First Word

I had this week that could be described as H-E-double toothpicks LOL ... I used to say that as a kid because you weren't supposed to say hell lest you go to the hot place yourself. And I'm sharing this because it's really only appropriate to laugh at one's self. Not that I didn't have my "cup runneth" over this week (I absolutely drowned in the run-over part), I realized things would be a "work in progress" (love my clichés) before it all got solved. So, I walked into my walk-in closet to pick out what to wear. After standing there in pure distractions for way too long, I just broke down. I bawled in the closet of all places. This makes me think of the overwrought housewife who screams infamously, "Calgon take me away." Here is the deal my many readers, you know what? Sometimes crying in the closet is all a girl can do. It's called stress management. "Release the hounds..."

Yesterday a situation arose with a client. We were talking, and the client was duly upset about a disputed matter. We talked through the issue, and she wanted to talk with the other person involved. I told her to let it sit overnight and we would address it in the morning when cooler heads prevailed. As a manager, the "let-cooler-heads-prevail" philosophy is a good strategy to adopt. Automatic reactions to situation produce more automatic reactions, and misunderstandings can grow from what could have been a much more manageable issue into a major fallout. I do think there is a difference though between proactive management and "simmering" leadership. Being proactive is working out of Stephen Covey's idea about the 4th quadrant. Simmering on issues is a whole other thing in business we'll call "boiling pot" management. Boiling pots don't react or even behave proactively. Simmering pots boil and boil and boil until the issue spills over and bur...