Tina Lewis Rowe

Category: Service to Customers, Clients and Coworkers

  • When You Really DO Know It All–Or At Least a Lot of It

    In 2010 I wrote about “The Curse of Knowledge”: When we forget what it was like to not know something. The sweet little boy in the photo is getting ready to graduate from high school soon–and still learning. I said it then and it is still true: The next time someone — a friend, coworker,…

  • Your Email Subject Line Should Fit the Message

    Another Email Etiquette Tip: Make your email subject line fit your message.  It is convenient to select “reply” to an email from someone, as a way to save the time of entering an address–and sometimes that is appropriate for a quick turn-around email. However, it is frustrating to be searching for a phone number, schedule…

  • The Eagle Has Landed Without Me

    Last night I went outside and spent awhile looking at the moon. I do that often and call it my late-night vespers. Last night I thought about the passing of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon–WALK ON THE MOON!!!!! How incredible that was! How newsworthy!  Exciting! Dramatic! Earth-changing! Sadly, I have almost…

  • Would Someone Drive Farther For YOU?

    When my “extra” refrigerator in the laundry room needed to be replaced,  I knew I didn’t want to spend much on a new one so I did a lot of research and comparison shopping. I found the company where I would get my refrigerator, but I disliked the salesperson at the store a few blocks from me, so I put off…

  • Stir Your Own Beans (Mind Your Own Business)

    I was reading an article about the diet of pioneers on their journeys to the West.  It said a party of four was advised to bring: 600 pounds of flour, 400 pounds of bacon, 200 pounds of dried beans, 120 pounds of biscuits (probably the “hardtack” kind, not fluffy ones), 120 pounds of dried fruit,…

  • Now, They Have A Friend In The ________Business!

    If the next person who calls your work phone or who comes to the counter or sends you an email asking for assistance turns out to be a close friend, you’d be anxious to help. If you could make things easier for them, you would. If you couldn’t help in the way they wanted, you’d try to find…

  • Gadhafi, Ozymandias and You

    “Gadhafi is history” a Libyan official said, when announcing on October 20th, 2011, that Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (commonly known as Moammar Gadhafi) had been killed by Libyan rebels. It is the end of a cruel, violent and utterly repressive dictatorship that started in 1969 with a military coup that was, at the time, welcomed…

  • Who Should Confront Coworker Problems?

    When an employee is rude and unpleasant to a coworker, who should confront  it–the coworker or the manager? The answer to that question can be found through a few other questions: 1. Does the coworker lack the authority to require different behavior? If he or she can’t require courtesy, it may ultimately be up to the manager to…

  • Time To Get Yourself and Your Work Organized–Again?

    Summer is over for many and Winter isn’t here yet. September and October is often a Limbo time. It’s too soon for major holiday planning but you can feel the approach of the end of the calendar year. Summer vacations are over but there seems to be a slow return to what will be a hectic pace…

  • Reach Out To A Nodding Acquaintance.

    Identify someone at work who is credible and respected, at about the level of your job position, but with whom you have not communicated very much–maybe because you just haven’t felt enough of a connection to make the effort. This week, purposely talk to that person for a few minutes. You can even tell him or her…