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Do you remember the first time you received an email? Remember when your heart

fluttered when you heard, You've got mail? What was it like? How did it make you feel?

At first it was a novelty, almost a miracle.

Suddenly we could get answers in seconds rather than days.

Mail was now called snail mail.

No more phone tag.

Use of the internet grew by over 700% in just four years during the late 1990s.

And business leaders were giddy with the possibility of instant global communication.

But it wasn't long before the dark side asserted itself.

Spam. Email chains. Reply all. Pointless messages. Loads of people wanting you to make decisions.

The average worker now spends 2.5 hours every day handling email.

Most leaders work very hard to avoid hearing those three little words.

You got me.

What about the first time you were invited to a meeting?

Maybe you were a new manager and you got included in the senior staff meeting

or you were asked to join a panel or a standing committee.

It felt so good to be invited to the grown-ups table.

At last you thought, now I'm really part of things.

Taking notes, entering the discussion, making decisions,

it was exciting, even fun. But after a while, meetings where it was exciting even fun but after a while meetings where

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