Entries by Trevor Jones

What kind of work are you more inclined to pursue and enjoy?

April 14, 2022 /0 Comments/in , , , /by

Our reader poll today asks: What kind of work are you more inclined to pursue and enjoy? I like work involving big strategic thoughts and long-term plans 15.46% I like work focused on execution, operations and tactics 25.76% I like having a balance of both kinds of work on my plate 58.78%  Enjoying the Strategic and the Tactical. A significant portion of respondents like having a balance of strategic and execution-focused work. While it’s nice to operate in the land of strategy and big thoughts, it’s also satisfying to put those plans into action and see real results. Being able to connect both of those types of work gives the satisfaction of not only coming up with the plan but also seeing it through to completion. Having only strategy work is great but might leave some unfulfilled if the strategy doesn’t get executed or is executed poorly and you have no ability to influence the outcome. Having only tactical work could be frustrating if it feels like the strategy is handed down from an ivory tower. In either scenario where you have only one type of work, find ways to connect with your counterparts and form a partnership so the strategy and execution are working hand-in-hand. – 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!

Leading Effective Meetings

April 13, 2022 /0 Comments/in , , , /by

Unproductive meetings waste your team’s time and energy. Here are five ways to make your meetings more effective. Meetings can be powerful communication tools or a dreadful waste of time. To make cross-functional team meetings productive, specify the meeting purpose, have the right people in the room, but maybe not all the people, manage by exception, identify sources of conflict, and be clear with the accountabilities and next steps. Specify the meeting’s purpose The meeting’s purpose can be to update or share information, make a decision, resolve an issue, solve a problem, or celebrate success. Let people know what the meeting is about beforehand and specify if there is any preparation required on their part before the meeting. Have the right people in the room Meeting attendees should be driven by the purpose of the meeting. If you’re sharing information, ensure that the people who need that information are invited. If you’re making a decision, have all the decision makers and people providing input into the decision in the room. People have a bias to invite everyone. Be thoughtful about who you invite and let the meeting’s purpose dictate who needs to be there. Manage by exception Managing by exception means only covering topics that are outside of expectations. If you have 10 work streams and eight are on track, you should only discuss the two that are off track. It saves time and focuses effort on the most important issues. I worked on one leadership team where we had a 10-hour update meeting. 10 hours. The reason it was so long was we went through every project and every deliverable that everybody was working on even though most of them were on track. Eventually we moved to a manage by exception process. That 10-hour meeting went down to 90 minutes. Identify sources of conflict Make sure […]

Corporate America’s Biggest Inefficiency

April 11, 2022 /0 Comments/in , , /by

  Emotions are the core of all human beings but not managing them properly might be what is keeping your team from achieving the most efficiency in their day.  Today’s post is by Jon Wortmann, thoughtLEADERS instructor. How much time is strong emotion wasting in your office? You know the routine: someone says something in a meeting, someone else flies off the handle. The meeting is effectively over. Or someone gets pissed about an email and starts talking to everyone in the office about how awful the sender is. The time spent cleaning up the spin cycle is exhausting and a drain. Or perhaps the most wasteful: people get angry and simply stop contributing. Strong emotion is inevitable in our digital, global world. So many of us are working harder, longer, and at all hours of the day. The stress level running through our veins is higher than it used to be from the first moments we wake. Complicating the demands are the interruptions. Multiple screens, communication channels, open offices, and the expectation to respond instantly are literally driving us mad. Studies of interruption by Gloria Mark of UC Irvine show that when people are interrupted, they work faster. Here’s the problem she also discovered: They get more stressed too. The stress causes us to get stuck in an emotionally reactive place, and most of us don’t know what to do next.

What’s the attitude of leaders in your organization when it comes to mental health issues?

April 7, 2022 /0 Comments/in , , , /by

Our reader poll today asks: What’s the attitude of leaders in your organization when it comes to mental health issues? It matters a lot and they treat it just as seriously as physical health issues 40.80% It’s important but they only pay attention to crisis situations 30.33% They don’t focus on it much and don’t really understand it 20.57% They’re dismissive of it and say “it’s all in your head” 3.61% They push back on it and treat it like people are faking issues to get out of work 4.69% Mental health is still health. An encouraging portion of respondents (41%) report that mental health issues have significant attention and support in their organizations. What’s alarming is 50% only pay attention to those issues if they’re a crisis or they don’t focus on the issue at all. Even more alarming are the 9% who are dismissive of these issues and see them as being faked. Mental health issues have serious consequences up to and including loss of life. If you’re a leader and you don’t understand these issues, their signs, their consequences, and their treatments, you owe it to yourself, your team, and your organization to educate yourself. If you do understand the issue, be part of the solution and educate others. Treat these issues just as seriously as you’d treat a heart condition. It’s simply a different organ of the body being affected. Or do nothing and accept the fact that your people who suffer from these issues will conclude you don’t care about their needs and they’ll find more caring leaders elsewhere. – 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 […]

Motivating People on a Cross-Functional Team

April 6, 2022 /0 Comments/in , , , /by

  Leading a cross-functional team involves learning what motivates each individual on your team. Motivating a cross-functional team requires the leader to set goals that inspire people. They have to connect each team member’s work to the project’s success. They also have to understand people from different backgrounds. Goals need to be ambitious but pragmatic. Consider setting a commit goal and a stretch goal where it’s appropriate. A commit goal is the basic expectation of what somebody’s going to deliver. A stretch goal is if everything goes right and we do all the right stuff, and we get a little bit lucky, here’s what we can achieve. People want to know their work matters. You have to make the linkage from their task to the broader project objectives. One technique I love for doing this is sitting the team down in front of a whiteboard. We write down all the tasks they’re responsible for on the cross-functional team project. Then, we write the broad project objectives at the top of the board. We spend time linking every single task they’re working on to those broader goals for the project. Once they see that their work is really critical for driving this big project objective, all of a sudden their work is more meaningful. Everyone on your team is an individual. They all have different things that are going to motivate them. For some people, it’s getting a great review. For other people, it’s about getting a great bonus. Still others just want recognition or they want to overcome a personal challenge. Some people on that cross-functional team see it as a great developmental opportunity to build a new skill. Sit down with each team member. Understand what motivates them. Do your best to connect project work to these motivators. On one team I ran, we were replacing our […]

The Role Stress Plays in Stupidity

April 4, 2022 /1 Comment/in , , /by

Prolonged, chronic stress often causes relative stupidity. Learn more about the connection between stress and cognitive performance. Today’s post is by Nicole Lipkin, author of What Keeps Leaders Up at Night (CLICK HERE to get your copy). I wrote my most recent book, What Keeps Leaders Up At Night, on a barstool at my kitchen counter. The day I started chapter 3, a chapter about stress, my neighbor started construction on her house. When I say “construction,” I mean a complete demolition that started at 5 AM and continued well into the night. The contractors enjoyed screaming profanities as loud as they could, blasting music, and doing the loudest possible work either very early in the morning or really late at night. The screaming. The hammering. The noise! After a week, I was living in a state of chronic agitation, “grrrr-ing” throughout the day, not sleeping well at night, anticipating being awoken by a jackhammer or drill that would feel like it was inside my brain. My concentration and thinking were so shot that I couldn’t think, let alone write. In hindsight, I probably should have gone elsewhere to work, but I couldn’t think clearly. I was stuck in a state of stress-induced stupidity and mired in rage. My state of existence became a stream of fragmented grunts and groans. I lacked the brainpower to change the situation, to think: “Go to a coffee shop or your office, Nicole.” The deadline for chapter 3 was fast approaching. Prolonged, chronic stress often causes relative stupidity. Today’s business environment is saturated with “low-grade fevers:” financial problems, overwork, job dissatisfaction, jackhammers, drills, information overload and a host of other issues. Amazingly enough, though our brains are capable of dealing with sudden acute stress, they don’t fare so well with chronic stress, i.e., the […]

How much do you pay attention to the global economy and factor world events into your strategy?

March 31, 2022 /0 Comments/in , , , /by

Our reader poll today asks: How much do you pay attention to the global economy and factor world events into your strategy? Very much: It’s a major area of focus and consideration for us 38.78% Somewhat: We’ll assess major events and crises, but that’s about it 33.67% Not much: We tend to focus regionally or locally and only on direct impacts 27.55% It’s all connected. While 40% of you stay closely focused on the global economy and its impact on your strategy, 60% of you pay it less to little attention. Consider increasing your awareness of it. It’s all connected. Global impacts might not hit your business directly but the knock-on effects of large scale global issues and opportunities certainly do. You might be wondering how. Don’t just think about your business. Think about your customers. Think about your suppliers. If you’re dealing with individual consumers, global events impact their mood, their wallets, and even their ability to go out and shop. If you’re dealing with large corporations, global events impact their budgets – and how much they can spend with you – as well as their strategies. You’re impacted whether you realize it or not. It’s probably time to realize it so you can proactively prepare for global impacts instead of reacting to them after it’s too late to do something meaningful about them. – 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!

5 Ways to Get Buyers to Tell Stories to Help You Close the Deal

March 28, 2022 /0 Comments/in , , , /by

  Getting your buyers to tell stories can give you insight into how to sell to them more effectively. Here are five ways to get your buyers to tell you their stories. Today’s post is by Paul Smith, thoughtLEADERS principal and bestselling author of Lead With a Story and  Sell With a Story. Your first objective in a sales call shouldn’t be to tell any of your stories. It should be to get the buyer to tell you their stories. If you don’t hear their stories first, how will you know which of your stories to tell? You wouldn’t trust a doctor who wrote you a prescription without listening to you explain your problem, would you? Of course not. Then why would a buyer accept the recommendation of a salesperson who did the same thing? And if you’re unsure about what kind of stories you should want to hear from your prospects, here are the three most productive ones you should be asking for: A personal story – so you can get to know them better A story about their biggest problem – so you’ll know what kind of help they need A story about how their favorite supplier became their favorite supplier – so you can become their favorite supplier Now, getting your buyers to talk is easy. Getting them to tell you stories requires a little more work. And you should want them to actually tell you stories not just talk, and for many of the same reasons why you should be telling stories to them: It’ll help you relax and listen better It’ll help you build a better relationship with them It’ll help you better remember what they say, plus When the story they tell is about the problem they’re facing, it helps you understand the context so you’ll have a better idea of the opportunity […]

How rigid is your organization when it comes to managing work schedules and deadlines?

March 24, 2022 /0 Comments/in , , , /by

Our reader poll today asks: How rigid is your organization when it comes to managing work schedules and deadlines? Extremely: We plan out everything in great detail and rigorously stick to schedules 8.34% Very: We plan most things and place a lot of emphasis on schedules 43.23% Somewhat: We plan big, complex projects but not much else 30.73% Not very: We generally go with the flow except in rare cases 14.58% Not at all: We’re totally winging it, and time is immaterial 3.12% Some plan, others… not so much. While this poll is split almost 50/50 in terms of those who plan rigorously and those who are less structured, it’s still instructive for both groups. For those who are planners, while your execution might be great, the risk you face is getting too attached to the plan and being inflexible especially when new issues or opportunities arise. To mitigate this risk, schedule regular “are we still making the right decision?” conversations or meetings. If the answer is yes, proceed with the plan. If it’s “no” it’s time to consider a new plan. For those who don’t plan, you might remain eminently flexible but the risk is you wander aimlessly and meander through the market. Adding some planning rigor once you decide on a direction can improve momentum and results. – 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!

The 3 Challenges of Leading a Cross-Functional Team

March 23, 2022 /0 Comments/in , , , /by

Leading a cross-functional team involves learning how to deal with competing demands and conflicts. Cross-functional teams can be really challenging to lead. There are three major challenges you’ll face when leading these teams. But if you plan for them, you can overcome all of them.  First, team demands compete with the day-to-day demands of the team member’s day job. It’s pressure they’re going to face from their own department. Their daily responsibilities don’t go away. Their project responsibilities on the cross-functional team typically get added to those day-to-day responsibilities. Their reviews, in terms of their end-of-year review, are more about their day job than their participation on your cross-functional team. So the project might not get as much attention or priority from that person. The second challenge you’ll face is that the team will have natural conflict in its structure due to competing goals, perspectives, styles, and personalities. Some people may be driving one function in their day job while your cross-functional team is trying to drive another. I led a major cost cutting project. On that cross-functional team, we had some people from sales and marketing. They were responsible for driving revenue. We were focused on cutting costs. There was a lot of conflict inherent in that situation. Different perspectives, styles, and personalities are going to be challenging. Any time you get a bunch of people working together, especially in a high-stress environment, there’s going to be conflict. And you’re going to have to resolve it. Finally, the team leader has to rely on influence more than direct control. Your team members on a cross-functional team typically don’t formally report to you. You don’t write their annual review. You don’t determine their bonus. They have their daily responsibilities that are higher priority and you’ll have to influence them to […]

Training Your Inner Matrix for Career Success

March 21, 2022 /0 Comments/in , , /by

Train your Inner Matrix to improve personal mastery in leadership, increase your potential for money and happiness, and enhance personal growth and development. Today’s post is by Joey Klein, CEO of Inner Matrix Systems and author of the new book The Inner Matrix: Leveraging the Art & Science of Personal Mastery to Create Real Life Results (CLICK HERE to get your copy). Whether you are seeking personal mastery in leadership, hoping to sharpen your skills in conflict resolution, or looking to take your career to the next level, understanding the relationship between your emotions and the actions you take is key. Nick didn’t expect to be fired from his job, but when his boss broke the news, Nick did not react in the way you might expect. He didn’t wallow in self-pity or unworthiness. He didn’t decide he was a failure or a loser. He didn’t ask the seemingly obvious questions like, “What am I going to do now? How will I provide for my family? How can I possibly go on?” On the contrary, Nick walked out of his boss’s office feeling like a new man—excited and exhilarated by the prospect of new opportunities. What was Nick’s secret? In the months leading up to the day he was let go from his job, Nick had been training his emotional state to align with his desired outcomes. In other words, Nick had been honing his Inner Matrix. What is the Inner Matrix? Simply put, your Inner Matrix is your unique set of emotion and thought patterns that drive your actions. We all react to the people and events in our lives from an emotional state. The emotional states in which we are living create stories that drive the actions we take in response to those people and events. For example, […]

Where is your organization in terms of its current employee growth trajectory?

March 17, 2022 /0 Comments/in , , , /by

Our reader poll today asks: Where is your organization in terms of its current employee growth trajectory? We’re in hyper-growth mode and hiring tons of people 11.26% We’re steadily growing at a reasonable pace 36.80%  We’re staying even with departures pretty much equaling arrivals 32.47% We’re shrinking slightly 16.88% We’re rapidly reducing our workforce 2.59% Is growth coming? On balance, the majority of you are staying flat or even contracting a bit in terms of headcount but there’s a strong segment demonstrating growth. There are obviously cautions in all directions. For those of you who are staying even, be sure your benefits and the way you take care of your people stays ahead of attrition. Growing companies will poach your dissatisfied employees if you’re not careful. For those contracting, be wary of cutting too deep because when an upswing happens or an opportunity presents itself, you may not be in a position to take advantage of it. For those of you growing, don’t get too excited and let your hiring get ahead of your growth. One contraction could cause your business to screech to a halt and cause emergency reductions. Whether you’re growing or shrinking, the advice is the same – think longer term and make choices that best position you for steady, continuous growth and profitability. – 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!

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