An interesting aspect that emerged from the Goldman inquiry

Here is an extract from a Thomson-Reuters article.

'The Goldman emails provide evidence that there is a power shift at banks over the last decade. Voicemail was particularly favoured by the investment bankers who once held the upper hand. Former boss Hank Paulson never used e-mail. But today, in Goldman's giant trading businesses, email has become the dominant form of communication. Some traders have apparently never even activated their voicemail accounts.'

My solution is to use voicemail and email together. Leave a short cheery message on the phone and immediately follow that with a short email that refers to the VM and gives the same message. Keep both short. Many recipients read their emails on hand phones and they will only deal with short messages. Save the discussion for the meeting you will then get!

Keep it Short

Here is an interesting piece from an article by Andy Lopata of newbusinessthinking.com on the candidates for the UK election that is looming.

He makes the point that most people want the message simply as a slogan and are not interested in details. That is the same for every message or speech.

My favourite saying is "The more you talk the more you dilute your message!'

Here is Andy:

"From a networking perspective, a big factor in deciding who wins the election will rest on a handful of words. The News Channels have been advertising the campaign slogans of the major political parties. The Liberal Democrats' 'Battle Bus', with their campaign slogan 'Change that works for you' proudly pasted across the vehicle and similar coaches and posters from the other major parties, with Labour campaigning under the slogan 'A future fair for all', while the Conservatives are urging the electorate to 'Vote for Change'.

In each case the Parties are attempting to get across in as few words as possible their core message. They know that a large part of the electorate won't listen to much of the detail of the debates, watch Election Broadcasts or read their manifestos. Their best chance of capturing swing votes is to make an impression with a strong phrase that reflects what they stand for."

Dumbing down? Yes, but that is reality.

A lovely story - So simple

I was talking to a friend of mine, Bob Brown, the other day and he remembered when he was a young bank employee in a tiny town in the North of Saskatchewan. He had never been anywhere else. Somehow he had caught the attention of senior management and he was selected to go to Montreal to serve on the staff of the bank president.
In a panic, he rang up his old mentor, a senior banker in Regina, who had spotted him and advised him during his career, so far. "What should I do? How will I be know how to behave in the big city? What should I bring?"

"Just bring Bob Brown" the senior banker said. "That is all they are expecting."