Laura Benjamin Lollar

Blog Articles

Keep It Classy Now More Than Ever

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After Doug and I got married and prepared to combine households, we had to decide how to divvy up stuff. There was a pile for Goodwill, one for family and another to move over to our new place.

Among his treasures was a used particle board office desk. I’d been working on a small computer table since the wildfire, so his desk seemed like a great step up! Now, I’d actually have some drawers and enough workspace to hold a few photos of my handsome hubby!

The only problem? It was covered with scratches and looked like this:

I had no problem working with it, but I WAS a bit embarrassed when clients came to my office. They must have been thinking, “Poor thing; she can’t afford a decent desk. Better pay her lots more money.”

So, being the frugal people we are, we picked up a roll of contact paper to cover the desktop. And this morning, my engineer husband helped me lay it down. Actually HE was the project manager and due to his skills, there’s nary a bubble in sight!

Now my desk looks like this….

I love the clean look! I feel SO much better working on a new surface without the scrapes and scratches. I feel more productive. I get better ideas. And my phone rings more often!

Cleaner environments lead to better behaviors. Studies have shown that when subway cars are cleaned more often, they have fewer incidents of fare-skipping. Neighborhoods without graffiti and broken windows generally experience less crime.

My mom used to tell us when we were kids, “garbage in – garbage out.” Meaning, if we filled our heads with trashy novels, movies, magazines, it would rub off on us. If we hung out with people who talked trashy, we’d end up becoming just like them. She also told us (often), “Birds of a feather flock together.”

Author, Tim Ferris agrees with my Mom. So does Tony Robbins’ early mentor, Jim Rohn.  They all say, you are the average of the five people you most associate with.

If the behaviors or language of people you hang out with reflect poorly on you, you CAN change that. Set new expectations or find new friends.

I won’t rehash recent events where trash talk and “mean girl” comments went way, way beyond what most would expect to be appropriate. (We’ve heard quite enough about her.)

But people will justify:

  • I was only kidding
  • It’s just a joke – can’t you take a joke?
  • It’s just business (or politics) – it’s all fair game
  • Well, remember when they/he/she said…? (tit-for-tat)

Let’s keep it classy. It IS possible to hold differing positions without degrading one another. The more we sink to lower levels, normalize and justify, the more harm we do to our reputations, relationships, health and outlook on life. And the worse of a role model we are for our youth.

It’s been said we encourage what we tolerate. We promote what we permit, and…

[bctt tweet=”“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.” –Edmund Burke” prompt=”tweet this” via=”no”]

When I was a kid and then a teenager, I struggled with weight. (Of course, NOW I’m the spittin’ image of a bikini model!) I got called names like “Lardie Laurie” and “Laurie Jean the jelly bean.” I’m sure many of us have been there – the butt of a joke, the recipient of mean, vulgar comments, mocked and made fun of. For most of us, those experiences weren’t broadcast on TV, radio and every social media platform. We could usually slink away to some safe space, nurse our wounds and try and recover in private.

It’s not so easy today, is it? These things take on a life of their own. But who says we have to accept it? Let’s demand better of ourselves and of others.

And like my Mom used to say as we headed out to meet our friends…

“Be sure and act like a lady!”

Why Buzzwords Like “Disruptive” Drive Me Crazy

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I get a kick out of the buzzwords that come and go in business and media. Some of my favorites (the ones that set my teeth on edge) include: paradigm, let’s unpack this, zero sum game, life hack, productivity hack, hack this and hack that, side hustle and the latest little darling – at the end of the day.

Example: an article made up entirely of buzzwords: 89 Worst Business Buzzwords 

The one that makes me most crazy is “disruptive.” We’re encouraged to create disruptive work environments, hire folks who are disruptive, raise disruptive ideas – and so on.

I did a search on the term and here are a few definitions:

  • relating to or noting a new product, service, or idea that radically changes an industry or business strategy, especially by creating a new market and disrupting an existing one.
  • a major disturbance, something that changes your plans or interrupts some event or process. (Ex: a screaming child on an airplane)

At first glance, it seems like a concept that makes sense.

But you know what? Not everyone is thrilled with the disruption that comes with certain “disruptive” ideas – or people. Yeah, we say we’re “change agents” and at the end of the day (there we go again) change is good. But if those changes conflict with our perception of how things ought to be or how people ought to behave, it doesn’t matter a whit if the results or outcomes are constructive or profitable.

And if someone we like or whose ideology we agree with disparages the idea or person, that’s all we need to know. Too many of us don’t do our homework. We take the easy way out, accept the talking points and avoid checking the facts. We overlook solutions to problems or dismiss them out of hand. Goodness knows, we are far, far better off believing a comedian or celebrity than digging deeper and making up our own minds. (sarcasm)

And then comes the worst part – we ridicule or demonize those who have the guts to step up and try something new – or those who may use unorthodox approaches.

Let’s ask ourselves these questions (quietly to yourself or at the next team meeting):

  • When was the last time we jumped to conclusion because we disliked the messenger?
  • How often do we look for solutions to problems outside of Google, Facebook or Twitter?
  • How much energy have we used to quantify the results being achieved?
  • What other solutions am I willing to propose?
  • What are the outcomes I’m willing to face?

We all seem to want the whole enchilada – the perfect package. Me? I’m happy with an 80% solution. I’m betting most people are too, as long as they get constructive results.

Now, get on out there and be as disruptive as your conscience and blood pressure will let you!

25 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting My Business

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Way back in 1997, I left my corporate job to start a consulting and coaching company in Colorado Springs. Yup, I took some classes about how to be a self-employed person and start a business. But there were things I never learned back then that would have saved me immense amounts of time, money and emotional energy — things they don’t teach you in school.

You either get the knowledge through experience OR from someone who’s been there, done that. I got two great pieces of advice from a mentor. He said, “Never be afraid to turn down business when it’s not the right kind of business or if you have doubts about the clients’ intentions.” He also said, “Keep your overhead low.” It’s still hard to figure out some clients but I’ve definitely kept the overhead low by working from a home office, driving a used car and learning how to create and manage a website/blog on my own.

So the following tips are especially helpful for freelancers, those who have recently started a small business, or anyone who has a regular job, but plans to go out on their own at some point in the future.

  1. Buy your name as a domain name and never let it go.
  2. Create a list. This is hugely important! Get ACT or another contact management software system, then build it up and back it up.
  3. Build a following of people who love you and value what you have to say, THEN create a product or service they want (and will pay money for)
  4. Build an audience of blog/newsletter readers around shared interests (gardening, fishing, hunting, skiing, camping, etc.)
  5. Don’t wait to start your business until everything is perfect. Start and then adapt as you learn what people want and need.
  6. You will get rejected – often. Gird your loins and expect it to happen. Then you say, “next” and move onto the next project.
  7. Don’t wait for someone to give you permission or (like Seth Godin says) to “pick” you. Create the work you want to be part of. Pursue the clients you feel connected to and who can pay you. (That last part is important!)
  8. Some people will say they want to do business with you but they really want to: A. find out your pricing structure because they have a friend who is a competitor, or B. get a “third bid” so they can meet purchasing requirements. You will get wise to this and be able to detect when someone is pulling your chain. Consider it part of the learning curve.
  9. Write. Write articles, blog posts, tip sheets, white papers, newsletters, opinion pieces in the newspaper – anything that will help you educate others while showing your knowledge and experience.
  10. Most people I know don’t do just one thing. They piece it together. They set up multiple streams of income, all designed to serve one market.
  11. Keep your eyes peeled for people you’d like to do business with who can support you such as a virtual assistant, accountant, graphic designer, IT person. You will need them at some point.
  12. Don’t get intimidated by those who have established businesses and many clients in the same industry or line of work. They have worked hard to get there and were once where you are now. You will get there too!
  13. Leverage your personality, even if you are a bit quirky. Don’t try to blend in and be like everyone else. Let people know you are an introvert, you love bears or you make fabulous margaritas. Give them something positive to remember you by along with your business expertise.
  14. Get rid of that yahoo or hotmail email address and use a professional one, like BillSmith@BugZappers. com or Mary@BBQTips. com. Avoid info@XYZ. com – email distribution systems like Constant Contact will not like it and people won’t trust it.
  15. Buy small amounts of business cards so you don’t feel wasteful when you decide to change something on them – you will end up throwing them out.
  16. Don’t use a free blogging site (like Blogger) to host your website or blog. At some point you will realize you don’t own that real estate and it’ll be a pain to move everything over to your own self-hosted site.
  17. Pay off as many bills as possible before you start your business. Cut your monthly expenses. Learn how to live on less.
  18. Serve on a committee, a council, a commission for your community or industry.
  19. Be picky about the work you accept. Your reputation and sense of self-worth is on the line.
  20. Re-purpose work you’ve already done. Create templates and systems. Most of us aren’t creating from scratch.
  21. Commit one afternoon a week or hour each day to professional education. Listen to business or industry podcasts, read blogs and trade magazines, attend webinars.
  22. You don’t have to be a social media wiz kid to have it work for you. Have patience. Be friendly. Pick one or two channels and forget the rest for now. Invite people to friend or follow you. And don’t get hung up on the numbers. Be in it for the long haul.
  23. Be there for other business owners. Being self-employed can be tough. You’re usually in it all by yourself. Be generous with your encouragement and support.
  24. Remember, one phone call or email can change everything. Just because you’re struggling this month doesn’t mean it will stay that way. Every day you get a new opportunity to make things better, do good work and help someone out.
  25. Don’t be afraid to stand out. There is a risk you take by trying to be like everyone else in your industry — by designing your website the same, using similar language on those awful tri-fold brochures, choosing a business name with words like “solutions” or “resources”. The risk? You’ll be lost in the crowd. So, take a stand on something that’s meaningful to you. Leverage your name, a hobby, family history, the distinctive car you drive, the color of your hair or the method you use to solve problems. Find something that will help you stand out from the pack. So you will be memorable.

Principle of Legitimacy in Leadership and Employee Engagement

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People aren’t complicated. Human nature is fairly predictable. And we don’t need a plethora of rules and regulations to define every possible way a person might step out of line. Typically, we can boil it all down to the basics – a few simple things most people want and deserve.

The Principle of Legitimacy

An idea was proposed at the 1814 Congress of Vienna as lawful monarchs from royal families who ruled before Napoleon were restored to full power. Titled the Principle of Legitimacy, it was a governance guideline to ensure peace and order. It included these five concepts:

  1. Rules don’t change – people like to know what they can count on. No one likes to be evaluated against a moving target. Some say a sense of certainty is one of the greatest human needs.
  2. Authority is fair – remember when you were a kid and you got punished for something your sibling did? We didn’t like it then and now that we’re grown up, fairness is still important. However, fair doesn’t always have to mean equitable.
  3. Things make sense – the reasonable person can see a pattern, cause of action, greater purpose, and ends that justify the means. Nobody likes to feel like they fell down the rabbit hole
  4. People have a voice – they have the opportunity to raise issues (see my CARLA Concept™), express concerns, identify gaps. Freedom of speech is a bedrock of our nation. Many organizations do themselves in when people don’t feel free to speak up.
  5. People need to be heard – some say we humans are one big walking ear. In over 35 studies, listening was identified as a top skill needed in business today. Yet, fewer than 2% of us receiving training in listening skills. (Read this Harvard Business Review article on Listening)

You can bump these needs up against major interpersonal and workplace issues: internal and external customer service, employee engagement, job satisfaction, harassment prevention, teamwork and communication skills. Definitely leadership.

We can also make sure each one of the items above is reflected in our vision and mission statements, policies, training programs and meeting norms.

Another Approach to Leadership and Governance

Sometimes its easier to say what we won’t do versus what we shall do. Otherwise you have an increasingly long and complicated set of rules that try to identify every possible way people can mess up. (If you’ve ever been a a parent, you know darned well how creative young ‘uns can be!)

Leadership boards often define roles and responsibilities by stating, “We agree to do nothing that will embarrass our constituents, compromise our values or (the best one yet) require a lawyer.” You can start broad and then, if necessary, narrow the scope.

Why even our U.S. Bill of Rights outlines governance using negative terms: Congress shall make NO law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. The framers intent was obviously to give law-making power to Congress within a framework of constraint.

Let’s keep things simple, easy to communicate, able to withstand the test of time and to establish guidelines the average person can understand. I can think of plenty of places where that would make life a whole heckuva lot easier for huge groups of people.

Autonomy and Expectations

Back in the day when I was a call center rep and then a supervisor of a sales and service team, we were expected to meet weekly standards of performance. These were goals that outlined what percentage of our time could be spent on activities such as breaks, lunch, “after call” work, “available” time and “unavailable” time. The lower the “unavailable” time the better, since that meant we were able to take as many customer calls as possible. Some people went hog wild with their “unavailable” time while others were more conservative in their use. And of course, the more time people were on the phone, the more productive (and profitable) they were.

But there were no suggested limits. Supervisors just encouraged people to keep unavailable time to a minimum. That is until someone came up with the bright idea that if we put boundaries (a PC word for “rules”) in place, we could better set expectations. So, we asked them to keep “unavailable” time below 10% of their overall sign-in time. Miraculously, the numbers fell in line. People now had some wiggle-room – a range to work within and most were able to do it!

Benefits

It gave team members the freedom to have some control over their environment. When you’re tied to a phone line all day long, you don’t have a ton of autonomy. Autonomy is self-determination: the ability to do what one does independently without being forced or coerced by some outside power. And autonomy is one of the biggest predictors of employee engagement and job satisfaction. (Read this article by Jeff Haden on the 10 Things Extraordinary Bosses Do for Employees).

Team members were able to exercise personal judgment in how they’d spend their time. Considering these were people who raised families, paid mortgages, squeezed in college courses and dealt with all kinds of life’s demands, why did we think they wouldn’t be able to manage 10% of their unavailable time? (Sometimes we treat people like kids just because they’re at the grass-roots level.)

Supervisors didn’t have to get all cranky because someone failed to meet a target we hadn’t clearly defined. Nobody likes to be the bad guy or deliver negative news.

It stoked the fires of healthy competition as folks bet each other to see how low they could go within that 10% range. They had fun with it and it had the effect of “lifting all boats.”

The more we understand about how people “tick”, what motivates them or discourages them, the easier it is to lead, collaborate, debate and execute (as in make things happen). What was true in 1787 and 1814 is still true today. Governance and leadership go hand in hand.

by Laura Lollar (article originally published in March 2016)

Why I Haven’t Written In Over a Year

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It’s been over a year since I wrote my last business blog article on my old website. But I don’t feel one little bit guilty about it. During that time, I worked a lot, met the love of my life and got married. (Yep, it’s never too late, even at this stage of the game!)

Meet Doug, the love of my life! Don’t we look happy? (We are!)

So, I let the blogging go for a year. It’s not that you folks weren’t important. Far from it. Most of you are friends, clients and colleagues, so you matter to me. But during that year, I needed to take a break and re-evaluate how I was spending my time. (Plus, I was a wee bit distracted!)

Here’s what I had to ask myself:

  • Is there something you’re doing because you’ve done it that way for a very long time?
  • Is there something you’re doing only because someone else expects it of you?
  • Is there something you’re doing because it’s the “norm” in your industry?

It’s healthy to question, to re-evaluate rather than continue on auto-pilot.

And it’s not about needing more time to take on one more thing. Rather, shouldn’t we eliminate something (or someone) that’s sucking up our time and energy and generating very little value?

  • What is “it” for you?
  • What’s the lost “opportunity cost” if you continue to fill your life with busy-ness?
  • Will you be too tired or too distracted to notice when that opportunity comes along? 

Be discriminating. Put the most important things first. We only have so much time left on this earth. Let’s not waste it!”

P.S. It’s great to be back! My name is now Laura Lollar.