WorkPuzzle

5 Business Clichés You Should Remove From Your Vocabulary

As I communicate with those in my business network, I have the tendency to find and repeat certain phrases.  I sometimes get stuck in a rut (see…there’s one right there) and communicate with a lack of thoughtfulness and creativity.

According to Jeff Haden, a bestselling author and columnist for Inc. Magazine, most of us struggle with this issue.  We overuse phrases that sound good, but are void of sensible thought.  While our listeners don’t cover their ears, they certainly get sick of hearing overused phrases!

In a recent post on LinkedIn, he provided 10 common examples of these overused phrases that all of us should stop using. Also, Jeff provides some entertaining commentary on what these clichés really communicate to our listeners.

Here are my favorites from Jeff’s list:

"Work smarter, not harder."

What happens when you say that to me?

 

One: You imply I'm stupid. Two: You imply whatever I'm doing should take a lot less time and effort than it does. And three: After you say it, I kinda hate you.

If you know I could be more efficient, tell me how. If you know there's a better way, show me how. If you think there's a better way but don't know what it is, say so. Admit you don't have the answer. Then ask me to help you figure it out.

And, most importantly, recognize that sometimes the only thing to do is to work harder. So get off your butt and help me. But don't just tell me to work smarter -- that doesn't help at all.

"It just wasn't meant to be."

Um, no. Fate had nothing to do with it. Something went wrong. Figure out what went wrong and learn from it.

"It just wasn't meant to be..." only places responsibility elsewhere.

"Let's figure out what we can do next time," is empowering -- and places the responsibility where it should be: on you.

"Do it now and ask for forgiveness later."

If that's your credo, you're not a bold, daring risk taker; you're lazy and self-indulgent. Good ideas are rarely stifled. People like better; if they don't like your idea, the problem usually isn't them, it's you.

Instead of taking the easy way out, describe what you want to do. Prove it makes sense. Get people behind you.

Then whatever you want to do has a much better chance of succeeding.

"Failure is not an option."

This phrase is often used by a leader who gets frustrated and wants to shut down questions about a debatable decision or a seemingly impossible goal: "Listen, folks, failure is simply not an option." (Strikes table or podium with fist.)

Failure is always possible. Sometimes it's an inevitability. Just because you say it isn't doesn't make it so.

Don't reach for a platitude in the face of criticism or resistance. Justify your decision. Answer the hard questions.

If you can't, maybe your decision isn't so wise after all.

"Let's not reinvent the wheel."

Because hey, your wheel might turn out to be a better wheel, which means my wheel wasn't so great.

And we can't have that.

To read the rest of Jeff’s list (there are a total of 10 clichés), check out his entire LinkedIn posting.

After reading this, I’m inspired to be more articulate in my day-to-day communication.  If I value the people around me, it makes sense to leave the clichés behind and put more thought into how I’m interacting.

Here’s to raising the bar on our business communication!  Yes, that’s a joke.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. 

Best of...Advice for the 2014 Grads

There is a plethora of professional advice floating around the internet this time of year. As the celebrities and politicians are called upon to do commencement speeches, each tries to boil down the essence of their success into short 20-minute speeches.

This is a very difficult thing to do.

How can a high-performing person really summarize a complex career into a few choice nuggets that could be taken and applied by the graduates he or she is addressing?

Most can’t do it (and I believe I would probably be in that group).  Instead of offering something meaningful or profound, they fall back on platitudes or focus on issues that most normal people can’t really apply.

Each year, I try to find a couple of these commencement speeches that rise above the norm and, at least, border on being profound.  I’ll share two of my favorites from this year in the WorkPuzzles ahead.

Why should you care about graduation advice?

I would argue that much of the advice that is being offered to graduates could be applied to the new agent interviews and to new agent coaching.   Many of the new to real estate candidates and agents are dealing with the same issues as the new grads: 

How do they use their talents and training to make an impact in the professional world?

My second “favorite speech” this year was not a speech at all, but instead a Twitter rant done by Marc Andreessen.  He was responding to the widespread notion that grads should follow their passions in the pursuit of their careers (see an example here).

The Twitter dialog was captured by Rob Wile a couple of weeks ago and documented in a posting on Business Insider.  Here is Marc Andreessen’s advice for graduates this year:

Tweet #1:  Thesis: "Do what you love" / "Follow your passion" is dangerous and destructive career advice.

Tweet #2: We tend to hear it from (a) Highly successful people who (b) Have become successful doing what they love.

Tweet #3: The problem is that we do NOT hear from people who have failed to become successful by doing what they love.

Tweet  #4:  Particularly pernicious problem in tournament-style fields with a few big winners & lots of losers: media, athletics, startups.

Tweet #5:  Better career advice may be "Do what contributes" -- focus on the beneficial value created for other people vs. just one's own ego.

Tweet #6: People who contribute the most are often the most satisfied with what they do -- and in fields with high remuneration, make the most $.

Tweet#7: Perhaps difficult advice since requires focus on others vs. oneself -- perhaps bad fit with endemic narcissism in modern culture?

Tweet #8: Requires delayed gratification -- may toil for many years to get the payoff of contributing value to the world, vs short-term happiness.

I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I think Twitter might be a good thing.  If it causes people to articulate their thoughts in such a concise and meaningful way—it would be a great thing.

This is simple and profound advice that every candidate and new agent needs to hear.  If your new agents all bought into this mentality, you’d hire many more top performers!

Later this week, I’ll share my favorite commencement speech from this year’s graduation season.  After reading the transcript, I immediately sent it to my four oldest kids with a note that said, “You've got to read/watch this…”

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. 

A Simple Guide on When to Email, Instant Message, Text, and Call

I’m not sure how I ran across this blog (it is much more technical than I usually read), but I found Cyrus Stoller’s guidance on modern day communication helpful.  Cyrus is an entrepreneur and technology consultant, and it would be a great way to start a discussion on how your team communicates with each other.

With more options available for electronic communication, it only makes sense to choose the correct medium for your messages if you’re going to successfully connect with those in your audience.  

However, there do not seem to be any well-understood social rules for these interactions.  It’s like going to a wedding in the Northwest (which I did last weekend)—some people are wearing expensive suits and others show up in jeans (I’m not kidding).    

Is there any generally accepted convention on what’s appropriate in the world of electronic communication?  I don’t believe so.  But, Stoller’s open message to those he communicates with would be a great way to have this discussion with your team.

We're in an unfortunate equilibrium where it's not uncommon for people to expect under one-hour response times to emails. In my view, emails should not be used to communicate information that requires immediate action.

Most people I interact with have smartphones; we should agree to use different channels of communication to convey purpose. We're no longer restricted to just phone calls and email.

If I had my way this is how I would have people communicate their requests.

Disclaimer: Realistically this will only work with people you communicate with often e.g. employees/co-workers, family, and close friends.

If you need something to be done in:

30 minutes: call

two hours: text

today: IM

a day or later: email

Priority 0 - Voice Call

If you need something to have been done five minutes ago, call my cell phone. This gives you an opportunity to make sure I understand exactly what you need done and you know exactly when I received your request….

Litmus test: If we were in the same room and I was talking to someone else would you feel comfortable breaking up my conversation and taking me aside? If not, then a voice call is not the appropriate choice.

Priority 1 – Text Message

If you need something done in the next couple hours, send me a text that says something like call me asap or call me when you hit a break point.

This gives me time to gracefully wind down what I'm doing and call you back. I think most things that people find urgent fall in this category. It needs to be done soon, but it can wait up to 30 minutes to an hour….

Litmus test: If we were in the same room and I was talking to someone else would you feel comfortable signaling to me to wind down my conversation? If not, then an SMS is not the appropriate choice.

Priority 1a - Instant Messaging

Instant message works well for slightly more asynchronous communication. You're interested in getting a short response promptly, but it doesn't need to be right away. This is less disruptive than calling or texting. This works well when you need to find out a concrete piece of information before you can proceed.

Litmus test: If we were in the same room and I was in the middle of reading something would you feel comfortable leaving me a hand written note? If not, then an instant message is not the appropriate choice.

Priority 2 - Email

Email should be reserved for requests that you want addressed within the next day or so. Ideally it would be acceptable for people to only check their email a few times per day….

Most people I know feel like they have too many emails to deal with. Think twice about whether email is the right way to communicate your information. You should expect email threads to be truly asynchronous. I want people to move away from expecting near real time responses.

Litmus test: Is this request something that you would feel comfortable dropping in an inbox on my desk when I wasn't there? If not, then an email is not the appropriate choice.

What are your thoughts on this topic?   Do you have a convention for communicating with those on your team?

If not, it might be worth discussing as a way of not only streamlining your communication with others, but also managing expectations.  Let me know how you’re handling this issue in your organization and I’ll publish a few of the responses (reply via email and don’t expect a response for a couple of days :).

 

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.