Managing Stress

There’s a movie that I want you all to watch. It is part of a documentary series on Netflix called “7 Days Out”. The idea is they take big events and break them down to what happens during the week leading up to that great event. The episode I want you to watch right now (and by now, I mean yesterday) is Eleven Madison Park. It is about the #1 restaurant in the world and how the staff and owners face a flurry of nerve-wracking challenges as they race to reopen after extensive renovations. 

 

Here’s what I want you to do:

After you have watched this episode (it’s about 48 min), I want you to show it to your whole team. That’s right- order some pizza, get some notepads and pens, and turn on Netflix. I promise this will be one of the best lunch meetings you’ve ever had with your team. Why? It is a master class in understanding

• How to deal with pressure
• How to work with teams
• How to let professionals do a professional job

 

As I watched it, I came out with 50+ lessons you can learn from it about being a high-functioning team. As you watch with your team, have them pick out what they saw that was unique and different in the team in the show. Watch for both the big things and the little, subtle things. 

 

For example, I especially loved seeing them all stay calm during the stress storm. They had tons of pressure to make sure everything got done by their deadline. These are New Yorkers so you might expect a little attitude, some raised voices, and dare I say, impatience? But there was none of that. No one yelled, no bickering, no “that’s not my job”. It’s amazing. 

 

If you have a challenge with people who are not motivated, who have not bought into your vision, who are not working as a member of the team, this documentary will help them see what they should be doing. 

 

Bonus- it will also show you what good leadership looks like during the storms. You’ll see how you can approach things or let things go. 

 

But don’t just watch, apply what you learn. Take 2-3 lessons and focus on those things. See how it transforms how you approach your team and how the team approaches each other. 

 

I would love to hear how this goes for you and your team. When you have completed my challenge, reply to this email and let me know how it went. What lessons did your team learn? What were your biggest takeaways? What 2-3 things are you going to work on next?