Mike Figliuolo – Page 94 – thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

About Mike Figliuolo

This author has not written his bio yet.
But we are proud to say that Mike Figliuolo contributed 1284 entries already.

Entries by Mike Figliuolo

Looking Out for #1 So You Don’t End Up in #2

February 16, 2010 /9 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Business Toolkit, Career /by Mike Figliuolo

Ahhh, the ’50’s. June Cleaver. Chevys. The paternalistic corporation that would employ you for the rest of your life and carry you via pension to the afterlife. Wake up. It’s 2010. Paternalism is dead (just like Marxism, Communism, but unfortunately not Cronyism). There are implications for living in this brave new world. And if you don’t start taking care of #1, you could end up in a nice big pile of #2. Be selfish. That’s right. I said it. But as usual, I’m saying to do so in a measured and appropriate way (although invariably at least one person who reads this will be too pea-brained to read further and just bash the post as unenlightened tripe and give it 1 star in the ratings). You need to continuously build your network and seek future opportunities while helping your current employer succeed. While you work at your company, regardless of how big or small it is, you don’t owe it anything more than an excellent day’s work, an ability to trust you to care for its interests, and your best efforts and loyalty to help it succeed. Beyond that, you’re putting yourself at risk for being disappointed at best and hosed at worst. The only way to avoid that outcome is to think selfishly. What do I mean? Allow me to explain.

Entrepreneurs Need to Bootstrap to WIN

February 9, 2010 /2 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Entrepreneur, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s guest post is by Brian Link who is a partner of mine in weBuild, thoughtLEADERS, and TiXiT among the many other things he does (yes, both of us have many entrepreneurial interests). This perspective on bootstrapping a new venture is so spot-on it almost hurts. This article is prompted by today’s launch of TiXiT where Brian is the CTO and I’m CEO. Enough context. Here’s Brian: I’ve seen my share of Internet startups and each entrepreneur, if you asked them, would tell you that getting started is the hardest part. Many people think they have a great idea. Some have even have written it down and dreamed of turning it into something big. But taking those first few steps of talking to other people, committing your own money, finding a team to help build it and figuring out how to tell the world about it is where you need great strategy (and some luck). One strategy, if you’re lucky enough, is to borrow a million bucks from your rich uncle. You might also find an angel investor or venture capitalist and beat the one in a million odds and get funded before you have a product or revenue. The much more likely scenario and the smartest strategy is much more difficult, if you can pull it off. It’s called bootstrapping. The term comes from a saying that started in the 1800s: “to pull yourself up by your bootstraps” which implies an impossible task. As a metaphor, it means to better oneself by one’s own unaided efforts. And today it often refers to starting a business that is self-sustaining and created with little or no external help. While bootstrapping is incredibly hard, there are huge rewards. Bootstrapping is hard. You need to stick your neck out; quit your job; have […]

Making Your But More Powerful

February 3, 2010 /3 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Communications, Guest Blogger, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s guest blogger is Brian Ahearn who has written here before. Once again, we’re talking about buts. Sorry – I couldn’t resist acting like a third grader there. Take it away Brian before this goes further downhill… A few weeks ago I read Mike’s article Managerial Miscues: The But(t) Sandwich (Reprise) and told him I really liked it but… The article addressed how people often blow it when it comes to bringing about behavioral changes because all too often they want to appear nice so they say something nice then finish with “but…” and take the other person to the proverbial woodshed. Not effective management. I teach classes on ethical influence and persuasion and one of the things I talk about with people is the power of transitional words like “but” and “however.” We focus on how to strategically use those words to make the most effective presentation because small changes can make a big impact! Here’s the basic teaching point for you to remember when it comes to transitional words – people forget what comes before “but” and focus on what comes after. For example, has anyone ever said this to you, “Honey, I love you but…”? Odds are, all you remembered was the hammer falling after hearing the word “but.” So how can you use your but better?

Surprise! You’re Getting Fired!

February 1, 2010 /3 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Customer Service /by Mike Figliuolo

Have you ever met someone who was fired from their job? Betcha fifty bucks they said “Yeah, I never saw it coming.” For some reason getting canned always comes as a shock to people. They’re clueless as to how bad they’re doing and how close to the door they are. Makes you wonder… are YOU close to the door and you don’t even realize it? Put your hand in the air if that question made you uncomfortable. There are many reasons people get fired. The company is failing and has mass layoffs. Your boss does a lousy job setting expectations and providing feedback. You’re caught stealing money from petty cash. Those are clear reasons for a canning and there’s not much you can do about them (except get your fingers out of the petty cash envelope). Instead, let’s focus on the “clueless” firing. The one where you think all is well then an anvil falls on your head. Let’s explore how we get ourselves in those situations in the first place then discuss how you can recover from them before you get pink slipped. I Sucked at What I Did First a story to illustrate. At one point early in my career, I sucked at what I did. I had been doing very well on performance reviews for a long time. Then I ended up on “the project” – you know the one… the one that’s not challenging, the work is tedious, and the project manager is less than motivating…. THAT project. Without realizing it, I allowed apathy to creep into my performance. I got lazy and did the minimum amount I had to to get by. My deliverables were less than insightful and not very inspiring. Work became a 7 to 11 (which is AM and PM – the […]

Managerial Miscues: “The But(t) Sandwich” (Reprise)

January 27, 2010 /2 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Communications, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Every once in a while history repeats itself. Those who fail to learn from it are doomed to repeat it. This post is in the spirit of that truism. Today I heard about someone receiving the infamous “but” sandwich form of feedback. Given that, I can’t help but post some thoughts I shared way back in January 08. I’m also posting it for the benefit of the thousands of new folks who read this blog nowadays versus the 11 or so who read it back then (and I know you guys are too busy/lazy to go find this in the archives…). So here’s a good wayback post that is just as true today as it was back then. A really cool thing happened today – I had a referral come to this blog from a prestigious newspaper’s website forum on career and management styles. At first I was like “Wow! I’ve been noticed by a leading periodical.” Then I read the content of one of the posts on the site and lost my mind. No – the post wasn’t something bad about me or my blog. It was offering advice that made me cringe as a professional manager. The advice was about how to give critical feedback to your team members. It suggested: “Use the ‘sandwich technique.’ When delivering a critique, it’s important to censure the behavior, not the individual. One of the easiest ways to encourage receptivity is to preface your criticism with a positive statement about the person’s job performance or character. Once you’ve fortified his ego, deliver the bad news. Ensure that he received the message, and knows how to correct the situation. Then close the conversation with an affirmation.” Pardon me. I just had an embolism.

Hate Your Job? Then Shut Up and Quit

January 25, 2010 /9 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, 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 (you’ll get no sympathy from me on the last point – my son is 13 years old and his nickname is “Galactus” called such because Galactus is a Fantastic Four villain known as “The Devourer of Worlds”). 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.

Hiring Debacles: Interviewing Dr. Jekyll and Hiring Mr. Hyde

January 18, 2010 /14 Comments/in Career, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

You’ve probably made a hiring mistake at some point in your career (and if you haven’t made one yet, you eventually will). Why does this happen? You don’t know how to read the “inner” candidate. I’ve talked about aspects of this dynamic before and explained why it’s critical to clean up a mess when you make one. This post is more about avoiding the mess in the first place. How does the interview with this candidate go? They show up all bright and shiny. Gold watch. Diamond ring. They ain’t missin’ not a single thing. And cuff links. Stick pin. Cuz ev’ry boss is crazy ’bout a sharp dressed man (please tell me you guys remember ZZ Top). They nail the interviews. Everyone is charmed by their wiles. They’re brilliant. Engaging. Intelligent. Driven. Fast forward six months. It’s a debacle. They’ve blown the gigantic project you gave them. They’ve alienated everyone in the office. Your boss is threatening to fire you if you don’t fire them first. You bow to the pressure and can the person who seemed so promising not so long ago. As you do you wave goodbye to all the money you invested in recruiting, hiring, relocating, bonusing, and eventually severing this person. What a waste. So why does it happen and how do you avoid such a nasty situation?

Safely Navigating the Pay for Performance Minefield

January 11, 2010 /14 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Pay. It’s the topic we love to avoid. We don’t discuss it with friends or family. It’s a verboten topic at cocktail parties. Heck, we discuss cancer, religion, and abortion at dinner parties more easily than we talk about our paychecks. We don’t even like to discuss compensation with the person whose pay we’re messing with. Well you know me – I LOVE to talk about the topics everyone avoids. Why? It opens a conversation we, as leaders, desperately need to have. So in an era of wacky pay debacles (paging Dr. Lewis, Dr. Ken Lewis to the boardroom please) how do you as a leader and executive navigate paying your people (or not paying them which might be just as well deserved)? How do you personally handle getting paid what you’re worth without having angry mobs chase you with pitchforks and torches on their way to key your car? Tough stuff but let’s tackle it. First let’s cover why we get into trouble on pay then discuss how you pay your folks and finally how you ensure you get paid what you deserve.

Bread, Lawn Mowers, and Cheap Customers: A New Year’s Resolution to Improve Your Business

January 4, 2010 /5 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Business Toolkit, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

To get your New Year started right, I’d like to share with you what I’ve been taught by homemade bread, lawn mowers, and cheap customers. They’ve all taught me my time is valuable and I have to protect it. Bread In this economy, money saving tips and articles are hot. You can read such advice all over the web. I recently read one of the dumbest articles I’ve ever seen on this exact topic. The basic premise was you can save a lot of money by doing things yourself. The example they used was one of making homemade bread. The basic math they used was you buy 4 loaves of bread per month at $2 which comes to about $100/year. Their brilliant idea was buy a bread machine for $60 and ingredients for about $10-15 a year and you’d be saving bread in no time (pun intended). Hey morons… how about the cost of the gas to go to the store? But that’s not the fatal flaw in this article. What they really forgot to factor in is the cost of your TIME. If you’re making $80,000 per year, your time is worth $40/hour. Suddenly that bread got extremely expensive. This is only one case of stupidity. Of course I can’t help myself and I have to offer more…

The Best of thoughtLEADERS 09: Why Your Team Hates You and Other Gems

December 29, 2009 /1 Comment/in Career, Communications, Customer Service, Leadership, Social Media, Strategy, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

I’m an idiot (no comments). I almost forgot to give you this year in review list of the BEST posts we’ve published this year. 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. Thanks for your incredible support in ’09 and best wishes for ’10! We hope to be a part of your future success! Enough sentimentality. Here’s the best stuff we’ve written all year: Most Viewed and Forwarded Post: 10 Reasons Your Team Hates You (They Just Won’t Say It To Your Face). This post was viewed over 20,000 times. In 2 days. Wow. I’m pretty sure I pushed every button I could when I wrote this (insecurity, paranoia, a 10 point list, etc.). Learn the 10 most destructive behaviors you can exhibit as a leader (and learn how to fix them).

7 Qualities and 9 Questions to Help You Select Future Leaders

December 28, 2009 /6 Comments/in Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Maureen Metcalf. Mike is recovering from a holiday turkey-induced food coma. And no, that’s not Maureen’s picture to the left – it’s a future leader. Duh. Consider the impact a poor leader has on your organization and the cost the business incurs when recovering from a poor leader. I worked with a very bright leader and CEO of a midsized organization. He had a very high view of himself and he disagreed with any data to the contrary (including board level input). Over the short time I knew him, his senior leadership team turned over 100%. The cost of this turnover was likely well in excess of $1 million just to replace and train the new leaders. The cost does not include the customer impact because of poor service. The financial performance of the organization declined during his leadership and he was eventually removed from this role. During his tenure, his COO filed a lawsuit against him. The company did not recover from this leader and was eventually acquired when they had significant cash flow issues. The problem wasn’t with his intelligence. The problem was he thought he alone was smart was enough to successfully lead a company through a major transformation. He was very strong on 1 of 7 measures of success and weak on others. Smart is obviously critical to success but in and of itself it is insufficient. 1 of 7 is a failure. So what went wrong?

Walking Away from the Cash is Good Business

December 21, 2009 /6 Comments/in Entrepreneur, Leadership, Sales, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

Sometimes there’s nothing tougher than a heaping helping of your own medicine. In this case it involves me, a nice pile of cash, peer pressure, and a tough decision. You folks know how often I rant about the fact that strategy is about saying “no.” It’s easy for me to pontificate on this point. I tell you about companies I’ve seen do this well and others I’ve seen screw it up. On Friday, it was my turn to put up or shut up. Today I’d like to recap the thoughts and events that led me to turn my back on an opportunity to earn a decent chunk of change. In sharing this I hope to make this critical strategic lesson accessible and easy to understand so you, in turn, can apply it to your business. Allow me to bore you for a moment and explain my firm’s strategy so you have some context. I run a leadership training business. Our strategy is to offer training sessions on critical business skills to large companies. We differentiate ourselves with the experience level of our instructors. We value delivering outstanding service to our clients and delivering top notch business results. We grow by deepening relationships with existing clients (translation: becoming part of corporate universities or recurring leadership programs) and adding new clients. When we’re not teaching, we’re developing new clients, building new classes, or eating Cookie Crisp while watching Spongebob reruns (it’s about a balanced lifestyle folks). That strategy sounds pretty clear, no? This is where it gets screwed up though…