Jul 19 2017
The Unrivaled Leader : Part 7 – Answering Email is Not Productivity!

I find that the amount of time that I spend answering emails continues to grow, and has continued to grow since the introduction of that platform in 1972.  Thanks, Ray Tomlinson.  I’ll email you my personal thanks.  And if I find where you live… Heck, before starting to writing this article I spent the previous hour reading, answering, and forwarding work emails.

Who hasn’t felt the satisfaction of emptying their inbox by rifling through and responding (REPLY ALL!) or forwarding emails and then deleting them from your inbox.  Or felt the stress of opening emails and seeing 200 new ones.

Emailing is not productivity.

I sometimes wish that sending and replying to emails was accompanied by physically poking the recipient (or sender) in the eye.  In this way, you (or they) would be keenly aware of the pain you (or they) were inflicting by simply flinging emails out to others.  And answering emails rarely is an end to a workflow.  Emails beget emails beget emails beget… (Proverbs: 110: 1-16)

Emails are used as replacements for meetings, and too many meetings is something I ranted about in the previous article.  And emails have come to replace the phone or face-to-face conversations.   I’ve experienced my next-door cubicle neighbor sending me an email that could have been solved with a five-minute visit.  Things are in a sad state of affairs.

So I mulled and mulled and tried to come up with some ways to avert email overload.

I recalled once where I inadvertently deleted all my emails from my inbox and you know what?  Nothing bad happened.  The people who needed something from me simply re-emailed or (or, [gasp!] called me).

Things I Have Tried
To help, here are some actions we took related to email overload that I and my team have tried over the years to varied success:

  1. We tried “no email” mornings where the management team agreed that between 8:30 am and 11:30 am, we were not going to send each other emails.
  2. We introduced a mechanism with subject line pre-fixes that provided information on the content of that email without you having to open it.  For example:
    1. “AR” means “Action is required of you”
    2. “PF” means “Print and File”
    3. “NRN” means “No response necessary”
    4. “FYI” means, well, “NRN”, but “NRN” was a strong suggestion NOT to respond
  3. We had an email etiquette class to remind people how and when to write emails.

All of these provided a modicum of relief, but because we could not control what others did relate to the email we were still inundated.

Suggestions
So to wrap up this short article, here are some suggestions and guidelines that I think you ought to strongly consider:

  1. Peel off people from emails that are not key or are not expected to provide input.  There have been countless times in endless email “chains” where I’m CC’d and dragged along in the wake of the conversation.  Some parts of the conversation are just “yep” or one sentence that continues to pull me along like a minnow in a paper eddy.  Just drop people off, especially executives from the To: and CC:.
  2. If you’re CC’d – avoid the temptation to respond.  Technically, as a cc:’d recipient, the intent should be to advise you rather than gather your feedback.
  3. Keep your emails very short.  No more than one paragraph.  Writing long emails simply forces people to speed read and skip potentially vital content.  Tighten and re-tighten the language.  Less is more, more or less.
  4. Do not send inflammatory emails.  Emails, like regrets, are forever.  And you don’t want to leave evidence of your unstable personality for all to read at some future performance review session.
  5. As a corollary to the previous item, if you do find the need to send a strong email, don’t send it and instead save it for an hour (or a day if possible).  Read it again at that time and you may find that a) things have changed and thus there is no need for your email, b) things have changed for the better and your email now seems silly, c) you really should not have sent that email at all, d) you don’t really care about the topic as much as you really thought at the time.  Ambivalence is a strong and often rewarding emotion.
  6. Immediately unsubscribe from junk emails.  Hit the “Junk” and then the “Block” buttons on your toolbar on spam emails.
  7. Setup rules by the recipient to move emails from less important people (or informational emails) to a separate folder — that you probably then will never visit.  Then set up rules that periodically empty out these folders.
  8. Before sending any email, pick up the phone and call the person.  You may get your answer right away.  [Note: the worst is when someone emails you and then picks up the phone to discuss the email they just sent you.  “Justifiable homicide” comes to mind.]
  9. Proofread your emails.  So many times I have received emails that appeared to be written by someone who didn’t understand verb tense, punctuation, correct forms of possessiveness, oh, the English language, etc.

What have you done to help assuage the tidal wave of emails?  Email me and let me know:  willrwills@gmail.com.

Update 7/20 –

  1. The inclusion of the email address at the end was an attempt at irony.  My thanks to the readers who said “hey, you know that you included your email address, right?”  Yes, I do.
  2. Another annoying thing was suggested by a reader.  Let’s call him Peter.  That would be:

Having a long email chain forwarded to you simply with “FYI”, forcing you to read the entire chain – and then finding out you were already on the TO: or CC: anyway!  Ugh!!

Will R Wills 2 Comments
Jun 9 2017
The Unrivaled Leader : Part 6 – Stop Scheduling @!&#!** Meetings!

The title should be enough guidance on this topic.  This is as bad as sending too many emails.  Just stop.  STOP!

Literally, using the correct definition of the word literally, I can say that too many of my workdays are non-stop meetings from the moment I walk into the moment I leave for the day.  If I hadn’t blocked off some time for lunch, I would be meeting through lunch.   And in fact, sometimes people put meetings through my lunch.  And when I’m out of the office (on business or PTO), meetings are scheduled that I am asked to dial into.  There’s no escaping meetings!

The result of so many meetings?

  • I’m unprepared for meetings.
  • Meetings run over so I’m late to meeting+1 all the way to meeting+n.  People in these meetings are irritated at me for being late.
  • I end the day exhausted and feeling like I haven’t accomplished anything.
  • I end up taking real work home so that I can complete my deliverables, in preparation for the next day of meetings.
  • My PTO is ruined because I have to tell my family to head out on their own while I take this 30 min call, which ends up being an hour or more.
  • My business trip or training is ruined because I have to duck out at some very crucial session time to take a 30-minute meeting.

And if you think having an agenda ready for each meeting will decrease the number of meetings that are scheduled, you’re wrong.  Agenda’s don’t take much to pull together.

And maybe you think that challenging people on meetings will cause them to reschedule or cancel them?  No.  Often the challenge is responded to with a name drop:  “Well, VP Mr/s. Smith needs this meeting and this is the only week they are available and you’re not available this other time so…”.  And then, often, VP Mr/s. Smith doesn’t even show up for the meeting, or shows up and is unprepared.

images-4.jpeg
When I See My Calendar

This is a problem all the way up the chain, and frankly, I’ve found that while everyone complains about this, rarely does anyone do anything about it.  Oh sure, they might schedule meetings to deal with the plethora (would you say we have a plethora of meetings?) of meetings.

And worse yet, the trend now is to not even check if your calendar is free for a meeting. Often I receive meetings on top of (or overlapping) existing meetings on top of…  I had one day where I had four meetings at the exact same time.  Professional courtesy is gone, I suppose, but this is just regular human courtesy, or perhaps laziness.

Has no one any workable advice on how to avoid meetings?
I care about you, and so I’m going to help you reduce the number of meetings you are invited to.   And I don’t want anything in return!  I’m the Buddha of “better work habits”! I’m the Jesus of “just giving you more time”.  I’m the Mohammed of “making your work life easier”.  I’m the…eh, Jim and Tammy Bakker of … not sure where I was going with that.

Below are some of the things that have worked for me.  Some are obvious, and maybe some are not.  Try out different ones at different times.

Top 10 Ways to Reduce the Number of Meetings

  1. Decline meetings.  Yes, just decline them. You have work to do that’s more important than that meeting. Just hit the “Decline” option and provide a comment that says you have some deliverables to work on.  Your declining (or declination? dejection? ) will often lead to other meeting invitees seeing this and declining the meetings themselves and being able to use you as an excuse why:  “well, Bill can’t make it so we need him there and I’ll wait until he’s available”.  Remember, you can use this technique, too.   But, this is especially easy if you have some reasonable rank in the organization.  If you’re a layperson and decline the CEO’s meeting request, you could have a lot of time in your future with no meetings.
  2. Decline but propose a new time. This is the kinder version of #1 above.  If the meeting has some merit, but you are otherwise indisposed, propose a time that works better for you.
  3. Set a cap on meetings, and then follow #1 or #2 above.   45-hour workweek.  Two hours of meetings a day is 10 hours.  10 hours of meetings per week is almost a quarter (that’s 25%!) of your week.  That’s a lot of time in meetings.  So put a cap at 2 meetings per day, or 10 meetings per week, and stick to it.  If someone places a meeting on your calendar and you’re over your limit, decide which other meetings should be declined.
  4. Have a no-meeting day.  Just take a day off every week and block off that time as “Busy”.  Decline meetings that are placed on that day.  This doesn’t eliminate people who just drop meetings haphazardly on your calendar, but it does help.
  5. Add random fake meetings to your calendar. Yes.  Take the time, or have your admin take the time to create a spate of fake meetings with realistic-sounding names.  One time my admin created such a realistic name that I thought it was a real meeting and started stressing.  Imagine my relief when it turned out to be a fake meeting.  We high-fives! Just plop a couple of hour meetings each day across the week.
  6. Fake PTO.  Alright, maybe not fake, but go ahead and block off time in the future to take a vacation from work.  If you’re like me, you have to do this so far in advance anyway because you’re already booked up for the next two months.  Put “Hold for PTO” out on your calendar, mark the day off and wait.  If you end up taking the day off, then that’s a good thing because you get some time to relax and regenerate.  If you end up not taking the day off (but you really should, people!), then you have a reasonably unfettered day to complete your work.  Note that if you overuse this, people will ignore these blockages and put meetings on your calendar anyway.
  7. Setup no-meeting mornings. As an alternative to marking a whole day off, mark off your mornings only (9 am to noon).  Studies show that you’re most alert in the morning so use that time to do difficult or important work.  You want to be a hero, and you are a manager (or above)? Create a policy for your department that is “no meeting mornings”.  That positive energy will carry long after you have to stop doing this because some other department complains because their manager won’t do the same, wah.
  8. Convert your meetings to stand-ups. Take a page our of agile development and host stand up meetings in place of using a room or going off-site.  This does a couple of things:  1) these meetings are usually shorter because no one wants to stand up for long, 2) thus these meetings are more curt and specific, 3) you and your team look trendy and high-tech. Look at you with your team doing that stand up thing!
  9. Let your admin control your calendar and tell her #1 – 8 above.  The only thing attending to many meetings is stressing over how to manage all these meetings and decide which ones to decline.  If you’re the lucky person who has an assistant, as that person to follow my rules above.  First, you’ll relieve your stress because you’re not having to do this.  Second, usually, your admin will care just a little less about hurting other people’s feelings and will end up declining a heck of a lot of meetings.  A good assistant is one that will stand up to others on your behalf.  But you have to stand up for them as well.
  10. Work from home. If you’re lucky enough to be afforded this option, do it.  It’s difficult to set up meetings with people who telecommute.  Yes, you can Skype or Hangout it, but that’s not usually used for real meetings.  And yes, often you have to come in for real meetings, but out of sight is out of mind, and just by being out of the office you’ll not be invited to so many meetings.

I understand some of the above is a bit extreme.  You need to decide what will work best for your organization.  Maybe you soften some of them up.  For example, you don’t want a reputation for adding fake meetings to your calendars: “Oh look, here comes Mr. I’m so busy I have to lie about my meetings guy!” But if you call them “work times” rather than “fake”, then you’re just being more productive with the valuable time your organization provides!  That is so nice of you and should earn you an award.

Alright, give it a shot. Help address this blight on productivity right away!  Have any other ideas that worked for you?  Let me know in the comments!

willrwills 0 Comments
May 12 2017
The Unrivaled Leader : Part 5 – How to Interview

In the support of brevity, I will now provide some basic guidelines for interviewing and hiring that have worked well for me.  This again is based on both great successes and disturbing horror stories related to interviewing applicants.

One thing to keep in mind is that this whole notion of Human Resources giving you 90-days of a probationary period in which you can release a new hire for “no reason” is pure bunk.  I’ve had little success in trying to accomplish this probationary release process.  In the end, handling new hire performance issues ends up being no different from doing the same for tenured staff.  Thus, hiring the right person is key, unless you like spending months documenting and reviewing performance issues.

Infrequently in my career, I’ve wished that I could just “fire” someone on the spot.  No, not a “you’re fired” because someone pushed my buttons.  Rather, in the case of a mediocre performer who is able to just bubble up high enough to get off of various warnings and probationary statuses.  I have also come across staff that can game the system and works their way around the various liability concerns Human Resources wraps around performance management.  I understand why HR does this, but it’s still frustrating.  The same is true for someone who slowly destroys your culture.  There is a need to be able to say “you there, get out” with a modicum of HR documentation required.

And that’s why it’s important to get the hiring process right.
The key parts of the interview:

Your preparation – this is tantamount, and important, too!

Don’t show up at the interview not having read the applicant’s cover letter and resume.

It’s very obvious to me when someone is scanning my resume for the first time.  Schedule 15 minutes prior to the interview to read the resume and jot some questions.  You can even have a standard set of questions you start with within all interviews.  If you’re on a panel, share those questions with others on the panel.  This way they are aware of where you’re going with the questions and can make sure they don’t go the same place or can provide supporting questions.

The Technical Portion – this should be pretty clear.  In this case, you want to verify that the person knows the technical skills they portrayed in their resume and that you will require on the job.  You should be able to ask very specific questions regarding technology, such as “so how does a web service work?”  But be specific.  And don’t resume-spew.  That is, don’t spend the time showing off just how much you know.

commentSide Note: For many years, I used a technical test that I wrote myself which was wide and shallow (just like me!).  It had a large number of questions across many IT disciplines (SQL, C programming, web programming, object-oriented programming).  The applicant was forced to take it in pen on paper.  The grading was not to pass/fail.  While we did look for correct answers, we gave credit in areas where the person showed creativity or at least understood the concept.  Applicants hated that test.  I had my own team take it and they all fared very well.  It was very useful because it gave us a unique view into the problem-solving technique of each applicant.  We even had some that refused to take the test and thus we bade them farewell.  We EVEN had a headhunting organization try to steal a copy of the test because it was intimidating their applicants so much.

What doesn’t work well is having the applicant face a panel of technical staff members who then grill this person on all sorts of discrete information.  It’s glee-filling for the technical interviewers but borderline abusive for the applicant.  Unless the position is very, very technical, I would avoid a panel technical interview and instead do something one on one.

Also, don’t press the applicant with trick questions or questions so pathological that one would never use such a skill in the real job.

I was once asked how to fill an array of 256 unique random integers using a single C statement.  I was able to come up with a way, but not the way they were looking for.  Frankly, if any of my developers wrote code like that, I would have chased them around the department with a stick.  Useless questions that made me question the competence of my interviewers are not appropriate.

The “What If You Were A Tree?” Question – this is a classic.  You ask someone some odd question to see how they answer it.  Avoid this technique.  It’s a cliché.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times – Actually, this is one of my favorite techniques.  The questions revolve around “describe a time when something went really well” and then “describe a time when something went very badly”.

First, if they cannot come up with a disaster in their career,  and this is not an entry-level position, then there’s a problem.  It’s the same problem if they cannot come up with something that went really well!  Maybe even a worse problem.

Listen for how the applicant describes the situation.

Do they say “I” and “me” a lot?  Was the good situation all about him/her and the bad all about the failures of others?  Press for details.  Was there any recognition after the good event?  Was there a price to pay for the bad event?  What was the root cause of the failure?  How was it mitigated going forward?  What could they have done differently?

This is a solid type of question you should ask at each interview.

That annoying tick – this one is simple.  Think back to when you were dating someone and how on the first one or two dates, some particular habit was cute.  For example, being called “babe”.  Then think about how after fifteen dates, you cringed each time your significant other said “babe”, often thirty or forty times each day.  Little habits that come up during an interview will be unbelievably irritating and not so endearing months later.
Other “affectations” to look for include:

  • Lots of sarcasm or joking. Some joking is fine, but you don’t want to hire a clown or someone insulting.
  • Lots of talking.  Simple questions that turn into long-winded expositions that wander here and there.
  • A lot of “me” talk, as in describing in great detail the wonderful traits they have, the amazing places they’ve been, the totally desirable lifestyle they lead, and so on.
  • Not answering questions.  Listen to the answer.  Are they answering the question you asked?  If not, interrupt them and pose the question again.
  • Too loud / too soft.  Does the applicant speak so quietly that you have to strain to hear or are they very loud?  If those sorts of things matter, think about passing on this applicant.
  • They only speak to the males (females) on the interview panel.  Odd behavior, something to keep an eye on.  Is there some sexism going on?
  • They don’t seem to know anything about your organization (outside applicants).  Really?  They never took the time to Google information on your organization?  To me, that smacks of being unprepared.  Ask directly “did you research our organization prior to coming to the interview?”  If they say “yes”, ask them some specific questions.  Do they know what the job entails?  Ask them to describe what they think the position is responsible for.
  • They speak very poorly of their previous position.  Not a good technique and shows a lack of professionalism.
  • They can’t come up with any reasonable things that they could improve upon.  When you hear things like “I’m too smart for my own good” or “I work way too hard”, that’s a fluff answer.  Press for something substantial.
  • Very specific, pointed questions (or uncomfortable questions) about you or the organization.  Again, a bad sign that this person has no tact.

What’s this on your ray-zoom-meh? (Resume) – worrisome things to look for on the resume:

  • Job hopping.  Did they spend one year or 18 months at the least four jobs?  Why?  Ask them to explain.  Are they chasing money?  Do you want to invest time and training and have them skip out?
  • Breaks in their employment times.  What happened those four years between these two jobs?
  • No jobs recently.  This one is tough because, if this is an older applicant or someone who maybe took a sabbatical, it may be okay that they haven’t worked for a few years.  But check it out.
  • Generic information.  Look for specifics.  How much did they actually contribute to the bottom line?
  • The Slasher.  Is the resume peppered with this person coming into a job and slashing costs?  Is that what you want?   Maybe you do.  But you can’t save your way to success, so maybe you should look for things that show growth in revenue rather than slashing of costs.
  • Prison Time. Why and why did they include this on their resume?

Too Friendly – does the applicant act “too familiar”?  Are they touching your hand or shoulder too much?  Do they act like they’ve known you previously?  Are they too informal?  Do they kiddingly tease you or comment on how nice looking you are? All bad omens.  Steer clear of these people.
Closing the Interview – it’s very important to cut the interview somewhat short.  There are few interviews that deserve to be more than an hour in length, especially first interviews.  For an hour interview, use the last fifteen minutes for the applicant’s questions.

Also, make sure up front that the applicant knows how long the interview should take.

Take note of the types of questions they ask.

It’s okay if they don’t have questions.  In fact, I prefer that I’m not met with a litany of questions from the applicant, especially if this is one in a series of interviews.

If the interview is not going well and this is clearly not the right person, cut the interview short.  There are few things more painful than trying to drag out an interview where both parties are clear that this is not a good fit.  It’s far more professional to say something like “honestly, it looks like this is not the right position for you – let’s wrap this up and save the time for some future position that you may be more qualified for”.

After the interview – take your notes and staple them to the applicant’s resume and hold onto both for some time.   When you get back to your desk, make note of the positives and negatives and write down whether you think this person should be considered for the position.  This is important so that when you review these notes later (sometimes much later), it reminds you what the outcome was.

In some cases, you may be required to provide HR with your recommendation.  Don’t send them your notes.  Summarize them and include your final disposition.  Provide clear and exact information on the decision you made.

willrwills 0 Comments
May 5 2017
The Unrivaled Leader: Part 4 – Don’t Bullshit

This is a simple idea that seems to evade even the most competent people, especially as people move up through the ranks.  It’s the idea that your superior ability or intellect gives you the superpower of being able to deceive without detection.

“If you think no one on your staff will pick up on the fact that you are misleading them, either by commission or omission,  you need to reconsider your strategy.”

What does it say about you if you’ve assembled a team that is not bright enough to pick up on being misled?  What will happen when they figure out that you’ve been less than honest?  Will it ever be possible to regain their trust after you are caught in misdirection?

I’m not advocating spewing every little bit of confidential information to your staff.  That would be very poor judgment and even poorer management.  When faced with delivering bad news – news that you may not know the details or may not be able to share the details about due to confidentiality, you have to find a balance between misleading and having the integrity to treat your staff with respect.

If you’ve treated your staff respectfully along the way, truly behaved as a servant leader, made sure to listen and act upon feedback, you might be surprised just how your staff will be to go through the most difficult times at your side.  It’s the fact that you are a respectable, empathetic, approaching, kind leader that makes it possible to deliver very bad news and still have the support of your team.  Trust me.

People like to hear reality, and your staff is looking to you to provide them with the possible opportunities for success even if that means they need to find that success in another organization or in another capacity.

Anecdote #1 – Years ago I worked at an organization that was ultimately acquired by a larger organization that produced the exact same software that we did.  Now, you can imagine the feeling in the department: that soon we’d be merged and as a result, we’d all lose our jobs.  So I approached my manager and asked him whether we had anything to fear or whether he could share any details about the impact of this merger on our department.

“No no”, he said, “everything will be great.  We’ll merge the teams and we’ll merge the products and have an even better offering to the market.
So I pressed him again – do I need to maybe update my resume and keep an eye out for a job, just in case?

“No No No”, he reassured again, “Just sit tight. All will be well and we’ll be in a better place soon.”
A month later, we were all called into a “kickoff meeting”.  HR walked in and laid us all off.

 images

I approached my manager and asked him why he could not even give me some idea that there was a chance we’d be let go.  In fact, it was pretty obvious to everyone (see my note about having a smart staff) that we likely would be let go, but his reassurances made us trust that we’d be okay.
His response was that he was just doing his job.

If the opportunity arises, would I ever work for him again?  Nope.  Did he poison me to this organization?  Yep.

So what was he supposed to do?  Was he supposed to tell us that we’re all losing our jobs?  Of course not.  Well, He could have suggested that the future was uncertain, but that the worst that would have happened would be we’d be paid a severance based on tenure.  He could have reinforced that it’s always good to keep your resume updated.  He could have done something other than telling us everything would be fine, which was a lie.

Anecdote #2 – A number of years ago I was pursuing my MBA at the University of Central Florida (go Knights!)  One of my business classes posed a thought question.  Here’s the short version:

“You manage a Wal-Mart that will be closing in 6 months.  Another larger store will be opening in the next town, but none of your staff will be moved to that other store.  You need your staff to keep working until the smaller store closes, and then they will all be released.  Do you:

  1. Say nothing, and on the day of the closing simply arrive early and lock the doors?
  2. Tell your staff the situation, and work with staff on job placement opportunities and/or lobby regional management for some “stay on board” compensation?

My leaning would be, as you might expect, #2. I asked my then boss and he said “most definitely #1.  In his words “this is a business and there are no friends in business”.  Ironically, a few years later he was laid off.

To me, a good leader is someone who represents the best in humanity; someone who, when you run into them long since you’ve parted ways, you want to walk up to them and shake her/his hand.  Party of being that boss is to treat your staff with integrity and above all, don’t bullshit them.

Next: Part 5 – How to Interview

willrwills 0 Comments
May 5 2017
The Unrivaled Leader : Part 3 – How to TAKE Feedback

To misquote an old Seinfeld episode where he arrived at a car rental location and they had his reservation but not his car:
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“Anyone can take a reservation! They key is to hold the reservation.”

Anyone can receive feedback.  Heck, just use some of the suggestions in Part 2 and you’ll be getting a whole lot of feedback!   But how do you make this feedback stick?  How do you TAKE it?  What do you do with that feedback?  Well, that’s why we’re here, right?

    • First and foremost, think about how you’d want your boss to behave when he asked you for feedback on her/him?  That should guide your behavior in general, but specifically when listening to feedback.  As you are providing input to your superior, what do you want them to do?  Picture in your mind a session where you’re giving your boss feedback and she/he is behaving exactly as you want them to.  What does that look and sound like? That is a clue as to how you should behave.
    • When receiving feedback, unless it becomes insulting or denigrating, just sit and listen.  Shut up.  Do not offer debate or contradiction.  Let the person and give them your undivided attention.
    • No matter how crazy the feedback is, think yourself “could this possibly be true?”  After all, someone thinks this, so it’s a perception.  And this perception could be held by many.  Just consider the possibility.  Could this possibly be true?
    • Watch your body language.  Don’t sigh, roll your eyes or deflect.  Be respectful and professional.  This is ESPECIALLY true if you’re receiving feedback from a group.  How you behave when receiving feedback immediately paints your staff’s perception of you.   Don’t interrupt and provide your perspective.

Once you have received the feedback:

    • Don’t necessarily attempt to solve the problem at that very moment.  If you can, then that’s great.  Otherwise, take notes and make sure you get back to the person.
    • If you’ve been asked to solve particular problems, make it a priority to do so and report back.  If you are asked to solve things that cannot be solved, report that as well.  Just provide accurate and timely feedback.  Make sure you close out the request.  You’re either going to act upon the feedback or not.  If you’re not, make sure people know why and then move on.
    • Be humble.  Thank the person for the feedback.  They’re going out on a limb and taking the time to educate you on something you may not be perceiving.  It’s a great service that not everyone will partake in.  So many people just quietly grumble or spread bad negative information rather than taking the time to tell you what’s on their mind.  Others are in need of assistance, whether with tools or support.  Others just need someone to listen to their concerns, even if you cannot solve them.
    • In a group setting, if the feedback is hostile, insulting, or tries to “incite a riot” by getting others to join in, you need to diffuse this.   It’s important and completely acceptable to cut the feedback short and ask everyone to please be polite.  Alternatively, you can ask if this can be discussed privately or at a later time (maybe right after the meeting).
    • Be self-deprecating.  Don’t take yourself too seriously or act in shock or get irritated, as if you are beyond reproach.  If the feedback you are receiving is total nonsense, you’ll be able to address that at a separate time.  Don’t be sarcastic or ridicule the person providing the information.

The bottom line is that it’s a service that someone is performing when they bravely provide feedback.  You can’t ask your managers or lower staff to seek and accept feedback if you are not willing to do the same.  Most importantly, there is going to be feedback that is 100% accurate and, if received and acted upon, will improve you as a leader.

Finally, as will be discussed in a later Part, acting in this way – asking for feedback, really listening, and acting on the feedback received – makes you a strong and admired leader, and this will only increase the respect your team will have for you.  By receiving feedback, your staff will be more willing to receive and heed your feedback to them.  It’s a win-win.

Anecdote: A while ago I was part of a focus group that was called together to provide one of my superiors feedback.  That person was at our table, and their job was to ask for feedback and write it down dutifully.  Instead of doing that, this person continued to remark “That’s not true!”  or “Really?  Really?  How can you feel that way?”  If it weren’t for the fact that they were bungling this session to the point of being funny, those of us providing feedback would have been upset.  The message to us was “we don’t really want your feedback”.

But YOU do.
Next: Part 4 – Don’t Bullshit

willrwills 0 Comments
May 3 2017
The Unrivaled Leader : Part 2 – How to Get Feedback

Alright, now you’re on the right track.  You have decided that feedback is essential to your success.  And you’re title/position is anything from an entry-level staff member to a C-level member of executive leadership.  Good for you!

In my attempt to make these posts direct and useful, without further ado, here are some specific ideas about where and how to gain feedback –

  1. Always end the conversation with “what can I do better for you?”  The job of an effective manager is to communicate a strategy or direction to staff members, provide the necessary tools and/or guidance to reach that ultimate goal, and – get the heck out of the way.   But before getting out of the way, keep tabs on performance by ending discussions with questions about what YOU can do for the staff person. Don’t make every interaction a coaching session.  What you really want is your staff to coach you.
  2. Schedule one-on-one’s with people across your organization, as time permits.  And when you meet, don’t discuss project status.  Ask the person questions about how they are feeling, their stress level, their notions about whether the job is engaging or not, where they want to be in three to five years, what you can do to help them be successful (see #1 above).  Keep it casual and interactive during the engagement.  And don’t force the discussion to meet any particular time frame: don’t cut it off at thirty minutes but also don’t stretch it out to thirty-minutes.  Get to a point where it feels like you’re wrapping up, and then wrap it up!  Take notes if need be.
  3. Setup “Fireside Chats” with groups of your staff members.  When I used to do this, I’d have my assistant set up groups of four or five to meet with, and pick a cross-section of people who may have varying opinions.  She’d then schedule monthly Fireside Chats, each with a different group.  If one of the people selected for a group was generally a “complainer”, we’d also invite someone who was more positive as well.  This keeps the group from moving in too extreme in any particular direction.   That being said, you could also do the exact opposite and say, invite-only people who are concerned or unhappy.   It’s challenging, but it allows you to receive feedback directly on the cause of concern.  It also could make the group more comfortable because they are speaking in a like-minded way.  Caution: if you do this, you want to make sure each person doesn’t simply build on the other’s input to create an artificial angry mob.  Make sure you diffuse discussions because people are shouting – or stop the meeting and reconvene using one-on-one’s, should this occur. During these chats (and you can call them Fireside Chats because it sounds friendly), if you have the option, supply fountain drinks or light snacks.  You want people to be comfortable in speaking to you and open up about their concerns.  And everyone likes free food and drinks!

    If specific people come up in the discussions, ask that the group speak more generally and then speak to you later to provide more specific information.  After all, if someone on your team is causing problems, you want to know so that you can independently verify what’s going on.

    Finally, take notes.  Spend time listening, NOT speaking or defending – no matter how direct the feedback is.  Ask probing questions.  Bring out comments from members of the group who are not saying anything.  At the end, review the notes/action items you took.  You’re not promising you can address every concern, but in my experience, most of the concerns will be fairly straightforward to resolve.

  4. End all staff meetings / stand up meetings with an “open floor”.  Set aside fifteen minutes or more at the end of the meeting to take any questions about anything.  Ask if the staff has heard any good rumors. If you have managers and staff reporting to you, remind your managers before the meeting that this is about staff feedback and not theirs.  If you have managers who want to provide feedback, use a one-on-one, or get all the managers together without staff and ask for their direct feedback.

    Note: if you have managers that may intimidate your staff to not speak, first, don’t invite your managers, and soon thereafter, change their behavior or move the offending manager out of the organization.

  5. Install a suggestion box. There’s no shame in having a simple way for people to provide input.  Make sure paper and a pencil are nearby and check it periodically.  And take the time to acknowledge any suggestions you do receive – especially those that you cannot practically address.
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  6. If you are the leader of an organization, create and distribute a “climate survey”. Make sure the survey is not too lengthy.  Search for samples on the Internet and give people time to complete their surveys.  Include open-ended questions where staff and management can supply unstructured feedback.
  7. Don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation casually when you run into someone in the hall. Listen to me:  if you have a large team, it does not matter if you have forgotten the staff person’s name.  Just say “I’m sorry, I just don’t recall your name”  It won’t be taken as hard as you think.  BUT, if you forget their name repeatedly, then I suggest you practice some memory games. In this hallway conversation, ask honestly how things are going.   Or ask about a specific project or something noteworthy that occurred in your organization.  Make it a casual two to give minute “hello!” and part with “good speaking to you”.  This makes your staff comfortable in seeking you out to provide feedback.

I’ve always used the story that I want my staff to be comfortable saying “hello” when they see me out of the building, or at a store or restaurant.  I use Target as an example as in “if I see you in Target, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable to say hello – or try to avoid running into me.”

Next: How to TAKE feedback

willrwills 0 Comments
May 1 2017
The Unrivaled Leader : Part 1 – Seek Feedback

This article is one entry in a multi-part series of articles that will ultimately be compiled into a compendium.  

❉ ❉ ❉

The Setup

As a normal course of employment, you are subject to formal feedback.  Annual reviews, periodic one-on-ones, and so on will force you to provide and receive feedback.  These official requirements are an attempt to reinforce how important it is to communicate up, down, and sideways across your organization.

Interestingly, both when you are at an entry-level and when you are at the senior-most levels (C-levels), you may not be as inclined to elicit information on your performance (or company performance) – and this is a big mistake.

As an entry-level employee, you most need to know how you’re being perceived, beyond the official channels.   This is a time when you’re establishing informal communication points and it’s key to establish these quickly.  Seeking such information shows others that you’re engaged and aware of how important perceptions are.  Informal channels may provide unforeseen opportunities.

But often, after a series of promotions, this need for feedback seems to diminish.  Why is this?  Sometimes this is because the workload increases as with career progression and there just isn’t enough time to search for out-of-band feedback.  In some organizations, senior management discussing performance with lowly staff is considered gauche and something that breaks the appearance of separation between executive management and staff.  After all, when you make it to the upper rungs of management, there must be something really special about you, right?

The Servant Leader

“Servant leadership is a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world”

The modern servant leadership movement was created by Robert Greenleaf in his essay published in 1970 entitled “The Servant as a Leader” – but the idea is an ancient one.  This style is related to ethical leadership where leaders are governed by rules to make sure their actions are just and align with the corporate culture.

Many organizations want servant leaders.  The opposite would be leaders that practice autocracy, or command and control styles (authoritative).  Both servant leaders and authoritative leaders can be effective depending on the situation.   For example, during times of crisis where quick action is needed, autocratic decisions may be necessary.  Let’s assume for this article that you want (or your organization wants) you to be a servant leader.
Servant leaders need their staff to be satisfied and content with their jobs.  They want to make sure everyone is on board with the company’s direction and vision.  They constantly check in to make sure the organization at all levels is moving in the right direction and that concerns are addressed.   It encourages staff participation in decision making, also known as participative management.

This is sometimes confused with “leadership by democracy” where leaders move forward based on consulting and gaining consensus on the appropriate path.  That is not usually the case and not leadership at all!

The Directive

Regardless of whether you want to be a true servant leader or even if you would prefer to be more authoritative, the feedback loop is key.

►Next: Ways to get that feedback.

willrwills 0 Comments
Feb 20 2017
Trade 30 Minutes for Undivided Attention?

We’ve all noticed that in our digital lives we tend to be forever connected. Certainly, our phones are with us at all times now, as are our wearable’s, glasses, tablets, laptops.  Far too often our focus is on our devices and not what’s going on around us.  This can mean missing seeing a beautiful mountain vista or putting a severe strain on a relationship during dinner.
One area where this digital-fixation is having a significant impact is during business meetings.

It’s not uncommon anymore to find attendees lugging  a tablet or laptop to meetings to “take notes”.

As a result, presenters are finding it harder to hold their audiences’ attention.

At a recent work meeting, I had the opportunity to “work the lights” for a few minutes and in doing so, had a vantage point that was behind a whole row of people in attendance. During my time standing, none of the people I was spying on were paying attention to the speaker.  Every single attendee in front of me was busy responding to emails, reading documents, or even updating their Facebook accounts.  It was disappointing.  The poor speaker continued to do his best to engage everyone though no one (except me) was making eye contact with him.  It was waste of his time and a loss for the audience.

At another meeting a few years ago at a customer site, I was presenting information on our software with another colleague when I noticed my audience had their faces glued to their laptops.  As an experiment, I started comparing our software to Metamucil, explaining how it helped with difficult (hard) situations and often reduced the effort the consumer had to spend to complete their tasks.  Other than my co-working snickering, no one else reacted.

After much thought, I think I’ve come up with a workable solution.
In your next 1+ hour meeting, require that people put away their laptops during the meeting.  If they have tablets to take notes, that’s fine, but require that they stay in their note-taking application.  In return, you will agree to shorten the meeting by 30 minutes.  Maybe for thirty-minute meetings, reduce the length by 10 minutes.

This will give attendees time back to return to their desks (or stay put, I suppose) and answer their emails, update social media, or whatever else they need to do.

willrwills 0 Comments
Jan 8 2017
Are You Naked And Don’t Know It?

In the famous tale by Hans Christian Anderson, an Emperor who cares only about his appearance unwittingly hires two shysters who pretend to sew him fantastic new clothes at great cost, but in reality, produce nothing.  They convince the Emperor that only noble people can see such clothes.  The Emperor, despite not seeing the clothes himself, cannot admit as such and thus he walks around naked. When the Emperor shows his ministers, they are too afraid to say anything.  In fact, everyone is afraid to tell the Emporer the truth until he appears in a parade, naked, and a young child with no such pretenses calls out that the Emperor has no clothes!  This cry, taken up by others in the crowd, reaches the Emperor, who continues to walk down the street, still confident that such common people did not have the upbringing to appreciate his wonderful clothes. In scientific terms, this is known as pluralistic ignorance.

How does a 150-year-old tale apply to you and specifically to management?
During the normal course of business, but most notably during staff and departmental meetings and communique, you might find yourself preaching to your staff certain virtues or practices.  Common examples might be:

  • The importance of honest communication
  • Making sure you ask your staff for direct feedback
  • Suggesting that failures are okay as long as we learn something from them
  • Asking everyone to tighten up on expenses
  • Keeping an open door policy
  • Having the ability to publicly admit that you were wrong
  • Turning back an initiative that appears to be less fruitful (or more painful to your staff) than thought at the onset
  • Recognizing and addressing poor performance
  • The importance of avoiding cronyism, and acting impartially

…and so on.

These are all noble and supportable initiatives and can factor in improving the workplace culture and ratcheting up performance.  In the best case, it can socialize to your staff that you understand the importance of these behaviors.  At the same time, you are also suggesting that you (and your management team) will support the behaviors by participating in them.
But are you?
To find out,

you must ask yourself and others: am I adhering to these guidelines?  Most assuredly your staff and peers will know whether you are or are not.  

The only thing more destructive to culture than not establishing such guidelines is not adhering to them personally.
As a good manager, you can often avoid such dangers by following some basic practices:

  1. Keep an open communication channel down to the most junior staff person.  In fact, your newest recruits (much like the tale above) may be the most honest with you.  Longer-term employees may have been blunted by previous attempts to raise concerns.  Meet regularly with staff in a casual environment.
  2. No matter what feedback you receive, be receptive, take note of it, and later ask yourself “is this possibly true?”  It may not be true, but the perception exists so considering it a truth both reinforces that you are willing to take feedback and provides an opportunity to examine what may be causing this perception.
  3. Be careful not to constantly socialize a litany of best behaviors.  Pick certain key behaviors that you feel are key to the success of the organization and make sure you personally live by them.
  4. If you are in senior management, make sure your managers also live by the same behaviors you are suggesting.  Don’t rely on them to report to you whether they do or do not – meet with their staff periodically.
  5. Establish some sort of recurring survey to receive feedback on the culture, then keep an open mind of the feedback you receive.   Act upon the items that are of most concern.
  6. Make sure you treat your staff with the same respect as you treat your management team.  Do you joke and appear at ease with your management team and then tense up with you speak to staff?  If you’re preaching that we’re all in this together, then you need to treat everyone as part of the “we’re all”.

core-values-banks
If you create a culture of trust where everyone believes that management walks the walk, and acts in the best interest of the individual, and thus collectively of the firm, you will have established a high-trust, resilient and positive culture from top to bottom.
And you will be fully clothed.

Will R Wills 0 Comments
Nov 3 2016
The Fear of The Fear of Public Speaking

According to StatisticBrain.com, 75% of women and 73% of men suffer from speech anxiety or the fear of public speaking, also known as “glossophobia”. Borrowing from a Jerry Seinfeld routine, he noted that people are more afraid of public speaking than dying, such that “given the choice, people would prefer to be in the casket than delivering the eulogy for the person in the casket.”

About five years ago, I suddenly developed glossophobia. It happened as I approached my 40’s. It struck with horrifying consequences. Suddenly, in the middle of a presentation, I would experience a panic attack. I was unable to continue, my heart racing, and unable to catch my breath. I immediately forgot everything I was going to say. It really frightened me because I had not previously experienced such anxiety. And throughout my life, I’ve been very comfortable presenting in front of very large audiences. I’ve hosted entire IT Conferences, single-handedly, without a trace of serious nervousness. Worst yet, the panic attacks continued. I started dreading doing any presentations and then even conference calls with large audiences. Something had changed and I desperately needed to find out what – and correct it.

“Suddenly, in the middle of a presentation, I would experience a panic attack. I was unable to continue, my heart racing and unable to catch my breath.”

I started searching for examples of others who had experienced such problems and stumbled upon a number of very successful stars who were in a similar situation. Celebrities like Donny Osmond, Leann Rimes, and Paula Dean all struggled with social anxiety and panic attacks.

For me, Osmond was the most intriguing. At the same time, I was searching and coping, I actually happened upon a television special specifically about Osmond’s issues. As he described, in the mid-nineties in the middle of a run of starring in Jason and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, Donny Osmond started suffering panic attacks. The child star who had been performing in front of thousands since age five suddenly was calling in sick, or faking his way through performances. What had happened? He was Donny Osmond! How could he feel such anxiety? How would he correct this? In short, he ended up in lengthy therapy and taking all sorts of anxiety minimizing drugs.

Neither of those options seemed palatable but the idea that others had experienced the same onset of anxiety made me feel that there was hope.
The best part of the situation is that I had a boss that was quite supportive and would keep an eye out for my attacks, jumping in and taking over. He sat and listened to me, in astonishment, as he watched someone who had been so outgoing and confident now nervous about presenting information that I knew very well. I also had peers and direct reports that I confided in who would also rescue me if they noticed me faltering.

Now that I’ve generally been able to address my anxiety without therapy or medication, I want to pass along some tips and techniques that work for me – and some interesting information that I’ve found after speaking to other speakers that I consider dynamic and talented.

The Fear of the Fear
My first revelation was that I was starting to fear the feeling of fear. Having a panic attack is a horrible feeling – one that you don’t forget. After a few panic attacks during presenting, I started to worry well before my next presentation. I was feeling that panic feeling days and weeks before my presentation. It would come and go, but when I had it, it was as if I was presenting and panicking. My brain was making me relive the worst possible moment over and over, and it caused me to dread presenting. Was I having a mental breakdown? Was what I was feeling unique to me?

“My first revelation was that I was starting to fear the feeling of fear. “

I decided to find the answer by approaching my peers who I thought were very good speakers and asking them directly “do you get nervous before presenting?” The answers I received were interesting and reassuring. A summary of the most common answers included:

  • “Yes, I still get a little nervous but once I get going on stage I get over it very quickly.”
  • “Yes, but I would not describe it as nervousness. It’s actually more like adrenalin and I’ve learned to almost like that feeling.”
  • “Yes, I get very nervous, but then I realize that I’m totally prepared and so I talk myself to a more calm state.”
  • And from one speaker who always seems so confident and cool while presenting: “I’m nervous the whole time. I’m not panicked, but in the back of my head, I do get a little edgy. It keeps me on my toes.”

The message was most speakers still feel that twinge of nervousness prior to the limelight, but they are able to muscle through it. Some presenters do a good job of hiding it. Or, they change that nervousness into excitement. Now, this was a technique I could practice! It did feel good to know that even the best speakers have some derivative nervousness just like me. I’m not so special after all, and that was okay with me!

So given my research and my experience, I would like to present the ten things I did to basically overcome my panic attacks and push through the nervousness to present and present well.

1. Prepare
I used to speak completely off the cuff, with few notes. I knew what I wanted to say and was able to pivot quickly. But when nervousness set in I would often find myself completely lost on my next point or not recalling key information that I wanted to pass along.

So, to address this I started actually writing out word for word what I was going to say. I would write it out exactly how I wanted to present it, including pauses, colloquialisms, and interjections, and I would bring those notes to my podium. I didn’t read the notes word for word, but I did skim over them as I spoke. I used this technique early on, knowing that eventually, I would have to abandon this. Presenting while staring at notes standing behind a podium did not exude executive presence. But this gave me a crutch and, early on, helped me get back out in front of people. These days I don’t write out such detailed notes.

2. Improv
Since my early twenties, I had been interested in comedy and improv. I actually had performed some open-mic stand-up comedy while living in Jacksonville and generally enjoyed it. Now, twenty years later, I wondered if improv could help me with my nervousness. I signed up at the venerable SAK comedy theater in Orlando and proceeded to take and pass Levels 1 through 4. I stopped and did not proceed to their Conservatory Classes, something I might take up down the road.

Improv was an interesting experience. I had always thought (and received feedback) that I was quick, clever, and funny. So I had a high level of confidence. What I found was that there are a LOT of people who are funny – and it felt like most were funnier and quicker than I was. It was a unique experience, both enjoyable and humbling. I had a fantastic instructor in Level 1 named “Bob Kodzis” who was quite supportive. I made a number of friends that I still have today.

Through Improv, I found confidence in performing, especially since Levels 1 and 4 had a “showcase” at the end where we put on a real show in front of a live audience. It was nerve-wracking and exhilarating – and great fun.
What Improv taught me was that I could stand in front of a group and talk about anything without any preparation. I didn’t need notes and could come up with material without much effort. It was a great confidence booster.

I think of this when I find myself nervous. I say to myself “heck, I could get up there and get an offer from the audience and create a whole scene, so presenting material I already know will be a breeze!” This helped.

3. Reality Check
Sometimes as I’m about to present, I think to myself “in an hour I’ll be back at my desk and this will be behind me”. I practice “mindfulness” and try to take myself out of the “right now” and think about what is happening to me as if I was a spectator.

Mindfulness is a useful technique that I use even when I’m not presenting.

4. Break Up The Monotony
Having to present twenty PowerPoint slides full of material is not only boring to the audience but it is also stress-inducing. It’s just talking and talking, and it is difficult to allow for a few seconds of silence to catch your breath. So, now I try to add some multimedia. This accomplishes three things:

  • It allows me time to be “off-stage” and catch my breath
  • It provides for more a more interesting presentation
  • It breaks my presentation into thirds or quarters and this allows me to track my progress towards completion.

I’m not suggesting that you pepper your presentation with home movies or clips from South Park. Any multimedia needs to be pertinent and appropriate. Also, it cannot be too long. A few minutes tops. And you should introduce the clip and summarize it afterward.

Another technique I have is that I might find a co-presenter for materials or parts of the presentation. I introduce an expert to provide some additional insight. Again, this has to be well thought out and appropriate. And nowadays I don’t use this technique, though I found it helpful early on.

5. A Life Line
I found that having an outlet available takes away some of the anxiety. That is, I have one or more people who can answer any questions or elaborate on a particular point. This is like a co-presenter except that these individuals stay out in the audience. I may even let them know that “I might ask you to elaborate on this” so that they can be prepared.

If I became nervous, I could always say “hey Eric, what would you say is our potential list of customers” and let Eric expound on this. I would use this time to take a drink of water and gather myself.
But here’s the key, just knowing that I have that lifeline takes away a lot of anxiety. I rarely now have to use these lifelines.

6. Turn Anxiety into Excitement
Like one of the survey takers said to me, nervousness and excitement are closely related emotions. I practiced turning my nervousness into excitement. I’d say to myself “Hey! I’m getting the chance to present and many people will not get this chance!” I knew that I do present very well and always get great feedback, so this is yet another chance to spread this joy to more people. I talk myself into being excited about the upcoming presentation. And when it goes well, I congratulate myself privately on doing a good job.

7. Calm Down
When you are about to go on, your nervousness can often peak, causing your heart to race and your breathing to speed up. I’ve found that forcing yourself to breathe deeply and slowly, and paying attention to how you are controlling your heart rate can actually make yourself feel calmer. This gives you the ability to control your body and your reaction.

Some people may need a relaxant to prepare for a particularly stressful presentation. And while I do not, I know others who do and find this useful. The challenge is not to look “drugged up” unless you’re presenting in front of pharmaceutical companies.

8. Take Notes While Waiting to Present
One of the funniest things in comedy is called a “call back”, which in general is a reference to something that has already occurred. While waiting to go on, always have a notepad and pen with you. Take note of things the previous speaker said that you can emphasize as well. Also, sometimes things said can be used for humor. The current speaker may mention something that you can use as a light, personable attempt at humor. Have your presentation printed out and with you, and flip through it (quietly) as the current speaker speaks and annotate points that they made that you can make on the appropriate slide.

I recall one example where my boss’ boss presented something before me that was about the traits they are looking for to fill a particular position. The words he used included “never let you down”, “never give up”, “never lie” and to me, this sounded like the lyrics to the Rick Astley song “Never Gonna Give You Up”. I made a note, tried to remember and wrote down the various phrases in the song, and then suggested in my presentation that Rick Astley could be the right person. Got a solid laugh and put me at ease. In fact, as I read off the lyrics to the song, people quickly knew what I was doing, but I methodically went through the lyrics to the end before I announced Rick’s name as the best candidate.

By the way, taking notes has the added benefit of taking your mind off your presentation.

9. Rehearse
An easy technique to help with nerves. Rehearse and rehearse again. Driving to work, speak out loud to yourself, and pretend you are presenting. Time yourself. Record yourself. But in general, know your material and your speaking points. This helps stem a key facet of insecurity while presenting.

10. Stand on Stage Beforehand
A simple technique that helps me is to get up on the stage prior to the session being opened. Walk around the stage to every edge. Look out over the empty chairs. Imagine what it will be like when there are people in those seats. Get comfortable with the layout of the stage, the location of the podium, the controls you will need to flip through your slides.

Also note that in presentations on large stages with a sizable audience, you will likely have spotlights on you. This has two effects: it makes it quite warm on stage, so be prepared to sweat. And it makes it difficult to actually see the audience. It’s why performers ask for the house lights to be brought up when addressing the audience. But it can help you because if feels like you’re presenting to an empty room. Sometimes you can see a few rows upfront and that’s good because it gives you some feedback.

***

I can’t say that these techniques will work for you. Heck, you may need lengthy therapy and medication – and there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you’re like me, just knowing that others have similar problems can make you feel a little more confident that you, as well, can address the fear of public speaking. And maybe using some of these techniques you can get back to giving knock-out presentations.

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