I answered a question on the forums tonight about working with administrative assistants, and it reminded me of something worth sharing.

A manager had asked me what he should do in this situation: “My admin, whom I share, printed out an email that was sent to me, and showed it to another manager. This other manager had a person on his team who was referred to in the mail, and she ‘was just giving him a heads up.’ I feel like she breached my trust, but I’m the one who gave her access to my mail in the first place. What should I do?”

Before I share my answer, if you haven’t listened to our casts on admins, I encourage you to do so. In it, we make the case for fully utilizing the incredible investment your organization is making in you if you’re blessed with an admin reporting to you. if you don’t immediately become more effective AND efficient, you’re not worthy. The cast will help you do what you need to do. And, several admins wrote us and told us they loved the show. One felt it should be required listening for all execs with admins. One of my favorite kudos ever on the site.

The answer: fire her. Yes, sorry. Even if you haven’t explained the inviolability of email… the admin ought to have known. What she did was grossly unethical, and while I may cry while doing it, I still believe it’s the right thing to do. (He didn’t, and later regretted it a thousand times over.)

(And if you haven’t talked about confidentiality with your admin, do so today.)

I was on Podcast Alley the other day, seeing how we were doing in the rankings, and I saw a comment that said, “18 shows in and this is still a great cast!” I still laugh when I read it.

It still surprises me that some folks wonder how long we can continue. So, just for the record:

We have approximately 500 shows that we WILL do. We have 100 shows slated NOW. Some of those are absolutely multiple part shows.

And there will ALWAYS be free casts.

Happy Anniversary, everybody!

Today we cover the second in our 2-part series on mentoring. As a reminder, our 7 simple guidelines for mentoring are:

1. Whom Should I Ask?
2. How Long Should It Last?
3. You Make the Ask
4. How Does It Work?
5. You Run It
6. The First Meeting is Critical - Script It
7. Be Ready For Feedback

Also, June 26th represents the 1-year Anniversary of Manager Tools. We previously discussed having a special second part of today’s podcast where we would discuss our thoughts about this last year, as well as discuss our plans for the coming year. Unfortunately, the “discussion” was an hour long! So, rather than bundle it with this podcast and create an incredibly large download, we will release an additional podcast in the next day or two with that discussion. Look for it in your podcast player of choice shortly!

I wrote recently about gender in the workplace. I started my post by quoting an article which said it was hard(er) for women to be successful (“the cards are stacked against them”) because many are socialized to not only want career success, but also to want children and a rich home life.

And the punch line was that the article was written in 1952!

If you doubt my stated assertion that the corporate world is still unnecessarily a male world, consider this Letter to the Editor from Fortune Magazine’s May 15th issue THIS YEAR:

“As a young successful woman with a generous disposable income, I gleefully went through “The Fortune $500” [an article about how to spend 500 dollars on “stuff”]. I tolerated the men’s Italian shoes, and the male-centric golf balls and steaks. Surely, I thought, they’ll suggest something for women.

“Oh! I was right! You included that spiffy, hideous Collier bra. But then you made sure to include the disclaimer that it, well, would make a lovely gift ‘for her’. Because surely there are no successful businesswomen reading you mag who can afford to spend on themselves.

“How antiquated.”

It may be anecdotal, but it’s powerful.

I recently wrote about writers that I like, and mentioned two good ones, James Stewart, formerly of the Wall Street Journal, and Tom Friedman, of the New York Times. Both are well-deserved Pulitzer Prize winners (3 for Mr. Friedman).

Because of my love for the WSJ, and reading, and professional development in general, I have been reading with dismay over the years of the decline of newspaper circulation. (And the declines in readership are even bigger, insofar as papers are propping up their numbers now, proxies though they may be). I recommend all managers read the Journal, as well as a local paper, or a significant nationally-recognized major daily, such as the Times or the Post.

I came across something recently, though, that took me aback. It was a ranking of the top three dailies in the country, by circulation. I was stunned by the relative circulation numbers. Maybe everybody else knew this, but I surely was WRONG in my assumption.

Without referring to any reference (honor system, please), can anyone tell me which are the top three daily papers in the U.S., by circulation, and give a rough estimate of circulation?

I’ll post the answer soon.

[I’ve gotten several emails and private messages related to a ‘cast comment I made a while back and then a blog post reply, regarding my reading habits. Because it’s easy for folks to miss comments, I thought I’d bring it to the forefront here. It also relates to my recent post regarding reviewing books. - H]

Yes, I read 200 books a year. To be candid, I never thought it was a big deal until I mentioned it in a speech several years ago, and got inundated with questions like yours.

I do have some suggestions, but they aren’t specific to reading faster.

1. TURN OFF YOUR TELEVISION.

2. Decide to read that many books a year. It’s very helpful to know that you have a couple of days to finish. This helped my speed. I skipped some sections that seemed unnecessary - this was VERY hard for me.

3. It doesn’t hurt to be a fast reader, and there are some comments about this in a thread called “Reading Skills” in the General category in our Discussion Forums. I did a test (it’s easy - just time yourself and count) and I am a very fast reader, I admit, though I HATED speed reading.

http://www.manager-tools.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=82

3. Have a book or books with you always. I travel with several, even on short trips. When Sony’s e-reader comes out, I will buy, in hopes that my purchase will stimulate content providers to port them over. This will stop the FRUSTRATION of having no unread books with me because I couldn’t carry any more.

4. Read at work at lunch. Take an hour, get away from your desk, and read.

5. READ EVERY NIGHT.

6. Turn off your TV.

7. NEVER use books on tape. WAY TOO SLOW. I resisted podcasting initially because of my BOT experience, until I realized that I could distill an entire book’s worth of knowledge into 30 minutes if I focused on WHAT TO DO. So, I’m not against learning this way, but not a whole book. (And I’ll hide a surprise here for you: good luck trying to find other podcasts that are as rich in value as ours is. I keep trying, and find most (all so far) to be incredibly light on utility and FULL of irrelevant chatter.)

If you’re thinking BOT is good for commuting, fair… but you won’t get to 200 books that way, nor probably 50. Use commuting for staying in touch with people - get on the phone. (I have no commute, but this is what I did when I did drive to work.)

8. Read quickly initially, and then re-read if you feel so compelled.

Regarding price…USE YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY. Full disclosure: I do not. I live in a small town, and they don’t easily get the business books I want. My brother Walt in Charlotte uses his all the time, and saves a great deal of money. I think this is very smart if it will work for you. You are losing NOTHING by waiting on a book… the vast majority of managers DO NOT READ.

Books and reading are my hobby, so I spend a lot of money on them, I admit. A LOT. I don’t like cars, I don’t have nice “things” in my life beyond a really good laptop and an expensive phone - Treo 700p - which is so helpful to my life I’d give up my car before I gave up my phone.

Amazon likes me a LOT. And I write them all off, too…

And I hate to say it, but remember that I also read the Wall Street Journal every day, Fortune, and Harvard Business Review (which is slow going but an absolute delight every time).

“The man who can read and doesn’t is indistinguishable from the man who can’t.”

It’s a privilege.

Mark

I’ll be posting more book reviews on the site in the coming weeks and months, as Manager Tools starts its second year. (Happy Birthday, Mike!). Nearby this post is a re-print of an answer I provided to a member question, talking about reading and my habits related thereto.

You’ll note that I read 200 books a year, probably. I do this because I truly love to do it. Mike will tell you I’m pretty smart (and I will return the favor), but I just think I’ve read more than most people.

I’m writing this on an American flight to Chicago, and I read 3 Wall Street Journals waiting for the flight and at the gate. I have three books to read on this trip (3 days), and I will finish them all (and write about them, if they so merit).

Some things that might help you in reading my reviews.

1. I’m not predisposed to write favorably. Look, I’m a nice person, honest, but most business books just aren’t that good from my perspective (see 3 below).

And some books don’t pass muster from ANY perspective.

2. If I do like it, I’ll probably gush a little. You try reading 200 books a year when your history suggests that most are going to be duds. When I find one I like, well, I sing a little loudly.

3. I require good ideas, which I can actually use. I believe you buy business books to help you and your organization and your career. If I can’t figure out how a book will do that for most managers, how could I recommend it? It’s not enough, usually, to have a great idea, and I think this might disqualify me from a cocktail party of the big business writers, because they so often miss this. (My book will not miss this, though it may miss other targets. I may be accused� of being too tactical.)

I am, nearly every sentence, asking, “Okay, but how can I USE this? What do you want me to DO?!?”

I recognize this is not the only way to evaluate a book, and certainly not the most scholarly of approaches. But then again, I’m not writing for scholars. I’m writing for YOU. Managers, and future managers.

4. My primary criteria is Recommend/Not Recommend. Since I’ve already read the book, and the only reason to write about it is to have you read my opinion, this seems to me to be the best criteria. I don’t want to keep track of star ratings or some other criterion. Pass/Fail. You’re too busy to read all these books TOO, when only one of us has to. Think of me as a different kind of filter than, but sharing a common respect for your time with, Executive Book Summaries (which I do not subscribe to, but have no problem with).

5. I really love great writing. If a book is well written, it’s a special joy. James Stewart, who wrote Den of Thieves, is a great writer. (It helps to have won a Pulitzer while editing the front page of the WSJ). Michael Lewis, who wrote Liar’s Poker, and Moneyball, is very good, though surely different than the erudite Mr. Stewart. Peter Drucker is better than both of them together, though for many of you he is an acquired taste. His prose is dense, which is often used as an aspersion, mistakenly. I really like Tom Friedman, too… and surprise, he’s won 3 Pulitzers.

6. I’d love to hear about your favorites. I’ll do my best to read them, and give you my opinion. Disagreements welcome. I’ll be wrong sometimes, maybe a lot. Don’t ask me to read a book on short notice to let you know whether you should buy it (it’s already happened).

7. I might mention non-business books. Usually they will stand out in some way, often with great writing. An Army At Dawn, by Rick Atkinson, which I read last year, is a good example: brilliant beyond compare.

And then there are books like The World is Flat.

Every week, we get questions about people’s resumes on the discussion boards. Our resume casts are some of the most wanted of all our work. It’s pretty obvious that more and more folks are tuned into their own careers, and how to manage them. That’s a good thing, as we’ve said before, because no one else is managing it for you. And, because so few people manage their careers at all, it only takes a little to get a competitive advantage.

We thought we’d address a career management topic that also leverages our recent cast about building your network. We want to discuss the basics of Mentoring.

There’s a lot of different aspects of mentoring. In fact, we have a future show scheduled on how to use mentoring as part of an organizational talent management and development and succession planning program. Believe us, we’re not big fans of corporate plans..but there is a way to do it that is easy and very powerful. Stay tuned for that cast.

This week (and next), though, it’s just the basics. After we talk some big picture stuff, we’ll give you some basic guidelines. In our traditional manner, we’ll cover 7 simple guidelines:

1. Whom Should I Ask?
2. How Long Should It Last?
3. You Make the Ask
4. How Does It Work?
5. You Run It
6. The First Meeting is Critical - Script It
7. Be Ready For Feedback

I meet a lot of people in my work - all are wonderful in their own ways. Often, I meet truly exceptional folks, ones who remind me what greatness is, what I should strive for everyday, all the time.

And, every once in a while, an experience leaves me thinking, “Wow - he really doesn’t get it.”

So, herewith, the inauguration of the periodic, “Doesn’t Get It” awards, dedicated to those whose gaffes or inadvertent stumbles serve as warning-signposts on the roads of professional life.

I recently spoke at an annual meeting of a non-profit organization, and before my talk I got to visit with many of the staff in attendance.

As part of one conversation, I asked one of the staff, “how many folks work in your office?”

His answer: “Four and a half.”

WOW. This person was thinking of people as FTE’s (full time equivalents)… and not as real, honest to gosh… people.

Peter Drucker once wrote an HBR article titled, “They’re Not Employees, They’re People”.

So, my conversational acquaintance gets the “FTE of the Year” Award… and the first ever “Doesn’t Get It.”

This week, we finish (finally!) our series on working effectively with administrative assistants.

Also, for all of those who went to Podcast Alley and voted for Manager Tools, thank you very much! We achieved a long-held objective of getting in the Top 10 list of all podcasts. We don’t know how long we’ll stay there … but we’re enjoying the moment. And we owe that to all our friends here on Manager Tools. Thank You!

Here’s a brief outline of the 3-part Series:

1. Part 1
• The Role of the Executive
• The Role of the Admin
• The Single Biggest Roadblock
2. Part 2
• Managing the Executive’s Schedule
3. Part 3
• Managing the Executive’s Office
• Managing the Executive’s Relationships
• Managing the Executive’s Administrative Deliverables