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How comfortable are you with reading, understanding and executing contracts?
Our reader poll today asks: How comfortable are you with reading, understanding and executing contracts? Extremely: I understand contracts well and have no issues executing them 18% Very: I’m familiar with most contracts and am mostly comfortable executing them 36% Kind of: Contracts sometimes confuse or intimidate me, but other times I’m comfortable 28% Not very: Unless it’s a simple contract, I prefer to leave contracting to the experts 14% Not at all: I want nothing to do with contracting in any situation 4% Practicing Law without a License? Slightly over half of you are very or extremely comfortable with understanding and executing contracts. That’s a great skill to have given how prevalent they are in everyday business. If you’re in the minority who aren’t as familiar or comfortable with contracts, that’s fine too as long as you’re represented by competent counsel. In any case, it’s a good skill to have because the better you understand contracts, the more effectively you can point out any “business” issues to your attorneys (who mostly read contracts for their legal implications and not necessarily the business implications). Even if you’re not the one signing the contract, knowing what’s in there can help you identify and mitigate business risks and prevent your organization from entering a bad deal. Stop being intimidated. Read the contract. Get familiar with their structure and terminology. Your understanding of contracts will be an asset to your organization. Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below! – 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 […]
Life Lessons Interview with Mike Figliuolo
Mike Figliuolo, thoughtLEADERS’ Managing Director, recently sat down with Jinky Diola of WorldClassPerformer.com to share some life stories, perspectives, and experiences that have shaped his career to date. Read the full interview below. You can find links to this interview and other WorldClassPerformer interviews at the bottom of this post. Where did you grow up and what was your childhood like? Did you have any particular experiences/stories that shaped your adult life? I grew up in New Jersey just outside New York City. I had a normal suburban kid life. I was entrepreneurial from a very young age. Started by selling painted pencils at school. I’d use about $0.10 of materials and charge $1.00 apiece. After that, it was a paper route. Then my comic book collecting/selling business where I actually ran comic book conventions at hotels at the age of 14. I cleared $1,000 in a day (and for a 14-year-old in 1984 that was a lot of cash). My entrepreneurial background has really been something that has enabled me to succeed in running my own business for the last 16 years. What is something you wish you would’ve realized earlier in your life?
Marketing 101 As We Head Into 2021
As the world continues to change, organizations can benefit from adapting their marketing strategies. Michael Stahl shares ten ways to make the most of your marketing efforts in 2021. Today’s post is by Michael Stahl, CMO at SERVPRO (CLICK HERE to learn more). The year 2020 brought both challenges and opportunities to marketing professionals. In fact, that’s probably an understatement. But the year has come to a close (thank goodness!), and it’s time to look ahead to hopefully brighter, safer, and more profitable days. As we shift our sights to 2021, I’ve put together ten marketing basics that can help you build a strategy to increase engagement, market share, and revenue. Reposition your product for modern consumer needs Considering we don’t know when the global pandemic will end, nor fully understand its long-term repercussions, we need to
How would you characterize your organization’s attitude toward customer service?
Our reader poll today asks: How would you characterize your organization’s attitude toward customer service? We go out of our way to exceed expectations 61% We do our best to meet expectations 32% We try to meet expectations but don’t worry too much if we don’t 6% We do the bare minimum to get by 1% Is meeting expectations good enough? IN a hyper-competitive world, a clear majority of you are going out of your way to exceed your customers’ expectations. It doesn’t take much and it goes a long way. For those of you satisfied with meeting customer expectations, recognize that your competitors are trying to push beyond those expectations. Fall short enough times and you’ll find those customers are no longer yours. We all know it’s less expensive to keep an existing customer than it is to acquire a new one. If you’re one of those “meeting expectations” firms (or even the ones who don’t really care too much about meeting expectations) just recognize your marketing team will be very busy and very expensive but your finance team might not have a lot of work to do when it comes time to count your profits. Ignore customer service at your own risk! Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below! – 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!
Timeless Advice for Beginner Entrepreneurs
Starting a business? Don’t know where to start? Avoid beginner mistakes and make the most of your time by taking advice from someone who’s been there before. Today’s post is by Mike Figliuolo, Managing Director of thoughtLEADERS. In 2012, I gave an interview to The Metropreneur in which I shared my answers to the five most common questions I’m asked about entrepreneurship and thoughtLEADERS LLC. Although this interview took place eight years ago, I believe all the guidance is just as relevant today as it was when I first said it: When do I talk to the venture capitalists? Five years from now. Seriously, entrepreneurs need
Changing Culture, Changing Conversations
Culture plays an integral role in your organization’s success or failure. Learn a four-step process to create a new culture or change an existing one. Today’s post is by Chuck Wisner, author of the forthcoming book, Conscious Conversations (CLICK HERE to learn more). Cultures are patterns of human interaction that define the values and the behaviors that help groups accomplish a shared mission. In an organization, the culture is the soup in which work gets done. It influences employee satisfaction, customer retention, and the bottom line. Getting organizational culture right is complicated, but it can mean the difference between a flourishing organization and a floundering one. Defining an organization’s culture and bringing awareness to the vital role it plays is a big step to shifting productivity and positivity and to increasing customer satisfaction. Yet organizations are often like fish swimming in polluted water, unaware of the unhealthy environment that surrounds them. Undefined unconscious cultural norms are hidden forces that encourage the worst of human nature. Put any group of ambitious people together in a hierarchical structure with sizable goals and a good salary, and you’re sure to see an outbreak of competitiveness, cliquey behavior, distrust, jealousy, and resentment. Competition overshadows collaboration, individual egos trump collective goals, and ambition outshines curiosity. Without an intentional approach to culture, an unconscious culture will slowly emerge in a company or team, influenced by leaders’ personalities, relationships, and the quality of conversations that teams have or don’t have. Some people say, “$#!& happens.” I say, “Culture happens.” It’s not unusual for leaders to wake up one morning and say, “Why are we behaving this way? When did we become so disjointed?” To fix a broken culture, it’s useful to examine how world-class teams work together and the role conversations play. Those teams typically have two things […]
How generous of a person would you say you are?
Our reader poll today asks: How generous of a person would you say you are? Extremely: I give freely and often sometimes until it hurts 13% Very: I regularly give what I can to others 41% Kind of: I’ll give to people and causes I’m passionate about 35% Not very: I’ll occasionally do generous things but not often 9% Not at all: I rarely give to others unless I’m encouraged to 3% Others before self? Generosity has many benefits beyond the actual act itself. Giving can foster connections, understanding, empathy and community. The item or action given doesn’t have to be large to be meaningful. During especially challenging times, generosity can turn someone’s entire day, week or month around. Don’t give until it hurts. Hurt shouldn’t be part of the equation. But do consider giving for the sake of giving. Occasionally, others will hear of your generosity and hopefully be inspired to be generous, as well. We’re all weathering the same storm — consider how you might make someone else’s experience a bit more pleasant or bearable. Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below! – 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!
3 Steps to Stop Being Your Own Worst Critic
Still need a resolution for 2021? Try being kinder to yourself. Learn how you can set the tone for a successful year by being more conscious of negative thoughts and self-critical tendencies. I’m pretty sure I can safely say that individuals who read our blog are achievers. You work hard, seek to develop your skills, and look forward to the next goal in front of you. I’ll also bet you’re your own harshest critic. You probably beat yourself up at the smallest perceived failure. Some of you do more damage to yourselves than that funky albino monk in Da Vinci Code did to himself with that nasty rope of his. Sometimes your self-deprecating humor isn’t very humorous. Stop it. Now. These negative thoughts don’t just affect your performance – they rub off on your team. If you’re not careful you can create an environment where your standards are perceived as unreasonable and where praise seems extremely hard to come by. Over time, that erodes your team’s morale and can eventually lead to turnover (not to mention a lousy standard of living for you). We’re going to get a little cerebral and introspective today. I ask you to do so in the spirit of getting on a healthier mental track. Do so not just for the benefit of your team but for yourself, your friends, and your family. So how can you do this? My suggestion: assess, admit, and act.