Had a fascinating discussion today with the Director of Public Relations from the Union Gospel Mission here in Seattle. This non-profit organization provides a wide variety of social services for homeless and less-advantaged citizens of the broader King County area.

Kathy Sierra strikes again with a simple but very important point about how most of us differentiate treatment of prospects and customers.

If you're a good manager, you can go on vacation for an extended period and your business will not miss you.

If you're a good manager, you've prepared and empowered your team with a clear set of priorities, and the ability to make decisions without you. Even when you're out of the office and out of touch, the ball is moving forward.

If you're a good manager, your team is happy to have you back when you return. But you'll find that your inbox isn't filled with urgent decisions you need to make, decisions that have stalled progress while you were gone.

If you're a good manager, catching up from an extended period of time away from the office doesn't take very long at all. You merely catch up on a few emails, read through a couple progress reports, and pick right back up on the clear priorities set well before you even left.

A new friend emailed me the other day, asking where I find time to blog on a consistent basis, and where I find time to read about and research the stuff I blog about.

I'd have to say the answer comes down to habit and discipline.

Like anything you want to make a priority in your life (from working out, to brushing your teeth, to mowing the lawn on Saturday mornings), you have to establish a habit of doing it to make it part of your regular routine. I'm at the point now where blogging has become a more conscious daily habit, which also helps me identify things I encounter throughout the day that are worth blogging about.

For example, I'm in the habit now of making notes, or leaving myself Jotts, of things I encounter - no matter how small - that are worth cogitating on and possibly blogging about later.

Perhaps most important, however, is discipline. We're all incredibly busy people. The things we need to do in our daily lives - professional and personal - can easily overwhelm us. That's why it's so important to set aside time for the things you find the most valuable, that end up making the rest of what you do more manageable and more successful.

For me, I now set aside at least an hour each day for reading and writing. I take that time to read through my various RSS feeds, flip through a few magazines, and sometimes just randomly browse the Web for things new & interesting. I also take some of that time to write reflections on what I read. Sometimes those reflections end up as nothing more than "FYI" emails to friends & colleagues. Sometimes they end up here.

I occasionally hear from folks who say they're just too busy to do any reading, let alone writing. The email newsletter subscriptions pile up, RSS feeds go unread. I hear this more frequently from folks who are early in their careers.

The feeling of being "too busy" never goes away - no matter how long you've been doing it, how old you are, or what you do for a living. You need to consciously make time for the things that are important to you.

For me, that includes taking time each day to see what others are thinking, discover new ideas and fresh perspectives, and then occasionally ruminate on those ideas for myself (and indirectly for others) in formats such as this.

I find it personally and professionally profitable. I think you will too.

I used to write about me. Now I try to write about you.

I used to write copy that said things like:

"We here at Microsoft want you to know that..."

"It's our intention to be the premier provider of..."

"At Microsoft, our success is built on a foundation of..."

The problem with all of this copy is that it's "me-focused." It's all about the speaker, all about the company, person or product making the announcement.

If I'm the reader, I immediately want to know what's in it for me. I may do business with Microsoft, but I want to know what they have to say to ME, not what they want to say about themselves.

So, rather than write "me" copy, write "you" copy. Change those above lines to say things like:

"Your success is our top priority at Microsoft, and that's why..."

"You are the foundation of what Microsoft was built for..."

"We're here to provide you with the premier..."

Even that last line, though it starts with a "we", gets very quickly to a "you" statement.

For customer-centric companies, this kind of copywriting comes naturally. But no matter where you work, or who you write for, your audience is far more interested in themselves than in you. Make sure you write that way.

Fascinating story from Miller Brewing Company, where several employees are not happy with the CEO's decision to freeze pensions. Some employees have taken their frustrations to YouTube, where they've published an amateur song/skit about the situation.

Appeasing all of your employees all of the time, no matter what the size of your company, is impossible. But listening should be required, and making sure your employees know you're listening to them and hearing/understanding their concerns is extremely important.

It may not stop some from expressing their frustrations publicly, but it will certainly mitigate the volume and intensity.

I've so far made good on one of my New Year's Resolutions to be a better, more consistent blogger. We're 46 days into the year, and I'm already averaging more than a post a day!

That said, I'm about to take my beautiful bride to Arizona for a week of sun, relaxation and a little Spring Training baseball. I'll be leaving all computers and Blackberries behind.

Back the week of February 26, ideally re-energized and ready to hit the ground running (and blogging) again!

Kudos to The Daily Motivator for writing about the value of mistakes.

I wrote last year about learning from our mistakes, but Ralph says it much better:


Mistakes are valuable reminders that you do not know it all. And as such, they provide golden opportunities to learn.

Mistakes are a sure sign that you're making progress. For when you make mistakes, it means you are putting forth effort and having an influence.

Mistakes are certainly no cause for shame. The greatest achievements require you to work your way through the greatest errors and misunderstandings.

Mistakes are not to be feared. For the same actions that enable you to make a mistake also put you in a position to correct it.

When you're willing to accept the possibility of mistakes, you're able to follow the best opportunities. When you become experienced at handling mistakes, you'll be skilled at creating real value.

Success comes not from avoiding all mistakes, but from learning to find a positive way forward no matter what may happen. With each mistake, get over it, get wisdom from it, and become even more effective than you were before.

-- Ralph Marston

Today ESPN launched a new feature on its site, that allows users to comment on any story - including those pulled from the wires.

This should be a "table stakes" feature for everyone publishing news, stories and especially opinion pieces online. Enabling real-time, online conversations is a great way to learn more about your readers, get a better temperature for how they think and feel, and an especially great way to get ideas for follow-up stories and topics to explore.

Maybe I've been living under a rock, but I've just recently discovered the wisdom of one Roy H. Williams. Some of you may know him by his other name, the self-titled "Wizard of Ads".

The man makes a LOT of sense. Check out his Web site, and his Monday Morning Memo to find out first-hand.

This past week, Roy wrote about two seemingly-opposite concepts.

1) The need to "be for what is" to accomplish your goals despite the reality of obstacle, roadblocks and difficulties; and
2) The need to "be the crank with a new idea" if tomorrow is going to be better than today.

From Roy's first book The Wizard of Ads:

"Weasels are everywhere, incessantly singing their sad little song: If Only. 'If only I had a better education.' 'If only my boss liked me better.' 'If only I had married someone else.' 'If only I had invested in Chrysler when it was fifty cents a share...' There's a little weasel in all of us, and that weasel needs to be slapped. When your ears hear your lips start to sing the Song of the Weasel, you must learn to immediately slap the weasel within."

For more Monday Morning musings, click here.