Remarkable Minds

Building a High Energy Team

• Daniel Stark • Season 1 • Episode 8

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A high energy environment at work directly improves your team's culture, productivity, and job satisfaction. But how do you make it happen? 

Stephanie and Brittany discuss the strategies that have made Daniel Stark a workplace where people genuinely want to be, from identifying authentic enthusiasm during hiring to ensuring the "play hard" part of work-life balance actually happens.


Ready to transform your workplace energy? Listen now to discover how to identify, nurture, and protect the remarkable energy that makes teams thrive. Your clients—and your team—will feel the difference.


This podcast is brought to you by Daniel Stark Injury Lawyers, a personal injury law firm that protects our clients from getting SCREWED by big insurance.

If you have any questions or want us to cover a specific topic in a future episode, email us at: podcast@danielstarklaw.com

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Speaker 1:

Work hard, play hard. It's going to be a measurement of okay, did you? Most of the time our team's working hard. That's not usually what gets questioned, but it is the play hard because you need to play hard to refuel for the work hard and we take that very seriously. So play hard looks different for everyone and the key thing is does that person know what their play hard is? What is going to refuel them to come back and work hard, get ready, drop the confetti.

Speaker 2:

Get ready, drop the confetti. Welcome to Remarkable Minds hosted by Daniel Stark Leaders, where we share insights for professional growth. I'm Wes Cagle, chief Operating Officer. Joining us today are Stephanie Firth, our Director of Operations, and Brittany Roberts, our Associate Director of Operations for Pre-Litigation. Welcome, ladies Hi.

Speaker 1:

Thank you.

Speaker 2:

So we're going to talk about building high-energy teams today. Are you as excited as I am? Yes, I can feel the energy already as I am. Yes, I can feel the energy already. So I have some questions today about how important this is, like what does it make? How does it make Daniel Stark special? How does it affect us on an individual basis? Let's get into it.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I think the biggest thing is it makes it a place people want to come to, because you know you're going to feel better as soon as you walk into the office At least that's how I feel. Like. As soon as I come into the main building I'm just like almost let out a sigh because no matter what I'm going through or anything there is, I just know there's going to be people who just naturally uplift me because of the high energy I know for me it starts with huddle Like our huddle, like okay, I'm ready to get jacked up for my day and I come away from that huddle like buzzing.

Speaker 2:

I think that's the point of our huddle, right.

Speaker 1:

It is.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely so. Why is it so important to surround yourself with high energy people?

Speaker 3:

I think that I'm going to take a step back a little bit about what the high energy does for people. Is it reminds them that they have to refuel, like it's what happens when low energy comes into the room? So when you're always around high energy people, you recognize in yourself when you're low energy and you recognize when maybe you need to take a break. And you have people who hold you accountable to that, because we all want to foster that environment, and so it's a really great time to bring in one of our core values work hard, play hard to be like hey, maybe you should go. You know, take that vacation. What about for you, steph?

Speaker 1:

I think it's important to surround yourself with high energy people because they feed into you and you can feed into them, and it just brings a different atmosphere to what you're doing, and if your energy levels are high, that's going to translate to the work you're doing, whether it's with clients or other team members.

Speaker 2:

Like it's palpable when you walk in the room. Yeah, like we've had clients walk into our office and tell us that they can feel a difference. Like they're excited. We've had clients like potential new clients come in and say like I could tell that people were happy working here. Or even potential new hires say like I have interviewed at a lot of places and it feels different here, and I wanted to work here.

Speaker 2:

after hearing people laughing, after hearing people talking, you could feel the energy in the building. We've even had law firms come and visit us and say like, oh, our office doesn't feel like this, Like yeah, I know I visited your office, I wouldn't want to work there either. So like when you leave huddle, coming away with that energy, what does it do for your day? Like you can tell when it's a good huddle versus a bad huddle so talk to me about that.

Speaker 1:

It's a jump start. Yeah, that's right. You're just ready, rocking ready to go, like, okay, I'm feeling good, talk to my people, I'm ready to start my next task and dive right in.

Speaker 3:

It makes you excited for that top one. So in our huddles we go over, you know what our top one is going to be for that day, and it's just again bringing in another core value Do it all, do it right, do it now. Just running up those stairs and getting it like that energy to like make sure that we're completing that task.

Speaker 2:

What does running up the stairs mean?

Speaker 3:

So the running up up the stairs analogy is like coming from huddle and just immediately wanting to run up the stairs and go to your desk and complete that top one.

Speaker 2:

So that's what that. That comes from our partner, jonathan stark, and he he will literally take the stairs two at a time, like he's so excited to go get his stuff done. Yeah, so that's where that comes from. Um, and we're talking about the kind of people that you want to hire, or when we meet those type of people, what does that do for your like, your pool of talent, the people that you're bringing onto the team? How do you identify that in the hiring process?

Speaker 1:

It's the level of energy they bring to the interview and their level of enthusiasm and the kind of questions they're asking. Just the energy, if they can match our energy and if it feels pretty natural to them. We don't want forced energy of course. But if it feels natural, then that's what we're looking for that natural engagement where they are enthusiastic and they're happy to talk to us and we're happy to talk to them and the conversation just feels natural and flowing. How does that?

Speaker 2:

because I don't know, you can kind of see that sometimes, like when you're going to buy a new car, so how can you tell the difference between real like get stuff done energy and like new car salesman energy?

Speaker 1:

The word that comes to mind is a little bit sloppy, because it's not so put together.

Speaker 3:

There wasn't like practice in front of the mirror, like intent. It's just a little bit wacky and it's just like, yeah, you can just tell it's authentic, that you can feel like how genuine it is, even if it's like through a zoom, you just feel it.

Speaker 2:

Our hiring process is lengthy. Can you guys talk about what does that look like and how we identify these people right from the start?

Speaker 1:

Sure. So, like you said, the hiring process is very lengthy. We take it very seriously because we want to get the right folks on the team and part of that is a detailed process where the team member will go through a screening interview with people in experience here. That's where it all begins. So if they're enthusiastic and they're happy and they're engaged and they're wanting to be a part of this team, it's going to show through that screening interview with Madison. Then it moves on to a skill set interview with whoever the hiring managers are and the team leads for that position and the same thing like that level of enthusiasm needs to be there, as well as their skill set.

Speaker 3:

I think what's really important, too, is that we don't do these just over the phone Like we do them on camera. So if we can't have a face-to-face in person, we make sure that we do it via Zoom, so that we are able to kind of get that, you know, face time there is also a step that's even before the phone interview or kind of in between that as well.

Speaker 2:

Right when we're looking at certain personality traits that people bring to the table.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely the behavioral assessment that every potential team member or applicant has to fill out, and it's a series of questions that will identify strengths and weaknesses in various areas that we, as the hiring folks, review and we take it very seriously.

Speaker 2:

So tell me about that. What kind of things are we looking for in that assessment?

Speaker 3:

So we call it a line chart, because it will graph it out for you about people's aggression, their different levels of like. Oh goodness, what's the other?

Speaker 1:

one Productivity, that's right.

Speaker 3:

Autonomy, emotional support, how much they will need it, and so all of these together. What it's able to do is give you what these people's like growth opportunities are and to see if they're coachable or to see how much energy they are going to bring to the team. It's a great way to start the conversation because with the line chart, you know it. That's what it is. It's a conversation starter. It's not the end-all be-all, and you're able to go to somebody like hey, you know all those words you selected, this is what came from that. This is the first time you're hearing about it, and most of the time they're like no, I've been told that before. And you're able to ask them what are you doing to work on it? And that's really great. When people hear that as such a positive, they're like oh so you'll know what I need to work on, and they kind of have already this idea of how they want to be better.

Speaker 2:

So how the line chart works. This assessment it's not really questions, it's kind of a self-identifying. You select words that feel like they're applicable to you as a person, right, so it seems kind of random, but you're self-identifying things that describe you as a person, and so then it categorizes all those words into this line chart. And how does that relate to kind of being high energy? What are the key segments of the line chart that would identify someone as high energy? Do you think?

Speaker 3:

I definitely like to look at the aggression to see, like, how much they are going to buy into our purpose and how much of that aggression they're going to bring to the table.

Speaker 1:

And the productivity as well, as there's one on there about free spirit, which is an identifier for sure for what level of enthusiasm folks are going to bring, as well as some self-critical and just critical thinking. Those are two on there that are pretty important.

Speaker 2:

I'm high free spirit. So for me, when I see that, I see that as like super fun, like all the time, but also someone that probably usually questions what the rules are like and that they want to do things their own way. So that can be a double-edged sword A lot of fun, but you're going to have to answer a lot of their questions. So when I see high free spirit, I see a kindred spirit. If I'm being really honest.

Speaker 2:

Okay, tell me about the people analyzer, and what does that look like when you're looking for a high energy team member and our core values how do those things play together?

Speaker 3:

Absolutely so. Our people analyzer is something we go through in the hiring process and we also. It doesn't stop there. We also do it every 90 days if that person were to be hired, and it's something that is for us to say, hey, are you living out our core values? Are you aligning with our purpose, our social contract, and do you get it? Do you want it and do you have the capacity to do this job? And for the hiring process, the skill set is do they get it, want it or have capacity? And that's a great one, because somebody can get it and want it, but they may not have the capacity, whether that's emotional capacity, time capacity, mental capacity, whatever that looks like.

Speaker 1:

And that's really where I like to see the high energy is in that capacity section. And for the core values or the social contract, they're going to have to pass the people analyzer through that portion of the interview process as well. And when we're talking through the core values, we're asking them for specific examples that align with our core values, to see, one, do they understand our core value? And two, do they fit into it? And those examples will give us an idea of, okay, are they a very high energy person? Are they a low energy person? Where do they fall in that realm? How are they going to fit in with our team? How are they going to feel fitting in with our team? So it's a very valuable tool when we're looking at hiring.

Speaker 2:

So how would you see kind of differences in an introvert versus an extrovert when you're doing those culture questions and you're people analyzing them and trying to figure out are they a high, high energy person? But maybe they're just an introvert with an extrovert and I know Steph is our introvert in this podcast. So how does that? What does that look like for you when you're looking for a high energy team member that maybe is an introvert?

Speaker 1:

sure, um, usually they look a little nervous and they don't have that. It may take a little more to get information out of them, but their examples are going to be solid, whatever they're bringing to the table still going to be authentic and match and align with our core values. And I know, once they feel a little more comfortable, they do start coming out of their shell, like myself, like when I feel comfortable, I come out of my shell and I'm I am a little different with folks and so it's just a matter of gauging, like okay, okay, are they introverted, are they low energy? Where are they on this scale? And if it is more so introverted, just establishing that with the hire in the process as well, like, hey, you seem a little nervous or a little shy, let's talk about that and kind of build safety in that moment with them so they can start to break out of their shell early on in the hiring process.

Speaker 2:

When we have an introvert that we bring onto the team, what does their onboarding look like? Because, let's say, when we have an introvert that we are onboarding onto the team and they're coming to say our quarterly planning, how would you handle that differently than you would someone that's an extrovert?

Speaker 3:

Warning. That is the biggest thing.

Speaker 3:

Let me hold your hand when I say this. There's going to be 150 people in the same room as you. So I think that, going back to the hiring process a little bit, the key difference that you see is that their heart is still in it. That's the biggest thing. And then what you're gauging in those culture interviews to see if they match, that is can they get the accountability portion of it? Because, as an extrovert, that's what I interviews to see if they match, that is, can they get the accountability portion of it? Because that, as an extrovert, that is my, that's what I have to see and I will say that in real time.

Speaker 3:

As Firth mentioned, like you do seem a little nervous. How do you feel about actually holding somebody accountable to this? And you find a lot of times the introverts who do have that secret high energy, they will be like oh, I absolutely, like they're real followers, I absolutely will hold them accountable. And then you're like, okay, this is going to be a good match because you're right, they just need that safety. And you know, our introverts on the team are so thankful that we really give them that space to. If you just want to put your head down, that's okay, and they do still engage in their own way, and I really think that's what brings balance to our team is that we do have just as many introverts as we have extroverts.

Speaker 2:

Talk to me about work hard, play hard and how we look at people, maintaining that energy, measuring people's energy over time through the people analyzer in the work hard, play hard core value specifically.

Speaker 1:

Sure. So, like Brittany said, every 90 days folks are getting people analyzed and we do look at the core values work hard, play hard. It's going to be a measurement of okay, did you most of the time, our team's working hard. That's not usually what gets questioned, but it is the play hard because you need to play hard to refuel for the work hard and we take that very seriously. So play hard looks different for everyone and the key thing is does that person know what their play hard is? What is going to refuel them to come back and work hard?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and then some of the ways we as an organization can offer that. So if somebody were to get hired, they have a culture day and in that culture day we explain all of the resources that we're going to give them to make sure that they are able to uphold all the things that we're asking them to and to preserve our culture and the work hard, play hard portion of it. How to refuel yourself is a book called the Power of Full Engagement, and it's a great way. The book gives you different exercises to do to find your why and find even your own personal core values, and it's meant to be done with the leader so that you have an accountability partner. Now it doesn't have to stay your leader, but in the beginning that's who you feel the most comfortable with and eventually, as you evolve, you find different accountability partners and people who've been here a while. The whole team becomes your accountability partner as someone who has gotten a plus minus and work hard, play hard.

Speaker 2:

Why have you gotten a plus minus on work hard?

Speaker 3:

play hard, brittany, yeah, because I'm not refueling myself. And then it comes into play. You know, in my meetings, you know I'm more irritable than I should be because I'm not taking time, because I'm running on fumes. And so my team leads will be the first one to tell me like hey, maybe you need a day off, you know. Or in a people analyzer, like okay, what are the steps? Like it's not enough to just say hey, you got a plus, minus. You know and this is just me being honest with you and holding you accountable it's like what are these next steps to get a plus, the next quarter, and how can I help you get?

Speaker 2:

there, and it's more than we always tell people. It's more than just like're going to take a day off and they'll doom scroll, They'll lay on their couch Clean their garage.

Speaker 2:

They'll clean their garage out, they'll get caught up on their chores that they didn't get done the previous weekend, and that's not what's going to refuel people. And so we do have to hold them accountable in a deeper level, in a deeper way, and that is part of why we give them that book. You need to do some internal work and lots of people have never done that. We have full grown adults. I was one of them. I came onto the team, you know I think I was 30, almost 30 years old and I had no idea what is going to refuel me on a deeper level. So I don't reach this level of burnout. And so people have to go through these like deep discovery lessons on themselves as a person, and they don't think that a company, especially a law firm, are going to do this type of like deep emotional work with another, with a person, a team member, and they are, they're kind of in shock, so they get surprised by some of that stuff and they're like, oh, what are we?

Speaker 1:

doing yeah, no, we get that a lot the it's.

Speaker 3:

And they're like, oh, what are we doing? Yeah, no, we get that a lot. It's almost like they're waiting for the other shoe to drop. Yeah, and they just cannot believe we'd be this invested Sure.

Speaker 2:

We've also had team members. We make them take a full week of vacation, like five full business days in a row, and we have had to turn off people's email. Like we're like no, we're shutting down your access to your email. You can't stop yourself from working. Like you've got to go. We're serious, go, because there are lots of companies out there that will claim to have the work hard, play hard, core value, and so when they come in and hear that from us, we sometimes we have to prove to people that that is one of our real core values we're like no, go away, we need you to go play, it's time to do that. So we know the energy. Like we're telling people you need to go renew this in yourself. How are we doing that as an organization?

Speaker 3:

I think there are a few things that we do to make sure that it's a good reminder or staple. Some of those are office events, so once a quarter each office will do something. We have our culture captains that normally plan those things and it's a lot of fun. You know, last month, last month, we, the Bryan team we did pumpkin painting and we got to see all the kids and just have a fun time at the park and it's a great reminder that sometimes you just need to take a step away.

Speaker 2:

What about on like a team to team level or department by department, like what are some of the things that the leaders do to help kind of keep the energy levels high throughout the year?

Speaker 3:

For my team in particular, competitions. We get some friendly competitions going and that really can light a fire under them. They love it. It gets them hungry and it's just fun for them. It just it brings some of that playful aspect into their very serious job.

Speaker 2:

Steph, what are some of your favorite ways that we maintain energy throughout the year?

Speaker 1:

One of my favorite ways are appreciation cards. We love to send team members appreciation cards, whether it's handwritten or virtual. There's multiple ways that we can create them now due to technology changes after COVID. But it is my favorite thing to do is just send the team member a little token of appreciation, like hey, I noticed this and I just wanted you to know. Like I really appreciate that. Or I'm so thankful to have you on the team for X, y and Z reasons, because I know that brings them a lot of joy and encouragement whenever they do get to receive that and it's just a lot of fun. And in the moment it's fun for me to write it and take time to think like, oh, I am so grateful for this person.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, absolutely, and they're also great to receive. I do think that words of affirmation is just a reminder, like getting, like people need praise and so getting that is just like, yeah, I'm in the right seat and that's also our remarkable core value that's one half of our remarkable core value is to remark about others, to take the time to notice that people are doing an amazing job.

Speaker 2:

So that does refuel someone. They're like, oh, someone noticed me and that I am doing a good job and they want to keep doing a good job. Camps right To bring back that energy, bring people back to together, because when you're together and you're seeing your team together, it always brings the energy back into the room and inspires them to keep doing what they're doing, kind of re-engage people in our purpose and remind them that what they do matters. I think there's some other ways that we try to bring the energy back to the team. Like can you think of any other ways? We kind of make sure throughout the year we're really like peppering in those like little bursts of energy to keep the team motivated Well going?

Speaker 3:

back to the heart of appreciation. We have appreciation days that we make sure people are celebrated for. So in my role, it's the paralegal day. It's October 23rd and it's a lot of fun putting that together for them, and they know it's coming. But I think they also forget. Like they know it's around October but they don't really know, and so, even though we've done it for years, it's still a nice surprise with, like the bag of goodies on their desk.

Speaker 2:

And I know that we really took some time this year to appreciate our accounting department and they also were not expecting it and I think it meant a lot to them and I think it's small things like that that really go a long way with our team members for them to keep going when things are hard. So that's maybe a segue to a more difficult topic.

Speaker 2:

When things are hard and the energy's low. How do we identify what the issue is, whether it's the wrong person or the wrong seat? More look at our people analyzer what are the? Signs that it's maybe a wrong person.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I can give a good personal example to this. So there was a time in one of my team leads level 10s and so that's her and her 16 members and she ended up dropping it down in our level 10. And she's like, hey, my level 10 has been low energy lately and she thought it was her. She's like I don't know if I'm disconnected as a leader. I would really like somebody to come and sit in on my level 10 to shadow. And so I went in and I shadowed the level 10 and ended up being one team member and it was obvious to me because I'm a fresh eye.

Speaker 3:

And I went and talked to this team member in their next people analyzer and I was like I don't think you want it anymore and I think it's showing and I really want to get into that.

Speaker 3:

And we had to talk about it because, like she didn't want to admit that she didn't want it anymore. She loves this place. It was hard to think that this chapter could be closing and I want us to be able to have those uncomfortable conversations. It is really hard to say goodbye, but we can talk about that and just kind of opening that door, kind of opening that door and she is able like she loves the new place that she's at now. We still keep in contact, but just missing one part of that people analyzer, even if you've been great for years, it shows pretty quickly and it starts to gravitate in other areas and the radius gets larger. So it's really good on our like for my team lead for her to be able to like stop it and be like hey, somebody come and see it, because being able to recognize that helps a bit in the butt quicker.

Speaker 2:

So it sounds like your team member said hey, this is low energy and that's abnormal for us.

Speaker 2:

We're a high energy team and that low energy was a sign and a symptom of a different problem. That's right. So are there other things that kind of suck the energy out of the room from team members where we need to go in and like take care of that immediately, because I think we do a pretty good job of coaching and mentoring on all the other parts of the people in our analyzer that we can Like we want to spend the time to mentor people in their job and take care of them. What are some things that we're like we're just not going to tolerate because they are sucking the energy out of our organization?

Speaker 1:

It's negative speak that leads into gossip or venting in an unhealthy manner whenever we see that, because that affects the team greatly and they can feel it and even if they're not hearing everything there's body language and tone and just general facial cues and features that give off like I'm not happy. This isn't good and that's when we would step in as well and talk to that team member and, depending on the level of if it is gossip or what negative speak they're having, those issues like that could speed up the timeline of having them exit the firm, especially if they're having a huge impact on the team, like their team directly or the wider team, because the greater the radius and the more damage, the quicker we have to resolve the issue, whether that's coaching or them exiting.

Speaker 3:

Part of what is really helpful with those things is that our expectations are so clear. There's so many different ways throughout the organization, our expectations are spoken and so when that drama happens, there are people who come because they are protective and they want to make sure that this does get dealt with and that we are able to either coach the situation or decide if somebody isn't the right seat anymore so many more things we could say on this subject matter, so I just want to thank you both for being here today and thank you all for tuning in.

Speaker 2:

If you have any questions or comments you want to add, please send them to podcast at danielstarkcom and until then, stay remarkable.