Calendar coding can reveal your most draining tasks

Calendar coding can reveal your most draining tasks | Meeting minutes are only valuable if people read them | Chenault: Lack of executive-level diversity is "embarrassing" Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version]( January 31, 2018 CONNECT WITH SMARTBRIEF  [LinkedIn]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Google+]( [SmartBrief on Leadership]( [SmartBrief on Leadership]( Innovative Ideas. Ahead of the Curve. [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [FORWARD]( [] Leading Edge [] [Calendar coding can reveal your most draining tasks]( Calendar coding can reveal your most draining tasks (Pixabay) You can map out a more energized day by color-coding your calendar according to the mental energy each activity requires, writes Lara Hogan. Other ways to help yourself and others include giving team members projects that aren't ready-made and knowing how to say "no." [Lara Hogan blog]( (1/24) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Google+]( [Email]( [] [Meeting minutes are only valuable if people read them]( Taking notes is a must during meetings because doing so holds people to account while building relationships, writes Glen Rosentrater, a process engineer and project manager. To assure the minutes are actually read, make a habit of discussing them with stakeholders prior to the next meeting. [CEP Magazine (American Institute of Chemical Engineers)]( (1/2018) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Google+]( [Email]( [] Strategic Management [] [Chenault: Lack of executive-level diversity is "embarrassing"]( Chenault: Lack of executive-level diversity is "embarrassing" Chenault (Michael Cohen/Getty Images) Kenneth Chenault is retiring as American Express CEO, reducing the number of Fortune 500 black CEOs to three, although he is moving on to board assignments at Facebook, Airbnb and General Catalyst. The lack of high-level diversity is "embarrassing because there are thousands of people who are just as qualified or more qualified than I am who deserve the opportunity, but haven't been given the opportunity," Chenault says. [U.S. News & World Report/The Associated Press]( (1/29), [TechCrunch]( (1/30) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Google+]( [Email]( [] Smarter Communication [] [Bring your true self to the stage to build trust]( Communicating effectively requires an environment conducive to active listening and a speaker who is humble and adaptable instead of scripted, writes Skip Prichard. "When you show up authentically, you build a bridge with others," he writes. [Michael Hyatt]( (1/23) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Google+]( [Email]( [] [Personality types can affect how ideas are received]( You can deliver the same message while tailoring your approach to include what the intended target likes to hear, writes Anett Grant. For example, team players might respond to pep talks, whereas others need to discuss new ideas in visual terms. [Fast Company online]( (1/30) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Google+]( [Email]( [] Customers First A weekly look at serving customers better [] [Customers today want timely solutions every time]( Customer service fails are often rooted in outdated thinking, such as responding in a day or two, writes Micah Solomon. "Watch out as well for the danger of mis-training employees; a rigidly old-school customer service trainer who schools them to be more formalistic and scripted than customers today are hoping for can be almost as much of a problem," he writes. [Forbes]( (1/26) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Google+]( [Email]( [] In Their Own Words [] [Stitch Fix CEO Katrina Lake shares her story]( The personal styling service Stitch Fix went public last year in what was the only female-led technology IPO of 2017. In this interview, founder and CEO Katrina Lake discusses the future of retail, how she got her start and the challenges her company has faced. [Fashionista]( (1/29) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Google+]( [Email]( [] Daily Diversion [] [Sub-Saharan glass find could predate European trade]( The discovery of 13,000 largely unfinished glass beads in Nigeria is prompting a new look at the belief that European traders were the first to bring glass to sub-Saharan Africa, writes Samira Sadeque. These beads are believed to have been made hundreds of years before the region began trading with Europe, and researchers argue the chemical composition could say for certain. [Quartz]( (1/29) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Google+]( [Email]( [] [] Fear doesn't need doors and windows. It works from the inside. Andrew Clements, writer [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Google+]( [Email]( [Sign Up]( [SmartBrief offers 200+ newsletters]( [Advertise]( [Learn more about the SmartBrief audience]( Subscriber Tools: [Manage Subscriptions]( [Update Your Profile]( [Unsubscribe]( [Send Feedback]( [Archive]( [Search]( Contact Us: Jobs Contact - jobhelp@smartbrief.com Advertising - [Laura Engel](mailto:lengel@smartbrief.com) Editor - [James daSilva](mailto:leadership@smartbrief.com) Mailing Address: SmartBrief, Inc.®, 555 11th ST NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004 © 1999-2018 SmartBrief, Inc.® [Privacy policy]( | [Legal Information]( Â