Tag: fear

Better not ask

FabrizioLeave a comment

Sometimes we do not ask because we do not want to be an annoyance.

Our team needs a new tool to do their job, but the company is going through a difficult period, better not ask.

Our customers need a new feature, but Product already has their hands full, better not ask.

Our prospects do not understand our message, but management is solid on their vision, better not ask.

Of course, not asking simply means we are shifting the annoyance on somebody else, somebody who has less power, who is farther, whom complaints we cannot hear. Our team, our customers, our prospects.

Next time you are not asking, consider who you are annoying with your inaction. It’s a trade off, after all.

Crisp

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Writing long email messages is a disservice to your audience and to yourself.

Your audience does not have time for long, they will at best skim through the message and forget about it the moment they close it (hopefully they will not decide to follow up with another message). You will fail to get through to them, your idea will be diminished, your questions and concerns drowned in adjectives and adverbs, and you will inevitably feel the urge to explain yourself, to add more, to elaborate, in short to add to the confusion.

The time you take to make your message crisp is time well spent.

The spiral

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What are the things you absolutely need to get done today, this week, this month, this year?

What are those things, and why, what purpose do they serve?

If you do not have answers to these two questions, if you shrug them off with a “too many” or “they are important”, it is very likely you are not going anywhere. And when you go nowhere, you end up taking on more. An endless spiral of unimportant and unpurposeful.

When someone asks you how are you, focused is a thousand times better than busy.

Mediocre

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When many people have to agree on something, the final result will be mediocre.

That’s why you should design your company in a way that assigns responsibilities clearly, and then truly delegate everything that is not on your table.

It takes gut to do work that matters.

Distinctive

FabrizioLeave a comment

When things do not go as planned, and you have to break the news to those who have helped, to those who have offered their ideas, their energy, their work, there is one thing that can make it worse.

Blaming the change of plan to others.

Of course, it works in the moment. It pushes away the shame for the loss, the difficult conversation, the necessary argument.

But as you regroup and start delivering against the new plan, no one will feel committed.

Find a reason to believe in instead, and motivate the changes with passion. Even when it was not you making the call, especially when it was not you making the call. Nobody likes change, but everyone is willing to accept it, if it makes sense.

Long term is always more important than short term. That is the distinctive sign of leadership.