Leadership Solutions

Leadership: Full Circle

There it is, in large print for everyone to read.

It's an ad in Wired magazine by Chase Bank that states:

"Here's a nice surprise:

  You call, we answer."

Then at the bottom of the page, there's more. You'll find:

"A real live person picks up when you call."

Stunning.

I'm pleased that this is happening, especially after spending years writing articles recommending that business leaders hire real live people to answer the phone.

Now, how about you?

Do you have a real live person answering the phone for your business? If not, you're using old technology, such as that horrible voice menu  ("Press nine to start over") or that bothersome robot ("I'm sorry that word is not a number").

Recognize that this could be the beginning of a dramatic shift toward better business communication. Thus I'm sure you'll want to be part of it before you're stuck trying to catch up. So, start interviewing. And hire a real live person to answer the phone.

Then imagine the possibilities.

Your customers will be able to talk directly with your employees so that they can buy your products and services.

It might change your business.

Key Point: Use a real live person to answer the phone.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

PS: My workshop on Communication Skills shows people what to say after they answer the phone.

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

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Special Note

I fixed a problem with my e-mail service yesterday that may have prevented some e-mails from reaching my Inbox. This problem has existed at least since May.

If you have sent me an e-mail without receiving a response, please call or send the e-mail again.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

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Leadership Solutions: Assorted Questions

How long does it take to photograph a bird?

Answer: it depends.

In this case, I spent an hour waiting for this bird to wake up and lift its head from its chest..

- - -

- - -

I suppose I could have waited longer, but it was past lunchtime and I was getting hungry.

While waiting, I thought of questions, such as:

Where did this bird come from? (This was an unusual bird to find in the Fullerton Arboretum.)

Does it have a second leg? (I know that birds will stand on one foot while they rest the other one, but this bird had stood like this for over an hour.)

Where will this bird go next? (That is, will it stay here, or is it on the way to somewhere?)

How old is the bird?

And so on.

Now, notice what I'm doing here.

By being curious, I'm enlarging the story about the bird. And that makes the bird more interesting.

I'm also paying attention, seeking details and differences.

You can do the same thing when you meet people. Be curious, pay attention, and ask good (polite) questions.

You'll find that this makes the story better, while leading to a richer conversation.

Key Point: Create interest by being curious and paying attention.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

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Leadership Solutions: How to Ruin It

The phone system is already in trouble.

Few people answer the phone. Almost no one returns calls. And you can talk to someone only by calling them on their cell phone while they're standing in line.

It's enough to make you cancel your service.

Now we have a terrible innovation that could put the entire system out of business.

It's robot calls.

Here's what happens: Your phone rings. You answer. And there's a recording.

The last one sounded so real, I tried to talk to it. Then I realized that I had been fooled. As a result, I felt insulted instead of interested.

I promise you that I will never buy anything from a robot.

Never.

Why? I'm a human being. And I talk to other human beings.

In addition, these robot calls are destroying the connection that binds a society together.

So, if your business is considering buying such a system, don't do it.

And if your business is using them, stop it.

Key Point: Robot calls are an insult to humanity.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

Web Site

Leadership Solutions: Better E-mail

Executives complains about this.

They spend too much time on e-mail. 

This is caused by a) the huge amount they receive and b) the poor quality of writing. As you might expect, they resent the people who send too much mail with too little thought.

Here are easy tips that will distinguish you as part of the solution (instead of the aggravation).

1) Be clear.

Avoid trendy terms, buzz words, and insider jargon. Instead, use ordinary words that can be understood by everyone.

After all, you're writing the e-mail to convey an idea. Make sure that it does that.

2) Be helpful.

Remember that complex ideas require simpler sentences. Thus, take the time to craft simple, clear sentences that express the ideas that you want to convey.

Check every sentence for it's potential to be misunderstood. Multiple meanings guarantee different responses, which causes problems and arguments.

3) Be literate.

Always use proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Capitalize names, titles, and the first word in a sentence. Refer to a book on grammar as needed.

4) Be formal.

Use traditional formatting. That includes a proper greeting, a body of text, and a real signature.

Avoid nick names and abbreviations because these can be misunderstood, or confused with someone else.

Save time by using a signature file that includes your phone number and other contact information. For example, my standard salutation is:

Much success,

Steve Kaye
714-528-1300
http://www.stevekaye.com 

5) Be careful.

Always proofread your messages. Run a spell check. And if the message is important, show it to someone else so that they can check it for errors.

Recognize that careless, complex, confounding messages cause problems.

6) Be smart.

Send your e-mail only to the people who need to receive it. Thus, avoid sending to everyone expecting that this will impress others. Actually, flooding the system with your e-mails has the opposite effect: it irritates people.

Bonus thought: Every e-mail can be forwarded to the Universe. And e-mail sent within a business is saved on the company's server forever (or longer). So, write as if you were writing for the ages.

Key Point: Your e-mail messages tell a lot about you. Make sure they create the impression that you want.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

Web Site

Leadership Solutions: Soft Disconnect

Did you hear it?

Because it was there.

It happened during a conversation, perhaps person to person or over the phone.

This IT was a lapse by the other person.

It sounds like a soft disconnect, which indicates that the other person just left you. They may have left to think about something else, or to glance at a clock, or to move a paper.

Whatever caused it, you could tell that it happened. And that affected your interest in continuing the conversation. It might have even determined what you said next.

This reminds us that listening requires more concentration, more effort, and more dedication than any other from of communication.

And so, the next time that someone is talking to you, make sure that you're paying attention.

Because the other person knows if you're really there.

Key Point: Effective listening requires every bit of concentration that you have.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

Web Site

Leadership Solutions: Subtle Flaw

It took a while to figure this out.

I attended a presentation last month that left me wondering. 

Everything seemed to work well. The speaker had a smooth approach. The material was logical.

But I didn't learn anything.

Why?

The presentation was based on knowing a special language related to the technology. If you understood the language, then you understood the presentation.

But if you didn't know the language (the definitions and their implications) then you could not understand the presentation. Nor could you participate effectively in the two projects during this presentation.

Here are two lessons from this.

1) Effective learning builds upon concepts (terms, technology, and so on) that are known to everyone.

Thus, be wary of leadership technologies that are based on a special language. This requires two levels of learning: the language and the concepts.

2) Effective communication depends upon using terms that are understood by all.

Thus, be wary of jargon, trendy terms, and complex speech. These require extra effort on the part of the listener. 

Key Point: Whether teaching or just speaking, your goal is to convey ideas, and not to impress, astonish, or confound.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

Web Site

Leadership Solutions: Conversational Complexity

Suppose you ask a question.

And the other person answers.

There are at two possible outcomes:

1) You receive exactly the information that you wanted. This usually happens when you ask a precise question that can be met with a simple answer.

Or,

2) You receive a cloud of information, which may or may not contain the information that you wanted. This can happen when you ask complex questions. Or it can happen when the other person misunderstands your question, attempts to provide additional information, or decides to offer other, perhaps more useful, information.

Notice how complicated this is?

And here’s the point: all communication is an iterative exchange of ideas where both sides work together toward mutual understanding.

This usually requires that each person take responsibility for their half of the exchange, which is about 80% of it.

Why 80%?

Because if each person gives that much, both might end up in the middle. And that’s where everything useful happens.

Key Point: Success in a relationship requires giving more than half.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

Web Site

Leadership Solutions: Grammatical Erosion

There’s a new trend out there that’s like a big gooey swamp.

On one hand, it’s very appealing. Some folks embrace it with a revolutionary zeal.

On the other hand, it’s dangerous. Some folks end up lost in ways that are hard to predict and difficult to repair.

This swamp is the current fascination with inventing cute abbreviations for hastily written e-mails, tweets, and text messages.

Why?

Consider this: Suppose that you’re a business owner (or other executive) who is interviewing people for a job. And suppose that you have a choice between two candidates with equal credentials except for one characteristic. One of them has posted messages on the Internet using a funky cryptic shorthand and the other has used correctly spelled words.

Who would you hire?

Most people would hire the person who demonstrated basic literacy.

So, here's a new trend to consider.

Be the only adult in your peer group who uses real words, complete sentences, and proper grammar.

I realize that this seems radical.

But it might catch on once the world becomes bored with verbal rubbish.

And then the people who embraced this new method will be recognized as the early adopters of a landmark technology that advanced human communication.

Key Point: Make sure your written words tell the story that you want others to remember.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

PS: Call me if you want to promote effective workplace communication in your organization.

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

Web Site

Leadership Solutions: Center Stage

"Can you hear me now?"

Unfortunately, I can.

He's sitting in a waiting room filled with about two dozen people. And he's proudly talking on his cell phone, sending his strong voice out into space as if he were on stage.

So, he's being rude.

He's intruding on everyone's right to silence by filling it with noise pollution.

He's also being stupid.

You see, he's opening an account. So, if you were taking notes, you would have been able to write down his name, his address, his phone number, his account ID, and . . . drum roll . . . his password.

And just to make sure that you had heard it correctly, he repeated the most important information (like his password).

Amazing, right?

We have been misled by the cell phone ads.

As a result, there are millions of people wandering about, talking on a cell phone while shopping, waiting in line, or walking through malls.

This is unfair to the people around them. They really do not want to hear other people's conversations.

It is also dangerous for the person making the call. And it is unfair to the other person on the line. Why?

Because these phone conversations are being performed before the public. (Have you noticed how people speak with a louder voice when using a cell phone?)

And in this age of tweets, blogs, and IM, there have been many (as in MANY) cases where a spectator posted an overheard conversation on the Internet. So, now medical conditions, personal problems, private news, and . . . . drum roll . . . names are out there for the public to read.

Amazing, right?

Of course, this only matters if you're engaged in a job search, because employers check the web for news about candidates. Or it matters if you have a business because buyers check the web for news about suppliers. Or it matters if you have relatives because teenagers check the web for news that's fun to share with others (even with their parents when it's outrageous enough).

So, the next time someone calls, ask "Where are you?" And if they're calling from a public place on a cell phone, suggest that they call back when they're in a private place.

Because sometimes you don't want to perform on stage.

Key Point: Make sure people can hear only information that you want to be made public.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

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