Be carefully annoying
Over the summer, The New York Times started offering Connections puzzles — a grid of 16 words that you group into four sets of four, with each quartet...
Work emergencies
It was 2009. I worked for an Internet company based in Los Angeles, though by that point I already lived in New Jersey. An old high school buddy who I hadn't...
Dealing with the know-it-all prospect
“Oh, you’re recording this Zoom? I was just on another call where people were recording, and the one before that had a note-taking app installed. I think...
Resist the urge to force people onto your mailing list
If someone opts into your mailing list, by all means, yes — they want those messages. They’ve said so. But if I email you, human to human, to say hello, set...
The late followup email
A buddy of mine emailed me for advice recently. He’d had a great meeting with a potential client, felt good about it, but then neither he nor the prospect...
Expanding on the kindly brontosaurus
Most of Your Intermittent Lex is available for free to everyone. Some folks choose to become paid subscribers, which is of course incredibly kind. A small...
Trust me
Some of us were those kids in school who hated group projects, and would rather work alone. We know if we did the work ourselves, it would be up to our...
A trick for staying top of mind
I was working with a client recently who sells a premium service. Sometimes, even seemingly hot-to-trot prospects start ghosting — or at least get very…...
Okay, but sometimes, don't be Mr. Rogers
This post is exclusively for premium subscribers to Your Intermittent Lex. A month ago, I wrote about channeling your inner Mr. Rogers. I stand by that...
Woo vs. Yeahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!
My 14-year-old Sierra graduated from eighth grade today. She’s awesome. The ceremony included the recitation of all 600 graduates’ names, with each kid...
Talking rates isn't sleazy
A couple days ago, I was asked how to avoid feeling sleazy when it’s time to talk about rates and pricing. I’ve written previously about how sales isn’t...
Shaping your life outlook
A couple weeks back, I shared that I was auditioning for the puppet-heavy musical Avenue Q. I talked about how I was nervous, but that I did what was...
Channel your inner Mr. Rogers
Being nice isn’t the same as being weak. Showing kindness to colleagues or to folks you’re doing deals with is hugely important — and it drives significant...
Nervousness and confidence and the power of being you
First, a quick housekeeping note: Most posts on Your Intermittent Lex are free. There are sometimes posts just for paying subscribers. Most paid posts don’t...
Keeping your own attention in meetings with notes
I remember the era of “no laptop” meetings. You’d ask everyone to close their computers so that we could all focus on the discussion at end with our full...
Drawing insights from fear
I recently gave a talk to a company that’s about a year into a big acquisition it made. After a lot of work, they’re finally launching an integration that...
Lextra Credit: Practicing how you handle fear
Earlier today, I published a free post about fear. Read that piece first, and then come back here and read some ideas on practicing how to get more...
A poll for paying subscribers
I want to know what content Your Intermittent Lex’s paying subscribers most hope to see. Can you tell me? There are stringent caps on Substack poll answer...
More thoughts on directness — including support, protection, and sexism
Last week’s post on the importance and power of being direct blew up. I talked about how being direct saves time, shows the team that you’re working to cut...
The skill and value of being direct
I’ve written before about the power of decisiveness: Endless hemming and hawing and wishy-washiness in meetings makes everyone crazy, hinders productivity,...