Thoughts on… email signatures with inspirational quotes

I am sure you have encountered the above subject before. If you are employed that is. Or maybe not. Do people use signatures on personal emails? *shrugs*

Anyhow, I have seen a few email signatures (at work) with inspirational quotes in my lifetime. I have picked out two examples below:

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”

– Carl Sagan

“Leadership is about ordinary people who care enough to get extraordinary things done.”

Inspirational, no?

So what do I feel about email signatures with inspirational quotes that warrants me to write a post about them?

I cringe. Honestly I do.

Whenever I see an inspirational quote at the end of the email, right below the sender’s name, designation, contact details and company name, my brows furrow and my face folds unto itself and momentarily, I resemble a bulldog. Or a wrinkled alien-ish looking newborn. Take your pick.

I couldn’t help it. It is an automatic (gag) reflex.

Then my mind starts decoding the quote and I picture the sender and the quote. If my still functioning brains detect a mismatch between sender and quote, I regurgitate bile out. Nah, I am kidding about the bile. But I do feel a little squeamish. However, if the sender and the quote do match, very rare, the world is alright with me.

Take for example the sample quote above about leadership. The sender, a wonderfully hardworking lady who is in a position of leadership and is in a department that deals with leadership building, matches the quote. It ‘enhances’ her position as someone who is cultivating leadership and she sets a good example for the quote.

But the one by Carl Sagan?  I don’t mean to pick on it, but what does the quote even mean to readers of your email? What? Is it supposed to inspire me to search for the unknown? To quit my job and travel far and wide to discover what is beyond?

Then I remembered the sender, who deals with the sciences in another department. Oh right. Now it all makes sense. Science will discover that incredible something somewhere sometime. Oops, my bad, should not have jumped to conclusions that quickly. The quote somewhat matches the person’s profession by a very tiny margin. *brows furrow*

I mean, the main problem I have is… why do people even put quotes into their email signatures? Why? What does it say about them? What do they want people to know?

In my point of view, there are two possible messages that they want to convey through those inspirational quotes (here I am assuming that people add quotes to only work email signatures).

First message:  

The quote functions either to highlight the sender’s position/role in the department or to highlight the role of the department in the company. Remember the one about leadership? Yep, that one you would read it, think of the sender, and nod in agreement to what the quote says. In this way, it promotes the department and the sender’s role in that department.

Second message:

The quote also functions to promote the sender professionally. It has nothing to do with the sender’s job function or the department he/she is in but has everything to do with the person’s professional reputation. It is all about self-promotion in the second message.

Again, in my very limited observation and very subjective point of view, I can only surmised that the second message is the important one (the one that you should take note of) hidden under the guise of the first message.

Honestly, self-promotion is de riguer in the corporate world. Want to climb the proverbial corporate ladder?  Self-promote and butter-up. However, shameless and overt self-promotion? No, that does bode well with the conservative Asian corporate world. We do not promote ourselves overtly. We do not toot our own horns. It leads you nowhere and you may face a backlash.

Therefore, one way to promote your professional capabilities that is subtle and does not spell professional suicide? Add inspirational quotes to your email signatures!

‘Shout’ to the world what your so-called ‘core’ believes are! ‘Show’ them who inspires you and your work ethics! ‘Improve’ your professional standing with a well-chosen well-worded quote that you can grab off the internet! Better still if the quote is from you (self-promotion yah)!

Your colleagues, uppers and subordinates will read it and think to themselves, “Ahhh, so that is his/her core mandate at work. Now I understand him/her better. He/she means so much more to me now! Aren’t I blessed to have this colleague/employee/boss!”

It is the easiest thing to do.

Now comes the next question. If I were to suddenly decide to have a go at the proverbial corporate ladder and do some self-tooting as well, what quote should I add to my signature?

Here is what I came up with:

“Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” – Touchy Itchy Back Person

“Help me to help you.” – Mob/Mafia/Triad Boss

 “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.” – The Godfather himself, Don Corleone

“Revenge is a dish that tastes best when served cold.” – Mario Puzo, The Godfather

“You will not regret me.” – Yours truly (Wordsworth will be so proud of my creation)

Any other ideas?

Disclaimer: I must stress that this article is written partly in jest and partly on a purely (innocently) curious viewpoint. I meant no malice or hurt to anyone (senders, readers, thinkers who quoted the quotes) in this post. I understand that self-promotion is not the only way to climb corporate ladders and I also understand that not everyone who attaches a quote to their email signatures is a self-promoter. I do accept that there are people who attach quotes to their email signatures solely to inspire. Just like me, who sincerely hope to inspire fear with my quotes so that I can climb the corporate ladder without too much bloodshed fuss.