)
Like what you see? Hire me to speak at your organization today! Don’t have a budget for a speaker? Check out my DIY kit. It takes two hours to complete and will trigger a lasting improvement in your life.
Lastly—because last is best—I need to give a big, big, big thank you to Erin Slott, of Spertus Institute, Angela Jacobs, aka @aj4sure, and Andrew Kirchner, alleged relative of Abe Frohemann (sausage king of Chicago), for putting together this unbelievable event. Y’all made my year!
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10 Simple Ways to Improve Your Interpersonal Savvy
Here’s a cliche you’re probably familiar with: give a child a toy and he ditches it for the box it came in. (Apparently, the same is true for animals. In the video, I caught Lenny, my bulldog, after she had dumped all her toys out of the plastic box we keep them in so she could chomp on the box itself.)
Now here’s something you’re probably not familiar with: as grown ups, our fascination with containers and boxes does not go away… the boxes just become less cardboard and more conceptual.
Ever overpay for a shirt because it had a particular logo on it? Sure you have. We all have, even if we didn’t want to… because sometimes, it just isn’t worth it to have to explain to everyone that we actually don’t care. And you probably know where this is going, right? That logo is the container. Just as a big ribbon frames a child’s experience with a present, providing secondary enjoyment and making the object inside the box seem more special, the logo frames our experience with the shirt in exactly the same way.
A brand is a box. You know what else is a box? Interpersonal savvy is a box. Seriously: the way in which you approach others frames others’ experiences with you the same way a brand frames your experience with a shirt… and the framing—the box—still matters.
The funny thing is, in my experience, people agree with this principle dearly when talking about other people, but not so much when focusing on themselves. They want other people to present themselves crisply, but they want other people to understand when they themselves are running late and don’t have time to “wrap the gift,” so to speak.
Sorry, Charlie! The box still matters. You need to ditch the ugly interpersonal wrapping paper you sometimes use. Here are 10 statements that, if you eliminate these from your repertoire, will help you improve your personal brand immensely:
- “He should have known I was kidding.”
Never push responsibility for a conversation’s success to someone else. Take full control for your own success. Bad outcome? You can only fix it if the problem is within your control—that means assuming it was your own fault. - “I would think people would want someone in my job to be so busy that I don’t have time for pointless pleasantries.”
You’re still a human being, and no matter how busy you get, you’ll never be more of a man than I. You may forget that, but I promise you: I won’t. - “Let me try to explain this to you one more time.”
Wonderful. Now, not only are you an arrogant prick, but you’re projecting your inability to communicate onto me? I think we’re done here. If you’re a salesman, you’re really toast. - “And maybe you’re too sensitive!”
Just one more way in which people push responsibility for a conversation to others. The problem here isn’t my sensitivity, it’s that you failed to consider your audience before opening your big fat mouth. (Oh, don’t tell me you found “big fat mouth” offensive?! Get over it, you’re being too sensitive!) - “Hey! I’m the boss around here, you just do what I say, got it?!”
Huh? Did I fall asleep and wake up in 19th century France? Give your Napoleon Complex a rest before someone hands you your Waterloo. - “How is it possible that you still don’t understand what I’ve been telling you for the past half hour?”
Maybe because you haven’t shut up once in 30 minutes long enough for me to ask you the one question I need answered? - “That’s actually not a bad job… coming from you.”
And that’s actually a pretty a**holish thing to say… even coming from you. - “That’s funny… coming from someone with an seven foot cube.”
Thank you for confirming for me just how petty you are. I’m sure when they put “She had a 96″ cube” on your tombstone, everyone’s going to be really impressed. - “Can I have a promotion? I deserve it.”
Hmm. The irony of the first sentence is the deferential way in which you are asking for power—you want power, yet the framing here keeps you below me on the totem pole even if you get it. The irony of the second part is the lack of awareness of the irony in the first.
- “Everyone in management is a total idiot.”
By the transitive property then, if I made you a manager… you’d be an idiot, too. Right? I guess you won’t be getting that promotion after all… I’d hate to undermine your intelligence like that.
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Courage, Gratitude, A Stroke at 30, & A Book of Poems
Courage, Gratitude, A Stroke at 30, & A Book of Poems is an original piece from Seiden Leadership.
Were you grateful when you got yourself out of bed this morning? Did you thank the heavens above when you shuffled yourself over to the shower?
My friend Jeff Winicour will tell you, “You should be thankful. You’re lucky.”
Did you deal with some “major tragedy” today at work? Avert a “crisis”? Get caught up in “drama”?
Jeff doubts it. He’ll tell you, whatever your problem is, you should consider yourself lucky to have it.
Jeff knows what he’s talking about. He’s in a wheelchair, has been for about six years, thanks to two consecutive strokes he had, courtesy of AVM. The second stroke nearly killed him.
Jeff probably knows better than you how lucky you are to be alive. Are you taking your life for granted? Not appreciating every breath? Not giving thanks for every single moment of your life? Do you feel entitled to the ability to feel, to see, to speak, to walk… to express yourself outwardly, to joke, to be mobile, to make your own decisions, to eat, to go to the bathroom by yourself, to be understood when you speak, to have the power to overcome your own boredom…? Do you whine about every little thing, as if what someone says about your choice of pants today impacts you even one iota?
If he could, Jeff would knock some sense into you.
But he can’t.
Because he’s not lucky like you. He can’t walk (yet.) He can talk, but some days are better than others, and often he can’t do much more than whisper a few words at a time. He can turn his head, but some days, he gets stuck. Jeff’s lucky to be alive—and he knows it. He’s lucky to have the motor control he has—and he knows it. Jeff’s lucky to be surrounded by friends who love him—and he knows it.
Feel like pitying Jeff because he had a stroke? He’ll be the first to tell you: “Stroke this.” Then he’ll tell you to stop focusing on him and learn to appreciate your own life.
That’s what Jeff’ll tell you.
Now here’s what I’ll tell you:
Jeff has more courage than most of the people I see in business… all combined. For months, Jeff made use of his time in his wheelchair to express himself through poetry: he worked on regaining motor control in one hand and typed out, slowly, a number of poems. That right there is more courage than most people have.
But Jeff wasn’t done. Through a group he spends time with, he found the opportunity to have his poems performed on stage. He handed his work over to an acting troupe, and they developed interpretative acts and readings and they amplified Jeff’s words and delivered them to a packed house.
Personally, I don’t give a hopscotch if you’re a fan of poetry or not; that’s not what this is about. What strikes me is that here is a young man in his 30’s, with a nine-year-old son, who has been confined to a wheelchair for six years, and this guy took his pain, his frustrations, and his triumphs, put them on paper, gave that paper to someone else, and said, “Here, this is a window into my heart. Do you think you can open it and invite a few hundred people to come see what’s inside?”
Would you do that—would you make yourself that vulnerable? Would you carry the idea of authenticity to the point that you’d literally invite hundreds of people to share in your life? Because that’s courage.
Do you have that courage? You think, “Yes?” OK, then, tell me: what have you done with it. You think, “No?” Why the hell not—what’s holding you back?! Jeff’s stuck in a wheelchair. What are you stuck in, a “mental rut?”
Jeff’s not lucky like you. He doesn’t have arms and legs that respond to his every call. His voice doesn’t carry. Imagine what Jeff might do, if he could couple his courage with the gifts you have.
Imagine what you could do.
You don’t owe Jeff any favors, nor do you owe me anything. But I think, and I think Jeff would agree, that you owe yourself one thing: the willingness to live your life.
In my parlance, that means having the courage to risk failing spectacularly. In Jeff’s, that means looking at your biggest problem and saying:
“Stroke this!”
Jeff is now converting his poems into a book. His friends and I are helping him self-publish. If you’re interested in supporting this initiative, click here. (The funding link is not yet active, but should be within a day.)
The video includes my rendition of one of his poems, “Blue is as Blue.”
Jeff, all my love.
Handling Ambiguity
Handling Ambiguity is an original piece from Seiden Leadership.
What Handling Ambiguity means
Handling ambiguity—and it’s close cousin, handling uncertainty—means being able to move forward in spite of unclear or non-existent direction. Uncertainty comes about from poor directions, such as “Fold the piece of paper in half,” which leaves one guessing as to which direction—lengthwise or crosswise—the fold should be made. Ambiguity is a bit more strategic, and has to do with a lack of context. For instance, if I say hello to you and you respond with a half-smile, you are being ambiguous: there is no mistaking the half-smile, but I have no context for it… are you angry with me? Annoyed? Is your mind elsewhere?
I define “the ability to handle ambiguity” as a combination of problem solving and initiative: it’s (1) the ability to tell the difference between things that should be dealt with literally and other things that require interpretation, (2) the ability to conduct the interpretation, and (3) the initiative to act on your conclusions. The ability to handle uncertainty is the same, but with less emphasis on the first part.
How to spot the ability to Handle Ambiguity
When determining someone’s ability to handle ambiguity, look for comfort with social ambiguity, intellectual curiosity, a willingness to take action in the moment, and good judgment when taking action. If you have someone you wonder about (not yourself, obviously; I mean, if you have a friend who’s ability to handle ambiguity is in doubt), then watch specifically for the following:
- Comfort with unclear social settings. Does the person get visibly nervous during social silences? Can s/he tolerate a pause in a conversation? How does s/he handle it when left alone at a social function—does s/he introduce him/herself to others? Stand comfortably alone? Look about nervously or latch on desperately to someone else? Look at both what the person does as well as how s/he does it… and don’t tell me that introverts stink at social interactions. Baloney. Introverts who are good with ambiguity go out and learn the social skills necessary to survive social ambiguity.
- Intellectually curious. Look for comfort with unclear problems and issues. Does the person become visibly agitated when presented with a new, novel, or challenging problem? Does the person start to make excuses before even attempting to solve it, or does s/he dismiss the problem? Does s/he jump into action without doing the proper analysis? Again, look at how the person approaches the situation, not just what s/he does: someone who is risk averse may analyze a problem and then opt out! Pay attention to the level of stress associated with dealing with the issue; someone who can’t handle ambiguity will likely show a spike in nervous energy.
- A strong and demonstrable action orientation. I don’t care what people say. I watch what they do. Given poor instructions, does the person cry that s/he can’t move forward for want of clear directions, or does s/he formulate a hypothesis about what’s expected and then move forward? In a social interaction, does the person provide structure, for example by introducing people to one another, asking questions, or suggesting activities for the group? When discussing issues, does the person leave issues on an academic plane or naturally end conversations with an action plan? Does s/he then follow up?
- Good judgment.Does the person show awareness of his/her sphere of influence? Does that awareness translate into an ability to define issues in terms of elements that can be controlled? Does the person show the maturity to focus most of his/her energy on those controllable issues… or does s/he waste time complaining about the parts s/he can’t impact? People who handle ambiguity well focus on moving forward by defining issues on their own terms. They tend not to worry (too much) about things they can’t control.
Unfortunately, I generally assume an inability to handle ambiguity until I see otherwise for myself. And again, I don’t care what people say about themselves. The “default setting” for human beings is to claim to be good at taking initiative… while actually being quite poor at it.
Developing the Ability to Handle Ambiguity
If you haven’t seen this video yet, now is the time to watch it:
To develop your ability to handle ambiguity, focus on reducing your need for externally applied structure. You can do this by playing little games at work, including what I call the “100% responsibility” game, which goes like this: whatever your problem is, assume that you have 100% responsibility for solving it. Mom and Dad are in the other room and just gave you the “We don’t care who started it, you end it” speech. On a sheet of paper, write down what you need to solve the problem, and then go do those things—regardless of what other people are doing. Now, there are three rules about what you write down that will make this simultaneously challenging and rewarding:
- You cannot be reliant on someone else changing who they are; you must accept everyone exactly on an “as is” basis. If you can express your thought as, “I could solve this problem ‘if only’ so-and-so would…” then you need to erase it. No “if only” allowed.
- You cannot rely on someone else to do something out of the goodness of their heart. If you need someone’s help, then you must figure out how you are going to get it. Asking “pretty please” and putting sugar on top won’t cut it. Rationalizations that a 2nd grader could see through don’t count. You need to provide real value in exchange for what you need.
- You cannot be waiting for anyone to do something. Whatever the plan, YOU must control the next step.
- BONUS: Expect the list to look pretty simple and straightforward. Don’t worry about that. But once you have the list, put more thought and effort into figuring out the best way how to execute your plans as you put into determining what the plan would be in the first place.
Conclusion
In today’s world, the ability to handle ambiguity is arguably the single most important skill we all need to develop. If you run a company or department, use the lists above to help guide your hiring decisions and development planning. If you are an individual, use these lists to improve yourself. Either way, you will not only give yourself an edge in your job and your career, you will also find yourself better able to absorb what the world throws at you without one of those knee-jerk reactions that sends people too far toward one extreme or another.
And we could all use a little more freedom from knee-jerk reactions!
This is a repost, with some edits and updates, of a a piece that originally ran December, 2008. I’m dusting it off because the way 2009 has been going, this seems even more relevant today than it did a year ago… this is adapted from my presentation and training module on the same topic.
HR, Blogging, Journalism, Transparency, & One Spectacular Fail
HR, Blogging, Journalism, Transparency, & One Spectacular Fail is an original piece from Seiden Leadership.
Workforce Management recently ran a post about the need for greater blogger transparency and the FTC’s proposed rules for ensuring it. Before we even get to my response, this is important: the FTC is currently receiving public comments on the issue of the changing face of journalism. This is happening NOW, through November 6, 2009. Are you reporting the news online? Make yourself heard.
As for the Workforce post… What Exactly Were You Guys Trying to Say?
In their piece, writers Ed & Rick seem to go out of their way to skewer Joel Cheesman and, to a lesser extent, Lance Haun and Jason Corsello. I’m trying to figure out the point of their piece… maybe use the controversy to drive traffic to some of WF’s affiliated bloggers (which include Corsello and Fistful of Talent, of which I am a contributor)? Bring business back to “mainstream” media from the blogosphere? Do a little venting?
Blogs mix personal and professional—creating something I’ve started calling profersonalism—for which rules haven’t yet been codified… and this article is what, reporting on differences in transparency? And doing so in the form of a blog post as opposed to an article? with examples that clearly judge other bloggers’ decisions? in hindsight? based an implied code of ethics has never been pure even with traditional journalists? and that you break even in this post, in which a clear editorial slant is visible while you speak out against mixing opinion and fact?
Sorry, fellas, but the issues you ascribe to blogging are as old as journalism itself. Frankly, shame on you for trying to make it sound as if they are the exclusive purview of newbies and others who have stepped into the brave new world of online reporting/opining/sharing that is “blogging.” (That’s a reference to a book by Aldous Huxley, just to be clear. I’d hate to get nailed for not mentioning that.)
Historical Context: Unsexy & Incredibly Important
Transparency is a problem? What, like revealing sources or conflicts of interest didn’t exist before the blogosphere? Seems to me, the debate on revealing sources is alive and well within the world of mainstream journalism. Not too long ago, a reporter served jail time for defending her right to not revealing her sources… and she wasn’t some online fly-by-nighter. How soon we forget.
The issue of conflicts of interest isn’t exactly new, either… we have seen enough self-interest-based behavior from media outlets to have adopted a phrase for self-interested reporting: yellow journalism. Our nation has gone to war because of media outlets’ conflicts of interest. (Thank you for that legacy, Mr. Hearst.) Even today, we have a particular news outlet calling itself “fair and balanced” when it’s (arguably strong-handed) leader has a significant political leaning. Not exactly a clear, bright line there between personal and professional there, huh?
And shall we talk pay-to-play? There’s a humdinger version of that issue playing out right now at The Washington Post, one of the most respected newspapers in the country. Or, you could just ask me how many bloggers paid for review copies of my last book versus how many media outlets did… here’s a clue: all major media outlets got theirs for free, not all bloggers did. Did you know publishers often run a special edition of new books specifically for the media, called ARCs? ARC stands for Adavanced Reader Copy and they generally are identified as such so that everyone who touches them knows they are freebies and are not to be sold. Ed, Rick, I’m sure you know about ARCs—Workforce receives free copies of upcoming business books, no? (I don’t recall you disclosing if your publication has ever received free books in your post, but as I’ve received several books and I’m a lowly blogger, I have to assume that you’ve gotten one or two yourselves along the way.)
By the way, what’s your address? I’d love for you to review my next book, which comes out in November. And please let me know if I should submit an invoice with that.
At it’s best, journalism provides an ongoing check on those with concentrated power on behalf of a disaggregated populace. In America, this function was originally defined around political issues. At election time, the populace aggregates and exerts its own power; between elections—and once upon a time, prior to them—the press holds government accountable.
Journalism in a “Profersonal” World
Today, I see journalism facing two issues: first, the steady rise of corporate power over the past 60 years, relative to government, seems to have changed the people’s need of the press, yet the press’s charter doesn’t seem to have kept pace; second, technological shifts are altering the face of “journalism” (cue flashback to profersonalism comment) at a time when the industry is struggling mightily with said charter. (The press has recently missed major stories on both the government and business fronts, especially related to the Iraq War and the collapse of capitalism.)
What I Want from Everyone
I look to companies to put out press releases. I look to news outlets to dig behind them. I look to bloggers to mix fact, opinion, analysis, and factoid in an authentic way… and define—in real time—what this whole profersonalism thing is about. I look to Congress to follow with broad, painful, reactionary legislation that puts the brakes on innovation, at least until the laggards in society can get caught up. I look to readership statistics and trends to tell me what people think they need… or at least want. This is true across the board, not just in HR. And for the record, I don’t really look to the FTC; the current state of economic affairs doesn’t exactly give me confidence in their ability to protect me.
Now Here’s Where It Gets Interesting
Ed and Rick, your Workforce article didn’t do any of the things I’d expect an article or blog post to do. You tried to bring some of the better qualities of journalism to your blog… and in my opinion, you failed. Spectacularly.
But, I believe that if you’re going to go down, you should go bold. You should go down in flames. And in my opinion, you did just that.
So if we ever have the chance to meet, I’ll shake your hand and smile. I’ll tell you that I found this particular piece slanted and half-baked. That if it was an attempt to bring journalistic standards to blogging, then you got the mix wrong; that if you were trying to erect a wall to keep the personal and professional sides of writing separate, then you fail to grasp what’s going on in society, and where your profession is headed; and that if this is your voice, then you need to work on conveying authenticity.
And in the same breath, I’ll also applaud you—figuratively—for making the attempt. Heaven knows I have had some big-time misses myself, and I know that without those risks, I wouldn’t have my successes, either. Please, just do one thing for me, if you would: learn from your mistakes. Next time, focus on the real issue—in this case, proposed FTC regulation of bloggers—and help your readers understand what to do about it.
5 Things Corporate VPs Should Not Care About
5 Things Corporate VPs Should Not Care About is an original piece from Seiden Leadership.
I’m walking the aisles of the HR Technology Conference, and I’m feeling good and bad at the same time. On the good side, there are some really great individual people here, and a few companies doing great things. On the bad side, a lot of companies here are “playing it safe,” showcasing their 3/5/7 module solution with the iPhone-looking marketing and Access database-looking implementation. Everything’s “customizable,” which means you can turn modules on or off. There’s very little novel use of social media technologies, and very little to put decision making power where it belongs: with the team manager.
(Sure, all these companies say they do that, but then they sell enterprise-wide solutions that force all client users to conform to the same standard… hardly empowerment when the only choice is how many tabs the talent management software will have across the top.)
Which got me thinking: too many people here are focused on the wrong thing. Too many people are wrapped up in the minutia. This type of thinking once caused a client to ask if I’d co-author a book entitled, “‘I’m from Corporate & I’m Here to Help,’ and Other BullSh!t You Hear at the Office.” While I’m not quite ready for that assignment just yet, what I’m seeing here at the conference did compel me to put together this list of 5 things no corporate VP should ever spend a minute focusing on:
- The font on a document. You have a design team. Use them.
- How to customize any piece of software. You are excused from this item if (1) you are an IT VP and (2) the customization is part of an actual purchase negotiation.
- The size of your—or anyone else’s—cube/office. Unless VP now stands for Very Petty, all I can say is, OMFG, don’t you have work to do?
- Reserved parking. You worked your whole life for what, so you could park close to the front door? This is what you want on your tombstone, “What an amazing person, she negotiated for a great parking spot?” How do you take yourself seriously?
- Who on your team gets credit for the work. Newsflash: it doesn’t matter, they all work for you anyway. If you’re ego is that fragile, the UPS store sells bubble wrap.
If you are a corporate VP and I’m describing you, consider firing yourself. There is real work to be done in corporate America, and you are in the way.
If you work for a corporate VP and I’m describing your boss, I have to wonder, what do you do all day? Corporate strategy?
Business Writing 101 (Because Your Writing Sucks Big Time)
Business Writing 101 (Because Your Writing Sucks Big Time) is an original piece from Seiden Leadership.
Based on what I’ve seen as an graduate school instructor, what I’ve witnessed as a coach, what I’ve heard as a member of some expert societies, and what I’ve been shown by others, I have calculated that there is a 94.8% chance that you can’t write. At all.
(I used the rectal database to calculate this figure, it’s very accurate.)
For example, below is an actual cover letter (identifying details have been altered), sent to me by its recipient. This could have been an office memo or client correspondence, it wouldn’t have mattered. It still would have sucked. Swift, merciless, point blank critique of the writing—designed to help you go from awful to awesome—follows:
I am, as you are a graduate from Indiana University. For a number of years I have been associated with some of the largest national real estate firms located in the Chicagoland area. I am an experienced project manager, which has managed large complex projects up to $80million. I am detailed orientated, hard working and know how to manage processes, while reporting P&L and enhancing the bottom line. My career has spanned through a broad range of different markets, each involving mastering new procedures and taking on greater amounts of responsibility. As you might know the construction industry has drastically slowed-down. My company went through some staff reductions and I am now seeking new opportunities.
I take pride in being successful in the construction industry and feel that my work ethic and skill sets can bring me success in any industry. I’m not looking for a temporary fix; I’m looking for a career change. I want to find a new position where I can make the best use of my expertise. I would appreciate your help.
A copy of my resume and a detailed summary of my background, along with recommendations can be viewed at my Linkedin profile, http://www.linkedin.com/in/…
Summary Writing Analysis
Not good. Unfortunately, the poor grammar must be dealt with as an afterthought… you’ll see.
Now begins the swift and merciless deconstruction, because inarticulate is neither cute nor cuddly:
Let’s Break It Down
From top to bottom:
I am, as you are a graduate from Indiana University.
I happen to know that the corporate recruiter who received this letter went to Western Michigan. Getting this detail right wouldn’t have resulted in a job, but it likely would have saved you from being sacrificed on the alter of For the Good of Mankind. Always double check facts shared in the first line of a letter—few people skip the first line.
And when you use a comma to set off a phrase, don’t forget a second comma to close said phrase.
For a number of years I have been associated with some of the largest national real estate firms located in the Chicagoland area.
I think I know what you mean. I think. But if you’re going to take the time to write to someone, don’t you want them to know for sure what you mean? Try this: “I spent XX in the real estate industry, working for ABC and DEF.” If these firms are not well-known outside the industry, add, “two successful national firms.”
I am an experienced project manager, which has managed large complex projects up to $80million.
“I am a person who…” “This is a thing which…” People are “who.” Things are “which.” Or “that.” But it doesn’t really matter, because this sentence needs to get scrapped. Try this: “As a project manager, I was responsible for complex, $80 million programs.” And don’t forget the space between “80″ and “million.”
I am detailed orientated,
BULLS#!T! Detail oriented, you say? Oh, no you’re not. Not even close. Detail oriented means no typos, and that just ain’t you. And when I say “typo,” I’m also including things that aren’t really typos at all, such as your use of the non-word “orientated.”
hard working
BULLS#!T! (That’s twice. One more like this and we might have to turn this into a drinking game.) Hard working people find the resources to make their work great. They don’t turn out twaddle like this.
and know how to manage processes, while reporting P&L and enhancing the bottom line.
Again, I have to ask, what the hell are you talking about? A few things: first, I don’t believe you. Did you mean that you have experience managing a P&L? Second, assuming you have legitimate P&L experience, why would that be listed fourth instead of first—don’t you think running a company is more important to an employer than detail orientation?! Seriously, here you claim to have a real skill and then you bury it under some factoid that we’ve already shown to be a figment of your imagination. Just wonderful; now I have to wonder about your ability to prioritize, too. Finally, we get to the grammar: when making a list, make sure everything “matches,” so that each item on the list could complete the sentence all by itself. Like this: “I am detailed oriented, (I am) hard working, (I am) adept at managing process, and (I am) experienced running a $200 million P&L.”
My career has spanned through a broad range of different markets,
Avoid important-sounding words that you are likely to misuse… like “span.” Spans go across, not through. Sounds like a little thing, but if you’re involved in real estate, this is one of those words I want to see you use correctly, lest I end up with roof beams that span through my ceiling.
Plus, as long as we’re here, “different” is implied by the word span, so is unnecessary. Try: “My real estate experience has spanned a number of markets.” Even better, tell me why I should care: “Working across a variety of markets, I have learned to recognize and adjust to subtle differences in clients’ needs.”
each involving mastering new procedures and taking on greater amounts of responsibility.
Holy Nonsensical tripe, Batman… huh?! Are you trying to say that you had to master new procedures each time you landed a new job? Or that each time your career spanned through a different market, mastering new procedures was involved? Because this second thing isn’t a real sentence. Heck, it’s not even a real thought. Keep it simple: “I held jobs of increasing responsibility and difficulty, culminating with me leading a $80 million project.”
As you might know the real estate industry has drastically slowed-down.
Whaddya mean, “Might?”
And what’s with the hyphen?
My company went through some staff reductions
Yeah, you know, we ordered some lunch, talked about some new movies, did some layoffs… typical Tuesday stuff.
and I am now seeking new opportunities.
I’m not surprised.
I take pride in being successful in the real estate industry
BULLS#!T! (Drink.) I haven’t heard boo so far about any single accomplishment you’d take pride in. If you’re going to claim to be successful, tell me by what measure. Because remember how you listed your detail orientation before your P&L experience? That little decision says to me that your definition of success probably hinges upon your ability to get the small things right… which you clearly don’t. So, I’m not seeing this “successfulness” you speak of.
Generally, people who take pride in their work don’t so cavalierly assume that their success will transfer to over industries, nor do they go looking for career changes so easily. They have deep understanding and appreciation for the hard work required to achieve greatness, which comes through in their communication. Pride creates attachments, yet I get no sense of regret for what’s being left behind here. I get only the sense I’m being played.
Note well: if you think it’s unfair that I am reading so much into single little comments, it is. Life is unfair, and other people will similarly judge you by little things you’d wish they’d overlook. Don’t get angry, just get more perfect.
and feel that my work ethic and skill sets can bring me success in any industry.
BULLS#!T! (Drink.) Mmmm… I have the distinct impression you are relying more on luck than any particular skill.
I’m not looking for a temporary fix;
BULLS#!T! (Drink.) This phrase has no business being here. Laid atop everything else, is a tip off that this is precisely what you want. When writing, stay positive. Focused on what you do want, not on what you don’t want.
I’m looking for a career change.
BULLS#!T! (Drink.) Your career change came looking for you. OK, fine, maybe it’s a semantic issue. Still.
I want to find a new position where I can make the best use of my expertise. I would appreciate your help.
Help? You want “help?” What kind of “help?” Do you want an interview for a specific job? An introduction to a particular person? Speak plain.
A copy of my resume and a detailed summary of my background, along with recommendations can be viewed at my Linkedin profile, http://www.linkedin.com/in/…
Oh, no! Tell me you did not do that! This is as bad as getting her alma mater wrong up there in sentence #1! Didn’t you say a few sentences ago that you have a great work ethic? Well, where is it? Why didn’t you go the next step and attach the documents I’d need… rather than push the work to me by making me click through for more information? See, now I don’t even believe your work ethic. Once again, I can’t even get to the grammatical problems because the underlying approach is itself a disaster.
Now for what’s missing: you know what’s missing? Anything that indicates that you took even a moment of your time to research my company before you sent this over. Tell me: why on earth would I hire you if you were too disinterested to do even that much? If you were hiring for a personal chef, what would impress you more: the glitzy chef with the amazing history who talks exclusively about himself, or the great chef with the solid history who shows up to your interview with your favorite dish, which he learned about from a review you’d posted to Yelp?
Conclusion
A little bit of initiative goes a long, long way.
Writing skills are no joke. Learn to express yourself. Get help. Have others look over your work. If your friends are as bad at writing as you are, get new friends. Or take a class. Or get so good at using video that you can send video emails and not worry about writing. But do something, because this is unacceptable.
Related Posts:
Twitter—Jumped the Shark Already?
Unfortunately, I think Twitter has “jumped the shark.” That is, I think its value is being eroded faster than it is being created. But that might change again, and that possibility creates a dilemma for companies who want to use it.
What’s a company to do?
Using my own experiences, let’s walk through the promise of Twitter, the issues and reality of Twitter, and how I use it and other forms of social media:
First, the promise: Twitter is another form of communication. Like newspaper, billboards, radio, TV, browser, and IM clients, Twitter provides a way to share messages with others. If indeed Twitter is like any of these other forms of communication channels, that is. If it’s more like the bullhorn, satellite phone, or MySpace, it’s on it’s way to a fast mass-market retreat once the novelty wears off, destined for use for quick broadcast messages to pre-defined clusters of indivdiuals.
Second, the issues: The “who gives a squat” factor on Twitter is tremendous. I tweeted about having dinner with several other popular social media darlings last night. I did it for a group of about 50-60 of my followers who I knew would care; that left meant about 1,640 people got a message that they didn’t care about. Of course, most of them probably never noticed my tweet, because of the next issue: many Tweeple are in a mad race for the most followers, making the tool nearly unusable.
When I followed and was followed by about 500-600 people, Twitter was great: the “timeline” of updates was nearly always manageable (of those 500, not all of them would be tweeting at once), there was a sense of community because I had a sense for who these people were and who knew whom, and I had time to do a bit of research on them when I didn’t. When I sent out blog updates, people responded. Now, however, with another 1,000 followers or so, it’s already a different world: fewer people click on my links. Recently, I threw a question out to the world via Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and my blog. I received zero responses through Twitter.
Zero.
1,500 followers at the time, and zero responses. By contrast, I sent the note out to about 300 people with whom I’m connected on LinkedIn and had a response rate of about 8%. Plus, I had a handful of people who answered the question who didn’t receive an email. Now, it’s not quite an apples-to-apples comparison, but the point is, for getting others to engage, Twitter utterly failed me. All those connections I had made, when I went to move them up a notch in the engagement ladder, proved to be worthless. What’s worse, all those tweeple just in it for the links are creating noise in the system: whereas once upon a time, I knew DMs (private messages) were guaranteed to be spam-free, not so anymore. And as with phone calls and emails, it’s sometimes difficult to discern the legitimate requests from the pure spam. (People, on the whole, aren’t great communicators.)
My actual community of people I connect with on Twitter is no longer expanding… at least, not nearly as quickly as it was. And a quick look at my followers shows why: many of them follow 000’s and 000’s of people… which means their timelines are a blazing fast waterfall of random. It also means they themselves don’t care about the content: they’re in it for the #s, not the links. A quick perusal of their names shows many of them to be consultants, companies, and others with something to sell. You think they’re reading my stuff? No, me neither.
Which brings us to the reality of Twitter. For me, it’s becoming sort of a “poor man’s Digg with private and semi-private messaging capabilities.” I still use it—I post links, occasionally comment on what’s happening (though not as much since I continuously see a drop off in my followers when I do that), and use the semi- and private @ and DM features to connect with actual friends. Most of my tweets are links back to my blog—it’s simply too difficult to make new friends now. Actually, I take that back: it’s no more difficult now to make friends via Twitter than it was early on; the challenge is still getting someone’s attention. What makes it seem more difficult is the sheer volume of possibilities, laid atop the fact that I’m already spending as much time with social media as I care to spend—life does go on, you know, much of it in the physical world, and some of it on Facebook and LinkedIn, too.
So what does my future hold? More tweeting, yes. I want to see what direction Twitter goes—what new functionality they roll out, whether they get their servers fixed, etc. Like I said at the beginning, I have actually made money and expanded my business through Twitter, so I’m not so ready to abandon the experiment; I’ve actually had a taste of the value. But it’s clear to me that this is very much an experiment, and I’m hedging my bet accordingly. I’m getting more precise about what I tweet in order to make Google’s index of old tweets work for me. I’m cross-posting from Twitter to Facebook to see which updates generate more views; I’m exploring groups and other functionality on LinkedIn; I video blog; I use RSS feeds to push content out and read what else is going on in the world; I have a podcast that will be starting soon; and, I’m continuing to expand my online reach directly through the blogosphere by connecting with other sites and sharing content with them, as well.
What should you do? It depends on where you are and what you want. The social media experiment is clearly not yet over. Twitter, the insta-darling of 2008 and 2009, may already be showing signs it might be the next Pets.com, but it hasn’t failed yet. And in the broader context, Twitter is but one of a handful of powerful social media tools, including the sites mentioned above as well as a number of others. Best of all, even with all the problems, the online medium is cheap. If you’re large enough to have a marketing budget, devote some of it to “online.” Don’t necessarily split out social media, though; I’m finding that social media works best a part of an integrated program—especially given its experimental nature.
Using Email (Alpha Style)
People often want me to help them master the art of writing perfect emails listen to their stories about how other people send awful emails.
Stories like these:
What I receive: “3 O’CLOCK MEANS 3 O’CLOCK WHAT DON’T YOU UNDERSTNAD”
What I think: I understand that you are a jerk. I understand that you are not in control of your emotions. I understand you expect me to be perfect, yet tolerate errors from yourself; I understand you are a hypocrite.
Action drives results: after the post, the social proof showed up in my inbox
I thought I’d do a quick follow up on my post about taking action with a real-life success story about how the process actually works.
This comes from an email that I got last Friday morning. I picked it up while waiting for a connecting flight at LAX, and immediately called the person who sent it. I think she was a bit surprised to hear from me, but she shouldn’t have been. Her email was great.
