In this edition of Liz on Leadership:
- A Leadership Dilemma: The Very Real Problem of Email Overwhelm
- Slow Down to Speed Up - 36 Actions to Accelerate Success - Free PDF
- Latest Podcasts: Slow Down to Speed Up, Get Better Outcomes
- Life Science Leader: Dr. Liz on Leadership
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A Leadership Dilemma:
The Very Real Problem of Email Overwhelm
Not long ago, I began working with Mark, the newly appointed Vice President of R&D for a rapidly growing medical device company. Still quite new to the role and the company, Mark was energized and excited… but also overwhelmed. He needed my help focusing on priorities, creating boundaries, and navigating the complexities of his new job, disorganized team, demanding boss, and the dozens of important stakeholders with whom he had to rapidly establish credibility, trust, and communication—the foundations of a strong working relationship.
At the same time, Mark had several high-profile projects to quickly advance. And in the midst of all that, literally hundreds of emails cluttered his inbox each day.
To deal with the seemingly endless influx of emails, he would begin his workday before sunrise and dedicate the first two hours of the day to clearing his inbox. He’d send replies where needed and scroll through a virtual sea of “FYI” messages. Needless to say, this took a great deal of time and often pulled him away from more important matters.
Mark believed his early morning email routine was a necessary sacrifice, the only way to create time and space for the rest of his daily activities. But it simply wasn’t sustainable. He was getting by on less than five hours of sleep each night, fueling up on a diet of coffee and protein bars, growing impatient with his team, and increasingly stressed by daily challenges.
To help him gain control, I taught Mark my straightforward approach to mastering e-mail overwhelm. I call it TERS, for Targeted Email Reduction System. Mark quickly applied the system and, as a result, was able to enjoy an extra hour of sleep each night. With more rest, he began to arrive at work with greater energy, focus, and patience. He made better decisions, built stronger relationships, and led his team to outstanding results.
Targeted Email Reduction System (TERS)
There are two main components to my TERS system. You’ll need just a little time to set it up. Trust me, it is time well spent. By teaching your stakeholders how to best communicate with you, you will free up time for more strategic pursuits, increase your energy and focus, and maybe even enjoy an extra hour or two of sleep at night.
Here’s how it works.
- Ask for a Headline. Talk to your team, colleagues, business partners… anybody from whom you regularly receive email. Explain to them that you are trying to be more efficient with your time and more effective in the way you respond. Subject lines should clearly convey whether an email is purely informational or asking for a response, urgent or not, and so on.
- Set Clear Parameters. Decide how often you will check your email. Do not simply check email continually throughout the day. Then give your manager, team, colleagues, and clients a way to reach you for urgent matters. I call this “using the Batphone”. Your unique Batphone might be a call to your mobile, a text, or an SOS to your assistant or delegate. Whichever method you choose, be sure you’ve developed clarity and mutual agreement around what is genuinely urgent and what can wait. Get clear, too, on what’s best communicated over email and what’s better addressed by phone or in person.
Trust me, you will immediately decrease email overwhelm when you convey limits and set parameters on your inbox.
To learn about the exciting ways I’m helping executives and their teams get better results: increase communication, improve collaboration, make stellar decisions, innovate, profit, and rapidly grow, check out my all-new website,
www.lizbywater.com
. Or send me an email
liz@lizbywater.com
or call
215.805.5551
. I’d love to hear from you!
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“It is without hesitation that I can recommend Liz for her professionalism, intellectual capital and ability to move leaders forward on their journey towards leadership excellence.
Liz is warm, outgoing and able to bring out the best in her clients.”
- Tracy Duberman, PhD, MPH, FACHE, The Leadership Development Group (TLD Group)
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Slow Down to Speed Up - 36 Actions to Accelerate Success
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"Liz's commitment to people is extraordinary. She quickly uncovered the problems that held me and my team back, and provided the tools needed to improve our communication, decision making and team effectiveness. We experienced immediate results."
– John Cuomo, Group Vice President and General Manager, KLX Aerospace Solutions
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Check Out My Latest Podcasts
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Growth Igniters Radio, with Pam Harper and Scott Harper
In this discussion with Pam and Scott Harper, I highlight the top three ways executives and teams can find and protect time in a 24/7 world.
Listen in!
Marketing Thought Leadership, hosted by Linda Popky
Linda Popky and I discuss the risks of moving too fast and reveal how a strategic pause can actually accelerate growth. I also outline why it’s critical to sometimes say no.
Listen here
!
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Slow Down to Speed Up:
Lead, Succeed, and Thrive in a 24/7 World
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Check it out
to discover a host of real-world examples, practical tools, and immediately actionable advice to help you and your organization thrive in today’s fast-paced world.
Here's a glimpse:
"I’ve seen it time and time again. Executives, teams, and organizations that move too quickly often pay a price. But those who learn to slow down to develop a more thoughtful path forward usually succeed.
When leaders learn to pause and reflect before acting, they make better decisions, achieve faster results, and avert the kind of mistakes that take precious time, energy, and political capital to correct. Slowing the pace, paradoxically enough, is the most direct and fruitful path to stellar outcomes, exemplary leadership, personal accomplishment, and a thriving organization."
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"Liz uses real world examples from her work with clients to illustrate her points. The stories are compelling and relatable. I highly recommend this book to anyone feeling overwhelmed and wanting to get a grip on where they are taking their career or business."
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Discover
articles, podcasts, videos & more at the all-new
lizbywater.com
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Life Science Leader: Dr. Liz on Leadership
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For more leadership advice, check out my monthly column, exclusively in
Life Science Leader
!
In my work with leaders in healthcare and across industries, I hear a similar refrain time and time again.
I am way too busy. My calendar is completely jammed. I don’t even have time for lunch.
I share three actions you should take in my most recent article:
Previous
Dr. Liz on Leadership columns:
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About Liz
Dr. Liz Bywater has been called a one-of-a-kind leadership expert. Working at the intersection of business and psychology, she brings together pragmatic experience, advising top executives across the Fortune 500, with an advanced degree in Psychology and a dynamic personal style to inspire, engage and counsel her clients.
For more than a decade, top global organizations have requested Liz’s help in resolving issues such as creating extraordinary client relationships, increasing market persuasion, and driving productive collaborations in an increasingly complex world.
Liz advises senior leaders at some of the world’s most successful companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Nike, Thomson Reuters, Bristol-Myers Squibb, AmerisourceBergen and more. She uses her expertise in human behavior to drive commercial success. She helps her clients propel innovation, exert influence and lead their organizations through change.
A thought leader in organizational excellence, Liz provides expert commentary for such publications as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Fast Company and USA Today. She sits on the editorial advisory board for
Life Science Leader
magazine and has been a featured expert on such radio broadcasts as CBS Philadelphia's
Philadelphia Agenda
and
Remarkable Women
.
Liz earned her PhD in Psychology at the Derner Institute for Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University. Her undergraduate degree is from Cornell University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Cum Laude. She is a longstanding member of the American Psychological Association and the Society for the Advancement of Consulting. She is also a 2018 inductee into the
Million Dollar Consultant Hall of Fame.
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Liz Bywater, PhD
215.805.5551
liz@lizbywater.com
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