Mike Figliuolo – Page 92 – thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

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Entries by Mike Figliuolo

Defining Your Leadership Philosophy on One Piece of Paper

July 12, 2010 /7 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

We make leadership way too difficult. We write entire books on it. We teach it in universities and MBA programs. We dedicate entire fields of study to it. We create massive corporate programs to foster it. Here’s the thing – it’s really not that hard. Sure, we teach leadership too (it’s our Leadership Maxims program) but we come at it from the standpoint that leadership is an intensely personal sport. Every leader is different. The only thing that’s the same is every true leader needs to understand, articulate, and continuously improve their leadership philosophy. The concept of writing your personal leadership philosophy is the very core of my book One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership (CLICK HERE to buy your copy now). To give you a sense of how the method works, let’s explore what it means to write a leadership philosophy. Over the next five posts (this one included), I’m going to cover our approach to capturing your leadership philosophy on a single sheet of paper. I’ll also share some of my own personal leadership maxims. To get a holistic view of leadership, you need to look at four aspects of it: – Leading yourself: what motivates you and what are your “rules of the road?” – Leading the thinking: where are you taking the organization and what are your standards for performance? – Leading your people: duh. This is the one we always focus on usually to the detriment of other aspects. – Leading a balanced life: if you’re burned out, you’re worthless. How do you define and achieve balance? For a quick video overview of these topics, check out this footage from a panel I was on to discuss the topic of leadership. It will give you a quick set of stories […]

If You Want Project Success, Build a PMO That Won’t Fail (Part 2)

July 5, 2010 /0 Comments/in Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

This posts follows up on Part 1 of this PMO post: Continuing on the topic of building a successful PMO, we’ve already covered the tone from the top, your PMO process, and staffing the PMO team. Now I’ll discuss how to properly utilize the PMO to deliver on projects, measure success, and communicate its value to the organization. Delivering the Goods Ultimately your PMO exists for one reason: to ensure your highest priority projects are delivered to the highest standards possible. Execution is key. The role the PMO plays in execution should be focused on getting the right resources to the team when needed and keeping an eye out for danger signs of a project going off the rails. The sooner you know your ERP implementation is heading toward a crash and burn, the better you’re able to avoid that catastrophe. The PMO should be your early warning system for such problems. The PMO also plays a longer-term role in execution success buy strengthening the talent pool. The PMO can help train your PMs, identify new rising stars, and help recruit the best talent available. When it comes to execution, bringing the A-Team to the game makes a huge difference (although don’t waste your time hiring high performers if you’re not going to properly invest in them). Now that you’ve delivered on the project, let’s discuss measuring and communicating success.

If You Want Project Success, Build a PMO That Won’t Fail (Part 1)

June 21, 2010 /2 Comments/in Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

A PMO can be the razor sharp point of your Project management spear or one of those medieval weapons no one knows how to use and you just hurt yourself trying. The difference is entirely up to you. In any project management environment, installing a Project Management Office to oversee all projects is a popular approach (and a good idea to boot). Before we discuss how you set up a PMO, we need to talk about why they exist. A PMO’s core responsibility is to ensure your project resources (cash, people, etc.) are adding the most value they possibly can. More practically, a PMO is a function that monitors new and existing projects and makes “Go” vs. “No-Go” decisions on them. Now that you know what it’s really for, allow me to offer six critical aspects of a successful PMO. I’ll cover three of the steps today and three in the next post. I acknowledge I’m just scratching the surface here – that’s why we at thoughtLEADERS go much deeper into this topic in our Project Management Reality program. Anyway, let’s get started with the first three steps to PMO success:

What to Do When You Make a Firing Mistake

June 14, 2010 /2 Comments/in Career, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Many of you have fired someone at some point (likely about 80%). The odds are some of you made a mistake in doing so along the way. A true mark of a leader is how you’ve handled things since you made that mistake. Firing someone is difficult. We’ve discussed before how it’s critical to be direct and simple when delivering that message. We’ve told you about how to (and not to) deliver bad news and feedback. We’ve even covered how to recover from being fired yourself. What we’ve never discussed before is how to handle a firing mistake. Recently I was lucky enough to be selected as the SmartPulse Analyst for SmartBrief on Leadership. Every week on SmartBrief they ask a question of the leaders who are readers (By the way, if you’re not regularly reading SmartBrief, you need to. Do it. Now. But then come back and read the rest of this). The first poll I was asked to respond to/analyze asked “Have you ever fired someone and later realized it was a mistake?” As I read the question, I interpreted it to mean the leader canned someone for performance or for an “event” and after the fact realized they had made the wrong decision. I’m assuming poll respondents are NOT referring to firings related to layoffs where they received mandates to fire people but they didn’t believe in the layoff itself. The results were unsettling. Respondents said:

Critical Tips Every Traveler Must Know

June 7, 2010 /17 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Business Toolkit /by Mike Figliuolo

Most days I work from home but lately I have a lot of travel coming up. A *lot* of travel. And outside of airline delays (and terrorists), there’s nothing worse than dealing with a clueless traveler. These are the people who cause massive delays in lines. They’re the ones who make the flight miserable. They’re the ones you want to introduce to your alter-ego Mr. Stabby McStabStab. And most horrifyingly, they’re sometimes YOU (but no one has ever told you). So in the spirit of making the skies a little friendlier, I’m going to offer some simple, tactical tips on how to be a better traveler and reduce your risk of someone tipping TSA off that you need a cavity search because you were muttering something about “bomb in my pants.” Feel free to pass this along to all the traveling rookies in your company. They were college kids a few weeks ago and they don’t know any better yet. Let’s see if together we can’t lick this travel stupidity epidemic. Here’s everything you ever needed to know about traveling like a pro:

All I Need to Know About Marketing I Learned at a Lemonade Stand

May 31, 2010 /1 Comment/in Business Toolkit, Communications, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

It’s frickin’ hot, huh? Wow. But the dawning summer heat is a great reminder of good, solid marketing principles. Many of us make “marketing” some arcane science. Focus groups, market research, surveys, brand consultants. Meh. I learned everything I need to know about marketing at a lemonade stand. As I was tooling around in my car this weekend, I was reminded of what it takes to be a great marketer. Really, it’s not as hard as the Marketing Group makes you think it is. The reminder of these principles came in the form of the perennial lemonade stand. I drove past four such stands this weekend. Each one demonstrated a core principle you must adhere to if you want to be a successful marketer. Marketing is about understanding a need and meeting it It was hot this weekend. Unfortunately for Lil’ Jimmy’s Big Ade Stand, it wasn’t hot at 815AM when I drove by. I give the kid bonus points for getting to work early on a Sunday but he clearly missed the mark. He was out there selling his little heart out. The problem was the market did not have a need. Lil’ Jimmy was targeting a market that didn’t exist. No need equals no sales. He had his dreams crushed by about 10AM and had packed it in thinking no one wanted lemonade that day. Jimmy’s problem was the market of overweight underexercised middle-aged homeowners doing yard work was just ramping up at 10. Jimmy missed the market. Right product. Wrong time. Look at your business. What is THE MARKET asking for? Are you delivering what they want when they want it or are you pushing your product into a market you hope exists?

Doing Nothing Can Make You More Productive

May 24, 2010 /1 Comment/in Balanced Lifestyle /by Mike Figliuolo

Sometimes the key to getting a lot done is to actually do nothing at all. I’ve been dreading writing this post. Massive writer’s block. “I have nothing to say” said the tired little voice in my head (no comments from the peanut gallery). Normally I write on Sundays. Writing is relaxing for me. Unfortunately I didn’t get any writing done yesterday because it was gorgeous outside. I spent the entire day outdoors. Trimming hedges. And getting a sunburn. My day today has been packed with meetings and calls. I’ve been silently freaking out about this post being later and later in terms of posting time. And then inspiration hit while on a call with a client. The client was bemoaning not having enough time to do everything. Too many meetings, calls, projects, and crises were consuming all available free time. It was getting harder and harder to recover because they were getting deeper and deeper into burnout each time they tried to take a break. Then I made the fateful comment.

The Secret to Getting an Awesome Job Reference

May 17, 2010 /3 Comments/in Career, Communications /by Mike Figliuolo

Have you ever noticed tons of resumes state “References available upon request” but many job seekers probably haven’t put thought into what that really means? Did you know there’s a secret to virtually guaranteeing you get an awesome reference from these people who are available upon request? I know many of you are still in job search mode. The reference can be the deal maker or breaker. I’m going to give you the key to make it the deal maker. And if you’re not job searching but perhaps are serving as a reference for someone who is (and someone you obviously care about otherwise you wouldn’t be their reference) I’m going to help you be the best reference you possibly can. Side note/PRO TIP: DON’T write “References available” on your resume – it’s stupid and a big “duh.” You had better have references available on request so stating it on your resume earns it the award of OBVIOUS FAIL. If you’re putting that in there, you might as well also include “I’m not a murderer nor am I a mutant” because that too is obvious – unless you’re actually a murdering mutant. Putting that references statement in there is also a huge waste of valuable space on your resume. Now back to our post…

Great Leaders Should Move to a Cubicle

May 10, 2010 /7 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Communications, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Congratulations! You’ve arrived. You’ve earned that nice cushy office where you can shut the door and no one can hear you listening to the greatest American Idol video ever on YouTube (or looking for a video card to send your mom on Mother’s Day – use this one next year). Yep. The office is fantastic. But if you want to demonstrate some real leadership, toss your junk into a box and move into Downtown Cubeville. Before I explain why I encourage you to head out into the ant farm, let’s acknowledge why cubicles are one of the most horrific inventions ever: – You have NO privacy – You can hear *everything* everyone around you says – You can smell every roadkill opossum Lean Cuisine entree your neighbor heats up in the microwave – You can be subjected to the scorching hellfire of your cube-mate’s space heater or the gale force winds of their oscillating fan – The lovely industrial gray or taupe of the cube walls makes you want to scream All that said, sometimes getting back to the cube is a good thing if you’re the boss. There are two major benefits from doing so. You’ll just have to trust me on these and give them a try sometime.

12 Things My Son Would Say In Your Stupid Meeting

May 5, 2010 /2 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Communications, Leadership, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

Admit it – you can’t stand meetings. Me either. I’d rather shove a rusty plastic spork in my eye (think about it…). Why do we loathe meetings so much? Most likely because they’re venues where we can witness atrocious and moronic behaviors while wasting minutes of our lives that we’ll never get back. Guess what? The meetings you hold are terrible too. Seriously. Fess up. By the way, my meetings are awful as well. So I had writer’s block and asked my twitter followers to pick a blog topic. Here it is: 12 things my son would say in a meeting. This post will be sort of like my April Foolish Office Behaviors to Kill post (go read it – you’ll love it). For those of you who haven’t read about my son before, he’s hysterical. Acerbic wit. Moronic ideas. Biting sarcasm. Silly concepts. I guess he has a career in blogging ahead of him. A little about my son: He’s 13. He never stops eating. His nickname is “Galactus” so named after a Fantastic Four villain who is commonly known as “The Devourer of Worlds.” Trust me – you don’t envy my food bill. Anyway… in this post I’ll tee up 12 common meeting situations and offer you his take on that behavior. Hopefully you’ll see the wisdom inherent in his perspectives. I’ll simply give an example of the typical meeting behavior. Galactus will supply the commentary. You should be smart enough to walk away with the implied lesson and the “to do” of changing the behaviors on this list.

What Han Solo Can Teach You About Informal Leadership

May 3, 2010 /4 Comments/in Leadership, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

You have to admit, Han Solo could definitely pull off that leather vest. On top of that, he can teach all of us a thing or three about informal leadership. We’ve all been in a role one time or another where we weren’t the “formal” leader of the team. We were just another team member trying to contribute to the greater good. Unfortunately, just when the project was going fine, a bunch of imperial stormtroopers and bounty hunters came along and changed the project charter. The crisis clearly demands leadership. The “formal” leader likely has her hands full trying to get things back on track. If the team sits back and lets the leader lead alone, there’s a chance everything will fall apart (there are a *lot* of stormtroopers involved here). It’s time for you to step up and lend a hand. Even though you’re not the “formal” leader in this situation, you can have a disproportionately positive impact on the outcome as an informal leader. To do so, you can tear a few pages out of Han Solo’s leadership playbook.

4 Keys to Short-Circuiting Stress – Guest Blogger

April 28, 2010 /1 Comment/in Balanced Lifestyle, Guest Blogger /by Mike Figliuolo

Today I’d like to welcome AmyK Hutchens as our guest blogger. I figured anyone who had tips on dealing with stress would be helpful to you folks in today’s business world. This post is a great complement to the Building Resilience post Belinda Gore wrote here previously. Everyone please welcome AmyK. For every six minutes you experience a high state of negative stress it takes your immune system six hours to recover. That doesn’t stress you out, does it? Experiencing a rotten, lousy, no good, stressful day creates a chronic cycle that wears your immune system down, leaving you exhausted, sick and feeling even more stressed. The goal, however, isn’t to get rid of stress… our brains are hard-wired for it, and we actually need some stress (called eustress) in order to function. The goal is to short-circuit the negative cycle. Stress has been around since the first human tried to light a fire and failed, only to have his girlfriend show him how it’s done. Telling your brain that “not having enough time in the day” does not equate to “being eaten by a saber-tooth tiger” doesn’t work. Attempting to convince your brain that the wooly mammoth in front of you is really just your boss or your mother-in-law is next to impossible. Your brain doesn’t distinguish the difference between the two. You’ve got better odds teaching your brain that the saber-tooth tiger is actually a house cat and that your mother-in-law really doesn’t care that you can’t cook. Seems simple. It is simple, it’s just not easy, especially when your mother-in-law sighs every time you look at your cookbook.