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Ask, But Within Reason – The 11th Leadership Principle
/2 Comments/in Leadership /by Mike FigliuoloThis spin through the eleven Leadership Principles has been a fun journey. These principles are a wonderful touchstone for reminding yourself how to lead your team effectively and successfully. This post concludes that series. Let’s imagine you’ve just taken over your business unit. Your staff turnover is running 58% and right now you’re short-staffed by 20%. Three of your eight direct report manager slots are vacant (and have been for 6 months). Scary, isn’t it? Now here’s the kicker – your boss comes to you and asks you to bump your profit commitment for next year up by 10% AND to increase your market share goal by 5%. His rationale is you’re a great leader and he knows you read the thoughtLEADERS blog (couldn’t resist). What do you do? He seems to be asking the impossible, if not the insane. My recommendation: call on the 11th Leadership Principle: employ your unit in accordance with its capabilities. So how exactly does that principle help in this case? Let’s discuss…
Leadership Perspectives: “Steermanship” – Guest Blogger
/3 Comments/in Career, Guest Blogger, Leadership, Training /by Mike FigliuoloI am again pleased to have Bill Malkemes as a guest blogger this week. You’ll find some background on Bill at the end of this post. Enough rambling – here are Bill’s thoughts: I was reading some of the leadership material on this blog. Since I have seen Mike in action mentoring young leaders at a National Conference on Ethics in America (and was pretty impressed with his results), I thought I would see if I could write a short message at a macro level that may be useful to other readers then talk about a subject or two at the micro level. In my case I can be referred to as an “experienced” leader. As the head of my organization of high achievers it can be quite competitive for assignment of key tasks and appropriate recognition of accomplishments. In younger days it was fun to get into the details and solutions for the tasks, but now I am needed more in the management mode. So what I try to do is keep the organization vibrant with new and exciting work, appoint task leads in a fair manner, and turn them loose. I don’t call what I do leadership, although leadership does take different shapes and forms. From my perspective, I call it “steermanship.” When the work comes to you as a manager or task leader, assess the starting status and the end state that is needed. With education and experience you also get a feel for the complexity of the work and key scheduling and/or decision points that you may have to assess along the way. Although you may have a way you would do the job, I have found it enlightening to give someone the job and desired end state and have them come up with the plan, […]
Do Anything! Just Do It Now! – The 10th Leadership Principle
/6 Comments/in Leadership /by Mike FigliuoloEver seen The Outsiders? After you get over the number of famous actors crammed into it with massive amounts of Crisco in their hair (Cruise, Swayze, Lowe, Dillon, Macchio, Estevez, Diane Lane – alright, she didn’t have Crisco in her hair) you get to see the one defining scene. Ponyboy and Johnny are on the lam from the man. They’re hiding out in an abandoned church. Then it happens. For some reason a school bus full of kids is visiting the boarded up abandoned church for a school field trip (and I thought going to the museum was lame when I was a kid). Somehow the church catches fire and several children are trapped inside (apparently there weren’t as many lawyers in the 50’s because that setup screams negligence lawsuit). Ponyboy and Johnny roll up on the scene as the flames roar. Then Ponyboy does it – he demonstrates the 10th Leadership Principle in the blink of an eye. The principle is “make sound and timely decisions.” Ponyboy quickly assesses the situation and charges the building. Johnny follows without hesitation. They break into the building and save the kids from the fire. Ultimately, however, their heroic efforts cost Johnny his life.
Seven Things Most People Don’t Know About Me
/11 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Communications, Leadership /by Mike FigliuoloSo this is a bit of a “non-traditional” post for this blog but a great idea sent to me by Lisa Hoffmann. It’s clear that blogging, twittering, linking in, facebooking, etc. are more about the conversation and relationships than traditional websites. It’s about personalization (which is a huge aspect of leadership). Knowing someone as an individual is a foundation for closer relationships and more effective leadership. It also enhances the probability that you’ll learn more rapidly because you’re better at integrating more perspectives into your decision making processes. To that end, I’m sharing seven things you may not know about me in an effort for you to get to understand the man behind the blog a little better. I’m also going to suggest seven other people you should get to know and understand. So here goes – 7 things you might not know about Mike Figliuolo:
Team Training – The 9th Leadership Principle
/4 Comments/in Leadership, Training /by Mike FigliuoloWant your team to be more successful? Try training them. Seriously. I know the economy is terrible and funds are tight but the WORST mistake you can make is skimping on your people and their development. “Gee Mike, they’re not going to change jobs in this economy so why invest?” They’re not going to change NOW but as soon as the economy picks back up, they’re gone. They’ll head to organizations that want to develop them If you saw the last poll we ran here, growth opportunities was the #1 driver of job satisfaction and idiot bosses were the #1 reason for leaving a job. Coincidence? Um… no. Training your people as a team is a critical Leadership Principle (#9 for that matter but not 9th in importance). Not only do you have to train them to be competent at what they do, you should be succession planning, building their skills and, most importantly, excessively emphasizing that you succeed or fail as a team. Why? How? Let’s discuss. First, you have to be trained. Your people follow your example and you want them to see you’re committed to development. First you have to get over yourself and accept that you need training too. The perils of thinking you’re too smart are your team doesn’t believe you when you say you’re committed to their development and you become a worthless dinosaur over time.
Some Families & Little Kids Need YOUR Help!
/5 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Upcoming Events /by Mike FigliuoloPlease note – the contribution window for this has closed. Thanks to all who supported the effort. Just because this event is closed doesn’t mean you can’t help. Go volunteer somewhere. Donate. Make someone else’s life better. Thanks! Let’s face it – you’re pretty fortunate. You’re reading this by accessing the Internet over your laptop while sitting in the comfort of your home drinking your Starbucks quad shot venti caramel macchiato. Imagine NOT being able to pay for Internet access. Imagine NOT having your laptop. Imagine NOT being in your home because you no longer have one. Pretty grim, huh? Well that’s EXACTLY the situation some folks I’d like to help are in. The Ohio State – Marion Psychology Club is sponsoring the Giving Tree Project, in which we all can help needy families during the holiday season. The families being helped are the victims of domestic violence. They’ve escaped from some terrible situations in their homes sometimes with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. They’ve found shelter and protection at Turning Point Domestic Abuse Shelter. They need YOUR help. Due to a difficult economy, the project to give them a happy holiday has not raised as much money as they’d like. I’m asking your help to solve that problem. I’m asking you to donate whatever you can to your local shelter. All funds will be used to purchase items these families desperately need (and yes, I’m kicking in a nice chunk of change too). Some of the gifts the families have requested are socks for a six year old little girl whose favorite color is purple (yes… she simply wants SOCKS for Christmas!). Another is a size 14 boys coat (the child only wants to be warm). One of the mothers is pregnant and due with a […]
Increasing Responsibility In Your Team – the 8th Leadership Principle
/2 Comments/in Leadership /by Mike FigliuoloThis is perhaps the most challenging Leadership Principle because it requires you to let go, trust someone else, and lose control of the ultimate outcome. Who’s scared? I am (and have been on several occasions). Losing control can be terrifying but it’s the key to successfully implementing this principle. You know you’re successfully at the edge of control when you’re shouting like Scotty on Star Trek (“I can’t hold her cap’n! She’s breaking up!”). Developing a sense of responsibility in your subordinates and team members requires YOU to act differently before they can. This principle is all about giving your team opportunities to learn and grow. It demonstrates your interest in their growth as a professional and proves how much you trust them to work on things that really matter. Rather than belabor a long drawn out explanation of why it’s important and uncomfortable to give people responsibility (and assume risk in doing so), I encourage you to read this previous post on leading through risk-taking. Remember – your job as a leader is to set direction, provide encouragement, and take corrective action when things aren’t going well (notice I didn’t say “perform every task yourself”). Before we explore why this principle is so important, allow me to share an example of me failing at it.
Drive Results Without Being The Taskmaster – The 7th Leadership Principle
/7 Comments/in Leadership /by Mike FigliuoloLeadership without action is nothing more than cheerleading. It’s a rah rah speech. Stuff has to happen. Results count. The seventh Leadership Principle is “ensure the task is understood, supervised, and accomplished.” I know some of you are conjuring up visions of taskmaster bosses when you hear those words (hopefully none of those bosses have been as bad as The Taskmaster comic book villain pictured here – although it would be very cool to work for him because that would mean you’re a cartoon which carries all sorts of possibilities along with it…). I’m not advocating that. This principle is all about mission definition, articulation, and accomplishment. There’s a lot loaded into that very short statement of principle so let’s break it down. Ensure the task is understood Seems simple, right? Make sure people know what you’re asking them to do. And exactly how many times have you or your boss skipped that critical step this week alone? We assume. You know what happens then (bad things). I screwed this up this very morning: