I saw The Gotham Gal’s reply to an email this morning that we were both copied on. I can’t remember exactly what she said but it was something like “I understand, but no.”
No beating around the bush, no letting down softly, just complete and total honesty about where our heads are at on something.
She has taught me this lesson consistently over our almost forty year relationship. I have a tendency to be too nice and leave people with an unclear view of where I am at.
I’ve gotten much better at this over the years as the pain of leaving things hanging has taught me this very important point.
Being clear and direct with people, even if it means upsetting them, is better than being nice and leaving them confused.
Seeing that email reminded me of that and the next hundred emails I replied to got a very direct answer this morning.
