Mike Figliuolo – Page 56 – thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

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Entries by Mike Figliuolo

How big a part of your role as a leader is process improvement?

October 16, 2014 /0 Comments/in Leadership, Poll, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: How big a part of your role as a leader is process improvement? – It’s huge. Process improvement is the majority of my role: 15.45% – It’s large. A big part of my role is process improvement: 47.54% – It’s moderate. I do some process improvement but not a lot: 28.35% – It’s small. I spend very little time on process improvement: 8.66% Process consumes our time: The vast majority of you are focused on process improvement as a large part of your role. While that’s great and our processes need improved, much of that work is focused on your management skills. As leaders, don’t forget the substantial amount of your time and effort that needs to be dedicated to helping your people grow and develop. If you have a choice between spending your time on improving a process or spending it on building the skills of your team members, I encourage you to choose the latter. As I discuss in this article, doing so strengthens your team, your organization, and enables you to get more done because you use your team’s talents to the fullest. Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below! – Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

If You Hate Your Job so Much, Shut Up and Quit

October 15, 2014 /6 Comments/in Career /by Mike Figliuolo

Do you find yourself frequently muttering “I hate my job” every day when you wake up? Have you been saying that for more than a month straight? Are people starting to avoid you because you’re a downer to be around? Then it’s probably time to shut your face and quit your job. Yep. Time for another provocative post that’s a slap upside the head for some of you just like the 10 Reasons Your Team Hates You post got a ton of attention. I know – the economy is terrible. I know – you need health insurance. I know – you have to pay your mortgage. I know – you have to feed your kids. I know all those things make it hard to just up and quit. All I’m saying is if you’re that miserable you have some serious introspection to do. What I’d like to offer are a few thoughts on how to think through that process. Your Employment is “At Will” When folks read their employment contracts they tend to focus on the point that their employer can let them go at any time. What they never think about is they’re free to quit anytime as well. For those of you lucky enough to have stock options or other long-term unvested incentives, I’m going to tell you to shut your cakeholes if you protest that you can’t leave because of everything you’re walking away from. “But Mike! I have a gazillion dollars of options and I can’t quit or I’ll lose them!” Shut up. Now. You’re making a choice – you’re CHOOSING to hate what you do in exchange for a financial reward you’ll get after you finish doing what you hate. Hmmm… sounds eerily similar to another very old profession. The first step in evaluating whether […]

5 Ways to Give Your Culture a Helping Hand

October 13, 2014 /1 Comment/in Books, Communications, Entrepreneur, Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Linda Henman, Ph.D., author of Challenge the Ordinary (CLICK HERE to get your copy). More than nine hundred years ago the Clan MacDonald and Clan McLeod found themselves entangled in yet another battle—one of many that involved the two most powerful groups on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. As the legend goes, Donald, the clan chief of the MacDonalds wanted finally to stop the fighting between the two families. To that end, he proposed that the two clans engage in a sea race rather than a battle. He swore an oath that the clansman whose hand first touched the shore at the end of the race would be the owner of the MacDonald castle and land forever. The McLeods had everything to gain and nothing to lose—provided they agreed to live in peace with the MacDonalds, no matter who won the race. At a critical point in the race, Donald realized that the McLeods were winning. Desperate to protect his property, he sprang to the prow of the galley, and with one stroke of his dirk, cut off his own hand and threw it to the shore, thus ensuring a victory and the ownership of the land for himself and his descendants. To this day the crest of the MacDonalds boasts a bleeding hand, and Ru Barnaskitaig, the point where the hand landed, remains famous on the Isle of Skye. Most modern organizations can trace their origins back decades, not centuries. But many of those that have survived and continued to thrive in a tough economy embody the lessons learned from cultures that have endured through the ages. Historically, Scottish clan chiefs measured their success, not in financial wealth, but in the number of men they could put into battle. People not related by blood […]

Where do you spend the majority of your management efforts?

October 9, 2014 /0 Comments/in Career, Communications, Leadership, Poll /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: Where do you spend the majority of your time and effort? – Managing up (bosses, customers, senior stakeholders): 39.32% – Managing across (peers, partners, stakeholders): 34.76% – Managing down (team members, suppliers): 25.92% It’s interesting we spend more time managing up than we do managing our teams. That can be good and bad. If you’re managing up to get resources for your team and to advocate for the work they’re doing by removing roadblocks, then bully for you. If you’re managing up because bosses, stakeholders and other senior executives are micromanaging, you must realize that those efforts are stealing your energy away from the people who could really use it — your team members. If possible, spend less time managing up and invest that time in your team. They’ll appreciate your doing so. Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below! – Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

How Your Lack of Transparency is Destroying Your Team

October 8, 2014 /3 Comments/in Communications, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Opacity kills. People want to know what’s going on. They expect their leaders to be up front with them and share information. When “leaders” use information as a source of power, it’s the beginning of the end for their team. People see right through that power grab and that “leader’s” trust quotient plummets. Most of us know this yet many of us still hoard information. Why? It all seems very reasonable when we do. The logic goes like this: – I’m the team leader and I’ve been placed in a position of trust and responsibility. – In that position of responsibility, I work on important things. – Some of those things are so important that people can’t be told about them until they’re “ready” to be told. – That means I have to withhold information from my people because it’s in their own best interests. Wrong. Rationalizing like this is the fastest way to get your people talking behind your back. It gets them all atwitter (or even worse… on Twitter) at the water cooler wondering what the latest palace intrigue is. They begin to wonder if the secret information you’re withholding is actually about them and then paranoia sets in. And while all of this is going on, no work is getting done and people are freaking out. And it’s all your fault. But it can be prevented.

Don’t Hold People Accountable – Help Them Instead

October 6, 2014 /1 Comment/in Books, Career, Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Brendan Reid, author of Stealing the Corner Office (CLICK HERE to get your copy). I embraced the first 10 years of my career with enough passion and intensity to sink a ship. I was Captain Accountability. I demanded excellence from myself and from everyone else around me. And for a long time I pointed to these attributes as my greatest strengths. I underscored them in my constant griping about the unfairness of my situation. You see, for what seemed to me like no good reason at all, I wasn’t getting ahead. I spent the better part of a decade stuck in middle management quick sand. I got passed over for one promotion after another in spite of the fact I was highly intelligent, skillful and passionate. It just didn’t add up. And then one day a colleague of mine pulled me aside and let me in on a painful little secret. I can still hear him now. “Brendan …” he eked out in the kind of soft voice normally reserved for doctors delivering bad news, “… you make people uncomfortable. You push people too hard. You’re not getting promoted because nobody can stand the thought of you having any real authority.” Umm… what? My world crumbled around me. I learned the hardest and most important career lesson of my life that day. One I will never forget and that I feel compelled to share with my fellow managers and aspiring executives: When it comes to advancing your career, you’re better served building a reputation for helping people than for holding them accountable.

What’s the biggest barrier to change in your organization?

October 2, 2014 /1 Comment/in Leadership, Poll /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: What’s the biggest barrier to change in your organization? – Inertia and the power of the status quo: 34% – Lack of resources/competing priorities: 32% – People not wanting to take risks that could hurt them: 26% – Lack of skills/expertise to make changes: 5% – We have no challenges and make changes as we need to: 3% The fear of change and the fear of risk are the big barriers to moving your organization forward. When you look at the power of the status quo — 34% — dominating the lack of change, the root cause is because the status quo is known, comfortable and relatively risk-free. Add the dynamic of people fearing taking risks because of personal implications, and you have a recipe for inaction. The result is that resources are all allocated to less-risky projects while ones that drive change are starved. Your job as a leader is to break that inertia, balance the risk of your project portfolio and make change happen. Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below! – Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

7 Ways to Communicate More Effectively in a Digital Age

October 1, 2014 /3 Comments/in Books, Communications /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Frank Pietrucha, thoughtLEADERS instructor and author of Supercommunicator (CLICK HERE to get your copy). Are your communication skills up to digital snuff? We all know hairstyles and hem lengths change but now styles of expression are also evolving… just like a fashion trend. Do you automatically think “document” or “PowerPoint” when tasked with originating content? If you’re still writing long, linear prose that sits on paper like a lump, chances are you could benefit from a communication makeover. Don’t wait until your boss or client stages an intervention. It’s critical that you communicate in a digital-friendly style. The art of communication is very different today than it was a mere two decades ago when our access to data was limited. The Internet has altered not only how we get information but also how we express ourselves. Digital technology is re-wiring our brains and reshaping how we communicate. The Internet has turned careful, deliberate readers into hungry information predators. Power scanning, instead of deep reading, is something we all do. New digital tools make it easier for people to access content. The rise of video, audio, graphics and interactive features gives content producers the ammunition to fight battles in the name of knowledge. Words, pictures, and symbols – the very shape of content – is evolving before our eyes. The written word isn’t going away, but is being transformed. The days of straight running text on paper as our principal means of expressing ideas and delivering information are numbered as new digital tools change our communication landscape. New tools and technologies, along with new attitudes, are changing all that. For some this transformation is liberating… for others, it’s terrifying. Here are a few suggestions and techniques to help you manage the transition:

The Leader’s Edge – Paradox Thinking

September 29, 2014 /4 Comments/in Books, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Deborah Schroeder-Saulnier, author of The Power of Paradox (CLICK HERE to get your copy). A company wants to be known for innovation at the same time customers embrace it for its stability, to thrill shareholders with strong short-term revenue results and concurrently take actions to ensure long-term health. From those two examples alone, it should be easy to see how failure to manage a critical pair of opposites results in the company stumbling and, perhaps, failing. Paradox thinking is “and” thinking. It is thinking that identifies pairs of opposites and determines how they are interdependent relative to a key goal. In the previous examples, one pair of opposites is “short-term revenue and long-term health.” They are interdependent because both are vital in achieving the goal of a thriving organization. Failure to manage the pair of opposites may result in the company going out of business; at the very least, it will result in its slow decline. Affirm Health (real company with name changed) has ascended to the summit of its industry during its 100+ year history. It is one of the largest hospital systems in the United States, and in staying true to its aim to provide care regardless of ability to pay, it is a top provider of care to people who are uninsured and underinsured. Affirm Health has a corporate structure that inherently involves two set of needs because it is a health-care system and a collection of hospitals. Affirm Health’s mission is to serve the healthcare needs of all people, including those who need assistance with paying. At the same time, the organization’s vision statement refers to a strong, vibrant health care business, which is something that cannot be accomplished without decent margins. The analogous tension between addressing needs of the community and […]

When does providing feedback become too distracting?

September 25, 2014 /1 Comment/in Leadership, Poll /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: When does providing feedback become too distracting? – Never. All feedback is great to give and receive: 12% – Sometimes. People don’t always provide actionable feedback: 71% – Often. Too much feedback becomes distracting and confusing: 14% – All of the time. Enough with the feedback already. Let’s do some work: 3% Our feedback needs work. Many of you expressed frustration, it seems, not only about the quantity of feedback but also whether it is actionable. Unless feedback has a “request for change” with it, sometimes it’s hard for the recipient to do anything with it. That leaves people frustrated. When you provide feedback, make sure you give the person actionable behavior to change. Or, if the person has done something well, make it known specifically what action should be replicated. If you’re the recipient and the feedback isn’t actionable, ask the giver to suggest what you should do differently. If you do this consistently, the quality of feedback should improve. Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below! – Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

3 Key Skills You Must Have to Lead a High Performing Team

September 24, 2014 /1 Comment/in Entrepreneur, Leadership, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

As the leader of a high performing team, you’re personally responsible for making sure your team has the required set of skills to succeed and execute against all the initiatives on your prioritization list. You need to evaluate your team’s mission, look at the key initiatives, and then map out the skills and capabilities required to succeed. Once you’ve done that, you have to assess your existing team and see which skills they have, which ones they don’t, and which team members might be detractors from what you’re trying to achieve. If you’re lucky, you too might have a Bean curd person of high skill on your team already. (Seriously, when I saw that pic on flickr when I was searching for “skill” I simply had to use it). You also have to think about and understand your team’s culture which is driven by the vision of what you’re trying to achieve as well as the broader organizational culture. Quickly figure out “Do my team members fit within that culture?” We’ve all seen people who are great performers and can get the task done, but they don’t work well with other members of the team. You need to either help them fit in or find people who are going to be more appropriate fits for the team. To successfully build this team, you have to think about several types of skills that are required for delivering outstanding performance: 1. Technical skills. Perhaps it’s coding, doing analysis, writing, or creating documents – every team needs a specific set of technical skills to turn out the products and services it is responsible for. 2. Functional skills. Skills like problem-solving, strategic planning, decision-making, communicating, and presenting are examples of functional skills your team members might need to have.

What Makes a Group Smart?

September 22, 2014 /0 Comments/in Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is is adapted from a longer interview with Thomas Malone, conducted by Art Kleiner of strategy+business. What if you could measure the intelligence of a group? What if you could predict which committees, assigned to design a horse, would end up with a camel, versus which would develop a thoroughbred—or a race car? The MIT Sloan School of Management’s Center for Collective Intelligence (CCI) was set up to accomplish just that sort of evaluation. Under the leadership of its founding director, Thomas W. Malone, the center’s ambition is to put forth a new theory of group performance, bringing together insights from social psychology, computer science, group dynamics, social media, crowdsourcing, and the center’s own experiments in group behavior. The results could help business teams produce more thoroughbreds and fewer camels. S+B: How did you make the leap from individual to collective intelligence in your own research? MALONE: We started with our basic definition: an intelligent group of individuals is one that acts together in ways that seem intelligent to an observer. As with individual intelligence, the observer has to pick some set of goals with respect to which to evaluate the group’s intelligence. But notice that in this case, the goals the observer uses may not be the same as those of any individuals in the group. For instance, you might evaluate the “intelligence” of a group of pedestrians on a busy New York City sidewalk on the basis of how evenly they distribute themselves over the sidewalk, even though each individual is just trying to get to a destination without colliding with someone else. S+B: Are you more likely to have mediocre people become a smart group, or are you more likely to have smart people become a mediocre group? MALONE: Statistically, either could happen. Of course, we all […]