E-Mail is for Wimps: Act like a Leader and Pick up the Frickin ’ Phone

Yes, I am channeling Gordon Gecko/Michael Douglas here. Everyone thinks “Greed is good" from the Teldar Annual meeting scene is the best line in WALL STREET.

(The full and more accurate quote according to IMDB is “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.”)

Well, I don’t think it’s the best of many iconic lines from Gordon. Instead, I love his advice to Bud Fox/Charlie Sheen early in the second reel: “Lunch Is for wimps.”

Anyway enough of Oliver Stone and back to me and you. I’m imploring you to stop your inclination to emote, praise or criticize about anything even remotely important in an e-mail to those who work for you.

Do the right thing instead. Pick up the ‘Frickin phone’ and at deliver the message ear to ear. If they aren’t there and you won't be able to reach them soon, at least leave a voice mail so they can hear the sound of your voice. That’s the best way to ensure that you are serious about the topic at hand.

E-mail is sterile and bland by definition. It’s just “electronic” mail, not “personal mail”; not “high impact mail”.

Don't get me wrong: I like e-mail. You can act like a powerful and incredibly efficient leader when you use it for simple, polite information and non qualitative communication:

· Yes, I’ll be there.

· I’ve attached the proposal for your review.

· Here’s the address

· I’m looking forward to seeing you and the rest of the team at the quarterly meeting.

But.......

You act like a wimp and a weak leader who doesn’t deserve to be followed when you use it to coach, guide, cheerlead, or disapprove about a matter that is important to your employees’ performance and success.

So pick up the phone and call. Let them know this is important…so important that you want them to hear the sound of your voice. If you don’t care enough to deliver your message in a powerful, connective way, they won’t be as inclined to care enough about what you have to say. Want to be a rock star? Dump the phone and deliver the important message in person.

Two more notes about e-mail in the workplace

1) If you have to swear in an e-mail, replace a couple of characters with symbols, so it’s not so crude:

· Best: We’ll have a blast at the retreat. I can’t wait.

· Fair: We’ll have a f****ing blast at the treat. I can’t wait.

· Worst: I won’t write it here because I follow my own advice, but you get the idea.

2) No jokes in your e-mail that you wouldn’t want to share in person with your favorite member of the clergy. You don’t know who is going to forward your e-mail to who and let’s face it, the concluding lines of the limerick that starts THERE ONCE WAS A HERMIT NAMED DAVE never play well when read aloud by opposing council in a courtroom where you are the defendant in a hostile work environment lawsuit.

Special thanks to super Vistage Chair Don Riddell and the members of Los Angeles based Vistage CE 662 for encouraging (actually demanding) that I stop being so lazy and start writing blog entries again. It was the kick in the behind I needed!