by Caroline Leach | Jul 23, 2023 | Social Media
As a leader, do you email or text employees on the weekend? 📩
Here’s why you shouldn’t.
When people think a work email could arrive during their time off, it’s hard to fully relax. People remain in an alert state of “ambient anxiety,” wondering and worrying what might come next. It’s hard to enjoy the time away from work and the refreshment and enjoyment that a weekend can provide.
Even if your email isn’t urgent and doesn’t need an immediate response, the damage is still done. The message interrupts the recipient’s day, wherever they are and whatever they are doing.
They see the message, wonder (or panic over) what it’s about, and read it. Then they may feel compelled to consider right away what action needs to be done, information needs to be digested or provided, or perspective needs to be shared in a timely response.
That process takes both physical time out of the day and exacts an emotional toll on the employee.
In my experience, here’s what works better.
1️⃣ It’s okay if you choose to process email on the weekend. Just don’t apply your choice to employees’ personal time.
2️⃣ Set your email to send later. Think about the ideal time for the employee to receive it. Perhaps it will be an hour to two into the workday on Monday. Balance being timely with your message with consideration about when it will be received.
3️⃣ Have a conversation with employees about weekend emails. Share your philosophy and expectations. Ask for their feedback. Find a protocol that works for everyone.
One exception is a true emergency that happens on the weekend. As a leader in the corporate world, I generally did not email or text employees on the weekend for routine matters. Because of that, if an emergency arose on a weekend where I needed my team’s involvement, they were responsive and helpful.
A level of trust and respect built up between us. They didn’t need to wonder if my message was urgent and needed immediate attention. Because an emergency would be the only reason I’d email them on the weekend. And other than that, they knew they weren’t going to hear from me. Hopefully that created more space for enjoyable time off.
What’s YOUR weekend email protocol?
P.S. This also applies to late-night and middle-of-the-night emails. If it’s not an urgent message, set the email to send later, during the workday in the recipient’s time zone.
by Caroline Leach | Jul 21, 2023 | Careers, Leadership, Work/Life
How do you use a time windfall? ⌚
Today my client appointments all rescheduled for future dates. I find myself with a day free of calendar commitments. There’s a lot on my to-do list.
What’s the best use of the time?
The temptation is to focus on what I call “administrivia.” These are tasks that sorta, kinda, haveta (?) get done. Respond to routine emails, reconcile QuickBooks, enter coaching hours into the log, and so on.
It feels good to check them off the list. Like I’m making progress.
Yes, they may need to get done. But they are not the tasks that are going to move me forward in a big way.
What are better uses of time?
👉 Thinking about business strategy
👉 Connecting with people in a meaningful way
👉 Choosing one of the most important tasks to complete
How do you know if a task is important?
Ask: what’s the ONE thing, if you focused on it today, that would make the biggest difference in your career or business?
Not something that’s urgent or that represents other people’s priorities.
What’s YOUR priority?
Singular, as in ONE priority.
(Fun fact: the word “priority” began only in the singular form. Meaning that only one priority could exist at a time. Not the multiple priorities we now attempt to juggle daily and hourly. As if we ever could.)
My priority for today is creating a new program for our most loyal guests at our family restaurant Pacific Standard Prime. This is a team-focused effort, involving collaboration and iteration. The administrivia will wait until that’s done.
What’s YOUR priority today?
by Caroline Leach | Jul 20, 2023 | Careers, Work/Life
Has the American July 🇺🇲 become the European August 🇪🇺 ?
Meaning: is everyone in the U.S. on vacation this July? Europeans are a great role model for vacationing in August. Maybe we’re learning an important lesson about how to best live our lives.
From a business perspective, however, everything feels slow right now:
1. Email replies take a while if they come at all
2. New client work has slowed down considerably
3. Reservations have dipped at our family owned restaurant
Why could this be? Maybe …
1. People are taking longer summer vacations (a great thing!)
2. More intense heatwaves across the U.S. are tiring us out (not so great)
3. The quality of my outreach and content is lacking (feedback welcome!)
More importantly, what to do? Or not do?
Author Dorie Clark inspires me with the concept of “strategic patience.” Meaning: doing the work, day after day, without any guarantee of success. Showing up, every day, and taking action. And while you’re waiting, taking daily steps toward creating the future you want, independent of whether anyone else responds.
My July experiment of posting every day to LinkedIn is an exercise in strategic patience. I’m collecting data to see what happens when I share content daily. Some days people engage with my content. Other days, not so much.
That’s okay. Because I’m testing and learning for the future. And I’m sharing what I learn with my network. Hopefully I can help others with their own content strategy to fuel their unique goals.
Someone else who inspires me is Zoey Zheng. She is a 2023 MS grad of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Zoey recently posted a very real look at the challenges of the job search. Her post was authentic and vulnerable, addressing the anxiety, the doubt, and the toxic positivity. She also took a powerful stance in her post. She generously shared the many resources she’s found helpful during her job search. In the hopes that she can serve others.
The lesson I take away? No matter how difficult things may be for us personally, there is always something we can do to help ourselves and to help others in the process. Thank you, Zoey! And with her talent and tenacity, I can’t wait to see what lucky employer makes her an offer.
Lastly, sometimes the best action is no action. Timing really is everything. It’s best to reach people when and where they want to engage. If business is slow and if people are on vacation, those are signs. It may be time to ease up on the outreach, relax ourselves, and enjoy each moment as it comes.
What do you think about life and work in July?
by Caroline Leach | Jul 13, 2023 | Careers, Social Media
How can you build your personal brand on your LinkedIn profile? ✨
People often ask that question in the talks I give on personal branding at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Here are 3 actions to get started in sharing your unique value on your LinkedIn profile. You can make them easier to do by tackling one each week.
⭐ CUSTOMIZE YOUR HEADLINE. Don’t let your current job title be the default. Instead, tailor your headline. Focus especially on the initial words. Why? The first 2 to 3 words appear under your name in search and comments. Weave in keywords for skills and accomplishments you want to be known for and found for.
⭐ REFRESH YOUR ABOUT SECTION. Tell your professional story in an engaging way. Share insight into your values and motivations. Let your personality come through. Open with a compelling first line that will encourage people to read more. Add up to 5 skills you want to be known for and found for.
⭐ TURN ON CREATOR MODE. Choose up to 5 relevant content hashtags that will display on your profile. These should reflect your professional interests and expertise, both what you want to be known for and what content topics you post about. Post content that you create or curate at least once or twice a month.
Remember that your LinkedIn profile is a work in progress, just like you and your career. Your profile should change and evolve as you do. And if you don’t like something you’ve changed on your profile, you can simply change it again. Experiment to see what works best.
What do you want to know about building your personal brand?
by Caroline Leach | Jul 10, 2023 | Careers, Corporate Communications
Compete only with yourself. 🚴
That’s where the true contest is.
✅ How can you stretch and grow?
✅ What can you do better today than yesterday?
✅ How can you beat your personal best?
Much of what we read, see, and experience is about a competition for what we perceive are limited resources. College admissions. Professional jobs. Pay raises.
Comparing ourselves to others on social media makes this even worse. It looks like everyone is doing better than us. No one has problems. Life is easy.
Except this isn’t true. Deep down, we know it intellectually. But feeling it emotionally is another story.
What if we reframed our perspective? What if we approached our lives and careers as if there were more than enough go around? As if there were plenty of opportunities?
Because there are. We live in an era of multiple global problems that need to be addressed. Pick a way to make a difference, and go do that.
And if you’re competing only against yourself, it’s much easier.
People often ask how I navigated a 30-year career in the Fortune 100. How did I get jobs and promotions?
What I realized is I was usually competing only with myself for jobs. Often I was the only candidate being considered. And that makes it easier to be selected!
After my first career change into corporate communications, I was eager for more responsibility. But it wasn’t happening where I was. The company wasn’t growing. People stayed in the same roles for years. To grow, I needed to change companies.
Professional associations are a source of connection and learning for me, especially IABC and the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). This is how I met Wendy Greene and Jeff Torkelson. Jeff and I are also alums of the same MA program at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, a strong connection.
One day I called Jeff by way of Wendy, who gave me his contact info (pre social media!). There was a business reason I wanted to reconnect, unrelated to a job search.
Jeff and I chatted. He mentioned some challenges in hiring a communications manager. The former manager left the job. Interviews were conducted. No one was hired. Would I be interested in talking with his team at DIRECTV about the role? Um, yes!
A series of conversations ensued, including hiring manager Rosemary Heath. I was thrilled to receive an offer and move to a growing company, 5 years into its run as a pay-TV provider.
Unless I missed something, I suspect I was the only candidate. The question may have been, “should we hire Caroline, yes or no?” rather than “which candidate should we choose?”
And it turned out pretty well. I grew from a manager, to senior manager, to director, to senior director, to vice president in 6 years. I went from an individual contributor to the leader of a team of 45 communicators in 9 different states.
How have YOU landed great new jobs?
P.S. Thank you, Wendy, Jeff, and Rosemary!
Recent Comments