Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

Interruptions Can Be Good For You

I first met Doug Conant when he was the CEO of Campbell Soup and his communications team invited me to speak at the annual leadership meeting.  I was amazed at how down-to-earth and well-spoken he was, and after we bonded over our mutual alma mater (Northwestern University), we kept in touch. 

Doug has just recently retired from Campbell's after overseeing an exceptional period of progress and prosperity in the company's history, and he's sharing his leadership insights in a new bestselling book called Touchpoints.  Here's an excerpt:

It’s nearly three-thirty in the afternoon. You’re holed up in your office, trying to grab some time to finish a proposal that’s critical to the future of your department — and your own career — when a team member knocks on your door to ask for advice with a tricky problem. How do you respond?

Do you give in to the flash of irritation you feel at being interrupted and tell him to come back later? Or do you stop what you are doing and help him right now?  It’s your choice.

As a leader, you make those choices all day, every day.  The ‘‘knock on the door’’ happens over and over
again — phone calls, meetings, emails, and text messages, all with questions to answer, concerns to address, problems to solve, and fires to put out. Some days it feels as though the information age has morphed into the interruption age.

But what if you could step back and look at all those interactions with a fresh perspective?  What if, instead of seeing them as interfering with your work, you were to look at them as latent leadership moments? 

Each of the many connections you make has the potential to become a high point or a low point in someone’s day.  Each is an opportunity to establish high performance expectations, to infuse the agenda with greater clarity and more energy, and to influence the course of events.

Doug shows that interruptions can be good for us if we look at them in the right way.  While it can be frustrating when things come up that prevent us from getting to the work at hand, we need to recognize their role in pursuing the path that's meant to be.  Not only does this viewpoint allow us to be more nimble and flexible in our work, but it also makes us happier, since we accept what's out of our control instead of fuming about it. 

If an extremely successful CEO can do it, so can we.

4 Tips for Better Communication at Work

Ask someone if they’re a good communicator at work, and 9 times out of 10 people will tell you they’re pretty good but will complain about their peers and managers being lousy at it—their boss never shares enough information, or shares too much. 

The truth is, most of us can improve our workplace effectiveness exponentially by becoming better communicators on the job. My friend Jodi Glickman, author of Great on the Job, What to Say, How to Say It, The Secrets of Getting Ahead, offers these valuable tips:

Lead with the Punch Line

Mark Twain famously quipped, “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.”  Everyone is short on time these days. We’re all being asked to do more with less.  So when you have to update your team or post your boss, make sure you don’t bury the lead. 

Think ahead about your message and instead, lead with your punch line—tell me upfront and center what is new, different or important. 

Use the “Smart Ask” to Get Help

Asking for help in a smart way actually shows you to be thoughtful and demonstrate good judgment.  If you’re given an assignment you don’t know how to do, consider the following:

1. Be proactive and show enthusiasm for the project “that’s great, I’d love to take a crack at writing the business plan.”
2. Ask for resources—a recent or good example, someone to speak with or an outline or template to follow, “I’ve actually never written one before, however.  Do you have a outline in mind or an idea of the key sections you’d like included?”
3. Offer interim steps or milestones—if there are no resources available to you, offer to spend some time putting your thoughts down on paper and come back to your manager with bullet points, an outline or a rough draft to get sign off on before going down the final path. “Why don’t I go think about the key sections and outline them for you.  We can then review them and make sure you’re on board with my approach.”

The smart ask is all about setting yourself up for success by getting the resources and guidance you need upfront. Get your manager invested in the process early on and make sure you have sign-off on your approach before going down the wrong path.  You’ll avoid lots of wasted time and energy by making sure you and your boss are on the same page from the get-go.

Communicate Expectations Clearly

How are colleagues supposed to meet and exceed your expectations if they don’t know what those expectations are?  Whether it be timing or deadlines, information you want included in a report or the key outcomes you’re hoping to see in a strategic review, if you don’t tell people exactly what you’re looking for, you’re likely not going to get it.   The quick and easy fix is to tell people what you want and when you want it.  If you’re the junior employee, ask the pointed questions to make sure you know what’s being expected of you.

Forward Momentum is Key

Business relationships are all about momentum.  The best conversations we have are the ones that lead to another conversation.  When you’re getting off the phone or taking leave of your manager’s office, keep him posted on next steps.  Offer to keep him in the loop on what happens next or promise to apprise him of a change in the situation.   Let your boss know that you’ll close the loop when the final report comes in or ask if there’s anything else he needs from you.  Always be thinking two steps ahead so your boss doesn’t have to.  

 

Readers are the Best Leaders

I always learn something new by reading Tim Sanders, a former Yahoo! Executive who hit the big time with his first book, Love is the Killer App.  His latest effort, Today We Are Rich, focuses on how to live and work more confidently, and what Tim says about reading leadership books really resonated with me:

You need to commit a high percentage of time to reading books related to your job.  You might be in the habit of grazing: reading articles and blog posts on a subject.  That is surface level research, the same general knowledge that everyone else you know reads too.

Many of the most successful executives I know are voracious book readers.  According to a 2007 Market Tools Survey, the average businessperson reads one book a year related to his or her profession and the average C-level executive reads six.

Books Deepen Your Knowledge of a Space

The best books help you understand the industry’s history, players, economics, and trends that influence success or failure.  Tim recommends looking at your field’s trade magazines and websites for book recommendations, and then, as you’re reading, taking notes as if you were still in college and going to be quizzed.   When you see a great point, underline it and log it along with its page number on the blank pages at the back of the book.  Look at every new project or business opportunity as a chance to expand your knowledge, even if you already consider yourself an expert in a particular area.

Where Will I Find the Time?

Carry a book with you everywhere you go – there’s space in transit, waiting between meetings, eating alone, and before you go to bed.  If you cut down on Internet surfing, phone calls, and/or a few entertainment events, you’ll find enough extra minutes to complete one new book each month.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

 

Paternity Leave is the New Maternity Leave

Paternity leave is the time a father takes off work at the birth or adoption of a child, and when I first started working 13 years ago, no men I knew took it.  Fortunately, a lot has changed.  These days, more and more new dads are taking advantage of paternity leave, which is typically unpaid although some companies offer fathers paid time off ranging from a few days to a few weeks.

Start Planning Early

If you and your partner are expecting, initiate the paternity leave process by speaking with your organization’s HR department.  Most companies are mandated under federal law to allow their employees 12 weeks of unpaid family leave after the birth or adoption of a child under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The law also says that at the end of your leave, your organization must allow you to return to your job or a similar job with the same salary, benefits, working conditions, and seniority.  You're eligible for FMLA if:

• You work for the federal government, a state or local government, or any company that has 50 or more employees working within 75 miles of your workplace
• You've worked for your employer for at least 12 months and for at least 1,250 hours during the previous year (which comes out to 25 hours per week for 50 weeks)

One note: Your employer does have the right to deny you leave or fill your job if you're in the highest paid 10 percent of wage earners at your company and your absence would cause substantial economic harm to the organization.

Combat Discrimination

Many men are concerned that they will be discriminated against for taking either paid or unpaid leave.  Although this is illegal, it does happen, so my suggestion is to feel out other men who have taken leave to see how it was perceived by the company and how they were treated by managers and colleagues over the long-term.

Give Plenty of Notice

According to FMLA, you must request leave 30 days before you plan to take it, and it’s probably smart to give your boss even more notice than that.  In fact, once you are safely out of the first trimester and you start discussing the pregnancy at work, it’s a good time to broach the issue of paternity leave.  Being proactive by developing a plan for how your responsibilities might be handled with minimal disruption, and fine-tuning it with your boss far in advance of your leave date, will make everyone feel better about temporary changes to come.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

 

Should You Tell Your Boss You Are Pregnant?

I recently had my second child, and so lately I’ve been a bit more active on birth boards, or online discussion forums related to pregnancy, childbirth, and child rearing.  One question that pops up all the time on these boards is:  “should I tell my boss I am pregnant, and if so, when?”

I’m not going to beat around the bush on this one.  Although we’re lucky to have the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which states that employers can’t refuse to hire a woman because she is pregnant, can’t fire her for being pregnant, and can’t treat her differently because of her pregnancy, the truth is that employers disregard the law every day by attempting to get rid of pregnant employees.

Why would they do such a thing? The cost of medical benefits and family leave is one reason, and concern for company welfare is another. From the employer’s perspective, a woman might not return from maternity leave, and even if she does, she might be less effective at her job once she has a child to worry about.

What’s the solution?  First, don’t tell your boss you’re pregnant until it’s physically impossible to hide it. You want to maintain control over the situation for as long as possible, and also, god forbid you should lose the pregnancy in the first trimester, you will want to spare yourself the embarrassment and hurt of having to inform your manager and colleagues.  

Once you break the news, stay alert to signs of discrimination.  If they appear, nip the situation in the bud right away.  Tell your manager that you feel that you’re being treated unfairly because you’re pregnant, and put it in writing via e-mail.  Having these claims out in the open may make your boss nervous about future legal action and cause him to backpedal, which could very well save your job.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

Don't Tweet Like Anthony Weiner

Anthony Weiner, the New York Congressman who was caught sending lewd photos of himself to women online, will probably keep his job.  But he’s certainly not having a very good week.   “I exchanged inappropriate things with people and I’ve now got to deal with those consequences,” Weiner told Reuters on Friday. Those consequences include major political fallout in Congress, where fellow Democrats have been distancing themselves from the onetime rising star.

Thanks to the proliferation of social media, your online reputation is just as important to your overall visibility as your in-office reputation, and you can never get too many reminders to be very careful about it.

Maintain Online Essentials

When a person searches for your name on Google, he should find information that showcases you as a reliable, enthusiastic, and loyal self-starter.  And when it comes to establishing an effective online brand, you should at least have the bare minimum – professional-looking Facebook and LinkedIn profiles and an online resume.  By professional, I mean to err on the side of caution and not include any content that you wouldn’t want splashed across the pages of the New York Times.

Don’t Run at the Mouth on Twitter

Twitter allows you to publish your thoughts in real time, and you should not abuse this privilege.  Before you hit send, self-censor to make sure you’re comfortable with the general public reading your message, because even people who don’t follow you may gain access to your tweets.  My favorite example involves a young professional who called into work sick but tweeted from the Cubs game she was attending.  Her manager wasn’t following her, but a colleague was, and the hooky-playing behavior got back to her boss in about two seconds.  The moral of the story is to please consider what each tweet says about your online brand, and how it might be perceived by managers, partners, and co-workers.

Consider Your Own Website

In addition to strategically managing your presence on social networks, I also recommend purchasing your name as a domain (e.g. Alexandralevit.com) from a service such as Godaddy.com and developing an online portfolio of your work.   Regardless of your industry, an attractively designed website that shows off your skills and experiences can go a long way toward convincing others of your worth and potential.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

8 Tips for Managing Summer Interns

It's that time of year again! College students and recent grads are starting their summer internships and their managers are wondering how in the world they're going to keep them occupied while providing a valuable experience. Over at the Intuit Small Business blog, Liz Magill has some excellent suggestions for leaders implementing an internship program this summer.  Among them:

Offer a real learning opportunity

Making coffee and copies won’t do. Bright, energetic interns want a chance to do something meaningful. Although you can start with basics, gradually increase the complexity and scope of the job so your eager talent feels a sense of accomplishment.

Set challenging, but attainable goals

Don’t expect a writing intern to win a Pulitzer, a science intern to develop the next great patent, a sales intern to land your company’s biggest client, or a tech-savvy intern to build the next Facebook. Setting goals outside the capabilities of your intern may lead to frustration, while goals that are too easy will bring on boredom.

Don’t babysit

Interns should be mentored, not watched like a hawk.  You can put them on a leash, but make it a long leash. Interns come with a huge bucket of enthusiasm; don’t stifle it.

Enforce deadlines

It may be summer, but it’s not summer camp. Let your interns know that their work is very important to the success of your business, and that you expect deadlines to be met — and work quality to be high.

Abide by labor laws

In order for internships in “for profit” companies to qualify as unpaid, they must meet six federal legal criteria  as outlined in this United States Department of Labor fact sheet. If these six criteria are not satisfied, then an “employment” relationship exists, which means the intern must be paid.

Additionally, I believe open communication with interns is essential.  Get your interns started on the right foot by encouraging them to:

Look around and listen

Interns should pay attention to the comings-and-goings of more experienced colleagues, and routinely ask for feedback on their performance.

Be social

While they have the opportunity, interns should network with as many colleagues as they can, going out with the group for Happy Hour and attending the summer party.

Show appreciation

When dealing with other team members, interns should come across as gracious  and can-do.  They should constantly look for ways to share their expertise and add value to the team’s operations.

With the right preparation and guidance, your interns will contribute substantially to your team, both workwise and interpersonally.  You know you’ve managed them the right way when, at the end of the summer, your team members ask if an intern can stay on as a full timer.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

How to Respond to a Rude E-mail

A few weeks ago, I got a jaw droppingly rude e-mail from someone with whom I have been collaborating.  It took me completely by surprise, but when I showed it to my husband and a few friends, it seemed like receiving an occasional e-mail like this was a fairly universal experience.  In that vein, I thought these tips might be helpful:

Don’t reply immediately

Your first instinct, naturally, is to get defensive and give the person a piece of your mind.  Feel free to draft a message to this effect, but do not send it.  Rather, give yourself a day – or at least a few hours – to cool off.  This will prevent you from saying something you regret and allow you to re-approach the situation with a calm demeanor.

Be the bigger person

Even if the person is way out of line, when you start off your reply by thanking the person for contacting you and offering feedback, it often diffuses the tension and encourages the other party to back down.  It also preserves your reputation in the event that the e-mail should be forwarded to someone else.

Offer additional information or take the discussion offline

In your response, include a carefully constructed argument supporting your point of view – using external sources if necessary.  If it’s more of a personal issue, volunteer to get on the phone so that the two of you can address it and determine a productive way to move forward.

Don’t completely let them off the hook

If the person is being particularly unfair and cruel (calling you names, making wild accusations, etc.), be direct in expressing that this is not an appropriate way to behave.  For instance, you might say that in future communications, you would appreciate it if the two of you could keep your tone professional.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

 

How to Generate Customer Referrals

John Jantsch is one of the top strategic thinkers in business today.  The author of the Duct Tape Marketing blog, John mostly focuses on marketing the small business, but I find myself applying his lessons to leadership in the Fortune 500 all the time.

No System in Place

In researching his book, The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself, John conducted an informal survey of thousands of business owners and found that 63 percent felt that over half of their business came by way of referrals.  But of that same group, nearly 80 percent readily admitted that they had no system of any kind to generate these referrals.

Making it Simple

Even if you’re not in sales, as a leader in your organization you should aim to make it easy for existing customers to refer new ones to you.  John suggests making referrals an automatic habit for your customers by equipping them with tools that allow them to introduce you and your products and services in logical ways.  Some of John’s ideas include:

• Personalized referral cards that credit your customer with sending a lead
• Gift certificates with tangible value that a customer can simply hand out
• Trial offers and free evaluations only available through customer referrals
• Customer-exclusive “bring a friend” events
• Personalized web pages that customers can use to educate prospects

Money Doesn’t Talk

Interestingly, John does not advocate any kind of financial compensation for customer referrals.  He explains:  “when referral sources are motivated out of a desire to help, they will often go to great lengths to do so, but on the other hand, when the motivation is monetary, they will view it as a market transaction and the motivation is often significantly lower.”  Instead of offering to pay them, we should consistently communicate our appreciation to loyal and vocal customers.

Do you facilitate customer referrals to your organization?  If so, how?

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.