How To Be A High-Performing Person.

“If you’re not continually reinventing yourself, your company, or your brand, it’s only a matter of time before you become obsolete, irrelevant, and end up in the bargain bin.”

This is my own mantra that I provide for my clients. If your not looking towards the future on a regular basis, the present will arrive faster than you think and you’ll be behind your competition. If you want to be a high-performer, here are some suggestions I deliver during my keynotes:

1. Refresh your brand every 2-3 years. Can you tweak your logo? Maybe change a color or font? Keep it FRESH.
2. Update your website every 2-3 years. Does it work/look good on mobile devices? How old does it look? Look at your competition. It has to be clean, uncluttered, and easy to navigate. Don’t fill it up with shit.
3. Change your business card yearly. Today, your card is your brochure. It should not only deliver contact info — it should sell you and your business. Use quality card stock, use color, images, etc. Why yearly? Something always changes with the info/logo/title/location — only print small runs so you don't feel bad chucking out 1000 cards. Check out Moo.com.
4. Make your voicemail message SELL. If it’s you with a tired voice, you’re probably losing business. Hire a professional to help you craft and voice your new voicemail message and outgoing on-hold systems. You could even take a look at using something like this ringless voicemail drop if you want to help promote your business more.
5. Change your signs frequently. If you have a physical location or a fleet, ensure all signage is clean, new and visible. Old signs that are dirty/faded will LOSE business for you. Have signs made so they can modify messages frequently to attract interest. Keep it FRESH, CLEAN, and SHARP.
6. Upgrade your email signature (at the bottom of your emails). Most people don’t have one or if they do, it doesn’t sell their business. Make it look professional, give them additional info, point them back to your site, and make sure it works on most email systems.
7. Get a .com domain name. If your email address has aol, yahoo, gmail or another provider, it immediately telegraphs to me that you are not running a ‘real’ business AND you don’t know what you’re doing. Get one today.
8. Clean up your digital act. If your voice mailbox is full or you never return emails, you have a problem. Set aside time to regularly clear out your voicemail and develop a system to help with email overload.
9. Get comfortable with technology. I run into so many people in their 50/60’s who act like little children when it comes to tech. Listen — it’s here to stay and if you catch yourself not embracing it — you look old, antiquated, and lazy. It’s not an irritant, it a part of our lives.
10. Hang out with people who AREN’T like you. We get lazy and commune/collaborate with our own age groups and social status. Get out and hang with millennials, seniors, and most of all, play tennis with tennis players who can kick your ass. You WILL play better tennis.

If you need help with any of these items, call me anytime - 203-500-2421. I can recommend highly competent people to help you. Even me.

Stupid Things People Do . . . Your Email.

Who loves their email? Lovin' those 150-200 emails you receive each day? I expect your answer to be "NO". But why do we put so much emphasis on it then? Why do we check it whenever we get a spare moment?

Why do we treat each email equally? That's STUPID.

Email is not a good communication platform. Actually, it's really not communicating - good communication happens in real-time and is between two or more people. How many misunderstood emails have you sent or received in your lifetime?

This is SMART:

Prioritize your email. Use Rules to assign colors to important emails (Red for the Boss or Clients, Blue for emails with you on the TO: line) and Gray for all other email. Trash any CC: email - trust me, it's not important.

Check your email 3 times a day. In the morning, after lunch, and right before you leave. Instead of responding by email - call. If there is something important or an emergency, they should call you.

Use the phone more often. Leave 20-30 second messages and only talk to someone for no longer than 3-5 minutes. If you need longer, set up a 10-15 minute meeting, no longer.

Stop by offices more often. You then control the time you talk. Make the 'drive-by' 3-5 minutes and then be off.

At the end of the day, email will suck the living daylights out of your productivity, motivation, and life. Trust me.

Love to hear your thoughts - comment below or email me anytime! - Rich

Image provided by In 30 Minutes Guides at Flickr.

Why Your Email Is Holding You Back.

I spent the better part of this morning entering a bevy of business cards into my database so every person I meet can receive an eBlast and other info from the mind of Rich Gee. Candidly, it's not fun. In fact it sucks. But I break it up into manageable piles and quickly do it. I should purchase a business card scanner — but the idea of shelling out $250-$300 for a single purpose scanner makes my blood boil. Until they hit $99 (a reasonable price), I will continue to enter them myself. Sorry - it's just me.

Here's my dilemma — most business cards stink, and the biggest 'fault line' item of all is your email address. Why?

Don't Make It Complex.

I hate when people use an algorithm of their name, initials, or cute words to compose their email address. Odds are, I will probably get it wrong when entering it into my database or sending an email to you. The result — "You don't getta No Coke!" (a famous line from Caddyshack) - in other words - you get nothing from me.

I LOVE when people have firstname.lastname@company.com — short, simple, easy to read and understand. Like richgee@richgee.com — I actually repeated the URL in my name. EVERYONE gets it the first time — and I promise you, they probably don't forget it either.

By the way, I totally understand if you work for a corporation whose IT department made the erroneous decision years ago to make a complex email system. I feel for you. I especially love the ones where they require a middle initial (like rcgee@advo.com, my old one) and it you didn't have a middle name, they gave you an 'X'. How much fun is it during initial meetings when clients pick that one up? ("rich.x.gee . . . what does the 'x' stand for?")

Stick With .COM.

Maybe this is my OCD coming out, but I hate it when someone has a .NET or .BIZ or .US or some other weird domain the powers that be dreamed up. Unless you are a non-profit or educational institution (.EDU or . ORG), I am going to write .COM — and if I have to delete and type something else, it says to me you haven't taken the time to go and get a .COM for your business.

If you can't develop an basic URL for your business, buy one - they usually cost between $200-$500, a worthy investment for any business.

While you're at it, purchase your kid's URL's too — it's cheap and they will thank you 10-20 years from now.

Get Your Own Domain.

I don't know about you — but if I see @comcast, @optonline, @aol, @hotmail, or even @gmail, it clearly communicates to me you aren't really serious about your business. Specifically — you are a hobbyist who is running their business part-time or you have no clue about how the web works. Get serious and get your domain immediately.

Make Your Email HUGE.

I hate it when people make their email smaller than their address on their cards. Or they handwrite it on the back of the card because they either made a mistake and have 5000 cards left. Throw them out and lay out your card in this fashion: Name — Company — Direct Phone — Email — Website. No fax number, no multiple numbers, just give me your direct contact line — I also hate it when people have three numbers on their card and I get voicemail on all three. Give me one.

Sorry for this diatribe — but I've been pointing this out for 10+ years and people are STILL making these stupid business mistakes. And then they wonder why they aren't getting business.

What other problems do you have with email addresses?

Image provided by Martin Wessley at Unsplash.

10 Tricks To Get Control Of Your Email.

I say email is dying! New generations are moving towards texting to communicate — I welcome that improvement! But email is still around for the short term — and if you're like me — you get hundreds of emails a day. And if you're like a lot of my clients, it's hard to navigate all that email without a few tricks. So here they are:

1. Eliminate your email alert setting in Outlook or MacMail. If you find yourself watching the email alert bar move up and down or the small circle alerting you to the number of unread emails - you're letting email control YOUR life.

2. Read certain times of the day. Set up times during the day to read your email — say 9 AM, Noon, and 4 PM. Otherwise, do real work. If it's an emergency, let everyone know to call, stop by or text message you with an 'URGENT' or 'IMPORTANT' header.

3. Take action, delete or file. So many people who jump into email and need to jump out quickly tend not to act on emails. They scan and then move on — they know they need to do something with the email, but they don't have the time. So they whip through their list and then rush off to a meeting. If you commit to an email, read it and then act, delete or file. It's that easy.

4. Don't start chain emails, pick up the phone. Even better, instead of writing a long and boring response email (that no one will really read), pick up the phone and take care of the issue immediately.

5. If it isn't filed, trash it. I know it's hard, but kill email whenever you can.

6. Don't print emails — only if you REALLY have too. If you print, you have now brought the electronic into the real world. And you have to now find a place for all those emails. Good luck!

7. Minimal file folders — no parent/child lists. I love it when people have HUGE lists of file folders and sub-folders. Don't you know about search? I use search every day and it works perfectly.

8. Clean up daily. If you decide to file the email, do it immediately and don't let them build up. At the end of every year, I bunch up all of my filed emails and archive them. Guess what? I only access the archive a few times a year. Go figure.

9. Email is a POOR communication vehicle. You have to realize email causes a lot of problems — missed messages, hurt feelings, arguments, unnecessary wasted time, etc. It's NOT 2-way communication. Pick up the phone or stop by the person's office. And if it's really important, set up a (short) meeting.

10. Don't worry. So many people obsess about email — they love to complain about it. A number of years ago, I took an approved sabbatical from work for 30 days (we were allowed those back then). I set up an email rule to let everyone know not to email me (I wouldn't be reading them) and that I would be back in 30 days. Guess what? I still received 3750 emails. Under the advice of my coach, I:

• Took the emails and filed them in their own file folder named 'Sabbatical'.
• I only read emails from my boss to me.
• I only accessed that file five times over the next three months.

What Would Happen If You Disconnected From Email?

Take a trip with me. You have your smartphone and you unlink your email settings from your email server, making it impossible to receive email on your smartphone. You could probably still access your email via the browser on your smartphone — but that is so time-consuming, you'd rather not.

Your last email to your team, clients, and colleagues is to let them know you will be checking email at regular intervals during the day while you are at the office and if there is an actual emergency, to call you on your smartphone. But for all intents and purposes, you are not reading or responding to emails when you're not in the office.

What would happen?

1. You might get a few more phone calls.

But that's not a terrible thing. Instead of getting into a viscious email communication chain on some obscure topic, you can probably handle it with a quick 3-5 minute call. And you can group your callbacks and keep them short.

2. You get more organized and focused when you did access your email at the office.*

Initially, it would build up. But as team members, clients, and colleagues would notice, email would cease to be a primary communication vehicle for you. Since you only had a limited amount of time to read your email, you would only focus on those emails that were from key members of your team or were directly sent to you. Anything else most likely can fall by the wayside. *I totally understand if you spend 90-100% of your time away from the office — your smartphone is critical. But what would happen if you just checked emails when you opened your laptop? Or if you checked your smartphone at discreet times during the day and not ALL the time?

3. You would get slower replying to email.

No more quick responses — email is not texting or twitter. In fact, I would ask you not to use those tools either. The whole idea is to limit interruptions to your day to be able to focus on the important and strategic things happening in your life. If it's tactical- or emergency-based use the phone.

4. You would get faster communicating with your staff, clients, and colleagues.

No more long-winded emails — no death-defying email chains that go on forever. Just small phone interruptions (or grouping of phone calls) to connect and engage, manage, or inform. You can get a reputation of fast phone calls, keep them to 1-2 minutes or less and focus on the task at hand and make decisions or take action. Email prolongs debate — how many times have you been put through the email wringer with various vicious email cycles?

A number of clients of mine have done this and they've found a significant lightening of their load AND they are getting more things done. Why?

Email is not a very good communication vehicle.

It takes a long time to compose an email, there are many instances when you do give direction and someone doesn't see it, or the email message is misconstrued in a way where you come of yelling or reprimanding. Bottom line - email is not 'two-way' communication — it's a broadcast medium. In fact, it's worse, when you run into CC: and BCC: transmissions of the same email.

These reactive responses deliver the wrong message — not promoting or pushing projects and people forward — they actually get into email ruts. Trust me — I've been there.

Finally, email turns into heroin for some people. You know who you are — reading your email constantly like a stock ticker — responding instantly to people. How much productivity is wasted with this type of communication? What might be a better way of communicating?

So if you're brave — try unlinking your email today. If you just want to try it, don't check your email at all today — have an email response: "I won't be able to check my email today on my phone, please call me if it's urgent."

Go for it.

Work Smarter, Not Harder.

I really didn't mean that. To be honest, to be successful, one needs certain things to happen:

1. You have to hustle. Move faster than your competition and get things done. Take action.
2. You have to be smart. Not only intelligence, but knowledge and street smarts.
3. You have to be lucky. Sometimes it comes from nowhere, but most of the time it presents itself from opportunities you developed.

But there are times when you need to be nimble, agile, and frankly, work smarter. How? Here goes:

Think of all the things you do during the day. The email, the meetings, the people, the stop-bys, the phone calls, the traveling, the commute . . . everything.

Now I want you to take each element and figure out how you can STREAMLINE it. Make it take less time but deliver the same (or increased) result. Let's try each one:

• Email - do you have to read EVERY email? Develop a system to read the important messages and toss the rest.
• Meetings - do you have to go to EVERY meeting? Eliminate one meeting per week - you don't really need to be there.
• People - who are the most important people to your career? Who wastes your time? Start spending more time with the important people.
• Stop-bys - it's nice to have an open-door policy but you have to have time for yourself. Close your door at certain times to get working.
• Phone calls - all calls should be five minutes or less. If it is more complex, you need to meet.
• Traveling - do you really need to go there? Can you video conference in? A conference call?
• Commute - sitting in the car for an hour a day is tiring. Can you listen to motivational CD's? Can you telecommute?

Think outside of the box — you want to work smarter — get the work done in less time without killing yourself.

Over the next few weeks, I will be focusing in on each of these areas - STAY TUNED!

Image provided by H Sterling Cross at Flickr.

How To Stop Working So Late - Part Two.

Last week, I wrote my first installment on working late and received a powerful uproar from my readers (massive page views and comments on my site, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook!). To finish out my thoughts on this subject, I promised to give tangible tips to help people go home at a reasonable time. So here goes: Work hard when you're at work.

Right off the bat, I've probably insulted you. But to be honest, most people don't work that HARD while they're at work. On the contrary, they fill up time. Be honest, we all do it.

There's a great book by Tim Ferriss called the 4-Hour Workweek, where he targets those behaviors which allow you to elongate your performance to fill up time. He uses the 80/20 rule to uncover what activities really deliver true performance and which ones don't.

What do I mean by work hard?

• When you get to work . . . WORK. Don't schmooze. Don't procrastinate. Don't wander around. Don't daydream.
• Set up a daily to-do sheet (here's a great one I modified from GTD guru, David Allen).
• Stay on top of all your voicemails.
• Don't take frequent breaks (to get coffee, walk around, etc.).
• Don't surf. No personal calls. Don't text. You're at work.

Work smart when you're at work.

I know, you're smart, I'm smart, everyone is smart. Most of the time. But we all do some stupid things. Here are key tips to work more efficiently and effectively:

• Don't go to every meeting you're invited to. Kill (at least) one meeting every week — tell them you either can't make it or you don't really need to be there. Trust me, you don't. (1 hour per week). Kill more as you get good at it.
• Don't read EVERY email you receive. Don't read EVERY email when you get it. Set aside certain times of the day to read your email — read this.
• Set aside a certain part of the day to return phone calls. I use the Nine/Noon/Five technique — three times during the day, I return calls - at 9 AM, Noon, and 5 PM. You're not a heart surgeon — no one is going to die on the operating table if you don't return the phone call within minutes.
• When you answer the phone or return a phone call, give the person on the other line a deadline. Say, "Tom, I only have 4-5 minutes to talk, can we cover this now with a quick decision, or later?" — most calls need a quick decision from you.

Have an open/closed door policy at work.

Most managers live at the fringes of the 'door' spectrum — come on in anytime or don't bother me. Try to gravitate to the center of the spectrum and do both:

• When the door is open — your people should see it as a sign to quickly ask you a question, get your thoughts, or just talk (for a VERY short time). To get your team to leave quickly, ask them about taking on more work — they will scatter.
• When the door is closed — your people should understand not to bother you unless it's an emergency. Most things can wait until the door opens again.

Run VERY short meetings.

Why do meetings have to be one hour? Or 30 minutes? Why can't you have 5 minute meetings? It's because of MS Outlook. It makes it difficult for you to schedule a 5 minute meeting — 30 and 60 minute meetings look nicer and are easier to schedule.

Be honest with yourself — how many meetings have you attended where you walked out thinking, "that could've been handled in five minutes". You currently have to power to schedule 5 minute meetings.

• Ensure everyone arrives on time.
• Start exactly at the top of the hour.
• Get everyone to stand, not sit. This is not a seminar.
• Huddle around a whiteboard and use it to illustrate your points.
• Shut long-talkers down — get to the point.
• If you do go down a rabbit hole, everyone doesn't have to be there. Schedule it for later.
• Close the meeting ASAP and get out of there. Your people will LOVE you.

Develop clear communication policies with everyone.

Colleague or client — set specific boundaries. There are too many people in the workplace who goof off all day and then get serious about work at around 4 PM.

• Don't let people drop in. There must be a purpose for the meeting.
• Let people know you leave at 5 PM — don't let them abuse it.
• If they try to catch you when you're leaving, tell them you'll pick it up when your come back in the morning.
• Promise to return all calls within 24 hours.

The more YOU value your time, the more THEY value your time.

Try just one of these — you will be surprised how much work you accomplish.

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. If you liked these two posts, let me know - Let’s talk. I love working with people who want to excel in their career — call or email me to schedule a complimentary session.

Why You Hate AND Love Your Email.

Who loves their email? Lovin’ those 150-200 emails you receive each day? I expect your answer to be “NO”. But why do we put so much emphasis on it then? Why do we check it whenever we get a spare moment?

Why do we treat each email equally? That’s STUPID.

Email is not a good communication platform. Actually, it’s really not communicating – good communication happens in real-time and is two-way. How many misunderstood emails have you sent or received in your lifetime?

Here are some simple tricks I teach my clients:

1. Prioritize your email. Use Rules to assign colors to important emails (Red for the Boss or Clients, Blue for emails with you on the TO: line) and Gray for all other email. Trash any CC: email – trust me, it’s not important and you're not missing anything.

When you open your email (you never keep it open all day), you will immediately see the Red and Blue emails first - choose one of four actions:

Act - if you can respond within 1-2 minutes with an answer, do it. Delegate - Push it to someone else and let all parties know. File - Read info and file, not all emails need a response. Trash - Get it out of your head and life, stop thinking about it.

2. Check your email 3 times a day. In the morning, after lunch, and right before you leave. Instead of responding by email – call. If there is something important or an emergency, they should call you.

And most importantly, keep your email 'bat-signal' OFF. Having an animation or number appear only distracts you from your more important work.

3. Use the phone more often. Leave 20-30 second messages and only talk to someone for no longer than 3-5 minutes. If you need longer, set up a 10-15 minute meeting, no longer. You will get a reputation for short calls and your colleagues/clients will most likely pick up the phone rather than let it zip to voicemail.

4. Stop by offices more often. You then control the time you talk. Make the ‘drive-by’ 3-5 minutes and then be off.

At the end of the day, email will suck the living daylights out of your productivity, motivation, and life. Trust me.

What tips and tricks do you use to keep your email behaviors efficient and effective?

How To Be More Effective On The Job.

"Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things." - Peter Drucker   Efficiency has been pounded into us since grade school.

• Keep your desk clean.
• Finish your tests on-time.
• Always have three sharpened pencils.
• Let's squeeze 7-8 classes into one day.

And the list goes on and on.

Even on the job, one is forced to comply to look busy, to fit as much 'stuff' into a workday as possible, to outshine your peers, and fly through your duties. It reminds me of a great song by Kevin Kline in the Sandra Boynton musical "Philadelphia Chickens" called 'Busy Busy Busy'*:

We’re very very busy And we’ve got a lot to do And we haven’t got a minute To explain it all to you For on Sunday Monday Tuesday There are people we must see And on Wednesday Thursday Friday We’re as busy as can be With our most important meetings And our most important calls And we have to do so many things And post them on the walls…

We have to hurry far away And then we hurry near And we have to hurry everywhere And be both there and here And we have to send out messages By e-mail, phone, and fax And we’re talking every minute And we really can’t relax And we think there is a reason To be running neck-and-neck And it must be quite important But we don’t have time to check.

I'm not saying efficiency is bad, it's just overrated. But effectiveness is the key to success. Just doing things will not deliver the requisite benefits — results are key in any endeavor. It's what differentiates you from the chattel who worry about their job every day.

Is this you? I have to:

• Do tons of work to show everyone I am the master of my domain.
• Read, assess, and answer all of the 150 emails I receive every day.
• Attend every meeting I'm invited to so I don't miss anything.
• Provide an audience to every person who comes into my office or passes by my cubicle.
• Never make a mistake - so I double- and triple-check every thing I do.
• Return every phone call, meet with every new prospect, and get on every project.
• Do the safe/easy things - I can do them quickly and not worry about not delivering quantity.
• "Push a lot of buttons to get results."

Now, focus on being effective:

• Out of the 150 emails I receive, what 10-20 are really important for my attention?
• What meetings are really important? (usually none)
• Setup specific times for open door policies and drive-by's.
• Who really is your key customer? What project will really deliver growth for the company?
• I tackle those things which will deliver maximum results and not worry about getting many little things done.
• How can I focus on the 20% which delivers the 80%?
• "I can push THE button."

What is the best reason for effectiveness?

It allows you to develop the confidence to take on new challenges, to push your envelope, and to not worry about failure. Because if you fail - you will just try again.

"Efficiency is making many things happen. Effectiveness is making IT happen." - Rich Gee

How do you balance efficiency and effectiveness?

*This song was introduced to my by one of my favorite and dearest colleagues, Diane Senior. Thank you Diane, I still laugh listening to the CD — it so reminded us of our environment at that time.

5 Ways To Kill Email.

Email sucks. It's a terrible communication platform (no live, two-way communication), messages are sometimes understood the wrong way, they get lost, you turn around and there are 50 new emails in your inbox, and deciding what to do (open, read, file, trash) is a frustrating process. If you're old like me (I'm 48), you probably remember the old Inbox on your desk where you received actual paper memos. Harkening back to those old times, we only received/wrote 2-3 (no more than five) memos a day. Most business was done face to face or over the phone (where real, live, two-way communication happens).

Here are some tips that I use to make my way through 125-150 emails a day:

1. Recognize that email is not your master, it's a piece of software. Too many executives and business owners live and die by every email that drops into their inbox. If you step back and look at your career, major leaps and successes were not built on that one email you sent or read, it was clearly delivered by your actions, presence, management, leadership, and interpersonal skills. And more importantly, not a snarky comment at the end of an email. So here's your first challenge: Stop giving any importance to your inbox. If someone asks you if you read an email that they sent you, say "No". Tell everyone that you are on an "email diet" and if they truly have something important to communicate, pick up the phone or stop by your office. Your fear of missing that important email will slowly go away. Trust me.
2. Turn off your email notifier that lets you know another email has arrived. This is a big one - stop reading it every minute of the day. Unless you are a bookie and have to place bets instantly, you do not have to read that email this moment. Begin by setting in place certain times of the hour or day to read email. Some executives do it during the last 5-10 minute of each hour; some spend 15-30 minutes in the morning, at noon, and before they go home. Pick a process that suits you. Also - stop checking your Blackberry or iPhone every available minute.
3. Prioritize your email. This is my secret that I unveil to many of my clients with time management issues. Go into your email program and setup rules to color your email messages (check in your help center of Outlook or MacMail). Here are the three categories that I manage my email: a. Critical - emails from your boss, other superiors, and clients. These should be colored red and attended to immediately. b. Important - emails where you are on the 'To:' line only (no one else). These are emails that are singularly directed at you. Color them blue. c. Not Important - all other emails - these should be colored gray and only read — if you have the time. You'll find that 80% of your email ends up in the 'Not Important' bucket and 20% is in buckets 'A' and 'B'. You will also find (if the Pareto Rule is in effect — that the most important communication — is found in the 20%, which delivers 80% of the impact of your position. If colors don't work, use folders.
4. Don't respond to emails with an email. How many times have you been pulled into an email 'conversation' or even worse, an email 'confrontation'? Try picking up your phone, doing a 'drive-by' someone's office or cubicle, or hosting a short meeting (if it is truly important or an issue that is beginning to blow up). The more that you take important communication events out of email, the more that you will use and receive useless emails. If you receive it on your phone, call back instead of emailing them.
5. Turn emails into what they really are — memos. Emails should communicate key information, schedules, and history, not management or leadership. As I stated above, they are poor communication vehicles, but they are useful ones when used effectively. When you have the itch to send an email, don't. Most of the time, you can just let sleeping dogs lie and don't respond.

Now I understand there might be vocations that live and thrive on email - so it might be tough doing all my tips. But try just one and see how it affects your input, throughput and output. Even if you get a 5% savings in email time a week, that equals 2 full hours you can apply to more important issues.

But remember, I'm not stating 'Don't read your email', just not the important ones. It will be hard and this will take some practice.

Stick to this plan for one day, review. Then one week, review. Then one month . . . and keep going. You might surprise yourself.

5 Ways To Spread A Little Warmth.

It's a cold world out there. One thing that always works for me is to share a positive, enthusiastic attitude.

Whenever I feel down, or when things aren't going my way, I try to instantly turn that around with a smile, a fun comment, or a positive action. Most of the time it works and as I do it, it becomes infectious, and bounces right back to me. So . . .

• Email - Instead of replying to a snarky email, call the person up and get them to level with you.
• Boss - Come in Monday with more energy and positivity than you've ever brought to work . . . ever. See what happens.
• Clients - See how you can add just a little more pizzazz to every interaction. Call them unexpectedly and get their feedback.
• Colleagues - See how you can help them. Givers gain.
• Subordinates - Give them one of your higher-end projects. At first they might not like the additional work, but when they see the level of the challenge and the exposure to other people, places, and things, they will thank  you.

As I stated from the start, the world is a cold place, so these tips might not work. So here's some advice — try one (or more) of them, if they don't work, you've probably run into one of three types of individuals:

• Temporarily Bitter - Something has got them down. If your first attempts at changing their perspective fail, ask what is really keeping them down. Most of the time they will open up (which in and of itself helps) and allows you to spread some real warmth. This is your 'warmth' sweet spot.
• Situationally Bitter - They hate a certain situation (their boss, their job, money, their clients, their life, their spouse/partner, their family, etc.). Attempt to help them, but you're treading in a minefield. Your warmth might be received as a shallow ploy to get something out of them. But it doesn't hurt to try.
• Permanently Bitter - As I learned as a small child from the man who works on power lines: "Stay away, Stay alive." These are people that go through life spreading their angst, annoyance, and turbulent attitude to everyone they meet — they act like Ebenezer Scrooge without the epiphany. Unfortunately, these people need a lot of work and you have to decide whether you want to spend an inordinate amount of time investing in their transformation — and it usually doesn't work. Unless they are really close to you, it's better to find more appealing surroundings.

I find the more that you add warmth to every interpersonal interaction, the more you make the world a better place and enhance your reputation. Try it.

By the way, if you are really interested in being more positive, check out this book. It was given to me by my good friend and fellow coach, Steve Cary.