Taking Stock

Dan, my college roommate from freshman year just passed away. Much too soon. Inoperable cancer. He was one of the good ones.

Why am I writing about a personal situation in a business post?

Dan's passing led me to think about things I had not thought about. And I think all of us can benefit from doing so every now and again. So this piece is a bit different than my others, but hopefully you find it insightful just the same.

The Backstory

Though we were quite different, Dan and I were inseparable. We were assigned as roomates because we both played lacrosse. Dan was a big guy, a defenseman. Me not so much. In fact, rumor had it at that time, that I was the smallest guy, at least by weight, to start on an NCAA lacrosse team.

Being as small as I was, competing at the collegiate level in such a physical sport meant having to make greater use of other resources. It also gave me a secret advantage. The opposing team's defensemen took one look at my small size, and dismissed me as a threat. 

Until I blew right past them. And then did it again. And again. I was super fast back then. Logically, they should have seen that coming precisely because of my size. But instead, they were dismissive, And because of their own misjudging of things, I was able to catch them out of position, and off to the races I went.  

Taking Stock Helps You See Your Actions in a Different Light

In taking stock now, I also realize that my lack of physical size, was never a detriment to me, but in fact, the opposite. During the 30 years I spent conducting witness interviews for civil plaintiff, and criminal defense attorneys, as well as when conducting internal investigations for businesses, nonprofits, and government organizations.

My lack of size, aided my ability to connect with people who saw me as less imposing. And it literally allowed me to blend in better than most people. Both of those made it easier for witnesses to feel more relaxed around me during the interview. And a relaxed witness is much more forthcoming than one who is guarded.

Although I scored quite a few goals, my main role was to find an open teammate, and get the ball to him, and to do it quickly enough where he'd be able to get off a shot before the goalie could react.

I didn't know what it was called back then (situational awareness), but developing the ability to read the environment around me and the people within effectively helped me set up a lot of scoring opportunities.

And in taking stock, my ability to do so, taught me why developing situational awareness is THE most important strategy to avoid physical harm from workplace violence. Literally, reading the people around you, will keep your employees safer than any other strategy they could implement.

And finally, in taking stock of my lacrosse days so many years ago, I realized that the single best resource I used to my advantage on the field, helped make things happen, with greater outcomes.

And that was my willingness to head right into the thick of it. As the smallest guy on the field, it would have been easier to sit back and let things unfurl instead of trying to create an opportunity by jumping in. I'd probably have sustained fewer injuries if I did that too.

But, easier does make things happen. So instead, I got right into the mix. Doing so gave me the opportunity to pick up a lose ball and turn that into a 2 on 1 fast break opportunity, or to block out a defenseman so that one of my other teammates could pick up the ball and go.

In retrospect, I conducted 1000s of successful witness interviews, not by calling first, or setting up an appointment, but instead by walking up to the door unannounced (a witness cold call), knocking on the door, and quickly convince the witness to be interviewed about the incident in question.

And I did so knowing very little about the witness, or who else might be inside the house. And more often than not these witness cold calls took place in not great areas.

But, doing so created the opportunity to get past a no. A cold call is actually more effective at getting a person to say yes to being interviewed about something difficult they witnessed than it is to call that person  on the phone.

I could have also sat back by using subpoenas to develop information when I conducted contract investigations into allegations of misconduct by judges for the New Mexico Judicial Standards Commission.

But, instead, I reached out directly to possible witnesses, built rapport with them, and got them to speak freely, about what they had witnessed. And to do so knowing full well that judges can be influential in a community.

But going straight at it was the most effective approach for achieving results. 

Creating New Avenues To Help

I literally helped thousands of people going through difficult times through my litigation investigation work. It also opened a new door for me.

I had a few law firm clients that were having safety concerns due to the matters their firms were working on so they reached out to me and asked me to train their staff in safety, and to conduct safety assessments of their work locations.

These law firms were already familiar with my ability to keep safe from the safety risks I navigated in the work that I did for them. And they also knew that for many years, I had been teaching self-defense, based upon what the allied forces taught to the women and men they put behind nazi lines to work with the local resistance.

After working with the law firms to keep their staff safer, those services soon expanded to include all types of businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations, and even the staff of a United States Senator.

And while I no longer conduct investigations, I do provide litigation investigation training services to plaintiff law firms, as well as training in conducting internal investigations to HR and safety personnel.

In taking stock, I now know that all of this came about because of my willingness, come what may, to head into the thick of things. 

Speaking of resources, I’ve put together a few helpful ones for you:

Workplace Violence Prevention Resources

• My California Workplace Violence Prevention Manual is available on Amazon.
• Free Training on Demystifying Strategies to Avoid Physical Harm: The most important; yet, least understood requirement in California’s workplace violence prevention law.
• Step-by-step training to take you through the process of outlining your California compliant workplace violence prevention plan

Investigation Resources

• Effective Litigation Investigations is available on Amazon. 
• 6 Steps to More Effective Interviews
• Internal Investigations Checklist