I have been following this blog by Bob Sutton. I really like it because, although it is nominally about good management, a lot of the advice is more generally applicable. I guess being a good manager is at least 97% getting on with people. I suspect a lot of managers would argue with that but, before I believed them, I would probably want to know whether their staff think they are any good.
Anyway, yesterdays post was about being “fully present”. In other words, someone who gives their full attention to anyone who is talking to them. One of the examples given was a manager who always turns off their computer monitor when talking to someone on the phone so as not to be distracted. I realised that I am terrible when I’m on the phone, I always have some sort of web game running or I’m buying train tickets or something. It must seem very rude. I have decided that, from now on, I shall be a “fully present” phone conversationalist. So, apologies if I have been rude to you in the past, I shall try not to let it happen again.
P.S. I really like Bob Sutton’s list of 15 things he believes in. Well worth a read.
