On Being a Responsive Communicator (And Business Owner)

I have recently taken on something of a new adventure. I’ve joined a class designed to help create a life beyond corporate existence (business-wise; it’s too early for metaphysics folks!) taught by the incredible Pamela Slim. If you don’t know, Pam is a coach and blogger over at Escape from Cubicle Nation. As if this weren’t enough, Pam’s shiny new book – also titled Escape from Cubicle Nation – goes on sale this Thursday (but you can pre-order by clicking on the book title link, or – better – go to your local independent bookstore and order it there). 

Back to the class. It’s called Life After the Cubicle: A Quickstart Guide to a Successful Transition to Self-Employment. It’s been an interesting adventure thus far, and it strikes me as being an interesting case study for TGM here in the Land of Unfettered Minds. But first, a couple of disclaimers.

1. There’s nothing I’m going to write here that I would not say to Pam face-to-face. In fact, I’ll be emailing her about the existence of this post as soon as I post it. So if you’re looking for something snarky, this is not where you want to be. 
2. This post represents MY experiences and MY opinions. Because I am not the center of the universe, nor am I omnicient or omnipresent, I do not claim that anyone shares either these experiences or opinions. So pick up your shaker of salt and apply as necessary.

My Big First Step

I’m not into groups. Not really. It’s not that I don’t play nicely with others (I do), it’s that my learning style has ebbs and flows to it that tend to annoy other people … meaning people who don’t know me in 3D. I can take in monumental amounts of data in a single go (think: taking a full on drink from a fire hose), but then I need time to process. In the processing time, I tend to be quiet and non-participatory. It’s totally different when I’m leading a group, but my “student” vibe is, well, kind of weird.

Still, I’d been following Pam via her blog and Twitter for awhile, and when she mentioned that she was starting up a new class, I was intrigued. You see, I’d much rather do one-on-one training with a Pam or a Naomi, but right now, the cash flow won’t permit it. So I knew that if I wanted help to push forward, I needed to compromise. Because Pam was offering a limited-time early sign-up discount, I was tempted.

Me being me, I had to sit on it for awhile, which I did. Then I consulted with my Significantly Better Half and got the go-ahead. My finger hovered over the mouse button at least a minute (maybe two) before I clicked to confirm the order. I know that sounds silly, but that’s how hard this stuff can be for me.

Getting Going

Due to the fact that I was an early adopter, I knew I had to wait awhile before things would get going.

I hate waiting.

If I remember correctly, the original launch date was on 30 March. As the date approached, I became a little obsessive in checking the seminar site as well as my email, anxiously awaiting word of things launching.

And then there was a delay.

Pam emailed to let me know that she was nearly ready to launch, but that she was likely going to miss her launch date. Her note was encouraging, honest, and didn’t make excuses. Each of these indicated to me that she is a human being with the limitations of a human being and despite the fact that she’s a professional, stuff goes wrong sometimes. 

We traded emails back and forth a couple of times, and I settled in to wait. 

By 3 April my impatient self got the better of me, and I emailed her for an update. It seems that she had had to re-record the whole of her audio seminars because of a crying little one in the background. Yuck.

I would like to self-satisfiedly note that I quelled the audio engineer part of my Self and didn’t give her tips on how to avoid that sort of problem in future. I sensed that this would NOT be welcome information just then. And an attempt to be helpful would’ve caused Pam stress she neither wanted nor needed at that point. (Which is a helpful lesson in remembering when NOT to communicate!)

Launch

I have an email time stamped 1:17 AM, 4 April announcing the launch of Pam’s seminar. 

Yea! At last! I can get going!

Or not.

The system didn’t like me so much, so I couldn’t log in. But thanks to Pam being totally on top of things, it was sorted in less than an hour. I was particularly pleased and surprised when Pam gave me her mobile number and offered to help via phone if I still couldn’t get in. 

So I was in. But not many other people were there, which is okay. But of course I blew threw the audio portions (twice) and posted a couple of random thoughts in the forum. Some of the initial responses I got confused me (in part because I didn’t know that one of the forum members was Pam’s assistant and was a tad flummoxed by one particular reply).

Forging Ahead

After waiting (to no avail) a whole three days for life-altering insights to descend upon me from somewhere in the stratosphere, I wrote a post entitled “Patience Now!”.  Yeah, I didn’t want to wait for the official launch; I wanted hot-buttered-revelations NOW! 

Fortunately, Pam replied in an amused (rather than annoyed) fashion.

What I was really looking forward to were the “Coaching Gym” calls. In these calls, Pam was going to answer questions and help participants forge ahead with their dreams and plans for World Domination … er … um … Life Outside the Cubicle.

It was in these calls that I hoped to glean some wisdom from Pam as well as the other participants. 

My Own Stuck

You see, I get stuck on the “how” of this work. I have too many options from which to choose, and even if I choose one “just for now” I get caught on the brambles of implementation. I can implement one helluva plan for just about anyone … anyone who isn’t me. 

So I dutifly worked on the lessons in Pam’s workbook, sharing some pieces with the group. Concurrent to this work, however, I was chomping at the bit for the call to happen. The delays seemed endless.

Finally, it was scheduled

Midday (Easter Time) of 22 April was to be the first Coaching Gym call. Not ideal for me, because of the day job, but it was too important to miss. I switched things around, but wrote a note on the forum indicating that other times for future calls might make it easier for those still trapped in corporate purgatory.

Then…

On the morning of the day of the scheduled call, it was pushed back. 

A week.

Another whole week to wait. 

BLECK.

And I wasn’t the only one. 

A small flurry of posts reflected disappointment and/or frustration over the last-minute change … even though the change was reflective of Pam trying to be responsive to requests for a more job-friendly meeting time.

Poor Pam. Trapped between trying to be responsive and following through on scheduled calls for which people had planned ahead!

So Pam Responded

Pam responded by following through on that day’s call – at a later time in the day – for anyone who could make it. And for anyone who couldn’t make it, Pam promised 15 minutes of one-on-one time for those who wanted it. 

Wow. Seriously. Wow.

Keep in mind that Pam is launching a book, running an important blog, launching a book, doing publicity, writing like a mad woman, launching a book, being a mom, and trying to get this $%#@ class going with impatient buggers like me in it! (For those of you who have never been part of a book launch, trust me, the multiple mentions of Pam’s book launch are a gross understatement of the work that goes into it. Honest.)

She took time that she had likely planned for other things to be responsive to the folks in the class. 

Once again, I say: Wow.

The Point

Life happens. Things that we plan – launches, calls, schedules, whatever – sometimes go awry despite our best work at pre-planning. But particularly when others are involved, your response – or your responsiveness – makes all of the difference in the world.

I have no doubt that Pam would have:

• Preferred to not have needed to re-record the audio of the seminar
• Preferred to launch on time
• Preferred to have no one with conflicts for the calls
• Preferred to have spent the evening of 22 April with her dearly beloved and munchkins

Despite these preferred realities, Pam chose to deal effectively and actively with the one with which she was presented. 

Pam did some things that have fallen out of fashion with too many people in the world today:

1. She apologized for the goofs for which she was personally responsible
2. She fixed problems as soon as she was aware of them
3. She changed her schedule to accommodate as many people as was reasonably possible
4. She actively communicated with everyone effected by problems/changes positively and quickly

It’s easy in business and in life to expect others to adjust to you. True leaders take the contrarian path and lead by serving. It’s a radical choice, but at least for someone like me, it engenders loyalty and a willingness to tell others that Pam is the kind of person worth following with both your time and your money.

She’s a great example. Now go emulate.