(This scares the heck out of me)
When social networking fledgling giant Twitter began to pick up speed and gain popularity last year, all I heard from clients was, “I don’t want to get on it because I couldn’t care less when someone goes to the store, sees a good program on t.v. or is sitting on their porch doing nothing.
I couldn’t agree more.
But then we all started hearing how staggeringly useful it was when a hotel was bombed by terrorists in Southeast Asia – the “tweeters” getting the story out to the world before the media could comprehend what had happened. Again, when unrest hit Iran and their government imposed a media blackout, Twitter was asked by the U.S. government to delay their maintenance cycle so that the flow of information from that beleaguered country was not impeded. I myself used Twitter to warn locals of a water main break and to avoid that area like the plague and recently to warn my clients of the health warning of a salmonella outbreak in eggs across the United States.
What does all this tell us?
That Twitter is a force for either good or evil, depending on who you follow in your network.
It is easy to blame the other guy for their tweets, but since we cannot control the actions of others, doesn’t it make more sense to take the responsibility of harnessing Twitter’s power for good and choose who we follow more carefully? Take a few seconds when considering whether to follow someone or not and do a quick scan of their last few tweets…are they garbage or are they useful, inspiring, uplifting and motivational information? Choosing to association with people that tweet with care will also reflect better of our character to others who choose to follow us. No one with a busy networking schedule wants to follow someone who follows gossipers and time-wasters, or worse, someone who constantly swears…if you really need to follow people like that, get a private Twitter account and follow such people anonymously. You will find it will make life a lot easier.
Follow me at: http://twitter.com/civicsitedesign . If you tweet responsibly, I will gladly follow you back.
I was attending a non-profit organization’s volunteer meeting last night. This group gets funding from a government agency whose representative made an opening statement last night that should really be taken to heart by many who often make this obvious, yet all too common, terrible business mistake. For clarity’s sake, I will paraphrase the lesson, and then go into what was said and why it was said.
The paraphrase is: “Be careful what you say in emails.”
What was said, “There has been a lot of negativity in the emails back and forth on this upcoming project…many seem to think we are the enemy, but the truth is, we aren’t AND you need us to fund your project.”
My long-time experience with sending emails and seeing the repercussions of poorly-worded/tactless emails made me sit there and silently agreement with this man. He had the grace and tact to word it in such a way as to not make it look like the friendly warning it was, and while I applaud him for his decorum, at the same time I feel sorry for him.
He is fighting an uphill battle against the anger ineffective government has engendered in today’s common people. Whether he or his department is guilty of the all too common funding shenanigans that run rampant in any City Hall, he is still a victim of it, as were the upset constituent, you and I. There is a time and a place for such ventings of one’s anger at officials or the “system”, BUT it is never at a volunteer meeting, or on an email list going to the very people one is accusing. I guess this must be a lesson learned, and not common sense, and of course, when tempers run high, ALL sense and common sense go flying out the window and back into the mouth of the horse who just said it (hence the title of this piece).
What amazed me is the fact that as soon as this official said this, someone spoke up right away (gee, I wonder who sent the email?) and added to the fire by reiterating what was in the emails. Gee, he wasn’t listening, was he? In this day and age in the United States/California, expecting government to have tons of money to throw at small, community projects when their budget is getting cut and their staff is let go is positively ludicrous. But I digress…
…back to the main point, at least in this blog. If you are in business, and I will capitalize this for emphasis, RE-READ THAT EMAIL BEFORE YOU SEND IT! Would you tell that person this to their face if you were face-to-face? I look at words spoke like pointing a gun – if you are going to point it, say it, email it, YOU BETTER BE PREPARED TO USE, DEFEND AND LIVE WITH THE CONSEQUENCES OF THAT HURLED VERBAL BULLET!!!
Don’t burn your business bridges because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut long enough to rethink that stupid, thoughtless, antagonistic comment you felt it was your God-given right to say. Sure, you have a right to say anything you want, but if it hurts someone else or your business for future, potential business, you better think twice or be prepared to live with the consequences of fewer friends in life and less business.
How do you get better in business? You keep up with the evolving marketplace. Continue your education, for it is truly a life-long process. If you don’t, you will never survive it’s ever-changing pace!
Human beings are constantly striving to learn new things, to move forward, find the newest trend or fashion. They always evolve, and this means you have to, too. Not could or should, but HAVE TO. If you hate education, this is a good time to get over it and accept the fact that it is a must.
Don’t take this advice as being my opinion…it’s a proven fact of nature that creatures that don’t evolve to their ever-changing surrounds get wiped out. If you think human beings are exempt from this reality, you are sadly mistaken. We are as much a part of nature as everything else on this planet that lives, breathes, eats, sleeps, reproduces and dies. And if ANY OF US drop our guard for a moment, we get taken down – whether it be in the jungle, a street crosswalk or in the marketplace.
Now that that statement is out of the way…let’s get to the business of evolving you and your knowledge, not just in business, but in the all-important categories of Wealth, Wellness, Leadership & Legacy…
This was the first, best advice I ever got listening to a Quattro University presentation by one of its four founders, Cheri Tree. I think if people really thought about the advice they got, considered the source, and ran away when it was bad advice, they would be a lot less miserable
It’s always easier, less painful and quite often less expensive to take a look at the bad examples life gives us and learn from them. Why more people don’t do this, I have no idea. Why doesn’t this come naturally to adults? We always never take our parent’s advice during our rebellious teenage years…so ask yourself this important question, “The person giving the advice…is their life messed up?” If you don’t know any personal details about them to be able to answer this question, just ask them outloud (or yourself quietly), “Are you a millionaire?”
It’s like my husband Dennis always said when quoting Solomon Short. “It’s too bad common sense isn’t.”
Think about it and get ready to run TOWARDS some good advice for a change. It all comes from people I know who are millionaires and whose lives are definitely NOT messed up.
My passion and mission here is to relay some of the sales & marketing wisdom I have learned from the millionaires I know. After you digest what is here, what you do with the information is up to you, but remember, again, some of this advice is from millionaires…they are “paying it forward” to help others get out of the rat race and they KNOW what they are doing…don’t you want advice from someone like that?
