management

Be Approachable

[Originally published October 27, 2009]

It is much easier these days to have your voice be syndicated and reach a wide audience. However, how many people that you like and respect would you consider to be approachable? How approachable are you?

Great leaders recognize that it is important to be approachable. Seth Godin, author of Tribes, said that he reads all non-anonymous e-mail (even if he doesn’t always reply). Harold Taber, former President of Coca-Cola Los Angeles, said that he spent time almost every day interacting with people at all levels of the organization (from executives to shipping clerks). US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher has open dialogs on Twitter.

Has your own sense of importance prevented you from being available to the people in your community? I have found myself guilty of this by not always following up on all of my e-mails or phone calls. Yet, I’m learning that if I want to be able to approach the people that I respect then I should have the same courtesy for those who respect me too.