helen2o

It’s pretty much how I felt this morning.  As some of you know I’m in a masters program at UAB, Information Engineering and Management in the school of Engineering. I knew going into this summer I would have class at least once a month. Add on top of that, I left my corporate job and decided to start a consulting business and focus on kayak instruction. I’ve been going pretty much seven days a week since June. Am I tired? Yep. Is this the happiest I’ve been in quite a while – you bet.

It has been an interesting journey, one I have learned tremendously from and am so very thankful for. I have been blessed to spend more time with my family and friends. My parents are in their 80’s and I’m blessed that I could help them when they needed me. Before, they were admittedly afraid to call me because I was always busy. I’ve also spent more time with my sister. Still not as much as I would like, but she recently retired from teaching. She is amazing, and has skills in working with young women that I never knew existed. Then there are my friends. I’ve had great talks on the way to the river and around the campfire. Before I would usually ride by myself, because I couldn’t take off work to go. And, there is my running partner, who I’m sure has seen a little transformation in me, but carefully chosen her words and guidance. These conversations are all gifts of great joy.

It was August a year ago I started the UAB IEM masters program. The program director, Dale Callahan, Ph.D., talked a lot about finding your passion in our first semester of class. I read his book “Resumes are Worthless,” and thought to myself at the time that I spent my whole life searching for my next job, not looking at what I truly wanted to do. Dale challenged each of us to find what we are passionate about. I was lucky in this area because I know what I’m passionate about. I love teaching kayaking. Is it a full-time job – maybe, maybe not. I’m also passionate about helping people tell their story. Since I started the IEM program I’ve met a lot of entrepreneurs, some tech focused, others not as much. One thing they all have in common is they have an interesting story of how they got where they are today. I happen to have the knowledge of how to convey those stories to the media.

I’m looking forward to this next chapter in my life. I can’t really say I’m slowing down, because it is quite the opposite. But, I can say that I’m living more. I’m looking forward to sharing the journey here.

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We’ve all gotten them, and probably sent them. The email that says exactly what you wanted it to say, but on the other end the receiver is turning their head to the side like my dog when I tell her it’s time to go outside. What? Outside? What does that mean?

I’ve observed from my many years in different jobs and recently in my masters program that people will often write things in an email that they would never say face to face. And, sometimes receivers infer a tone to an email that is not there (mea culpa on that one). That is when I pick up the phone. I usually have a three email back and forth limit before I just pick up the phone and call someone. It may sound terribly old fashioned not to text or email, but at least I use an iPhone when doing it. That way, when I call, the person on the other end can hear my voice, and know that I’m not frustrated. I can also ask questions instead of having 10 emails fly back and forth. Seriously, who enjoys that?

I think emails and social media have become something that we hide behind. For me personally, being rejected by email is a whole lot easier to take than a phone call. Or, is it? If the person rejecting me called, I could at least ask them questions like, “What did you not like about the media pitch? Or, “Would you consider having them speak at a later date.” Having an actual conversation let’s you participate actively in the discussion and get details, which are important.

This summer I had a kayak student who kept calling me and asking for details on a class. I kept looking back at the emails I had sent to all participants. The details were there, so I was perplexed as to why he kept calling me and asking me questions that were clearly outlined in the email. During the class we talked and it turns out he only checks his email every two weeks, if that. He doesn’t do Facebook or Twitter, and rarely uses the internet. So how does he communicate? Via phone. It’s quite simple actually, he talks to one person, gets one issue handled and moves on to the next one. He is on his time and his agenda.

As I thought more about this, what works about a phone call is it is two-way communication. The sender and receiver get to ask questions. On a larger scale, I think this is also the downfall at many major companies when it comes to internal communication. Many companies think that sending an email or newsletter to employees is communicating. But, if you are not giving employees a way to respond and ask questions, you are only pushing out messages with no real way to measure engagement.

That is my rant for today, make sure you are not only sending messages, but really delivering them and having a dialog in the process.

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