Page 44 - The Way to the Top

Gregory D. CASH

President and CEO of Vasomedical, Inc.

Two tenets of communication, “the size of the cannon” and “the twenty-
four-hour rule,” have proven very useful to me in business.

I have found, as I have moved up in organizations over the course of my

career, that increasingly I need to be much more careful about what I say
and how I say it. People tend to listen closely to senior management and
read more into their pronouncements. Things passed off as casual
statements when uttered by middle managers tend to carry more weight
when spoken by senior-level staff. For instance, I once noticed a mark on a

wall and commented on it, only to later find the entire hallway had been
repainted based on that small statement. Always put yourself in the place
of the audience when sending a message, because the size of the cannon

making the noise is significant.

Bearing this in mind, I have adopted what I call the twenty-four-hour
rule. Whenever I receive a communication that elicits an emotional
reaction, anger in particular, I am very careful about how I respond. If
there is a chance that my drafted response is tainted by anger, I set it aside

overnight or for a twenty-four-hour period. I then reread what I have
written to determine if it reflects my true views or if emotion may have
caused me to say something I might regret later. I then revise the
communication to reflect the less emotional state I am in after the

cooling-off period. This rule applies to letters, memorandums, and
especially e-mail communication. E-mail is potentially the most
dangerous, as it is so easy to press the SEND button versus posting a letter
or circulating a memo.

Communicate with care