Pressure

Performance creates pressure

Preparation takes hard work

Sharpening takes intentional practice

Improving takes conditioning

Athletes are familiar with these terms.  They are passionate about their sport, and they play to win.  Athletes don't play casually.  They want to taste victory - they want to win the championship!

Why is it that in our work place many times we show up casually, going through a check list of work that needs to be done, hoping that lunch time will come quickly? Why is it that when we feel pressure to perform, we respond with excuses or complaining that the demands being put on us are too much, they are unfair? When we run in to obstacles, or when the goals seem un-reachable, do we just throw our hands up in the air and give up easily?

I know your work place has it’s share of frustrations.  I know that there are parts of your job that you are not too excited about.  And when the boss brings goals that you must hit, you immediately feel pressure to perform.  In your mind, the last thing you need is more PRESSURE.

On the contrary, I want to challenge your thinking and tell you that PRESSURE is exactly what you need.  Pressure to perform, pressure to do what it takes to win, to hit your goals.  

You see, athletes USE pressure to push them.  Athletes understand that pressure is a necessary part of helping them to achieve their goal.  An athlete will push through the training, will learn new skills, will feel uncomfortable in order to perform effectively on the field.  An athlete will accept their coach shouting at them and confronting them to get better, to correct mistakes, and to not give up.

  

Certainly, there can be too much pressure…for sure… particularly if the pressure comes from negative thinking like self doubt and judgement.  Certainly, you need to self evaluate to see if you have rested well, if you have filled up in healthy ways through great relationships, through getting encouragement, through just having fun and play.  

But most of us see any pressure that comes at work as negative, as attacking us personally.  Rather…think like an athlete.  See your work as your mission, as the place where you can accomplish great things.  When the pressure comes, use it to make you better.  Respond to it by evaluating, planning, preparing, and then work hard! As my kids would say “kill it!"

Remember, It’s not about perfection, it’s about progress.  

It’s not about comparison, it’s about personal improvement.

Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t reach as high as someone else.  But, on the other hand, don’t give yourself a pass when the pressure comes to perform.

At the beginning of your work week, get your mind in the right place.  Prepare yourself mentally that you are going to start each day by:

1. evaluating your past performance
2. plan to work on the right tasks that will yield the most success
3. prepare by sharpening your skills
4. start working really hard toward hitting you goals - now! not later, not after you read through e-mails or talking to your co-worker

Push yourself.       Lean in.            Focus.  

Do your reps.        Get better.       Get faster.  

Work like an athlete.  Use the pressure to perform better! You will “kill it!!"

Never Apologize

I have had a few creative ideas that I became  excited about.  For a couple of weeks, I tinkered with these ideas and started gaining momentum as I worked on them.  But a thought entered my mind that squelched my momentum.  “what if my idea is stupid?” Then another thought followed… “what if someone has already thought of this?”   These led to more thoughts, which led me to start searching through the internet and comparing my idea with what other people had done.  I started doubting myself, that what I had to offer was not important, that my idea would not be relevant.  This caused me to stop dead in my tracks.  For the past several weeks, my ideas have been sitting on the dusty shelf, hopeless and forgotten.  

This week, as I had a day to slow down and reflect, another thought suddenly entered my mind….  a thought very different than the previous thoughts of self doubt and comparison.  The thought was from God speaking to me.  God said to me in a still, small voice in my head:

“don’t give up on your idea. It’s your idea."

Then, God started to encourage me:

"You are unique, and your life experience is unique.  Don’t worry about what others have created or accomplished.  Right now, don’t worry about whether your idea will be successful.  Don’t judge your idea based on if people will get it or accept it.  Most great ideas at first are not understood or accepted.  You have something to offer.  There is someone who will appreciate your idea, someone who will benefit from your knowledge.  Be willing to put yourself out there - take a risk.

Stand out. Be different.  

I, your Heavenly Father made you unique to be creative.  Don’t worry about the results, just be true to yourself.  Live boldly the way I designed you to live. Live freely trusting me with the results.  Look to me for your affirmation, because I am proud of you.  I love you."

Isn’t that awesome? Now, I know I typed those words, but I believe God was speaking to me as I journaled what God was planting in my mind.  

My message to you - never apologize for working on your ideas.  Never apologize for who you are.  Know who you are.  Realize that God, the Father made you with intention to be unique, to think, to create, to be different.  

Don’t compare yourself with other people.  Learn to appreciate other people’s ideas and accomplishments.  Understand that every person has their own journey they are on.  Some are farther down the road than you are.  Rather than be discouraged by their success, be encouraged by knowing that their success started out as a “dumb idea”, a “dismissed concept” that nobody would ever buy in to.

Be courageous.  Be reckless.  Don’t wait to present your idea until it is processed or makes sense.  The polishing and refining comes later.  First comes the creativity.

Never apologize for your ideas.

As my kids will say in a funny voice around the house:

“You be You, Boo"

Better is Better

I love to make things better.  I love people who share my belief that Better is Better.

The legendary band, Spinal Tap shares my belief:

Hilarious! However, I love people who are always looking for a way to take their art and their work to the next level.  

You see, status quo does not inspire anyone.  Status quo is not noticed.  That’s because status quo is expected.  Don’t expect to get praised for “doing your job.” All you are really doing is meeting the minimum expectation.  Most employees expect some kind of pay raise for the next year just for doing their required job description.  However, only the employees who expand their network, grow their sales, and improve their effectiveness have any right to ask for a pay raise.  Better work - better pay.

Yet, when you attempt to make things better, don’t expect everyone to cheer you on.  If you are looking for people at work to roll out the red carpet for you, don’t hold your breath.  Many people truly prefer the status quo.  They like their system and their work rhythm just the way it is.  It is familiar, it is predictable, and it has become comfortable.  

Years ago, I was a Musical Director at a church.  The Pastor passed me in the hallway and mentioned “Matt, I ran in to a family in our church whose teenager attends a nearby school.  I wish we had a way of getting some of these students at this school engaged in our church.  Some of them are decent singers.  Maybe you could think of a way to reach out to them and use them in music somehow.”  I understood that he was not giving me a directive, but sharing a passing wish or suggestion.  

I already had a full plate at work - plenty of moving pieces and coming events I was already working toward.  But I saw this as an opportunity to meet a need for our church, to fulfill a desire that my Pastor had for this family.  My passion to make things better moved me to take action.  I immediately put a plan together blocking out time in my schedule to make this dream become a reality.  

I reached out to this family, I scouted out several students that were the singers of the nearby school.  I scheduled rehearsals, selected music and began arranging music.  I made rehearsal CDs for the students and then rehearsed with them.  On a Wednesday night church service, they performed.  Standing ovation! The Pastor LOVED IT! The kids were so happy for the opportunity to sing at the church.  “Matt, can you get these students to sing on a weekend church service?” asked the Pastor.  “Absolutely!” I answered.

So, I began arranging, rehearsing, planning.  I remember being in a planning meeting with the music and media staff talking through my plans for the students.  This time, I was going to add a Gospel Choir to sing back up with the Student Singers.  I had brass players and a full band.  I was going to make it even better!  I remember as I was casting the vision for this upcoming performance, some of the team members were sinking in their chairs.  When I told them “I have 7 students singing and have a Gospel Choir singing”, some said, “Matt, we don’t have that many microphones.  We already have so much work to do.  And besides, we really don’t do that kind of music here at the church.”  

“How many microphones do you have?” I asked.  “We only have 5”.  “Well, can you find 2 more?” “I’ll help you.” I replied.  

“We don’t know where we could possibly put the Choir if you also have 7 student singers” was their next block.  I responded, “Guys, it’s a very large platform.  Surely I can help you find a space for them.  We can think out of the box.  I promise you all that this will be awesome for our church - it will be worth it!"

I could tell I was going to have to pull the team along with me.  And while I understood that extra work costs them time and energy, I had strong belief that this performance was going to be worth the extra work - for all of us.  Well, it was worth it.  The students, the choir, the musicians, and our team all did a fantastic job.  People stood to their feet in appreciation.  The families of the students were thrilled.  Our church experienced a performance they had never experienced before.  We had built a stronger relationship now with the nearby school, with many of those students starting to attend our church.  

When you have a dream, protect it.  When you see an opportunity, seize it.  Don’t rely on others to see it.  Don’t wait for people to encourage you.

You drive it forward - 

You keep pushing through the obstacles -   

A great quote is from the former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, who was given the nickname by her opposition political party:
“the Iron Lady.”  She said:

Consensus is the absence of Leadership

What she is really saying is that when you step out to lead people to something new and better, not everyone is going to agree with you.  She is telling us not to wait for everyone to understand or to buy in to your dream before you begin to move forward and take action.

Pastor Tom Mullins, Founding Pastor of Christ Fellowship in South Florida says:

Excellence honors God and inspires others 

Excellence is noticed when you go the second mile, when you do more than what is expected or required.  Excellence is giving your best even if it costs you more work and more energy.

Make Things Better - You will stand above the rest 

Working with Difficult People

We prefer to work with people that we like.  It is so much easier working together with people who are like us. They get us.  We think alike, we share the same values, we have similar personalities, maybe similar backgrounds.  Many times, we relate to people who are our same age, our same stage in life.  

However…  (a big sigh…)   

how do we work with difficult people?

We would much rather NOT work with difficult people.  We would prefer to stay as far away from them as we can.  We work around them.  Or, we battle with them.  Flight or Fight, Right??

Working with difficult people is kind of like playing ping pong with someone who isn’t very good.  I love ping pong and I play a lot, so I can hit the ball pretty hard over the net.  But when I play with someone who is still learning, it 

honestly… isn’t much fun.  I would prefer to play with someone who is a good player, because when I hit the ball hard to them, they return it with equal speed and power.  In the same way, it is much easier working with people who match our energy and our way of approaching life and work. 

Though we try to avoid working with difficult people at all costs, we all are faced with the reality that to achieve our goals at work, we must work with ALL people, including those that we see are difficult.

How to Work with Difficult People

Different, not Difficult

First, stop categorizing them as “difficult”, and understand that they are different.  Different from YOU.  The more different a person is from you, the more gap of understanding, of familiarity there is between you and them.  There is a greater gap between men and women, between younger and older, between black and white.  There is a huge gap between Republican Party and Democratic Party, (HUUUGGGGEEEE!!)  between outgoing personality and introverted personality.  We can perceive this gap as difficult because you do not have natural ways to connect.   You disagree in some areas, so you tend to disagree in ALL areas.  But re-classifying them from “Difficult” to simply “Different” will really reset your mind frame every time you see them.  Learn to value who they are, what they have been through in their journey.   Learn to appreciate their differences, to appreciate that they have a different approach to  their life and their work. 

Find Common Ground

With people that are like us, we naturally find common ground.  We like the same movies, the same political leader, we like to approach life the same way.  For me, personally, I am drawn to people who have a similar personality that I have - outgoing, ambitious, fast-paced, fun.  I naturally connect with people who are going in the same direction as I am.  People who are more introverted, more thoughtful and studied, even-paced and serious take more energy and intentionality for me to connect with.  However, I have learned that I NEED these type of people in my life.  I have learned to value them.  They help me measure the cost of my ambition.  They help me put systems in my life to be more productive.  They help me evaluate work and see a different perspective that helps me.

The key to working with people who you have no common ground with, is… to find some common ground.  When we see someone who is “opposite” of us, we think to ourselves “we have NOTHING IN COMMON.” But I would argue that we ALL have something in common.

Here’s how to find common ground:  ask people questions about their life until you find something that you have in common.

“where are you from""

“what is your favorite sports team?"

“What is your favorite restaurant?"

“where have you traveled?"

“what is your favorite tv show?"

“what touches your heart?"

Keep asking questions as you interact with them until you find something you have in common.  People love talking about themselves.  They feel valued when you ask them about their life.  When you finally discover the common ground - connect! 

“you are from Chicago??  My wife and I were married in Chicago!!"

See? now you have a connection! You can build on that connection…very quickly.  Once you find common ground with someone, you immediately create familiarity with them.  You immediately create a foundation of trust with them.  You will find they will begin to work with you.  They will begin to try to help you accomplish what you need.  It’s amazing!

The truth is you rarely get to choose who you work with.  You need people in order to be successful in your job.  Rather than avoid difficult people, see them as just different.  Value who they are and what they can bring to the table.  Be intentional to build common ground with them, and they will begin helping you accomplish your objectives at work.  

See people as an ASSETT

 not an ENEMY

Bigger

I want my business to grow bigger.  I want my finances to grow bigger.  I want my influence to grow bigger.

Bigger opportunities.  Bigger audience.  Bigger numbers.  

Nothing wrong with that.  Bigger means better.  Bigger shows healthy growth, shows that you are successful. I believe in success, in healthy growth.  

Here’s the miss in our focus however…    we focus on making the business bigger, we focus on searching out the bigger opportunities. 

I am learning in my own journey that I rather focus first on making myself, well, bigger.  

The best thing I can do in order to grow my business, my finances, my influence is to improve myself.  Before I can handle more, I must build myself.  

Think about it…  what really can you do TODAY to bring in more clients, to promote your product? what can you do to gain more influence TODAY?  

While there are plenty of ideas and tasks you need to work on, one of the BEST investments of your time is to block out schedule to work on YOURSELF. 

Get healthy - eat healthier, get exercise, and SLEEP!  Being healthy IS your job.

Get coached - get feedback and coaching from people you respect.

Get filled up - emotionally, spiritually, socially - spend time feeding yourself through solitude, prayer, with good friends and your family.

Get wiser - read books, watch videos in your field to learn.

Get sharper - practice what you do working to improve.

The healthier you are, the more energy you have and the better you look.

The happier you are, the easier you are to be around.

The wiser you are, the better decisions you will make.

The sharper you are, the more effective you will be.

Make it your job to become bigger, better.  Schedule time to work on YOU.  

When you become bigger, you will soon be able to handle bigger.  When you expand your foundation, you can handle the growth that comes.

How To Motivate Your Team: People are not machines

Unspoken Words: People are not machines: People are not machines   When I want my computer to do a function, I type in the command and then press enter. Sometimes, instead of ...

People are not machines

People are not machines

 When I want my computer to do a function, I type in the command and then press enter. Sometimes, instead of the computer executing what I asked it to do, I get a spinning wheel. As I start to investigate why the hold up, I see that Microsoft Word is stuck. I see that there is a security program running in the background. I see that Safari is loading a flash player. The computer is starting to run an update. It's not the computers fault. The computer is having to manage many other functions. Some programs are keeping the computer stuck.

This is the same way when we deal with people in our organization. We have a meeting with our team and we share our plan. We give clear directives, and we end the meeting with "let's get to work."A couple days later, we find that people aren't necessarily working the way we want them to.  For some reason, the team is not moving forward in unity, in purpose.  Why not? How could this be?? As the leader, we took the time to send out a clear e-mail.  We had the staff meeting and explained the plan in detail.  We even asked the team at the end of the meeting “are there any questions.” I mean…we gave them an opportunity to speak up… and no one did.  That must mean that everyone understands the plan and is ready to work.   Right??

Once you have led people to work together toward a goal or a project, you soon experience this challenge - that..

PEOPLE ARE NOT MACHINES

They do not just snap to and follow orders immediately with enthusiasm.  They rarely simply buy in to the assignment you dictate with no questions, no ideas.  People are less like a computer where you press enter; they are more like trying to herd cats.

Yet, people are so much better than any machine or computer.  People have so much more to offer than even the best Apple Machine out on the market today.  While a powerful Apple computer can execute multiple tasks at lightning speed, it cannot bring passion, commitment, problem solving, and initiative like a person can.  An Apple computer cannot grow and expand it’s knowledge like a person can.  A machine cannot build relationship with people and influence others to join their cause.  

Though working with a team of people is challenging, learning to lead them effectively is really worth it.  Don’t give up.

Here are a few principles I have learned to motivate people on my team to work enthusiastically toward the goal:

Relationship

You must build an authentic relationship with each person.  You must earn trust and respect.  You must demonstrate real love and concern for each person as an INDIVIDUAL.  People are not just “on your team.”  They are an INDIVIDUAL with unique personalities, dreams, gifts, backgrounds.  If you acknowledge WHO THEY ARE, you show them honor.  Make a point every couple of weeks to invest in to the relationships of those who work on your team - one on one, individually.  Create meaningful moments of listening, expressing, honoring.  Everything of value is built from a foundation of relationship.

Buy In

People tend to support what they help to create.  Memorize this phrase and internalize it.  It will change the way you present tasks and goals to your team.  Todd Mullins, my Pastor at Christ Fellowship Church in South Florida says that he will bring his ideas to the team “half-baked.”  While he already knows where he wants to lead the team, he intentionally introduces the idea not fully formed.  He starts the conversation with questions, activating people’s minds.  He asks for ideas and input.  Pastor Todd then masterfully guides the conversation toward action steps, empowering the team in the room to own pieces of it.  Another great principle Todd lives by is “Great Leaders make room for other Leaders to Lead.”  In every task, in every project, Todd does not just take all of the leadership.  He shapes the project so that many great people can take part in contributing their gifts, their unique shape to the project.  The end result is that the project is bigger, more colorful and the success is more expanded.  Why? Because the Leader planned the extra steps to include his team in the project where they felt part of the creative process on the front end.

Coaching

Even if you do the first two principles of 1. Coaching and 2. Buy in, people may still get stuck, like the spinning wheel on your computer.  Because people are flawed and temperamental, they can often struggle in accomplishing their work.  Their ability to overcome obstacles or challenges is limited to their emotional capacity and their skill level.  People need encouragement, motivation, and guidance.  As a Leader, you must understand that to motivate your team toward the goal, you must personalize the goal for each individual.  Tom Mullins, Founding Pastor of Christ Fellowship Church formerly was a successful Football Coach and would always say “No one wants a Boss, but everyone wants a Coach.” While a Coach needs to be firm and demanding at times, a team member can take pushing and challenging from a Coach because they know the Coach wants the best FOR THEM.  Team members understand instinctively that their Boss primarily is interested in getting the job done.  Coaches focus on performance of the team.  Bosses focus on performance of the tasks.  If the team is performing well, the tasks will eventually get accomplished.

The key to getting your team to accomplish the goals, to own the responsibility of the tasks is PATIENCE.  Spend time building relationships with your INDIVIDUALS, create buy in by making room for your team to create and lead, and coach your team to be their personal best.  I promise you will see enthusiasm in your people that will produce momentum toward your shared goal and tasks!