Is Email Sabotaging Your Growth?
Don’t let poor email etiquette keep you from your goals.
It was a phone call I had been dreading all day.
However, as I hung up, I found myself thinking: “Wow, that person is a real delight…why the hell was I so worried about talking to them?”
Here’s why I dreaded the call: before the call, I thought I was about to get on the horn with a complete and total jerk. However, I was surprised to get on the line with a reasonable, level-headed human being.
I dreaded the call because my only interaction with the person on the other end had been over email. So indeed, they did not present well over that medium. Reading their emails, I imagined an agitated, tense, rude, and stir-crazy individual whom I would have to tell to take a deep breath.
So why the vast disconnect? Why was someone such a delight in one context and a terror in another?
I blame email, of course. Email is a fantastic tool and a staple of our digital existence. So despite its many flaws, it’s probably not going anywhere soon.
However, I think we all could stand to use it better. That’s what I am going to talk about here.
