When Did Being Unreachable Become Professional

I meet a lot of people every week—through Rotary, networking events, and business gatherings. And lately, one complaint keeps surfacing from nearly everyone I talk to: it's become nearly impossible to get in touch with people at work.

It's not just me noticing this. It's a consistent frustration across industries and roles.

Calls go unreturned. Emails arrive without proper signatures—no name, no title, no phone number. People are left guessing who they're actually corresponding with, or how to reach them again if needed. In meetings, business cards have all but disappeared. Maybe I'm old school, but I still carry mine. It's a simple, tangible gesture that says, "Here I am. I'm reachable."

So I have to ask—on behalf of all the people sharing this frustration with me: How do you expect people to connect with you when there's no business card, no email signature, and no callback?

When Did Being Unreachable Become Acceptable?

Here's what puzzles me most—and what I keep hearing from frustrated colleagues and clients alike. We live in the most technologically connected era in human history. We have smartphones, cloud platforms, instant messaging, video calls—tools specifically designed to keep us connected. Yet somehow, we've become harder to reach than ever before.

Is this a leadership issue? Are managers and executives failing to model responsiveness and accessibility? Or is this an HR problem? Should onboarding include communication protocols—complete with proper email signatures, response time expectations, and contact sharing practices—as part of company culture?

I suspect it's both.

The Cost of Invisibility

Without proper email signatures, you can't even verify you're communicating with the right person. Without returned calls, opportunities evaporate. Without a simple way to exchange contact information, promising connections die on the vine.

Some might argue this is about protecting "focus time" or enabling "deep work." I understand that. But there's a difference between setting boundaries and disappearing entirely. If you're unavailable, at least make it clear how and when someone can reach you.

The Business Card Debate

I know what some of you are thinking: "Business cards are obsolete. We have LinkedIn, digital wallets, QR codes." And you're not wrong—the medium isn't the issue. The issue is the intent to be reachable.

Whether you hand me a card or share a digital contact, what matters is that you're making a deliberate choice to stay connected. That gesture—physical or digital—signals respect for the relationship.

The problem isn't whether you use paper or pixels. It's that many professionals aren't doing either.

A Question for the Tech-Forward Professionals

If you've moved beyond business cards, genuinely moved beyond email signatures, and adopted new communication norms—enlighten me. What's the system? How should people reach you? What are the new rules of engagement?

Because right now, it feels less like innovation and more like isolation.

The Real Question

In a world where connection is everything, when did professional inaccessibility become acceptable?

Are we quietly losing respect for each other's time? Have we normalized being unreachable because we're overwhelmed, or because accountability has eroded? Or am I simply outdated—clinging to conventions that no longer serve us?

I'm genuinely asking. What do you think?

I'd love to hear your perspective—especially if you've found better ways to stay professionally accessible in today's world.