100 Ways to Motivate Others

88. Pump Up Your E-mails

No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new

heaven to the human spirit.

—Helen Keller

Every e-mail communication you send to your team is an opportunity. It’s a fresh chance to energize that team and spread the optimism you want to fuel the contagious enthusiasm your next project needs. But nine out of 10 managers ignore this opportunity. Instead, they often send neutral e-mails, or short, terse e-mails…sometimes even angry e-mails. Those are all mistakes. Because your first job, even before your job of informing others, is to motivate others.

So let’s begin here: Realize that e-mail is a cold medium anyway. There is no voice tone in it. There is no twinkle in ...