Episode 90: Stop Hiding Behind Your Inbox: Three Ways Leaders Misuse Email
Episode 90
Stop Hiding Behind Your Inbox: Three Ways Leaders Misuse Email
Episode Summary
Email was supposed to make communication easier. Instead, most leaders are using it in ways that create confusion, clog inboxes, and help them avoid conversations they should just be having. Your inbox isn’t the problem — how you’re using it is.
Key Points:
Email works well for sharing information that doesn’t need a back-and-forth, but the moment a conversation requires nuance, emotion, or real-time response, it’s the wrong tool and you need to pick a different one.
Copying people who don’t need to be involved in a conversation — whether through unnecessary CCs, reply-alls, or “looping in” emails — creates noise, dilutes accountability, and signals a lack of trust even when that’s not your intent.
Sending a group email when the issue is really about one person doesn’t solve anything — it either publicly calls them out or lets them off the hook, and the direct conversation you were avoiding still needs to happen.
Resources
Blog Posts
Related Episodes
Lead the Individual: Why One-Size-Fits-All Leadership is Failing Your Team
Are You Really Listening? Why It Matters More Than What You Say
Navigating Difficult Conversations: Practical Strategies for When You Need to Speak Up
When Meetings get Derailed: What Every Meeting Chair Needs to Know
Stop Wasting Your 1 on 1s: Better Questions, Better Conversations
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About Jacquie:
Jacquie is the founder of Leadership and Life by Kayric Inc, where she blends the best of teaching, leadership, and the occasional The West Wing reference to help non-profits and small business build strong leaders and healthy teams. Utilizing DISC and The Five Behaviours of a Cohesive team, combined with teaching knowledge and experience, Jacquie strives to empower leaders with the skills no one taught them and to create teams who want to work together.
Formerly a junior high teacher (who loves teenagers), Jacquie brings a decade of classroom wisdom, ten years corporate training experience, a growth mindset, and a sprinkle of mild rebellion to her dynamic approach.
In her free time, Jacquie channels her passion for community improvement by volunteering with school councils, serving on non-profit boards, and generally finding ways to make her corner of the world a better place. You can also find her on the side of a soccer pitch, at Remedy Café or in her scrapbook room.
