USAToday interviews William Swanson from Raytheon who wrote Swanson’s UnWritten Rules of Management. His rules include (excerpt):
1: Learn to say, “I don’t know.” If used when appropriate, it will be used often.
14: Strive for brevity and clarity in oral and written reports.
15: Be extremely careful in the accuracy of your statements.
20: Cultivate the habit of boiling matters down to the simplest terms: the proverbial “elevator speech” is the best way.
28: You remember 1/3 of what you read, 1/2 of what people tell you, but 100% of what you feel.
31: When faced with decisions, try to look at them as if you were one level up in the organization. Your perspective will change quickly.
Postscript: The qualities of leadership boil down to confidence, dedication, integrity and love.
Interesting. Some of the same points are made in this post: http://www.bobparsons.com/telephonetimesavers.html
over on Bob Parson’s blog in suggesting ways to deal with telephone solicitations. Be direct and to the point. Boil matters down to simple terms … maybe that should be my new year resolution … but I resolve not to be rude on the phone, even to unwelcome callers … just brief.