“If the results you get aren’t the results you want, you need to change the system,” I said emphatically.

“I don’t have a system!” my client screamed back at me.

Apparently I’m irritating enough to warrant a scream. I like to call it “coaching,” but I don’t think that’s what she calls it.

She does have a system--a crappy system--that doesn’t work the way she wants it to. Not having a system is, in itself, a system.

We all have a system. If the system is bad, the results are bad. The system works perfectly to deliver bad results because the system is designed that way. Most of us have systems that deliver bad results repeatedly.

However, we can change the system. We can alter the input to get new output.

Often the new actions you take are no more difficult or time-consuming than the old approach. But because you’re doing the right things, you get the right results.

Here are my top 15 ideas you can use to change a bad system into a better system. When you change these inputs, you’ll get better outputs.

1. Set a goal.

For most of us, the goal is to survive until tomorrow.

What happens when we have that goal? It pays off: You survive until tomorrow.

What if the goal was bigger? What if the goal was beautiful, powerful, and meaningful? What if achieving the goal brought you health, wealth, happiness, and fulfillment?

If you’re someone who achieves his or her goals (“survive until tomorrow”), why not pick a goal that makes a bigger difference in your life?

Remember, you already have a system. How about we change the input? If the system works, use it to get a better output.

2. One thing per day

Your task lists are probably overly ambitious. You get distressed when the list gets longer instead of shorter, so you double down and pledge to work even harder going forward.

But what happens when your list gets longer and longer?

Eventually you stop checking it. At some point, you abandon the list entirely. You spend your days responding to urgent matters as they come in and the list becomes a distant memory.

What if you did the opposite? What if you promised yourself to do just one thing instead of many?

Maybe by committing to do just one thing, you’ll stop ignoring your list.

A better system is to pick something--anything--each day and get it done, regardless of the interruptions. Don’t worry about anything else on the list until the “one thing” is done.

By focusing on a priority, instead of the entire list, you’ll knock something off the list each day. Over a year that’s a lot of things off the list.

Move toward your goal one day at a time. Small steps will get you there. There will be good days and bad days, but you’ll get where you’re going if you take one step forward each day.

3. Delete the tasks you’ll never do

How many things on your task list have been there forever? A shocking number, I bet.

You’re not going to do them. Accept it and move on.

For instance, I bet you need a will. You put it on your list back in 2012, but it’s still there. Just accept that you’re going to die intestate and scratch that task off the list.

There are many things you ought to do that you never will. There’s no point keeping those tasks on your list and distracting you from the things you will do.

Personally, I can’t cope with deleting those tasks entirely. Instead, I cut them off my task list and put them in an Evernote folder where I never see them. I still have them, but they’re out of my field of vision.

4. Stop spending money you don’t have

Until you set a goal and hit your financial target, lay off the spending.

How about you stop adding to payroll when you don’t have the cash?

How about you stop buying extra software you don’t need?

How about waiting on the new car?

What if you put off renting that bigger office space?

The lawyer says, “We’re borro…

Advice is valuable. It often saves us wasted time and effort. That's especially true when it comes to running and growing our practices. It’s important to ask for advice. Lots of advice. You can always choose to ignore it. Unfortunately, lawyers hesitate to ask for advice when it comes to the practice of law. We fear that asking for help makes us appear ignorant, weak or clueless. But that isn’t the reality. Asking for advice has the opposite effect. It makes us seem likable, approachable, and strong.

Once upon a time, I felt like I had to do everything by myself if it was going to be done right. Those days were chaotic, horrible, and stressful.

It was especially bad when a deadline loomed, my team frustrated me, the computers failed, and the client asked too many questions.

Back then, I seized control—I kicked everyone out—and I knew I was the only person on the planet who could fix whatever problem I was dealing with.

I had to do it all by myself because I was sure that was the only way to get it done. So I pushed everyone away, often with an obnoxious, alienating, mean-spirited outburst that would later come back to haunt me.

My response to high-pressure circumstances was rarely elegant.

Apparently, most people don’t see temper tantrums as team-building. Who knew?

It took me a long time to hide my asshole-ish-ness in those situations. It would be great if I could solve the problem, but hiding it seems to be as far as I can go. (I didn't play any team sports as a kid. In retrospect, I can see the benefit of learning to cooperate with others early on. Sadly, I don't think Little League tryouts are open to people in their 50s who have finally seen the light.)

I realized along the way that seizing control of situations and indulging my desire to fix everything myself isn’t a realistic solution.

You can’t solve all the problems. There isn’t enough time in the day. There isn’t enough money in the world. There isn’t enough oxygen in the room.

Maybe other people can do it all themselves, but...

You can’t do it all.

I certainly understand the desire to do it yourself.

You want to fix the problem and put it behind you. You want to control it so you know it’s being handled properly. You want to maintain control over it until you decide the time is right to let go.

But so many things can go wrong…

The pleading gets filed late, costing your client her claim.

The software eats the data, costing you days’ worth of work.

The client’s check bounces, which disrupts payroll and your team’s paychecks.

The upset client posts a nasty 1-star review on Google, Avvo, and Yelp.

The courthouse clerk loses the order you promised you’d have to your client in time to prevent a disaster.

The tiny typo turns into an expensive problem.

The judgment is discharged in bankruptcy, the offer is withdrawn, or the promise is broken.

Some days are so bad that we want to get back in bed, pull the covers over our head, and go back to sleep. Some days we feel that way before lunchtime.

When it happens, you will reflexively want to fix everything yourself. Don't do it. This is when you need help and when your investment in a solid team pays off.

These are the moments you need to turn to your people.

The team solves many problems and prevents others

There’s a lot you can do to build your business other than investing in your people.

You can prevent many problems by building solid systems documentation for your standard procedures.

You can purchase, create, and customize technology to execute on those systems.

You can create a philosophy around your approach to solving problems that’s consistent with your values and beliefs, and use those ideas to reinforce your systems and technology.

But all the value statements, documentation, and technology in the world can’t help if your people aren’t capable of dealing with unanticipated problems and pressures.

Sure, Starbucks or McDonald's can use a formula to solve most of their problems. But even they run into issues when they’re forced to deal with complex and unanticipated situations.

Unfortunately, much of what happens in a law firm is complex and unanticipated.

By building systems and implementing technology, you elevate the performance of your team. You give them a floor to stand on. You lift them higher.

B…

Disasters strike unexpectedly. They are unpredictable. Yet they occur with some frequency. It’s wise to assume disaster will strike at some point. It might happen soon. It might be devastating. It's better to be prepared. I talk endlessly about systems. Many of us have done a pretty good job of documenting our procedures, but only for normal days.

Your KPI (key performance indicator) is your North Star.

It's the guiding light that helps you focus your energy, make decisions, and align your team. It’s the one number that matters more than the rest.

I love to work the abbreviation "KPI" into conversations because it makes me sound like I know business stuff. Using KPI in a sentence makes me sound smarter than I am.

(That's also true of "EBITDA"--Earning Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization. Sadly, EBITDA confuses me. I only say it when I get really desperate to seem smart.)

Thankfully I have clarity around KPIs. I know what they are and how to use them. But I use the term differently than some people, so I'll provide my definition and then I'll help you find the KPI for your law firm.

Your performance indicators drive your decisions

If you make business decisions based on your gut--instead of your business numbers--you're in good company.

Most lawyers make business decisions based on how they feel. They’re driven by emotions, rather than data.

They invest more in marketing when things are slow. They stop taking new cases when they feel busy. They rarely consult their financial information before they make these decisions because they don’t have clear, understandable reports.

Of course, not having financial data is a mistake. You should be able to answer your own questions when you want an explanation. Why did you take home $50,000 in January, but only $10,000 in February? You deserve an answer.

Being able to answer these questions gives you the information you need in order to make smart decisions about moving your business forward.

Some lawyers rely on overly complex profit and loss statements or balance sheets. Or even worse, they agonize over raw numbers: how many potential clients called or how many new clients visited the office.

We get more value out of our data when it’s digested and distilled into something useful. This is why turning data into an understandable KPI is incredibly powerful.

You need to figure out which numbers matter and which don't, and you need to be able to tell, at a glance, what's happening in your firm.

You need to know your KPI like you know your phone number. Then you need to learn how to push that number. This will make you dramatically more successful.

If you don’t know your KPI (and how to push it), you won’t be successful. It’s as simple as that.

So join me on this little adventure as we hunt for your key performance indicator.

Many numbers matter, but some matter more

Many numbers are important to a business.

In fact, I’m a big fan of using dashboards to keep you wired into the health of your business in real-time. You should to be able watch as the business ebbs and flows.

Your dashboard should reveal your business data as easily and naturally as the dashboard in your car. One glance should answer your questions quickly so you can assess the health of the business.

Why are profits down? Is it a revenue problem or an expense problem? One click should provide the answer. If it's a revenue issue, what causes it? The volume of new business or the productivity of your team? Again, one click.

Your dashboard should display trends over 12 months so you can see, objectively, whether this moment is better or worse than previous moments.

The more information you can access from your dashboard, the easier it is to drive your business.

To that end, your dashboard should include information related to your …

Revenue

Expenses

Client satisfaction

Cash

Debt

Number of calls

Cases and consults

Marketing touches

Receivables

Payables

Revenue per employee

Average fee per client

Marketing expense per client

I could go on and on about different numbers you could graph. In fact, you can learn more about dashboards an…

When we were in Bali, we hired a driver for a tour. At one point, she stopped unexpectedly and the next thing we knew, we were trapped in a sales pitch. She tried to sell us bags of coffee beans. If this has never happened to you, I’ll warn you that it’s a common thing in many tourist areas. The drivers get a small commission for delivering warm bodies to salespeople.

Some lawyers lie to me. It happens like this:

“My marketing isn’t working,” they say. “I’m doing the networking thing. I’m meeting other lawyers, doing lunches and coffee. And I even joined a Business Network International group.”

(The BNI thing always annoys me. I’ve never encouraged anyone to join a BNI group. “Why did you join a BNI?” I ask them. “Because it’s in your networking course,” they say. “No it isn’t,” I tell them, then try to get back to the important part of the conversation. But at that point I’m agitated. Why do people join those freaking BNI groups?)

You are lying if you say one thing and do another

When people claim their marketing isn’t working, I ask to see the evidence. “Show me your calendar,” I demand.

That’s where they freeze. “It won’t show much,” they say. Then the excuses come out.

“I was in trial for two weeks.”

“I was on vacation the week before that.”

“I just don’t have much free time.”

They fast-talk me with excuses before they ever show their calendar. Lawyers know when a trap is coming, and when to jump out of the way.

If they show me their calendar, it rarely shows evidence of coffee and lunch dates. It’ll show client meetings, court appearances, and parent/teacher meetings at their kid's school. There’ll be nothing about Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts or Biggby.

They aren’t “doing the networking thing”

At this point, I can feel the chemicals that make me say mean stuff coursing through my brain. I feel like I’m cross examining them. I remind myself to be polite, professional and understanding. Sadly, that approach has NEVER worked for me. I lack self-control.

“The reason your networking isn’t working is because you’re not doing it,” I say, trying to suppress my mean-spirited victory dance.

“You’ve got to actually meet people to make this work,” I say. They know I’ve got them, of course, otherwise they would have shown me their calendar. They squirm and regret mentioning the topic in the first place.

They always think they’re going to enjoy my consulting. Ha!

Next, they try to change the subject, of course. They talk about “time management.”

It’s as predictable as the sunrise.

They go into tirades about how they don’t have time to handle their client work and the intake calls. (Why are there intake calls if the marketing isn’t working? This always confuses me, but I hear it over and over. It usually involves wanting to hire an intake staffer.)

“There just isn’t any time,” they say, sometimes with tears in their eyes. (Tears don’t work on me. I was a divorce lawyer for 30 years. Crying men don't faze me.)

“I’m on overload,” they continue. Sometimes they’re red-in-the-face angry. I suppose I should console them, but that’s not something I do because I’m not that nice.

I get on them about how they’re undercharging. That’s why they’re too busy to market. They give it away for free, so they’re working (for low rates) way too many hours.

But they believe their own bullshit. I get the standard excuse. “I can’t charge more because my clients won’t pay more.” Yes, I've had this exact conversation many, many--too many--times.

At this point, they realize I've got them. (This is also when I do my silent, motionless happy dance.) Clients won’t pay what the lawyer is worth is because that lawyer won’t do the marketing.

Better marketing means better clients, which means higher fees, which means more time to do better marketing.

Finally, the conversation comes back around to where we started.

I ask: “So why aren’t you doing the networking?”

All marketing works--if you do it

Look--all marketing works. I promise. Those who take action get results. It’s not rocket science. It’s not even science. It just works.

You wake up, you put on your suit and your fancy shoes, and you go talk to people. Some of those people like …

Once upon a time, the days right before the beginning of a vacation were the most productive of the entire year. We would focus, push ourselves, and get things done. Those pre-vacation sprints used to be incredible. We knew that if we didn’t hit the deadline, we’d have to either cancel our trip or accept the consequences of being late. But the internet and our portable devices have diminished that effect.

Sometimes it's the little things that wreak havoc with our carefully manufactured image.

We spend a lot of energy playing the part. We get a nice haircut, we make ourselves smell nice, and we dress up in a fancy suit.

Even our office space plays a role in our quest to make the right impression.

We hang diplomas on the wall next to our law license, opposite the perfect piece of art. The furniture is solid and brightly polished. Some of us lay out fancy $100 pens. We hide the piles of unfinished work in a lower drawer.

We think carefully about the words we say, the stories we tell, the friends we keep, the hobbies we enjoy, and the things we buy. We spend considerable energy playing the part and delivering on expectations.

But it can all unravel in an instant.

Sometimes it's the smallest thing that undermines our credibility. Sometimes we don't notice when it happens or understand why. We don't see what others see.

Of course, we can't control other people's perceptions entirely. They see what they choose to see through their own filters.

And they interpret what they see in their own way. There's simply no way to control what other people think.

But we can try.

Here are some of the things I've seen damage a lawyer's credibility. They're mostly small, but they cut to the core of what people evaluate when they decide to trust one another.

1. Email domain (and something free for you)

Your email address shouldn't matter. In fact, many people won't even notice your address. But if they do, it shouldn't draw attention away from your name and message.

When people get your email, you want them to think, "Nice email. He must be a smart, impressive lawyer."

You don't want them to think, "1985 is calling from America Online."

Is your email address [email protected]? How embarrassing. AOL? Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail? Seriously?

Instead, get a cool email address like [email protected]. That's a sweet address that screams "I am important, successful, and smart." You need an address like mine.

If you're plagued by one of those outdated, distracting, credibility-damaging email addresses, use our free course to fix the problem in an hour. What are you waiting for? Here's the email domain course.

2. Ugly work product

We used to work on cases with a lawyer who used multiple fonts in every document. He was a nice, creative, solid lawyer, but people perceived him as a clown due to his unprofessional work product.

His documents were always entertaining. Sometimes they made us laugh. They were even a little persuasive.

But it was all so weird and unprofessional. His paperwork diminished his credibility even when he wasn't physically present.

Be creative, be different, and use design to create a work product that's useful, understandable, and persuasive. But make sure it looks good. Don't go crazy and wind up looking ridiculous.

3. Bad breath and poor grooming

Is it just me or is bad breath the worst?

When I get trapped by someone with bad breath, I want to throw up a little in my mouth (which I suppose would give me bad breath).

You can be the nicest person on the planet and say the smartest things, but horrible breath is a deal-breaker.

If you have killer breath, please stand back. Give that toxic brew some space to dissipate in the air. Please don't get that Sarin gas crap on me. Buy some breath mints!

While we're at it, get a haircut and trim that thing you call a beard. Bathe once in a while, too. Use hygiene products that smell nice (but not so much that your clients suffocate).

Oh, and take care of your fingernails. If you wear makeup, get it right.

It's great that you love to exercise, but shower after your workouts please. When your odor arrives before you even enter the room, your credibility crumbles.

4. Dumpy car

Back when I was a 25 year-old…

I loved/hated owning a law firm. The team, the clients, the other lawyers, the judges, the clerks, the expert witnesses... I loved/hated them all.

It was awesome when I loved them. But there were days when I hated opposing counsel, my associates, the judges, the clerks, my team, and especially the clients. They wore me down, tired me out, made me cry, and destroyed my optimism.

I finished many of my days broken and discouraged.