Glimmerick

At first, I didn’t really understand what this book was trying to get at. I read, “There is nothing so unequal as the equal treatment of unequals.” After taking some time out to reflect on this particular quote, I began to digest its true meaning. For example, in a specific office, there are most likely people at different “levels.” What I mean by this is there are many factors and situations which may or may not “separate” people:

• Level of enthusiasm
• Experience
• Self-starter or not
• Potential skills
• Self-Esteem

This list could go on and on, but I think I have made my point. Everyone knows that guy who can be given a project, and the next time you hear from him it will be done. Then there are those people that will only work if provoked by a cattle prod. Others are enthusiastic, but have little experience so they will ask a lot of questions. Additionally, there are many types of different situations as well. Meetings, group projects, individual reports, etc.  Trying to throw a “leadership” blanket over all of these people and situations is not going to be very effective. Being able to identify which people in which situations will respond best to a certain leadership style distinguishes a ordinary manager from a great manager.

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Ok let’s face it. Some of us are terrible at remember dates and deadlines. I will be the first to readily  admit that. Test dates, essay due dates, work days, special events… it doesn’t matter! I forget them  all. I am really good at forgetting. Luckily, my love for electronics and my mental weakness meld together into an easily conquerable problem.  Remember The Milk is the coolest program I have come across in months! All you have to do is create tasks, and then it reminds you in various, useful mediums. Each of these mediums allows for short messages that reminded the user that a due date is coming up. I like Gmail the best. You can add maps to your tasks as well, so if you are going on a grocery run, you can see how close it is to your kids’ soccer game, and better gauge time. There are many useful elements to this program, but I simply use it as a “To-Do List.”

1. Access it through their website
2. Gmail add-on **My Favorite**
3. iGoogle
4. AIM, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, Skype and Yahoo! are all supported

To the left if an example of what is on my “To Do List.” I have tests, errands, events, etc. They are nicely organized by dates, and can be “completed” fast, which is essentially crossing them off the list. Here you can see how it will look in your regular Gmail inbox. I find it very convenient to see my list next to my email, so I am frequently reminded.

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A person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language. ~Dale Carnegie

When people remember my name, it makes me feel special. It should make most everyone feel special. This person has taken the time to remember my name.  Just recall a time where you have met a person maybe once or twice, you don’t remember their name, but they come right out and say, “Hey Tage, how are you doing?!” This one act is so very important and thoughtful, yet most people don’t think twice about it. “I’m bad with names,” is a common excuse, one that I am very fond of. Re-thinking that mindset, I have realized that it is just an excuse for me to be lazy. I decided to delve into the information super highway to uncover top tips to remember names. Here are a few of them that I found to be especially helpful:

1. Just Pay Attention!- What seems more important at the end of a conversation, the person you are addressing remembers your name or remembers every single detail of the conversation. Seems very logical to me– THE NAME!!!. Focus on their name and make it a priority over what they are talking about at first. They will be more forgiving if you have their name committed to memory. Sure it would be great to remember their name and catch every detail of the conversation, but let’s face it, a lot of us aren’t that good. Sure you may remember their name for those 45-60 seconds, but when you run into that person again in the workplace and are grasping at straws, you may have wanted to make a better effort. Those first moments when you meet someone are key! Focus, focus, focus.
2. Repeat 2-3 times- First say, “Hey nice to meet you Larry!” Then you might throw in a, “So where you work Larry?” This may seem a bit overkill, but many experts swear by it.  Then at the end of the conversation, of course part with their name, “Well it’s been nice talking to you Larry.”

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I know that most of the content on Glimmerick is book related, but occasionally there will something that I have stumbled upon that I think that will be especially valuable to my readers. Today is just a day like that.

Towards the end of last quarter, I was checking my Gmail (If you haven’t gotten one by now…I recommend you get a Gmail account because of the neat interface, powerful orginization tools, and seemingly infinite space). Anyways, back to checking me email story, my friend almost fell out of his chair when he saw that I had over 1500 messages in my inbox. I know I am not the only one who has had this problem, because I notice that many of my friends have hundreds and thousands of emails in theirs (at least all of mine were read!) He recommended that I use labels to neatly organize all of my email.

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