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This article by Jeff Haden Had me at "Sometimes I’ll even rewrite a sentence just so I won’t have to worry about which is correct." Have you ever done that? Lay and Lie are two I always need to stop for a moment and think before using.
______ Where the mechanics of writing are concerned, I’m far from perfect. One example: I always struggle with who and whom. (Sometimes I’ll even rewrite a sentence just so I won’t have to worry about which is correct.) And that’s a real problem. The same way one misspelled word can get your resume tossed onto the reject pile, one misused word can negatively impact your entire message. Fair or unfair, it happens all the time—so let’s make sure it doesn’t happen to you. My post “30 Incorrectly Used Words That Can Make You Look Bad” resulted in readers providing a number of other examples of misused words, and here are some of them. Once again I’ve picked words that are typically used in business settings, with special emphasis on words that spell checker won’t correct. Here we go: Advise and Advice Aside from the two words being pronounced differently (the s in advise sounds like a z), advise is a verb while advice is a noun. Advice is what you give (whether or not the recipient is interested in that gift is a different issue altogether) when you advise someone. So, “Thank you for the advise” is incorrect, while “I advise you not to bore me with your advice in the future” is correct (if pretentious). If you run into trouble, just say each word out loud and you’ll instantly know which makes sense; there’s no way you’d ever say, “I advice you to…” Ultimate and Penultimate Recently I received a pitch from a PR professional that read, “[Acme Industries] provides the penultimate value-added services for discerning professionals.” As Inigo would say, “I do not think it means what you think it means.” Ultimate means the best, or final, or last. Penultimate means the last but one, or second to last. But penultimate doesn’t mean second-best. Plus, I don’t think my PR friend meant to say her client offered second-class services. (I think she just thought the word sounded cool.) Also, keep in mind that using ultimate is fraught with hyperbolic peril. Are you—or is what you provide—really the absolute best imaginable? That’s a tough standard to meet. Well and Good Anyone who has children uses good more often than he or she should. Since kids pretty quickly learn what good means, “You did good, honey” is much more convenient and meaningful than “You did well, honey.” But that doesn’t mean good is the correct word choice. Good is an adjective that describes something; if you did a good job, then you do good work. Well is an adverb that describes how something was done; you can do your job well. Where it gets tricky is when you describe, say, your health or emotional state. “I don’t feel well” is grammatically correct, even though many people (including me) often say, “I don’t feel too good.” On the other hand, “I don’t feel good about how he treated me” is correct; no one says, “I don’t feel well about how I’m treated.” Confused? If you’re praising an employee and referring to the outcome say, “You did a good job.” If you’re referring to how the employee performed say, “You did incredibly well.” And while you’re at it, stop saying good to your kids and use great instead, because no one—especially a kid—ever receives too much praise. If and Whether If and whether are often interchangeable. If a yes/no condition is involved, then feel free to use either: “I wonder whether Jim will finish the project on time” or ”I wonder if Jim will finish the project on time.” (Whether sounds a little more formal in this case, so consider your audience and how you wish to be perceived.) What’s trickier is when a condition is not involved. “Let me know whether Marcia needs a projector for the meeting” isn’t conditional, because you want to be informed either way. “Let me know if Marcia needs a projector for the meeting” is conditional, because you only want to be told if she needs one. And always use if when you introduce a condition. “If you hit your monthly target, I’ll increase your bonus” is correct; the condition is hitting the target and the bonus is the result. “Whether you are able to hit your monthly target is totally up to you” does not introduce a condition (unless you want the employee to infer that your thinly veiled threat is a condition of ongoing employment). Stationary and Stationery You write on stationery. You get business stationery, such as letterhead and envelopes, printed. But that box of envelopes is not stationary unless it’s not moving—and even then it’s still stationery. Award and Reward An award is a prize. Musicians win Grammy Awards. Car companies win J.D. Power awards. Employees win Employee of the Month awards. Think of an award as the result of a contest or competition. A reward is something given in return for effort, achievement, hard work, merit, etc. A sales commission is a reward. A bonus is a reward. A free trip for landing the most new customers is a reward. Be happy when your employees win industry or civic awards, and reward them for the hard work and sacrifices they make to help your business grow. Sympathy and Empathy Sympathy is acknowledging another person’s feelings. “I am sorry for your loss” means you understand the other person is grieving and want to recognize that fact. Empathy is having the ability to put yourself in the other person’s shoes and relate to how the person feels, at least in part because you’ve experienced those feelings yourself. The difference is huge. Sympathy is passive; empathy is active. Know the difference between sympathy and empathy, live the difference, and you’ll make a bigger difference in other people’s lives. Criterion and Criteria A criterion is a principle or standard. If you have more than one criterion, those are referred to as criteria. But if you want to be safe and you only have one issue to consider, just say standard or rule or benchmark. Then use criteria for all the times there are multiple specifications or multiple criterion (OK, standards) involved. Mute and Moot Think of mute like the button on your remote; it means unspoken or unable to speak. In the U.S., moot refers to something that is of no practical importance; a moot point is one that could be hypothetical or even (gasp!) academic. In British English, moot can also mean debatable or open to debate. So if you were planning an IPO, but your sales have plummeted, the idea of going public could be moot. And if you decide not to talk about it anymore, you will have gone mute on the subject. Peak and Peek A peak is the highest point; climbers try to reach the peak of Mount Everest. Peek means quick glance, as in giving major customers a sneak peek at a new product before it’s officially unveiled, which hopefully helps sales peak at an unimaginable height. Occasionally a marketer will try to “peak your interest” or “peek your interest,” but in that case the right word is pique, which means “to excite.” (Pique can also mean “to upset,” but hopefully that’s not what marketers intend.) Aggressive and Enthusiastic Aggressive is a very popular business adjective: Aggressive sales force, aggressive revenue projections, aggressive product rollout. But unfortunately, aggressive means ready to attack, or pursuing aims forcefully, possibly unduly so. So do you really want an “aggressive” sales force? Of course, most people have seen aggressive used that way for so long they don’t think of it negatively; to them it just means hard-charging, results-oriented, driven, etc., none of which are bad things. But some people may not see it that way. So consider using words like enthusiastic, eager, committed, dedicated, or even (although it pains me to say it) passionate. Then and Than Then refers in some way to time. “Let’s close this deal, and then we’ll celebrate!” Since the celebration comes after the sale, then is correct. Then is also often used with if. Think in terms of if-then statements: “If we don’t get to the office on time, then we won’t be able to close the deal today.” Than involves a comparison. “Landing Customer A will result in higher revenue than landing Customer B,” or “Our sales team is more committed to building customer relationships than the competition is.” Evoke and Invoke To evoke is to call to mind; an unusual smell might evoke a long-lost memory. To invoke is to call upon some thing: help, aid, or maybe a higher power. So hopefully all your branding and messaging efforts evoke specific emotions in potential customers. But if they don’t, you might consider invoking the gods of commerce to aid you in your quest for profitability. Or something like that. Continuously and Continually Both words come from the root continue, but they mean very different things. Continuously means never ending. Hopefully your efforts to develop your employees are continuous, because you never want to stop improving their skills and their future. Continual means whatever you’re referring to stops and starts. You might have frequent disagreements with your co-founder, but unless those discussions never end (which is unlikely, even though it might feel otherwise), then those disagreements are continual. That’s why you should focus on continuous improvement but only plan to have continual meetings with your accountant: The former should never, ever stop, and the other (mercifully) should. Systemic and Systematic If you’re in doubt, systematic is almost always the right word to use. Systematic means arranged or carried out according to a plan, method, or system. That’s why you can take a systematic approach to continuous improvement, or do a systematic evaluation of customer revenue or a systematic assessment of market conditions. Systemic means belonging to or affecting the system as a whole. Poor morale could be systemic to your organization. Or bias against employee diversity could be systemic. So if your organization is facing a pervasive problem, take a systematic approach to dealing with it—that’s probably the only way you’ll overcome it. Impact and Affect (and Effect) Many people (including until recently me) use impact when they should use affect. Impact doesn’t mean to influence; impact means to strike, collide, or pack firmly. Affect means to influence: “Impatient investors affected our rollout date.” And to make it more confusing, effect means to accomplish something: “The board effected a sweeping policy change.” How you correctly use effect or affect can be tricky. For example, a board can affect changes by influencing them and can effect changes by directly implementing them. Bottom line, use effect if you’re making it happen, and affect if you’re having an impact on something that someone else is trying to make happen. As for nouns, effect is almost always correct: “Employee morale has had a negative effect on productivity.” Affect refers to an emotional state, so unless you’re a psychologist, you probably have little reason to use it. So stop saying you’ll “impact sales” or “impact the bottom line.” Use affect. (And feel free to remind me when I screw that up, because I feel sure I’ll backslide.) Between and Among Use between when you name separate and individual items. “The team will decide between Mary, Marcia, and Steve when we fill the open customer service position.” Mary, Marcia, and Steve are separate and distinct, so between is correct. Use among when there are three or more items but they are not named separately. “The team will decide among a number of candidates when we fill the open customer service position.” Who are the candidates? You haven’t named them separately, so among is correct. And we’re assuming there are more than two candidates; otherwise you’d say between. If there are two candidates you could say, “I just can’t decide between them.” Everyday and Every Day Every day means, yep, every day—each and every day. If you ate a bagel for breakfast each day this week, you had a bagel every day. Everyday means commonplace or normal. Decide to wear your “everyday shoes” and that means you’ve chosen to wear the shoes you normally wear. That doesn’t mean you have to wear them every single day; it just means wearing them is a usual occurrence. Another example is along and a long: Along means moving in a constant direction or a line, or in the company of others, while a long means of great distance or duration. You wouldn’t stand in “along line,” but you might stand in a long line for a long time, along with a number of other people. A couple more examples: a while and awhile, and any way and anyway. If you’re in doubt, read what you write out loud. It’s unlikely you’ll think “Is there anyway you can help me?” sounds right. This article by Jeff Haden of Inc. was posted by The Muse, February 16, 2015
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One of the facts I face each day is women are not as comfortable with self promotion as men. I see it at the admin level and the executive level. It is something we really need to work to overcome if we want to receive recognition of our successes. I love this Forbes article by Bonnie Marcus on the topic.
______ Despite the fact that most women understand the importance of self-promotion for their advancement, they do not intentionally use it. We have been conditioned to take the back seat and wait to be recognized. As a consequence, we often have this inner argument about how to proceed with self-promotion. We know we should do more of it. We know we should be better at it. But at the same time, it’s much more comfortable to stay focused on doing our work. We have the mind-set that self-promotion is self-serving, and therefore distasteful. Even if we attempt to talk about our accomplishments and take credit for our success, doing this with confidence and conviction is challenging. It is important to see that self-promotion is a leadership skill. It is your responsibility to talk about what you and your team have achieved, not only for your own benefit, but also for the team and the company. It’s how to create influence. It’s how you sell your ideas across the organization. It’s the basis of building relationships with key stakeholders and gaining access to the power networks. From this perspective, self-promotion takes on a different purpose. You are letting others know of your accomplishments and your value proposition, and you are offering to help in ways that benefit the organization. Everyone wins. Your team benefits from your promotional efforts. They receive recognition for their efforts and success. You benefit as the team leader who spearheaded the project or initiative, and the company wins as well. The company can use your accomplishments to initiate other projects or ideas across the organization. They can use your success metrics as an example for future company cannot leverage your success in other areas. Self-promotion is not just about you. It’s about you, your team, and the organization. Betsy Myers, former senior advisor to Presidents Clinton and Obama, has always been an advocate for women’s issues. She demonstrated promotion as a leadership skill when she aligned her skills and passion for women’s issues with President Clinton’s reelection campaign. Betsy ran the office for women business owners when she worked for the Small Business Administration (SBA). She recognized that women business owners were a potential Clinton voting bloc. Women had elected him the first time and they would reelect him. Women voters were thus very important for his reelection. So Betsy began working her relationships and promoting herself and her ideas for the benefit of President Clinton’s reelection: “I started to go over to the White House and meet with different people to say, ‘Hey, what can we do to make sure we harness this voting bloc and these women out there? They’re the fastest-growing segment of the business economy.’ “I went over there to alert people to what I was doing; the conferences out there where I was speaking that were potential opportunities for the president or someone else to speak at; these statewide conferences on women. And that’s where I developed my reputation as someone who was an expert on a particular issue of women entrepreneurs; passionate, supportive of the president and his reelection. And then, when the president decided to create an office in the White House on women’s issues, I had made a name for myself and was appointed director of this department.” This was a win for Betsy, for President Clinton, and for women entrepreneurs. This is a great example of using promotion as a leadership skill. It is possible to use promotion to enhance your credibility by aligning yourself with business initiatives. Demonstrating your leadership and highlighting your team’s efforts increases your visibility and benefits your company. Once you are seen as a credible leader, you will have more influence in the organization and can therefore gain access to the informal networks and relationships you need with stakeholders. You are viewed as someone who adds value to the business. You have political capital. Sometimes it’s just a matter of letting others know what you are accomplishing. How do you do this? This was a win for Betsy, for President Clinton, and for women entrepreneurs. This is a great example of using promotion as a leadership skill. It is possible to use promotion to enhance your credibility by aligning yourself with business initiatives. Demonstrating your leadership and highlighting your team’s efforts increases your visibility and benefits your company. Once you are seen as a credible leader, you will have more influence in the organization and can therefore gain access to the informal networks and relationships you need with stakeholders. You are viewed as someone who adds value to the business. You have political capital. Sometimes it’s just a matter of letting others know what you are accomplishing. How do you do this? Betsy Myers learned how to strategically inform other stakeholders of her ongoing efforts and successes from her boss, Erskine Bowles. “Erskine Bowles, who was head of the SBA, was really strategic. Every week, he had the chief of staff of the SBA put together a very concrete simplified version of the contributions he made that week to support the President’s goals. It was delivered to the White House, to the chief of staff, deputy chiefs of staff, the president, first lady, and vice president. And within sixteen months, Erskine went from being head of the SBA to deputy chief of staff in the White House.” Betsy says, “That’s how guys do it. The president was trying to get health care done. The president was trying to do these different things, and Erskine was working really hard. And at the time, he wasn’t a member of the Cabinet. But later, in the Clinton administration, he became a member of the Cabinet. So, how was he getting information in? How do you do that? How do you let people know? We get so busy and so caught up in what we’re doing that we forget to brief the people above us or the people that we’re helping.” Betsy’s point is well taken. How are you helping? When you tell others what you and your team are accomplishing, you are letting them know how you add value to their project or initiative. You build a reputation as a leader. Link to Forbes article by Bonnie Marcus published 3/2/15 In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday I'd like to share this delightful LinkedIn blog by Tricia Morris. I love Dr. Seuss, and some of my favorites are used in this blog, but my all time favorite was not. "You're on your own. And you know what you know. An YOU are the one who'll decide where to go." What is your favorite Dr. Seuss quote?
______ While Dr. Seuss and customer care may not make a pair like Thing One and Thing Two, Dr. Seuss and customer care do go together, as you’ll see in these quotes from some of the good doctor’s writings still beloved by kids from one to 92… 1. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” Customer service today is supported by processes, best practices and technology, but the secret ingredient will always be personal care. Personal care makes all the difference in attitude, authenticity and even the extra effort that goes into the use of technology and best practices – caring a whole awful lot will always make things better, rather than not. 2. “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” Many times in customer service, we feel the need or are directed to take care of the “most important” customers first, and while that does work in most cases, we must remember that all of our customers are important. Also and especially with social media, a customer that is perceived to be “small” can become very big, very fast. Therefore, we must consistently deliver our best care to every customer, no matter how small. 3. “Why fit in, when you were born to stand out?” While it’s easy in customer care to simply do what’s required, going above and beyond when possible with an extra act of kindness can mean the world. Making someone’s day is a surefire way to aid in customer satisfaction, retention and creating a brand advocate. A customer service hero story can be created by the smallest gesture - and remember this additional quote from Dr. Seuss: “To the world you may be one person; but to one person you may be the world.” Always look for ways to make your service stand out. 4. “Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.” As customer care representatives, when customers come to us with complicated questions, we can delight by making the answers simple. Brands that invest in improving self-service knowledge, and ensuring customer care representatives are empowered with the same, can increase first contact resolution and customer satisfaction by making the right answer available, no matter how easy or complicated the question. 5. “Today I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered.” Words from the good doctor that need no further explanation. Today is your day, your mountain is waiting. So get on your way…. Originally posted to LinkedIn by Tricia Morris |
AuthorThe Audacious Admin is Debbi L. Shaffer, an outgoing, resourceful and highly motivated executive assistant with 20 years of experience specializing in C-Suite Executive Support. Archives
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