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Entries by Mike Figliuolo

How Your Leadership Philosophy Can Defuse Future Crises

January 10, 2011 /2 Comments/in Leadership, Upcoming Events /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is an excerpt from the draft of my upcoming book One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership. Sure, publication is a ways off (target is fall of ’11) but I want to share a taste of what will be in the book. Please become a fan of One Piece of Paper on Facebook (and invite your friends/colleagues to do the same). By becoming a fan you’ll have the latest updates on the book’s release and also get to see samples of it before it lands in stores. Some of you will even win a free copy of the book. All that said, here’s a sample about how to think about leading your people: People “situations” can be frustrating and confusing. We have a hard time having difficult conversations. Those conversations are difficult because we are the bearers of bad news, corrective actions, and feedback. That feedback generally causes people to feel like they do not measure up as a person when in fact our assessments should be focused on the actions, not the person. We need something to lean on to help us through those tough situations. Creating personal leadership maxims for how you want to lead your people helps you manage those difficult situations and conversations. A maxim is nothing more than a rule of behavior or conduct you want to follow. You can write your own set of maxims and use them in a variety of situations. Today I’ll share an example of one of my maxims and how it helped out with a difficult conversation. Maxims set expectations with your team members for how you will treat them. They provide you a solid foundation for building consistency into your behaviors and reactions to unpleasant situations. If you have written your maxim […]

5 Steps to Becoming a Great Coach for Your Team

January 5, 2011 /6 Comments/in Guest Blogger, Leadership, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s guest blogger is Mary Jo Asmus. You can read more about her at the bottom of this post. If you haven’t read her blog yet, you should go read it and subscribe to it by clicking here. Enjoy her thoughts! Many of my clients are beginning to see the value in coaching their staff to prepare for their future careers or to get better at their current position. My clients are very smart people. They know that coaching isn’t just about telling their employees what to do and how to do it. They’ve recognized that coaching others is a leadership tool that helps their staff to figure out a lot of things for themselves and to also sustain their learning. When I ask a roomful of managers “how many of you are pretty good at telling people what to do?” about 90% of them raise their hands. Telling your staff what to do and how to do it is pretty easy for most of us. But it doesn’t always impart learning that is sustainable over the long haul. Coaching can help your staff learn and retain what they’ve learned, but it requires some new skills that are often very different than the ones you’ve used in the past. How do you begin to coach others? Here are some of the things to be considered:

New Business Idea? What’s Your Problem?

January 3, 2011 /3 Comments/in Communications, Entrepreneur, Innovation, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

If you have a new business idea, I’m excited for you. If you ever want to get it off the ground however, be sure you have a problem. A REAL problem. I know that sounds cryptic. Allow me to explain. I love entrepreneurial ventures. I don’t just run thoughtLEADERS – I’m also a principal at weBuild which is a web and mobile startup accelerator. I’m also the CEO of one of weBuild’s portfolio companies called TiXiT. TiXiT offers discounts for tickets to events like theatre, jazz, concerts, sports, and family shows (and if you’re not a member yet, go join here – it’s free). I’m also a member of the Ohio TechAngel fund where we regularly evaluate new startup investments. Many folks in my network know my passion for launching companies so I regularly get pitched new ideas. Why all this context setting? Because I want you to understand the lens I look at new ventures through. When I hear a new pitch, the first question I ask is “what’s the problem?” You would be surprised how many times the response to that question is a look like a dog looking at a ceiling fan (dazed and confused). If you want to be successful as a new startup, you MUST have a problem. If you cannot articulate what problem you solve for the world, there is a low likelihood you will sell anything. “Pull” selling is exponentially more powerful than “Push” selling. When the world has a problem, they will pull your solution. No problem? You’re pushing your solution on the world. Allow me to offer some examples then some guidance on how to think about this issue. Some example problems:

Great Leadership Resolutions for the New Year

December 27, 2010 /0 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Books, Communications, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

As you get ready for 2011, I know many of you are writing your New Year’s resolutions. I invite you to choose a few resolutions related to how you’ll lead your teams this coming year. To get you started, here are some fantastic leadership reminders to consider as you enter 2011. So as you’re writing your New Year’s resolutions, I invite you to try a few of these on for size and resolve to apply them to become a better leader. Occasionally I’ll reach way back into the thoughtLEADERS Blog archives and bring you something you likely haven’t seen before (I mean, who has time to go root around in old content and find the gems?). This is one of those waybacks. Considering thousands of readers have subscribed to the blog since this was originally written, the posts are definitely new to you. Since most of you are on holiday break this week you should have time to read through the below-listed principles and the stories behind them. I invite you to read one or two a day with your morning coffee. Sure there are plenty of leadership books out there (and I’m lucky enough to have one of my own being published in 2011 – join our Facebook fan page here to learn more as that publication date approaches). The thing is, I haven’t come across many that are down to earth and practical in the advice they give. To that end, I see a problem and therefore I own it (one of the principles on the list). I’d like to offer the following basic principles as a perspective on some of the things it takes to be a genuine leader. Here goes:

My Top 5 Tips for Entrepreneurs

December 20, 2010 /4 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Customer Service, Entrepreneur /by Mike Figliuolo

Entrepreneurs have it hard enough as it is. Why make it even harder on yourself with self-defeating behaviors? I know you are saying you would hate to do that but I see these kinds of behaviors all the time. You should know if you are demonstrating them. If you’re an entrepreneur you pour your heart and soul into your business. You need every edge you can get. The first edge available to you is not doing stupid stuff. In the past month I have spent a lot of time with other entrepreneurs and I have seen a bunch of good things and a bunch of bad things. Today I’ll share some of those observations with the hope you find it helpful and use these perspectives to strengthen your business. In the past I have covered some other challenges entrepreneurs face and I hereby declare them required reading. So here they are: – Two traps that destroy entrepreneurs – CLICK HERE TO READ – Two more traps that destroy entrepreneurs – CLICK HERE TO READ – Entrepreneurs need to bootstrap to WIN – CLICK HERE TO READ After you’re done reading them, continue with this post. And I’ll know if you didn’t read them because I can see your clickstream. Not really. But maybe… The following tips are in no particular order nor are there broad categories they belong to. It’s simply a list of things I have seen go wrong recently and some thoughts on how to avoid those behaviors. Here goes:

Your Thoughts on 2011 – Signs of Optimism

December 16, 2010 /0 Comments/in Career, Entrepreneur, Innovation, Leadership, Sales, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

As many of you know, I write the weekly analysis of the SmartPulse poll for SmartBrief on Leadership. If you’re not reading SmartBrief, you HAVE TO (www.smartbrief.com). Great articles. Great abstracts. Anyway, we just conducted the end-of-year poll and I want to share the results with you here. The end of year polls covered three major questions. The theme of all three is what do you think the new year has in store for all of us: – What strategy will be central to your effort to enhance profits in the new year? – Which of the following is of most concern as you look forward to the coming year? – What of the following best describes your top personal goal as a leader for 2011? The poll results are both interesting and encouraging. From the looks of your replies, 2011 should be trending in the right direction. I know it’s still scary out there but there are signs of hope. Check out the poll results and my analysis on each of them…

It’s Time to Brush Up Your Resume

December 13, 2010 /2 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career /by Mike Figliuolo

As 2010 winds down, many folks look forward to time off, vacations, and some well-deserved relaxation. During this downtime though, you have work to do. It’s time to brush up your resume. No, you’re not getting fired (at least I hope not – talk about Grinch-like bosses who would can someone over the holidays). And no, the job market hasn’t suddenly rebounded. There’s a more important reason to brush up your resume. Now the resume isn’t the be-all end-all for job search and there are a lot of myths surrounding it. Check out the most common myths in this post by CLICKING HERE. That said, it is an important document that needs to be up to date at any given time. According to close to 70% of you it has been well over 6 months since you dusted off this document. Don’t believe me? Check out the poll at the bottom of the page (and vote if you haven’t voted yet). 6 months is a long time. I don’t know about you but I start forgetting things after 6 hours. And that’s why it’s a perfect time to brush up your paper. And I’m not just talking about your .doc resume either – brush up your LinkedIn and other social networking profiles too. Your resume should always be current and accurate. I’m sure many of you have had that frantic experience when a headhunter or company calls and asks to see your resume. You scramble around trying to piece together however many years of accomplishments since you last updated it. More often than not, it will be a long, painful process and you will miss things. There is a better way…

Join the Revolution! End the Meetings!

December 10, 2010 /0 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Communications, Guest Blogger, Social Media /by Mike Figliuolo

As you folks know I occasionally recruit experts to come share their perspectives on this blog. Lately I have a hot button (and it launches a nuke) for meetings (for example, check out this post on the topic). So who better to have share some thoughts on how to fix the issue than Meeting Boy himself? For you twitter fans out there I am sure you will recognize @MeetingBoy and for those who haven’t met him yet, strap yourselves in. If you thought I was edgy wait until you get a taste of Meeting Boy’s perspectives on the topic. Just to give you a taste of his perspective, here’s a sample of his tweets: – Let’s say “excellence” a few more times. That should solve everything. – The project is poorly managed. What was your first clue? Four people managing three workers? Let’s start there. – When I asked you to repeat what I said in your own words, I didn’t mean start presenting the idea as your own. – This presentation is double-sided, so while it wastes the same amount of time, it wastes half as much paper. – **High Priority** emails are just like regular emails except the sender has a very high opinion of themselves. Yes we’re here to bash meetings but it gets better! Not only is Meeting Boy here to share some ideas, he and I are launching a meeting revolution for 2011. It all starts with this Meeting Limitation Act (sorta like the Contract With America or the Patient’s Bill of Rights only better). Meeting Boy and I are co-sponsoring this non-partisan legislation and we’re looking for you to both sign the petition and add amendments to the Meeting Limitation Act by commenting on the post. So without further ado, I’ll let Meeting Boy […]

The Best of thoughtLEADERS 2010: The Greatest Posts You’ve Ever Seen

December 6, 2010 /3 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Career, Communications, Entrepreneur, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership, Sales, Social Media, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

2010 is almost over so as usual it’s time for the year in review list of the BEST posts we’ve published in 2010. We’re now making this an annual event therefore the award needs a name. I proudly introduce you to The Figgies! A tip of my hat to all my McKinsey buddies who used to call me that. Winning a Figgie is indeed prestigious. Here’s how it goes: this list is comprised of our most viewed, most forwarded, quirkiest, most provocative work as judged by you the readers (with a little of our discretion thrown in). We’ve also included a few hidden gems we think deserve another shot in the spotlight. There’s also a kicker bonus post on the list just for good measure (it’s a “wayback” – and speaking of wayback, check out the photo on the trophy… yes… that’s me ’80’s style baby!). Enjoy. Share. We’ve loved writing them. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading them. I don’t ask a lot of you folks so here’s my one request for a holiday gift – invite all your coworkers, friends, and family to come check out the blog and become readers. The only way we get better is by raising everyone’s game. I would love if you would invite your friends and colleagues to come read our stuff. I’m not asking a lot here. If you found this blog helpful at all this year, here’s your chance to return the favor for all our hard work. Just email them and tell ’em to come take a look. Thanks for your incredible support in ’10 and best wishes for ’11! We hope to be a part of your future success! A little foreshadowing for 2011 – I’ve signed a book deal with Jossey-Bass and my book on leadership will be […]

How You Can Keep the Board Room from Being the Bored Room

November 29, 2010 /1 Comment/in Communications, Entrepreneur, Leadership, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

Board meetings are a total pain. They can also be some of the most powerful get-togethers for your company. The difference between the two is how you approach the meeting itself. Before you say “I never present to the board” and stop reading, allow me to expand the definition of a board meeting. A board meeting is any meeting where a group of impartial outside observers of your organization get together to discuss your business with you in a candid and long-term focused way. Board meetings can be with your advisory board if you’re an entrepreneur, an executive steering committee if you’re running big projects, or any other assemblage of brain power that is willing to focus on improving your business. Now keep reading. Most board meetings suck. Bad (or should that be “badly?”). That’s because folks want to update the board on all the great things they’ve been working on. Between that dynamic and the insecure paranoia of not wanting to have any question unanswered for the board, most organizations completely overprepare for the meeting. That overpreparedness becomes totally dysfunctional very quickly. The good news is you can make board meetings productive, insightful, and enjoyable. You merely have to understand the current unproductive behaviors and shift your thinking on how you want to approach the board and what you want out of them. Here’s how to do that:

What 8 Pound Bass and 14 Year Olds Can Teach You About Leadership

November 22, 2010 /0 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

You learn about leadership in interesting places and often when you least expect it. I’m in Florida this week fishing on Lake Okeechobee with my son. Before some of you yell at me for working during vacation when I should be in time out per my last post, realize he’s taking a nap after a long morning of fishing and I’m relaxing by writing. Remember – writing isn’t work for me. It’s one of many ways I relax. Even though we’ve been relaxing and having a great time, I had some leadership lessons reinforced for me by my 14 year old son. If you pay attention in life, you can learn something new every day just like I encourage you to do in this post. He has taught me a few leadership lessons of my own without even realizing he was doing so. We’ve been having a great trip so far. The first day we caught well over 60 bass and probably about 150 fish in the 2.5 days we’ve been here. He caught the largest of the day that first day – an 8lb 6oz monster (yes, that’s it in the picture). He also picked up about ten fish between 5 and 7 pounds. I caught a few good ones in that range too but he’s definitely outfishing me. It has been a fantastic trip. On our second evening out, he decided he was going to teach me four things about leadership:

Sometimes You Have to Put Yourself in Time-Out

November 15, 2010 /5 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

If there’s one thing we consistently fail at as leaders and professionals, it’s living a balanced life. We always say we’re going to – usually at 11 PM after we finish up with email. Everyone knows balance is a critical aspect of being able to live a successful professional live (so much so that I’ve even dedicated entire posts to how living a balanced life is a key leadership principle – go read that post here). There are a few reasons we fail at achieving balance but there are also a few tactical things you can do to keep your professional gyroscope in balance. First, let’s define balance. In it’s simplest sense I’m going to cover taking time away from work to spend some time relaxing. That relaxation can come in the form of time with family, time on vacation, time doing something you love (for me, it’s fishing), or simply chilling out on the couch watching football and seeing your team become bowl-eligible for the first time in decades (GO ARMY! BEAT NAVY!). A lot of times balance is simply about taking a day to do nothing other than recharge your batteries as discussed in this post – go read it). The reason you fail at achieving that balance is you’re driven. You likely enjoy your work (I hope so). You believe that the world will fall apart if you’re not there to hold it up. And the biggest reason you don’t achieve balance is you don’t focus on it because it’s not on your work progress review. But remember – it is on your life progress review so you might want to stop failing in that arena. A helpful way to think about how to achieve balance is to consider it putting yourself in time-out from work. When […]