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Letter From The Editor

Dear Friends,

Last week someone actually asked me if it was okay to compliment a co-worker on an outfit or their appearance on a particular day. I about fell out of my chair! The environment in which we all work has become so ridiculously litigious that people are now afraid to be human with one another. The thought of possibly being sued over telling someone they look great is ludicrous.

Obviously, I am not promoting harassment. There is certainly a line over which no one should cross. But really, what’s wrong with saying to Sally, “You look great today!”?

More and more, the fun and relationship side of the work we do is being taken away, when what we really need is to have more fun and connection with the people we work with. When people start having more fun, more “family”, more connectedness, more acknowledgements, and more friendship in the workplace, the world itself will be a much greater place to live, work and play in, and ultimately work will get done faster, easier, and better. And there certainly isn’t anything wrong with that!

Best regards,

Clay S. Nelson

Managing Our Ability to Procrastinate

Are you a procrastinator, always putting things off until the very last second? Most of us are, at least to some extent. It is part of our nature.

Human beings have the very unique talent of being able to procrastinate. We put things off, things we know we should be doing, to first handle those things that are squeaking the loudest; making it really easy to avoid those quiet and sometimes dreaded tasks that await our attention elsewhere! We procrastinate from a place of: “I don’t know if I can do that”; “I don’t want to do that”; “I don’t like doing that”; or “I’ll get to it”. And because it is a part of who we are as human beings, we have to put systems in place that manage our unique ability to put things off.

The system you use doesn’t have to be complicated either. Simply:

1. Make a list with priorities and dates by-when for the tasks that need to be completed.
2. When there is an item on your list that doesn’t ever seem to get done (it has been rescheduled 2-3 times), evaluate why that is.
   1. Are you the right person to be doing this task? Is there someone that the task should be delegated too?
   2. If you find that there is nobody else that can do the task but you, and it still isn’t getting done, what accountabilities do you need to put in place so that it does get done?
3. Ask for help. Ask a co-worker, a friend, your spouse, to hold you accountable. Tell them what needs to be done and by-when (heck, even give them your whole list), and ask them to hold you accountable for doing it. Ask them to check in with you half-way between the time of the request and the due date, making sure the job is halfway done, that you are moving forward, and that you still agree to be your word to get the job done by the established by-when… And the job will get done!

We all need accountability and putting a system of accountabilities into place is very easily done! So, give up your procrastinating ways and consider how much more mental freedom you will have when you stop putting off until tomorrow what you can do today!

The Growing Trend toward Youthful Leaders

Have you noticed anything about the faces of the people sitting around today’s conference room tables? They are younger. And the trend toward a younger leadership base is going to continue.

There is a huge trend in growing young leaders because the “white hairs”, respectfully, are getting older as a group, and most have done very little teaching over the course of their careers. As they age they are starting to see that if they don’t teach their replacements everything they know, what they’ve built is going to go upside down. So there is a flurry of activity amongst aging leaders to grow up the leaders coming up behind them, which is why more and more young leaders are becoming more visible. This begs the question: What should a youthful leader do to make sure they are taken seriously?

Truthfully, their youth doesn’t mean anything.

What does have an impact on how a young leader is respected and listened to is what they say… how they say it… how they interact with their team members… and how they get their job done. It is the quality of their actions and communication that will get the young leader the respect of their colleagues, which isn’t any different from how leaders of any age gain respect. So, it’s not about how old they are. It is about who they are being!

There are all kinds of opportunities currently awaiting aggressive, intelligent young people. And my advice to them is to latch them self onto a “white-hair” leader who wants to give away what he/she knows, and they’ll be able to learn things in real time; they won’t have to go experience and learn, they can learn from another and grow into phenomenal leaders!

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