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Entries by Mike Figliuolo

Are you willing to do favors at work?

February 6, 2014 /3 Comments/in Poll /by Mike Figliuolo

Our reader poll today asks: What’s your approach to doing favors for others in the workplace? – I help out everyone who asks whether I know they’ll reciprocate or not: 82% – I’ll help anyone once but if they never reciprocate I won’t help them again: 14% – I’ll help only people who are likely to help me in the future: 2% – I’ll do favors only for those who can influence my career positively/negatively: 1% – I’m too busy to do favors for other folks: 1% It’s an encouraging sign to see a workforce willing to lend a helping hand. A favor is a favor, and there should be no expectation of reciprocity. Hopefully once you say “yes” to helping you maintain this perspective. The cautionary note on your generosity is be careful of becoming an enabler of procrastination or lazy work. If you’re always around to help out in a pinch, you might find yourself getting taken advantage of and regularly cleaning up other peoples’ messes. 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 Things You Should NEVER Say When Presenting

February 5, 2014 /7 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Communications /by Mike Figliuolo

PowerPoint is the devil’s instrument and when you use it, you risk becoming a musician in his demonic orchestra. All of us are required to give presentations in some form or fashion at various points in our careers. If you’d like to succeed in those efforts, there are three things you should NEVER say when you’re presenting. I’ve witnessed my fair share of presentations (and given more of them than I care to count). I’ve personally made all of these mistakes at one point or another. I’ve also seen others make all of these mistakes, many times with ugly results. I’d like to spare all of you the same fate. First, remember why you’re presenting in the first place. You’re likely either teaching/sharing information or trying to influence someone to make a decision on something. You are NOT there to show off your wickedawesome PowerPoint skillz that killz. To convey that information and influence that decision, you need to get your point across clearly and concisely (which we help people with all the time – CLICK HERE if you’d like some help too). Given those two purposes, be mindful of what you say and how you say it as well as the information you use to make your case. If you’d prefer to fail miserably instead, say or do any of the following three things:

The Simple Questions of Success: a Zentrepreneur’s Guide to Prosperity

February 3, 2014 /0 Comments/in Books, Career, Entrepreneur, Guest Blogger, Innovation /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by John Murphy, author of Zentrepreneur (CLICK HERE to get your copy), Sage Leadership (CLICK HERE for your copy) and Beyond Doubt (CLICK HERE for your copy). Wisdom is gained and success is attained when we open our minds, ask insightful questions and attend to what we are offered. How do you pass this test? In 1988, I had an idea. What if I started a consulting company? That could be interesting. Then I contemplated the many reasons why I should and why I should not take such a risk. In business circles, we often call this Force Field Analysis. What are all the forces for and against the change? I continued my contemplation by asking questions like “Who, How and When” to explore the critical factors necessary for success. Who could help me? How would I go about turning this idea into a reality? When would I start? What milestones would I need to help guide me? I also considered what could go wrong, what I now refer to as the “Yeah, buts.” A zentrepreneur hears this statement a lot. There are always plenty of people willing to tell us why certain ideas will not work. We are too young or we are too old. We’ve tried that before. There are too many risks. Nay, nay, nay! Twenty five years later I am discovering the timeless wisdom in these simple yet profound questions. How elegant is this? A one or two word question can lead us to depths of knowledge and understanding that indeed change the world. The question “What if?” challenges us to open our minds and explore alternatives and possibilities, a critical element in innovation and advancement. The question “Why” challenges us to think carefully about the value of the idea, the recipients, the […]

A Coxswain’s Advice for Leading Your Peers

January 29, 2014 /0 Comments/in Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

My daughter Danielle has been a coxswain on the rowing team going on her fifth year. I sat down with her today to talk about the challenges of leading peers and what she has learned from doing so. By way of background, she coxed all four years of high school and now she’s on the Ohio State crew team as a freshman (and as an FYI, Ohio State is the reigning NCAA champion in women’s rowing). For the uninitiated, the coxswain is the tiny person in the front or back of the boat who steers, calls cadence, and runs the boat. Essentially they’re the informal leader in that 9 person organization (the boat has 8 rowers and a coxswain in it). I’ve shared leadership lessons from a coxswain before based on my observation of her at a high school regatta. As she’s grown as a coxswain and a leader, I thought it would be a good time to sit down with her and find out what she’s learned about leading her peers. Our discussion follows. After each of her answers, I’ve shared some thoughts too on how you can take those lessons back to your organization if you’re in a role that requires you to lead your peers. What’s the most challenging aspect of leading peers? Finding the balance between being a coach of my peers but not overstepping any boundaries, picking on people and being seen as being bossy are big challenges. For example there is this one girl on my team who did poorly in a scrimmage and we lost all our races as a boat. She’s one of the faster girls on the team and I was regularly correcting her during another part of the practice trying to get her to fix her technique. Eventually I got […]

6 Ways to Fail in a Negotiation

January 27, 2014 /2 Comments/in Books, Business Toolkit, Communications, Guest Blogger /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Steven P. Cohen, author of The Practical Negotiator (CLICK HERE to get your copy). Last Fall’s set-to over continuing to fund the operations of the US Federal government and authorize an increase in the debt ceiling of the United States is an object lesson in how not to negotiate. Here are some rules to follow to make sure a negotiation process fails to work: – Don’t ask yourself that critical question teenagers often pose to their parents, “And your point is. . .?” Unless you have a clear understanding of why you’re entering into the process of bargaining with other parties, you have no way to measure whether you’re heading in the right direction. A parallel question to ask is what you think motivates your negotiation partner to negotiate with you. It is only worth negotiating if each party believes the other negotiators can add value and are thus worth the negotiation effort. – Don’t worry about who’s on the each side – and whether they are empowered to make decisions and fulfill commitments. In the Federal government crisis, people involved with the situation – and outside commentators – urged folks to negotiate without paying serious attention to the choice of negotiation partners. John Boehner, the Speaker of the House of Representatives – the top Republican in Congress – was not a credible negotiation partner for President Obama because Mr. Boehner could not credibly claim the capacity to ‘deliver’ the votes of the Tea Party members of the House. One of the questions it raises is, when there is a disagreement within your team, how can you negotiate with outsiders. This happens all the time in business and family negotiations; it is not a problem reserved for political leaders.

Ultimate Influence Via the Parry

January 21, 2014 /1 Comment/in Books, Communications, Guest Blogger /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Bob Burg, author of Adversaries into Allies: Win People Over Without Manipulation or Coercion (CLICK HERE to get your copy). “Who is mighty? That person who can control their own emotions and make, of an enemy, a friend.” – Talmud Our 16th U.S. President, Abraham Lincoln was one of the best when it came to turning adversaries into allies. “…{On one occasion}, when another official sharply criticized Lincoln’s judgment, the president responded to a reporter’s interrogation by saying he had great respect for the other man, and if this official had concerns about him, there must be some truth to it. Such discretion disarmed divisiveness that was intended to draw Lincoln into side-skirmishes, it won the hearts of his friends and foes and it allowed Lincoln to maintain focus on more important issues.” What Lincoln did was to utilize the tactic of “deflection.” This means to softly “parry” a challenge or accusation, deflecting it into another direction where it misses entirely. This is actually a common boxing move. When one fighter throws a jab the intended target will, very coolly, simply wait until the punch almost reaches him. He’ll then just parry it away with a very slight flick of the wrist. Harmless. Lincoln did it. You can, too. Use The Other Person’s Force… To Your Advantage

Don’t Vote for Yourself – A Case for Kindness

January 20, 2014 /2 Comments/in Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Michael Baer. “If everyone were clothed with integrity, if every heart were just, frank, kindly, the other virtues would be well-nigh useless.” – Moliere In 6th Grade, I ran for class president. President of my class, my home room, mind you, not my entire grade. In any event, the election results were tight. And when they were read out to the class, I found I had lost by one vote. “At least the person I voted for won,” I told my friend and campaign manager, Tommy Markham. “You didn’t vote for yourself?” he asked. He couldn’t believe it. “If you had, you would have won”. The funny thing was, voting for myself hadn’t even occurred to me. The only question I had was which other candidate I would vote for. And, as it happened, I voted for the winner. What is relevant about this story? On the face of it, probably not much. The idea of not taking actions to help yourself seems at odds with all our learnings and beliefs. But as a leader, the concept of “voting for someone other than yourself” should not be so crazy. And, in fact, good leaders need to see themselves as working for their direct reports, and, in a way, being more invested in their success than their own. Here are some key ways to apply the “vote for someone else” ethic in your role as leader:

How to Craft a Compelling Vision for Your Organization

January 14, 2014 /4 Comments/in Books, Communications, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

As a leader, it’s critical for you to craft a compelling vision statement for your team. Here’s how you can do just that. This post is an excerpt from One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership (you can get your copy here). The only things more painful to read than most corporate mission statements are corporate vision statements. Many vision statements are written by committee. They start out direct, clear and compelling but as everyone involved has their turn at contributing their input those visions lose their luster. The direct parts of the vision get watered down as not to offend, exclude or intimidate people. Also, things are added to the vision because people want to ensure that their pet function or goal is included in the vision statement and this lengthens the document and makes it more confusing. Eventually some vision statements come to look more like a bill that has moved through Congress, where everyone involved has tacked on their personal amendment, than they do a compelling articulation of what the organization will be in the future. Pythagoras said “Do not say a little in many words but a great deal in a few.” Leaders who write vision statements would do well to heed his advice. How is anyone supposed to get excited about a page full of blathering buzzwords describing a future full of meaningless phrases? Before you go skipping forward with the excuse that you do not write vision statements at the corporate level, you must realize you are responsible for setting direction for your team. You as a leader must create a vision statement for your team when your team is large enough to warrant having one, so sit down and read. Any team that is responsible for a discrete organizational […]

5 Myths that Can Ruin Project Management

January 13, 2014 /8 Comments/in Guest Blogger, Leadership, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Mary Prescott of WorkZone. Every industry has its myths, and project managers aren’t exempt. This is unfortunate for the industry, but if you can dodge the myths, you can pull ahead of the competition. Are you aware of these falsehoods? Or are you wasting resources and time as we speak? It’s time to correct a few misconceptions. 1. The customer knows what they want Whether you’re dealing with “customers” or “clients,” it’s a longstanding myth that the purchaser knows exactly what they want from you. But, it turns out, we humans are actually notoriously bad at predicting what we want and what we need. When Guy Kawasaki gave a presentation shortly after Steve Jobs’ death, he decided to talk about twelve key lessons he learned from the giant of Apple. Lesson number 2 was that customers can’t tell you what they need. He went on to say, “The day that you hear that Apple’s using focus groups to decide on its future projects, that’s the day to short Apple stock.” This applies to all industries, and it applies equally to the B2B sector. It’s important to remember that the customer is not the expert. You are. That is your value. When you’re speaking with your client or doing market research, focus on the “why” of the project. What are the goals? What problem are you trying to solve? 2. You need to win every battle

Why Smart Leaders Are Loosening the Reins

January 8, 2014 /6 Comments/in Books, Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Andrew Benett, author of The Talent Mandate: Why Smart Companies Put People First (CLICK HERE to get your copy). A century ago, Frederick Taylor introduced scientific management principles to the world of business. His time-and-motion rules were a smart way to maximize production in the steel industry (their original purpose) and in other jobs involving repetitive tasks, but they have precious little applicability today—a time when value is derived less from mechanistic functions than from innovation and ideas. And yet we continue to see Taylorian techniques in businesses everywhere, from companies’ remorseless insistence on detailed time sheets (even in businesses that don’t bill for time) to ongoing attempts to eliminate distractions (e.g., banning social media and personal phone calls). Happily, some smart business leaders have begun to figure out that what worked in the industrial age has no place in the ideas economy. Over the course of writing The Talent Mandate, I surveyed more than 100 senior executives about their talent practices. Only 11 percent of them believe that traditional command-and-control structures are still the best way to derive value from employees. What I have learned from these leaders and the scores of others I interviewed is that when it comes to managing talent in today’s vastly changed environment, it makes sense to loosen the reins. I encourage you to incorporate these practices into your own workplace: Trust your talent. The notion of supercharging talent by trusting them to make smart choices is beginning to take hold. In our survey, 94 percent of senior executives said the most successful companies trust their employees, giving them the freedom and independence they need to do their jobs well. Henry Sauer, in charge of talent at fast-growing tech firm Rackspace, told me, “There aren’t a lot of policies here. […]

3 Secret Phrases All Leaders Must Know

January 8, 2014 /5 Comments/in Communications, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Leadership is inherently about communication. Your ability to communicate well with your team, your boss, your coworkers, and anyone else around you can make or break your career as a leader. Given the importance we place on communications, it always helps to have a few tools and techniques that can give you an edge and make you a more effective communicator. I’d like to share three of my favorite phrases. Each of these three phrases is very carefully and thoughtfully crafted. If you want to use them effectively, use them exactly as they’re written. Do not modify them as changes you make will change their meaning (and correspondingly yield different results for you). As you try putting them into practice, they may feel awkward or uncomfortable at first. Any new skill you learn feels this way. That said, if you use these phrases regularly and appropriately, you’re likely to have some great results. I have shared these phrases with members of my teams over the years (just as one of them was shared with me by a boss – the other two are Mike Figliuolo originals). I teach my coaching clients how to use them. People are often surprised (positively) with the results they get from trying these phrases out. I encourage you to give them a whirl too. So here they are… three secret phrases that will make you a more effective communicator and leader:

How to Lead with Relaxed Intensity

January 2, 2014 /11 Comments/in Books, Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Greg S. Reid, author of Think and Grow Rich: “Stickability” (CLICK HERE to get your copy). Who wants to follow a captain who would panic at the first sight of crisis or even worse – bail on their ship? Seems no matter who it is that inspires us most; the common trait they all possess is what’s referred to as relaxed intensity. This is a person who is calm through a storm, and can maintain their composure through most challenging times. Imagine a commercial pilot coming on the intercom and freaking out when experiencing a little turbulence. The entire crew and passengers would become immediately concerned as well. The key is to keep calm, hang on and inspire others to follow suit. This is the sign of a true leader. Enter our hero – Pem Sherpa. Pem is a young, bright-eyed boy who falls in love with a special girl from the other side of the mountain in a village that holds different religious beliefs than his own. Their love resembles a modern day Romeo and Juliet story as they were forbidden to date one another because one was Buddhist and the other Hindu. As time drew nearer to when the parents of the love of his life were to marry her off in an arranged ceremony, he takes her by the hand and points to the top of Mt. Everest.