Lawrence Fine

One of the mistakes people make is they assume that everyone handles stress the same way. We look at others and wonder why they let such small things cause them stress when it seems they should be able to handle things much better.

Business executives might be making multi-million dollar decisions and not find it too terribly stressful so when they hear others stressing out over much smaller issues they don’t get understand what the big deal is

College soccer coaches might be making travel arrangements for their team for the entire season so when they hear a player saying she is stressed out over a quiz for a class.

An attorney might be comfortable arguing a case in front of the state supreme court so find it unusual that a daughter is stressed out over making a presentation in front of her class.

The thing that people have to understand is while different people feel stress over different issues, regardless of the cause of the stress, stress is stress. Whether it’s from speaking in front of 50,000 people or 5 people, if one feels stress, it’s a big issue to them and should not be discounted by others.

When you are around others who are experiencing stress, rather than telling them to relax because it’s not a big deal, it’s important to understand it is a big deal to them and being told to relax doesn’t help at all. Instead, try to help them figure out why this causes them stress and then how they can overcome this.

Remember, it doesn’t matter whether you think something should be stressful or not, if someone else finds it stressful it’s stressful to them and should not be ignored or discounted in any way.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Tags: Leadership, Management, Motivation, Uncategorized by Lawrence Fine
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There is a wonderful book titled “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell (http://www.gladwell.com/tippingpoint/index.html) which discusses how little things can make a big difference. Rather than try to explain the thought behind the book, I would strongly recommend everyone read this book.

While The Tipping Point discusses how change can happen quite quickly and as a result of what might appear to be a small thing, the opposite would be The Saturation Point

We have all experienced the saturation point. It’s when you are told to do the same thing over and over and finally, you get to the point where you end up NOT doing anything because you got so fed up with hearing it.

As children we all experienced the repeated calling by a parent “clean your room, did you clean your room yet?” You hear it so many times that finally you go out of your way to NOT clean your room.

In a work place, people are repeatedly told how important something is to finish yet somehow they forget to do it. Why is that? It’s because they got to the saturation point.

There are soccer coaches who yell all the time during games. In their mind, they are helping the players on the field but in reality, the players are ignoring them (or even worse, are doing the opposite) because they hit the saturation point

There is a fine line between emphasizing the importance of a matter and crossing the saturation point. The person who is about to cross the saturation point should be able to read the non verbal clues of the recipient but unfortunately, most who cross that point, aren’t aware the possibility exists.

Once you have crossed the saturation point, it’s extremely difficult to reverse yourself. Be patient, be aware and be willing to apologize.

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Have a great day!

Lawrence

Tags: Leadership, Management, Motivation, Uncategorized by Lawrence Fine
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When dealing with a group, there are three types of people.

* Me
* I
* We

The “me” person doesn’t care about the group at all. All they care about is “me”. If they are on a soccer team and they score 2 goals and the team loses 3-2, they are alright with that result because they scored their goals so they will get the recognition they believe they so rightly deserve (at least in their mind). If they are part of a business group preparing for a presentation, if they get their part of the presentation done, they are satisfied because they did their job.

The “I” person cares about the group but takes on so much responsibility that it’s too the detriment of the group. This person works long hours trying to finish the entire presentation because they truly believe it’s in the groups best interest for them to do alone. In basketball, while the “me” person is happy scoring 20 points an losing, the “I” person wants to take the last shot of the game, not for the recognition but because they think it’s the best chance for the team (regardless of the possibility someone might be wide open under the basket).

The “we” person realizes that the group can accomplish more working together than any individual can working apart. Using the basketball example, the “we” player might have the ball near the end of the game but he will draw two defenders and then pass the ball to the open teammate for the game winning shot.

The “me” player thinks “it’s all about me”. The “I” player thinks “I will do it for the team” and the “we” player thinks “we can do it together”/

Are you a “me”, “I, or a “we” person?

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Tags: Leadership, Management, Motivation, Uncategorized by Lawrence Fine
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In the last blog post, I wrote about creating an agenda for all gatherings (in person or virtual). This will make these gatherings much more efficient and effective. However, even when there is agenda and the gathering is run in an efficient manner, there still needs to be the second part which is the summary.

Too often, people leave a meeting and while they all heard the same thing, they might be leaving with different understandings. Because of this, it’s extremely important to have a summation following up the meeting to make sure everyone is on the same page.

This would be a simple review of what was discussed and a review of any agreed upon follow up.

By taking this simple step, it avoids confusion, reinforces what was decided and allows for a natural progression into the future.

Take the time to do a summary and see how much smoother things go for you

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Tags: Leadership, Management, Motivation, Uncategorized by Lawrence Fine
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Problem Solving 101

1. Admit there is a problem
2. Accept you want to do something to fix the problem
3. Define the problem
4. Create alternative solutions
5. Establish criteria for selection the solution
6. Choose the solution
7. Plan how you will implement this solution
8. Execute the solution
9. Reassess the situation

The process of problem solving is actually quite simple. The problem is, if you skip some steps, chances are you wont be as successful as you should be

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Tags: Customer Service, Leadership, Management, Motivation, Uncategorized by Lawrence Fine
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There is a Difference between being ALIVE and LIVING.

Are you just alive or are you LIVING your life to the fullest?

The person who is simply living is able to sustain but the person who is truly LIVING is enjoying the journey

Which are you doing?

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Tags: Leadership, Motivation, Uncategorized by Lawrence Fine
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Many people assume leadership comes from the position a person holds. The reality is, great leaders are able to lead regardless of whether they are in a position of leadership or not.

An example of this incorrect assumption would be on a high school sports team. Players want to be named “captain” so they can be in a position of leadership. Whether the captain’s are chosen by team vote (at which point it’s typically a popularity contest), or the coach assigns the captain (at which point it’s usually the best player assigned to be captain), this does not make the person (or people) named captain a leader.

Looking back in history, there are numerous examples of great leaders who led without being in a position of leadership. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was a tremendous leader long before he was in a position of leadership. While he was the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he didn’t receive his ability to lead from that position, if anything, his ability to lead gave that position power. Dr King didn’t wait for someone to bestow him a position, he went out and led based on his individual qualities, beliefs and abilities.

Mother Teresa led through willpower, example, belief and dedication NOT through the power given to her by someone else.

George Washington didn’t become a leader when he became the first President, he became the first President BECAUSE of his ability to lead.

Are you waiting to be put in a position of leadership or are you being a leader on your own?

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Tags: Leadership, Management, Motivation, Uncategorized by Lawrence Fine
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One of the things people are regularly being encouraged to do is “take action”.

While there is no doubt that some people have to step and up and, as NIKE would say ‘Just Do It!’, to be successful, it takes much more than this.

Before ‘taking action’, you would want to plan. Those who plan before taking action (without over planning which can result in analysis paralysis) are most likely going to be more successful than those who simply take action.

The next step after planning and then taking action is to evaluate. The evaluation stage allows you to learn from what you have done, whether it’s how to repeat and build upon what you have done well or to correct what didn’t work. If you do not incorporate the evaluation stage, you will not grow since you will not be learning from previous experiences.

The people who use all three phases frequently do it in a linear way:

Plan then Act then Evaluate.

However, it’s important to think of this as more of a circular process where you:

Plan then Act then Evaluate then Plan then Act then Evaluate etc

Your planning should be based on previous evaluation so this is a constantly evolving process rather than simply a linear one.

Learn from previous actions, plan to improve on future actions and continue to grow as a person!

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Have a great day!

Lawrence

Tags: Leadership, Management, Motivation, Uncategorized by Lawrence Fine
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Around two weeks ago, I turned on the TV and it was the fifth set of the mens tennis final of Wimbledon. I’m not a fan of tennis but figured it would be interesting to watch.

First, if any of you saw this match, you saw two tremendous competitors (Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer) put on a wonderful exhibition of athleticism, competitiveness, and courage. Even as someone with limited interest in tennis, it was great to watch.

However, this post isn’t about tennis but rather the way each handled the winning and losing.

Roger Federer had won the 5 previous Wimbledon Championships and as the number one ranked player was expected to win this one as well. Rafael Nadal was ranked number two and although he has been dominant on clay, playing on the grass of Wimbledon there was no doubt he was the underdog. Nadal won this match in the fifth set 9-7.

The interesting thing (to me at least) was their reactions after the match. Nadal fell to the ground once the final point was won in celebration (and probably exhaustion) but quickly got to his feet and went to the net to meet Federer who was waiting to congratulate him. So many times, in other sports, you see the winner spend a lot of time celebrating, without regard for the opponent. Also, you see the opponent sit (or lay) dejectedly feeling bad for themselves. I realize tennis is considered to be a “gentelmens’ game” but these two really seemed to care for each other and respect each other as well.

Each player was interviewed after the match and rather than speaking about themselves, they seemed to spend more time complimenting the other (Federer talking about what a great competitor Nadal was and Nadal saying that while he might have won the match, Federer was still the best player). No excuses, no complaints, just compliments.

While it’s traditional for the winner to take a “victory lap” around the court after the match to thank the crowd (and to receive their applause) both players took the lap (in opposite directions). My guess is Federer would have preferred to have been in the locker room at that point but since he did this after winning a tournament, he did it after losing as well.

Both players handled their winning and losing with complete class and character.

Interestingly, the very next day, Nadal had to withdraw from a tournament in Germany due to a knee injury. Rather than calling or emailing or having a representative withdraw for him, he chose to fly to Germany and withdraw in person. How many “champions” take the easy way out rather than doing the right thing? Although his withdrawing was a big loss for the tournament, the tournament director was quoted as saying “He is here today, because he is responsible and has character.”

Whether you win or lose, do people think of you as being a person of character? Are you a gracious winner and a poor loser? Are you an obnoxious winner and a gracious loser?

While I’m still not a big fan of tennis, I can say, after watching the way these two men handled the match, I am a fan of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

If you find this post helpful, please share with others and encourage them to subscribe at http://lawrencefine.com/blog/subscribe/

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Tags: Leadership, Management, Motivation by Lawrence Fine
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One of the most valuable exercises you can do as a manager of a business is to look at all the tasks you do on a regular basis and ask yourself “should I be doing that?”

If you are like many others, you will find yourself doing many things that others in your organization can and should be doing. By doing a better job delegating responsibilities, it will allow you, and others, to get more work done.

Please understand, this isn’t about you trying to do less work, rather it’s about trying to work more efficiently.

I have a friend who is very talented but tends to get frustrated trying to delegate because she knows she can do things better than the people she is delegating to. So, rather than delegate, she tends to do much of the work herself. While the quality of her work is very good, she doesn’t get as much done as she should because she is doing things others could and should do and not doing the bigger picture work

Another thing to look at is whether some of what you are doing can be automated to save you time, without losing the personalization. A very simple example would be the way I handle email with some of my web design clients. Some of the ones we have monthly maintenance agreements with would send an email to me and then I would review and forward it on to the appropriate programmer. The problem with this is that until I read and forwarded the email, nothing would get done (admittedly, if I’m at my desk, this might only be a couple of minutes but if I’m in a meeting it could take hours). Instead, we have set up email rules so emails sent from certain clients are automatically forwarded to the appropriate person. This frequently results in the work being done before I ever see the email. I could have the client email the programmer directly but at that point it makes it difficult to keep track of how much time is being spent on each project plus it makes it more difficult to make sure everything is being done. Plus, I can reassign the project (so that instead of programmer A being in charge of an account, I can change the rule and have programmer B put in charge with the client never seeing a change). With multiple clients requesting changes on a daily basis, these rules allow us to get more done, more efficiently

How many things are you doing which could or should be done by others in order for everyone to be more efficient? Or how many things are you doing that could be automated to make everyone’s lives easier?

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Have a great day!

Lawrence

Tags: Leadership, Management, Motivation, Uncategorized by Lawrence Fine
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