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Entries by Mike Figliuolo

What Amusement Parks can Teach You about Professional Development

September 10, 2012 /4 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

I recently went to King’s Island amusement park with the kids. Beyond experiencing the thrill of $9 sodas and wickedawesome roller coasters, I learned a few things about professional development while I was there. Some of you love roller coasters and some hate them. I used to hate them but now I love them. We rode Diamondback, The Vortex, Flight Deck, Flight of Fear, Firehawk, Drop Tower, The Monster, Delirium, and The Racer. We rode some of them multiple times. All were awesome in their own special way. Several of them taught me a few things about overcoming fear, growing as a person, and thoroughly enjoying the thrill of it all. Allow me to share a few growth experiences along with some pointers you can take away from my experiences. I’ll do so via some ride recaps. Drop Tower Imagine sitting with your feet dangling as you sit on a gigantic doughnut. That doughnut is then hoisted straight up a tower that gives you a view of the entire park and the surrounding area. Then they drop that doughnut 315 feet straight down at 67 MPH. Pro tip: don’t eat right before this ride. The first time I rode it, I was terrified the whole way up. My focus was on my seat belt and the sturdiness of the shoulder harness bars. During the seemingly interminable wait at the top of the tower, I repeatedly told myself (and everyone around me) what a bad idea this was. Then the bottom fell out and I experienced a screaming free-fall for the longest three seconds of my life. I didn’t notice anything beyond my butt not being in contact with the seat and my stomach flipping over.

How to Turn Eureka Moments into Big Ideas

September 5, 2012 /5 Comments/in Books, Entrepreneur, Guest Blogger, Innovation /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Chris Grivas – co-author of THE INNOVATIVE TEAM: Unleashing Creative Potential For Breakthrough Results (CLICK HERE to get your copy). You can learn more about him at the end of the post. Here’s Chris… Eureka moments are Pitt/Berry/Jolie/Clooney sexy – there’s no point in denying that. That moment when Edison’s filament lights, when Jobs conceives the iPhone – it’s thrilling. Yet often the key to innovation lies not in the big idea, but in discovering a new way to look at the problem. Example: Billy Beane, General Manager for Oakland A’s (played, as it happens, by Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”), was facing an economic brick wall. After losing his best players to free agency, he needs to build a winning team with less money than his competition. Today’s financial climate means we in business need to find innovative ways how to do more with less, to attract and retain the people who can do the job, and to put a team together that can produce exceptional results. In my book, “The Innovative Team,” a team has to take their work up a notch or three when a key client threatens to walk. Like Billy Beane, they started by redefining the problem. What is the core issue at stake? For Beane, the question changed from “How do we replace our best players?” to “How can we win more games?” For our team, it changed from “What recommendations should we make to our client?” to “What can we show our client to help her think differently?” Research into creativity and innovation shows that the four-step process we all take toward solving problems is common across cultures and throughout history. Those four steps are:

Listening Can Make You a Better Leader

September 4, 2012 /0 Comments/in Books, Communications, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

I guess I’m on a listening kick lately given I recently wrote about why you should listen twice as much as you talk. Today I’m going to invite you to do some more listening (because I really don’t feel like typing). I recently spoke with William Arruda at Personal Branding TV about listening, life, dogs, Frisbee, and other important leadership skills. The interview was a blast and William brought out some great points about how you can build your own personal brand based on your personal leadership philosophy. I invite you to grab your coffee, kick up your feet, and listen to William and me talk about leadership and personal branding. You can download the audio interview by CLICKING HERE. Speaking of listening, I’m excited to announce that One Piece of Paper is now available as an audiobook from Audible.com! Now instead of reading it you can simply listen to it. You can even get it for a huge discount! Click on over to Audible to learn more and download your copy now. – Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC – If you want to learn how to create your own set of leadership maxims that ensure you behave the right way in any situation, grab a copy of my book One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership or download the audiobook version at Audible.com. Photo: Microphone by Staffan Vilcans

10 Tough Questions Every Self-Aware Leader Needs to Answer – Part 2

August 29, 2012 /2 Comments/in Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s guest post is by Todd Cherches, the CEO of BigBlueGumball. It’s part two of a two part post (part one was published last week…). Here’s Todd… There’s an old maxim about not answering a question with a question, so I’m not gonna do that. I’m gonna answer a question with TEN questions! And the question is: How can you become a more “self-aware” leader? As one of the keys to being an effective leader is self-awareness, here are five more powerful, thought-provoking, and challenging questions you need to think about – and be ready, willing and able to answer – if you truly want to be a more reflective – and effective – leader: Question 6: Why should anyone be led by you? How would you answer this incredibly personal and challenging question (posed by authors Goffee & Jones in their classic HBR article and book of that name)? If you’re someone’s manager, they have to be managed by you because you’re their boss. But they don’t have to be led by you… unless they choose to. So why should someone willingly choose to follow you? What leadership characteristics do you believe you possess? If you left your current role, would your people leap at the chance to join you… or would they leap in the air in celebration of your exit? I’ve had a few (very few!) bosses that I would have followed to the ends of the earth: the leaders who inspired me to “dream more, learn more, do more, and become more.” And I’ve had other bosses who I wouldn’t have followed across the street for a million dollars. (Alright, maybe a million dollars…but not a penny less!) So, now tell us: Why should we hire you to be our leader? Question 7: What are some […]

The Power of Less Talking and More Listening

August 27, 2012 /0 Comments/in Books, Communications /by Mike Figliuolo

I learned a great lesson from an extremely smart executive when I was starting my career in consulting. It boiled down to “shut up and listen.” The following excerpt from my book, One Piece of Paper, relates the story and I’ve offered a few lessons you can draw from my stupidity. Speaking of listening, I’m excited to announce that One Piece of Paper is now available as an audiobook from Audible.com! Now instead of reading it you can simply listen to it. You can even get it for a huge discount! Click on over to Audible to learn more and download your copy now. Now onto the story… As with all my maxims, both of these have personal stories behind them. This maxim was taught to me by the partner in charge of a consulting project I was assigned to. He was my boss’ boss. We were at dinner with the senior leadership team from a new and important client. This was one of my first consulting projects and I wanted to make a good impression. I was still a little insecure in my role and my abilities as a consultant. I felt a strong need to impress the client executives. As we ate, the clients asked me about my background. When I started telling army stories they expressed a genuine interest. The more interested they got, the more stories I told. By the time we finished eating they had heard about all my military exploits. After dinner, the consulting partner running the project asked me how I thought dinner went. I said it was a wonderful meal and the clients seemed like fantastic people. Of course I would think that – they politely sat there and listened to my life’s story. The partner then asked me what I learned […]

10 Tough Questions Every Self-Aware Leader Needs to Answer – Part 1

August 22, 2012 /3 Comments/in Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s guest post is by Todd Cherches, the CEO of BigBlueGumball. It’s part one of a two part post (you can now read part 2 here…). Here’s Todd… There’s an old maxim about not answering a question with a question, so I’m not gonna do that. I’m gonna answer a question with TEN questions! And the question is: How can you become a more “self-aware” leader? As one of the keys to being an effective leader is self-awareness, here are 10 powerful, thought-provoking, and challenging questions you need to think about – and be ready, willing and able to answer – if you truly want to be a more reflective – and effective – leader: Question 1: How do YOU personally define “leadership”? There’s a great little book by Mark Sanborn called, “You Don’t Need a Title to Be a Leader.” In a nutshell, as the title implies, true leadership is not about rank or position – it’s about exhibiting leadership qualities… and stepping up to leadership when leadership is needed. There are almost as many different definitions of leadership out there as there are leaders. Management guru Peter Drucker said that “The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers.” President John Quincy Adams famously wrote that “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” So if one of your people came up to you and asked you for YOUR personal definition of leadership, how would YOU respond? Question 2: Who are some of the leaders (“public figures”) that you admire – and why? Who are those leaders throughout history, or current leaders out there today – from the world of business, politics, the arts, sports, etc. – whom you most admire – and why? What […]

How Nothing New Can Be the Right Strategy

August 20, 2012 /13 Comments/in Innovation, Leadership, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

Strategy sounds like a complex subject. It isn’t. It boils down to one word – no. Strategy is about saying “no” to things that will distract you from reaching your destination. Too often we become enamored with the latest cool new idea when it would actually be best to say no to pursuing it. Why? Resources (including focus and energy) are limited. If you go chasing every new initiative you can think of, the core of your work is likely to suffer unless you’re adding resources to continue running that piece of your business well. You can avoid the distraction trap though. It’s merely a question of focus and will power. Allow me to illustrate. I have a lot of wonderful contacts in my contact list. I try to be pretty rigorous about staying in touch with them on a regular basis. Sometimes I’m not always successful and the interval between conversations is longer than I would like it to be. Recently I arranged a bunch of calls with people I hadn’t spoken with in a while (many of them clients or prospects). During the opening introductions on every call, there are the compulsories: “How are you? What’s new? What have you been working on?” After I listened to all the new events in their lives since we last spoke, I found myself saying something oddly similar to everyone:

How to Avoid the Perils of Being a Project Manager

August 15, 2012 /0 Comments/in Guest Blogger, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s guest post is by Rhona Aylward – a very experienced project manager who has seen some ridiculous things in her career. I’ve been involved with projects in one form or another for 14 years and over the years I’ve had some humdingers. I’d like to share some of the weirdest experiences I’ve had as a project professional and lessons you can take away from them. Here are the most memorable, in no particular order: The Customer Who Told Us to Act Like Huskies and Eat Each Other I was involved in an extremely expensive and controversial project involving multiple vendors and billions of dollars. This project was critical for the customer and they were regularly pitting the various vendors against each other. The most memorable meeting was about 10 months into the project and involved 6 vendors and the customer’s Senior Responsible Owner. The SRO stood up in front of us and announced that he wanted us vendors to act like huskies – pull together as a team but if there were issues we were to eat each other! There was a stunned silence as all the vendors just froze and looked at each other around the table as if to say, “what the hell just happened?” Needless to say the project was not a success. Lesson: Make it your business to understand the customer’s actual requirements up front. You might find that what they say they want and what they actually want are two very different things.

West Point Leadership Principles You Can Live By

August 13, 2012 /3 Comments/in Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

It’s no secret. I’m getting old(er). Every month there’s another gray hair in the goatee. Every year there are a couple of extra pounds. Nothing makes that fact hit home more than a class reunion. I spent many great (painful) days at my alma mater dear, The United States Military Academy at West Point. As cadets, we had a few well-founded perspectives on West Point. It’s the most beautiful place you’ll ever hate. It’s a good place to be… from. The best view of West Point is in your rear-view mirror. Fifteen years after throwing my hat in the air and receiving my diploma, I’ve had the benefit of time to reflect on my experiences at my rockbound highland home. As I’ve grown wiser (and older and fatter and grayer) I’ve come to appreciate the timeless nature of some of the things they teach there. One of my favorites is the “official version” of the leadership principles (as opposed to my unofficial version). These eleven principles span military, business, and organizational leadership. They’re straight-forward and require little explanation. They are:

How Alignment Can Make Your Organization Flow

August 8, 2012 /1 Comment/in Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s guest post is by Bob and Gregg Vanourek, authors of Triple Crown Leadership (click here to get your copy). During World War II, Sheldon Coleman, head of Coleman Corporation, an outdoor equipment manufacturer, went to Washington seeking the general in charge of procurement. The general told him they needed a compact field stove that was small and light—less than six pounds—and that could burn fuels found on the battlefield and operate in a temperature range of minus-60 to plus-125 degrees Fahrenheit. It was a tall order. After Coleman’s engineers drafted some rough designs they thought might work, Coleman called the general and, overreaching some, said they had a product. The general was delighted and said they needed five thousand in sixty days. (Gulp.) Coleman formed cross-functional teams to work around the clock, overlapping by thirty minutes so they could brief the incoming group on progress and issues. In sixty days, the company delivered five thousand G.I. (Government Issue) Pocket Stoves to the front lines in Africa. All told, Coleman produced more than a million for war use. In our interview with him for our new book, Tim Daniel (former Vice President of Special Markets at Coleman Corporation), told us: “The G.I. Pocket Stove went on to become one of the most treasured items of the American soldier…. To me, this was flow in its greatest sense: committing to an almost-impossible task, redesigning your business structure to meet a deadline, and then executing.” Coleman Corporation worked in “flow” during that pivotal time, operating at peak performance. Such moments of peak performance occur across domains, from sports and the arts to programming and chess. Jazz musicians get “in the groove.” Athletes get “in the zone.”

What Makes A Leader Authentic?

August 6, 2012 /13 Comments/in Guest Blogger, Leadership, Upcoming Events /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is co-authored by Michelle Braden (leader of the Authentic Leadership Summit) and Mike Figliuolo. I have asked myself the question, “What makes a leader authentic?” many times over the years. My natural response would be that you just know in your “gut.” I realize now that although the “gut” does talk to you, there is a better, more accurate way to measure what is truly authentic. I have also come to realize how important it is for me to look at myself to check my own authenticity. I cannot change anyone else; I can only change myself. For myself, as well as the leaders with whom I work, my goal was to create factors we can look at in our own lives to determine and measure our authenticity. I truly believe that being authentic is easier for some than others because of how their brains are wired, both from a nature and nurture standpoint. Looking at the word authentic from a dictionary standpoint is a good starting point. According to dictionary.com, authentic is something that is “NOT false or copied; genuine; real.” Authentic is also defined as “Having the origin supported by unquestionable evidence, entitled to acceptance or belief because of agreement with known facts or experience, reliable; trustworthy.” We can take this literal definition and break it down in authentic leadership. An authentic leader is:

Courage, Comfort and Reason – Lessons from the Lion King

August 1, 2012 /1 Comment/in Balanced Lifestyle, Career, Guest Blogger /by Mike Figliuolo

When in your life did you do something that was scary despite your fear? Where do you think fear stops you? What does it take for you to take action despite your fear. Do you remember the movie the Lion King with its message about courage and fear through the characters of the lion cub, Simba, and his father lion, Mufasa? Mufasa had to rescue Simba who disobeyed his father’s order about not going in the Elephant Graveyard where the hyenas were hanging out. Simba then slinks off and feels terrible Simba receives a lecture from Mufasa about courage. Courage is doing something you are scared of despite your fear. I can remember times in my life when I was terrified to do something out of my zone of comfort. I’m from San Diego and after I visited New York, I realized that this was the place where I was supposed to be. At first I thought it was just the excitement of the trip. But I kept hearing the quiet voice of my soul telling me to go to New York and make my destiny manifest. This quiet voice became louder and more persistent and I finally accepted that it was my fate to go there. I had virtually no money, no job lined up, no place to live lined up and almost no friends and family to help me get myself established. I just had to trust myself and follow my intuition despite reason. I was completely unreasonable. My parents talked to me about doing this and I would be on my own and to not rely on them for support. They couldn’t understand why I was moving away from a strong support network and how I was going to create structure and stability in my life given […]