"From Painter to Peacemaker: Lessons in Managing Your Caseload"; SMART to Mediate|#5

Are you the problem to your caseload woes?  

In this episode we will confront those issues. 

It may surprise you to learn you are the problem when:

➤ You spend too much time on what others do or don't do.

➤ Or you get too emotional and forget the process that leads to resolution

➤ Or you fail to realize that it is the clients best interest to keep in mind, and quick resolution is in the clients best interest

ARE YOU READY TO CONFRONT THE PROBLEM?

Even if it means looking in the mirror?

⚖️ I believe Successful Resolutions through Mediation are possible...when you implement the Relational Mediation Method I teach in each episode.

⚖️ I believe Successful Resolutions through Mediation are possible...when you implement the Relational Mediation Method I teach in each episode.

☎️ BOOK YOUR FREE 20-MINUTE C0NSULT to learn how mediation can save you time, reduce stress, reduce costs and make happier clients and happier you.

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Transcript

Ever have one of those days where you're nursing that nice hot cup of coffee. And you have an insight today is one of those days for me I was reminded of something I learned a long time ago, and it's still relevant to my life today. And I find it's good when I can find a modern day reminder of something I learned so many years ago. I never forget that the past can be an effective learning tool. But of course, you have to decide to use it as an effective learning tool. My name is Anthony Mascolo. My friends call me Tony. For those of you who know me, you'd probably laugh if I tell you that I'm a recovering personal injury attorney, because I am, and I've said it before. I'm recovering because this personal injury litigation work, beat the heck out of me. And I'm betting that it's beating you up now I learned to manage it, but I wish I had learned to manage it sooner. I knew the essentials of this business. For example, 95 to 98 percent of your cases were not going to go to trial. Yet foolishly, I prepared every case as if it was going to trial. If that sounds like you, then we need to talk, book a call with me a little later on. I'll give you some links on how to reach me. Let's have just a talk about how to make your work life, your regular life better. Easier how to reduce your caseload, reduce costs make happier clients and create good time. Have you ever had one of those days or weeks when nothing is going right and none of it is your fault? It's never your fault. It's everyone else who's crazy. And they're all the problem, right? You're never the problem. On those kinds of days, you want to tell everyone else you're my problem. Don't you get it? Why don't you just listen to me? These. Words, just seem to be flowing out of your mouth. Of course, in this case, they're just coming out of your mouth and going right down the drain. No one's hearing it, but you. But, you know what? It makes you feel better to get it off your chest, maybe right then and there You decide that today is the day that you're going to go into your office. You're going to straighten this whole problem out. You're going to speak to those adjusters. You're going to speak to those attorneys. You're going to speak to those co workers. You're going to speak to those clients. You're going to straighten this all out you'll tell them. Yes, you'll fix it all you'll give them a piece of your mind. Let me ask you Do you recognize this person? Is this you , if you recognize this person, then maybe you need to consider this. What if it's not the others who are the problem, but you Yes. You. Very often You are the problem holding up the resolution of your case. Often times, you are the problem. Now have I said that enough? Am I being clear? Is there any hope if you're the problem? There is some hope. Because if you are the problem, you can be the solution too. You are either a helper or a herder of your own cause. And we're going to go into that, helping and hurting, a little more deeply in another episode in the future. But what if I told you, It is up to you. Now, you've already been the captain of your ship, the lead sled racing down the hill. And today I'm going to propose something a little more mundane. You are going to be a house painter. You are going to be the one to add the color to your relationships, your work relationships, and the color to your cases. Many moons ago, I got my first good paying job. I worked for a house painter, a neighborhood guy. Every summer, by the way, I did this, from that first summer. Every holiday home from school, even when I was in college. in the beginning, this job, which I loved paid me 25 per day, a fortune to a 14 year old. I did this starting in high school, right through law school. Thankfully, the pay got a little better in many ways, it was the best job I ever had. Still think very fondly of it. In the beginning there was a learning curve and I found out that I was my own worst enemy. I listened, but I didn't learn. I was tentative and not trusting of the process. I was afraid and not assertive. What if I told you that it turns out that I was the problem all along, not the process and not the others, they were not the obstacles if you haven't listened to my earlier podcast, please go back after listening to this episode You can be on the high seas the captain of your own ship, or driving a sled in the Iditarod on a snowy eve. These really are metaphors for your life as an adjuster or an attorney in this business of ours. They are meant to give you a slightly different perspective on an issue you may face every day.. So today I'm going to propose to you that you are a house painter, and what if I told you that the power to transform a room, a canvas, or even a personal injury case, was in the palm of your hand, guided by the thing in your head called the brain. Let me take you back to my time as a painter, to illustrate what I mean. When I was the new worker at the bottom of that totem pole that we've mentioned before, and I worked for Jimmy Pascal Painting and Wallpaper Hanging. This was located in my hometown of Staten Island, New York. 25 bucks a day, to spend at the end of the day. No medical or 401k, but at that time I didn't care. That 25 was gold to me. At the start, I was told by the boss, Don't rush into this. Painting can be difficult. It can be messy. We don't want to mess up client's houses. So I just want you to watch the other. That is about as exciting as watching paint dry learned firsthand where that adage came from because that's exactly what I did For the entire first week on the job. I watched jimmy the boss paint. Watched grizzly old bill paint I watched cesar paint But me, I was only a watching person. The only thing moving were my eyes following each brushstroke and of course I also, did the dreaded cleanup at the end of the day. Really did no painting at all that first week. And as time went on, I actually did very little painting. I was the new man on the totem pole. I had earned my way up that totem pole. For about the first month or so, I was to watch, clean up, and if I was lucky, maybe I got to paint the baseboard on an inside closet. Not exactly the area that anyone would actually see. Isn't it like that in our business too? You don't get the million dollar claim or case right from the start. You get the limited policy case, right? What if I told you that you had the power within yourself right now? To resolve any case, big or small, when you wanted to, and in the range of the real value of the case. That would put you on the fast track of that totem pole, right? And wouldn't you want to do it as soon as possible? Isn't wasted time equal to wasted money? Isn't wasted time wasted opportunities. Let me get back to my painting story. My big day finally came jimmy pascal my boss gave me a present my first inch and a half cutout brush used on window frames Fine trim work jimmy showed me the beautiful Big bay window that he wanted me to use that brand new brush on this bay window was huge We were in an area called bay terrace and overlooked the bay and this window was composed of 24 square windows Each, with a one inch frame around it. I had seen Jimmy do windows before he did them with confidence strong, clean strokes and a steady hand. He never used tape on the glass. He didn't have to cover it. He just went at it, put a little paint on that brush, confidently slammed it down and up the upper right hand corner and streak down. He never made a mistake. He never made a smear. He did it perfect every time. Now, of course, Jimmy had been doing this, 40 years. He told me, take your time, Anthony, and just do what you've watched me do these last few weeks. Don't read too much into it. Just do it. And then he turned around and left me to my task. . I remember lacking confidence in my ability. I remember That I proceeded to tape around each and every one of those windows with masking tape. It literally be hours, the entire morning. By the time I started painting, it was almost lunchtime. And when Jimmy came back to see how I was doing, had completed maybe only one or two. Of those 24 windows, I will never forget the look on jimmy's face. It was a look of such Disappointment he wasn't mad He looked sad and I felt terrible. It was like a dagger in my heart. He asked me why I took the time to tape and why didn't I just do what he did? Like he asked me to I told him the truth. I was afraid to make a mistake. That turned out to be my first life lesson on the job from someone other than my mother father or a teacher. Jimmy said, Anthony, you can't fear making a mistake. I can still hear this like it was yesterday. If you have taken the time to learn the trade and you have seen someone who knows what they're doing, like me, then just do it. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. You just have to do what you observed with your own eyes. Then Jimmy looked at me and said, rip the tape off every window. Don't care how long it takes, but complete the job without any tape. And then he looked at me and said, go clean up for the day. You're not going to do this today. You're going to come back tomorrow and here's what I want you to think about. He said, tape doesn't prevent the accidents in our business. He told me it was confidence, not taping around the windows that would prevent me from splashing paint on the glass He told me that tape, rather than help me become a better painter, Would hinder me from becoming a better painter. He said that tape actually encouraged accidents because it never let you learn the trade. Think about that for a moment. It was truly profound to me. But what does that have to do with mediations you might ask? you need to recognize that there comes a time in your career as an attorney, as an adjuster, that you have created your own future. You have created an environment That has tipped the scales in your favor you have become the painter of the scene. See, the scene should never paint you. You need to be the painter. You need to fill in the color of your own case. Clients are generally happy with quick resolutions at market value. Clients don't want cases to drag on forever. They want to get on with their lives they want you to have a professional approach that is confident enough to find the solution without fear of making a mistake. Clients want to know that you are the professional that has the answers to their particular case. And I'm going to propose to you that you need to present yourself as that professional. That closing the deal for your client is the best thing that can happen to your client. Now in today's world, we do different types of mediations. For example, we've got presumptive mediations. Set up by the court, we've got private mediations through mediation companies who are working with the adjuster directly. Want to propose to you that the presumptive mediations, of which I do a lot for the court system, happen after hundreds of hours of preparation Client discussions, law reviews, motions, court appearances, arguments. Phone calls between you and the adjuster, you and the client, meetings with the partners about what's going on in your caseload. And I'm going to propose you have absolutely no control of that timeline. You control nothing once your case is in that litigation stage. You don't even control who is picked as your mediator. You don't select the date. You don't develop the all important relationships that lead to resolutions. Have you ever resolved the case before trial, on the eve of trial, and wondered, why didn't this case resolve sooner? Why did I put all that time and effort in over the years, the hundreds and hundreds of hours, the hundreds and thousands of dollars? When I probably could have resolved it sooner, cheaper, quicker, and more efficiently, why did this case not reach what I'll call the tipping point, which is that point where it was easier to better and more efficiently resolve the case. If you could have settled it for the same price earlier, then why didn't this happen? Don't just blame others for that. Blame yourself too. It may not be all your fault, but a lot of it is your fault. You should be mediating the 95 to 98 percent of your caseload that you know will never be tried. Why aren't you controlling the mediation, the mediator? Years before it was even a thought of as a presumptive mediation in the court, you could have done a private mediation, managing your own caseload and built up the right relationships. You could use the mediation as a tool. And the mediator, someone like me, a professional in the personal injury field to help you reduce your caseload, save costs, make happy clients. And get more referrals. I don't mean to leave you with the idea that you're only the problem, because remember the other side is that you are also the solution. If you've enjoyed this podcast, and want to hear more about how to make mediation, help you in your work, then subscribe to this podcast, like it, share it with others. That's the way we're going to make our work our profession better, happier, and healthier for all. If you want to discuss this further, you can book a call at www. smarttomediate. com forward slash book a call I'll drop some links below. You can follow me on Facebook, Insta, YouTube, even LinkedIn together. Let's make our business better.