You might have a reputation by now and if not, you’re certainly creating one. The dimension of your reputation I’m talking about is your finishing quotient. Has the family room been under construction for the last 6 months? When you’re working on a writing project does the idea for a new business come to mind and you switch attention to writing a whole business plan for it? (One of my clients did that this summer – the writing deadline was missed – the business plan is solid.) Do you like to create and implement new ideas but not sustain them?

If you start things and don’t finish or carry-through there are times you shine and times you irritate some people out of their minds.

You shine when you’re coming up with new ideas and that’s what you’re paid to do. Essentially you score when you’re meeting the expectations that you’ve agreed to execute. If you’re in product development and coming up with viable new products you get kudos. If you’re in product manufacturing and coming up with viable new products, you get, "Is that what I pay you to do?"

You lose points when you’re doing something that is not what someone anticipates from you.  For many of us there is a great strategy for building our reputation when we’re not finishers. The strategy is to partner with your compliment – someone who loves to see things through but isn’t interested in or able to come up with the new ideas. The key is recognizing if you finish, or not, and where your strength lies. Then, build you compliment to have a whole.

Returning to the family room question above. If you’re someone who has a vision for the family room and tore it apart, "Good for you." If you’re now in the phase that doesn’t interest you or you have lots of other things to do before you get back to it, hire someone. There are loads of people who can see your vision and make it a reality. Your room will be whole sooner and you will get credit for what you do well. The other guy will get credit for their contribution and everyone will enjoy the finished room. That sure beat negative attention for what isn’t done!

Are you listening, really listening when you’re in a meeting? If you are, you’re one of 30% of the people who listen in a meeting – including 1 on 1 with your significant other.
You will be engaged if you really listen. Like this photo you link with others when you’re engaged. Successful people share the trait of really listening. Those folks are successful in business and in relationships.

How do you know if you’re listening? Here are a few of ways:

• You don’t have any distractions such as a cell phone, a blackberry, or computer active.
• You make eye contact with the speaker most of the time.
• You ask questions that summarize what you heard and confirm that you understand what the speaker is meaning to say. The speaker responds saying you’re on target perhaps replying, “Exactly.”

Take a minute and think of times you haven’t been heard. This is the ‘other side of the coin’ and usually more personal and impactful. This is what you don’t want to do or have done to you:

• Multitask with the conversation being one of the things your attention is spread across
• Have a side conversation during a main conversation
• Look away from the other person most of the time
• Interrupt to say what popped into your mind
• Ask the person to repeat what they just said more than once

Think you’re a good listener? Ask your spouse, boy/girlfriend, kids, co-workers. The impact of honest answers is worth the risk of asking.

Do you get more solicitations for donations than you can stand? Are trees felled to simply support charitable organizations’ solicitation initiative which means junk mail to you? I have to say I admire how thoroughly many not-for-profits understand direct marketing – they know how many times to mail to you per month, what to say in those letters, when to include a self-addressed-stamped envelope or comment that your stamp will help support finding a cure for (fill in the blank) and a whole barrel of other things to get money into their bank account for their worthy causes. And, enough is enough.

As many of you readers know, my Dad passed away early this year. Putting a change of address at his post office has resulting in more solicitations per week than I used to get per year. I am the most persistent junk-mail reductionist you’ll ever meet. And I’ve found a new step to take.

First a reminder: Step 1 to stop junk mail is Opt-Out and the Direct Marketing association website. Here’s the first article on that here at the PCafe: Stop Junk Mail.

To stop the stuff coming to Dad I have a two action approach.

#1 – Open the solicitation. Cut out the portion of the letter that contains his (your) address. Put a bright post-it on requesting that this address be removed from the charity’s lists – all lists – and that you are Opting Out. Use the enclosed envelope (even if you have to put your own stamp on it) and send in your request.

#2 – Go to the charity’s website. Today I did the Alzheimer’s Association.
Find the ‘contact us’ button and click on it.
At the bottom of the page find the privacy policy link. Click on it.
Read until you find the section on mailing to you. At Alzheimer’s Association it said the following:

Your choice

We respect your privacy and recognize that you may wish to limit the ways in which we contact you. Simply send an e-mail to info@alz.org with the following information:

• To remove your name from mailing lists shared with other organizations, please provide your full name, mailing address and a sentence requesting removal.
  
• To remove your name from the Alzheimer’s Association postal mailing list, please provide your full name, mailing address and a sentence requesting suppression of your personal information in our files.
  

To review or correct your personal information with the Alzheimer’s Association, please provide your name and a sentence requesting a review or a correction.

Then, follow their instructions.

Be sure to put "Opt Out" in the subject line of an email.
Then, cross your fingers.

This weekend take a vacation at home. Go visit a site, destination, or other special place that you would usually wait to see until you have visitors from out of town. And, think of the places that people for other states or countries travel to that is close you – those are places I’m talking about.

This weekend we are going to see fireworks at nearby Longwood Gardens. Some of the friends we’re taking live in our town and haven’t been to Longwood in the last decade or more. Yet, when we’re there we hear as many foreign language speakers as we do English speakers. That  means that people from around the world make Longwood Gardens their destination and make the effort to travel to it. It’s a big deal. And, it’s a 20 minute drive for us.

Shelly always waits for her sister to visit to go to her favorite restaurant, Teca. Her boyfriend could give her a great surprise by taking her there this weekend (or make the reservation this weekend and plan for a few weeks down the road!) What a great way to delight someone!

What little vacation can you take close to home this weekend?

The way to make sure that you do the things that are really impactful is to put them on your calendar. Steven Covey is the famous author of The 7 Habits Series of books and he makes this point succinctly in the quote above. When you are scheduled for the things that are really important and let the less important thing take only the 'extra' time you have, you are on the road to feeling in control, productive, and being successful.

The opposite of scheduling your priorities is letting other people take your time, reacting to the emergency of the moment (found when you checked your email no doubt), and losing site of what you're responsible to do. This usually is accompanied by stress, overwhelm, and working overtime.

Kim has an appointment with her assistant every morning at 8:15am without fail. They look at the day ahead and coordinate the things that should be done and must be done. They look at the days ahead and begin preparation for meetings and projects due soon. By scheduling this appointment every morning Kim & Allen (the assistant) stay on top of everything and are usually calm, cool, and collected.

Back in my days at Hewlett-Packard a department head, Tom, would take time at the end of the week to write a quick list of accomplishments. He had his List Making on his calendar and rarely missed those 15 minutes with his career planning. That list allowed him to sell himself into a number of positions that advanced his career quickly. His priority to keep his career front & center by making an appointment with himself paid big dividends.

What are you allowing to take over your schedule? What would you schedule and protect to reach the ends your have as goals?

Using address labels and address stamps is a quick, inexpensive, and clever way to streamline completing forms.

When handed the clipboard to update his information at the doctors’ office Joe walked to a seat and a minute later was back at the welcome desk. The receptionist looked up and said, "Back already?" "Yep, ready to go," replied Joe. "How’d you do that so fast?" the receptionist asked. "My secret weapon," said Joe with a grin.

Joe completed the contact information by opening his wallet, taking out a self-stick address label, and applying it to the form. That move took a few seconds. Then Joe concentrated on the questions on the form completing them swiftly and he jumped ahead of the other 3 people who were printing their name, address, zip, etc. with pen. The bonus to Joe’s address label trick was that the label is easy to read so they get his information easily & correctly!

Whether you’re completing a form at the doctors’ office, addressing an envelope, or filling in almost any other type of form, use address labels and stamps! Carry a few labels in your wallet. And, for goodness sake, do not worry about the address information being right on the address line! Everyone will appreciate the clear print of address labels. You might want to get a set made that includes your telephone number to have even more complete information with you in a snap.