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Using Stretch and Commit Goals to Drive Performance
Goal setting is tricky business. You’ll get much better performance if you set two goals for your team. Once you’ve done so, paying for performance is more of a math equation than it is black magic. Incentives can, and have been, a topic of great discussion but one thing that is hard to argue is this: you want to complete a goal, incentives work. Sometimes incentives are money. Incentives can be salary increases or bonuses. You may offer stock or options. Other incentives can be awards, time off, or promotions. Incentives need to be something that’s meaningful and exciting to your team, collectively. When you set the incentives, make a direct linkage between the goal and the reward. I’ve always liked setting “commit” and “stretch” goals. The commit goal is something where folks are signing up to deliver it no matter what. There’s zero bonus associated with hitting a commit. It’s the “you did your job” level of goal. A “stretch” is the furthest point that folks think is in the realm of possibility. They have an idea for how they’ll achieve 70% of it but no clue where the last 30% will come from. And to be clear – that first 70% will take a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to hit. With a stretch goal, people can max out their bonus. If you have a commit goal and a stretch goal, put the bonus on a sliding scale between those two instead of creating an all-or-none scheme. A “commit” goal is the minimum that someone will deliver to the organization. At the “commit” the bonus is zero. A stretch goal is a high level of impact that will take a tremendous amount of effort to achieve. If someone hits their stretch, the bonus should be 100% of […]
What’s the best part of being in a leadership role?
Our reader poll today asks: What’s the best part of being in a leadership role? Helping my team members develop, grow and succeed: 52% Having control over the way things run: 4% Being able to set direction, take risks and make things happen: 34% Being visible and valued in the organization: 6% Overcoming the challenges leaders face every day: 3% Something else: 2% Making stuff happen and developing others. The two clear winners in this poll are how much you enjoy making things happen and developing your team members. Both are great rewards for any leader. The interesting thing is they’re both outward-facing in that the impact is about the environment around you versus the impact of the role on you. While I recognize these polls are simple and these are complex topics, there are clear patterns. If you happen to be inward-facing in your leadership, I encourage you to take a moment to look at the broader impact you’re having. The things you’re getting done and your impact on helping people grow may be much larger than you expect. You will likely also find the rewards of that impact far exceed the inward-facing rewards of how your role makes you feel. 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!
Developing Stronger Executive Communication Skills
Mike Figliuolo, thoughtLEADERS Managing Director, sat down with Adam Torres of The Money Matters Top Tips Podcast to talk about executive communication. In this podcast interview, Mike reunites with Adam Torres of The Money Matters Top Tips Podcast to delve deeper into his personal thoughts and tips on executive communication. Mike breaks down executive presence and what exactly it is, and then points out a few of the standard shortcomings that people point out with regards to executive presence and how finding a few small fixes really can move the needle in interacting with others. As the discussion continues, Mike gives his top tips for improving this executive communication, starting with knowing your audience, something people have heard many times before, and how finding and knowing that hot button topic to get people engaged and bought in is a game changer. And then being able to assemble everything beyond facts into a compelling story that further engages the ‘audience.’ Stay tuned for more of podcast features and interviews from Mike and the rest of the thoughtLEADERS team. Money Matters Top Tips Podcast – Mike Figliuolo
How do you react when your work is unfairly criticized by someone?
Our reader poll today asks: How do you react when your work is unfairly criticized by someone? I ignore it. Haters gonna hate. 10% I take it too personally but don’t react. 29% I rebut their position gently, then move on. 54% I vigorously defend my work until they recant their words. 7% Split reactions on reacting. Unfair criticism is frustrating and sometimes painful. About 40% of you let it go, while 60% rebut it with varying levels of vigor. For those who let it go, your restraint is commended. Just be aware of the risk that the criticism could spread and become “fact” to others so if it’s not something you want associated with you, consider a rebuttal. For those who do say something about it, moderation is the key. Attack the criticism to vigorously and you’ll escalate the conflict. Do too little, and your rebuttal will be brushed off and ignored. Paramount in all of this is to remember to confront the problem and/or the comments versus attacking the person. The instant you make it personal, the higher the risk you face of an escalated response. Make it about the facts of the matter and the comments at hand, and you have a much better chance of resolving things peacefully. 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!
Work Isn’t an Excuse for Lack of Self Care
Work is a convenient excuse for not taking care of yourself. Not exercising, poor diet, and stress are a bad combination. You’ve got to make time for you. Work will always be there when you get back. Today’s post is by Mike Figliuolo, Managing Director of thoughtLEADERS. Back in 2015, I had a heart attack. A second heart attack. Yep. Two. The first one sucked but it was my fault. Crappy diet. Poor exercise habits. Not managing stress well. I lost a lot of weight. Dropped my cholesterol. Modified stress responses. I was feeling great. I had conquered the cardiac event. Wrong. Heart attack #2 was a nasty little bugger. Hit me on a flight to Salt Lake City. I was headed out to teach my Leadership Maxims class. It ended up being the first class I’ve missed teaching in 12 years of running this business. It wasn’t fair. I was in shape. I was eating well. I was managing stress…Kind of. A chunk of plaque blocked my obtuse marginal artery. Such B.S. ended up with a third stent. Missed teaching the class (although my client was unsurprisingly understanding of my dilemma). I quit caffeine after that one. That was painful but green tea isn’t a bad substitute. Where am I going with all this? It’s easy to fall out of good habits.
How do you allocate your time spent with your direct reports?
Our reader poll today asks: How do you allocate your time spent with your direct reports? I spend most of my time with my high performers. 17% I spend an equal amount of time with everyone. 62% I spend most of my time with my low performers. 22% Spend time where it’s needed. While it may seem “fair” to give everyone on your team the same amount of your time, you’re doing them (and yourself) a disservice. Your high performers likely need less of your time. By giving them more than they need, you’re wasting their time – and yours. You’re also not being fair to low performers who need more of your time but aren’t getting it. While it’s easy to just schedule everyone for an hour a week (or whatever the timeframe is), be more deliberate about giving people the time they actually need. In total, you might even end up spending less time with them but that frees you up to do other things and it helps them be more productive because they’re not wasting time sitting with you when they could be getting more work done. In some cases, you’ll give them more time than you currently are and that’s good too because then they’re getting the attention they really need. Don’t be lazy with your time allocation. It’s the most precious resource you (and they) have. Treat it accordingly. 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 […]
Don’t Pay It Back: How Positive Influence Leaders Pay It Forward
Positive influence leaders make a big impact on the people they encounter and the outcome of that positive leadership is to pay it forward and help others. Today’s post is by Glenn Parker, author of Positive Influences. Singer/songwriter Taylor Swift donated $1 million to the V Foundation for Cancer Research, but she also gave $50,000 to the nephew of one her backup singers who was being treated for cancer. It’s clear that people who have benefitted from a positive influence in their life tend to be a positive force in the lives of many of the people they encounter. Research indicates that some people take their experience of being on the receiving end of a positive influence leader and look for opportunities to have a similar impact on people they encounter in their work life. They can point to specific people they have impacted and the positive outcomes of those encounters. We also found that others have adopted a more generalized approach to people that seeks to have a positive influence on everyone in their orbit.
How well do people in your organization take ownership for problems or issues?
Our reader poll today asks: How well do people in your organization take ownership for problems or issues? Extremely well: When people see a problem, they actively make sure it gets fixed no matter what. 7.70% Very well: People work to fix most problems and own issues pretty well. 36.60% Well: People take ownership of bigger issues, but smaller ones tend to slide by. 20.28% Not very well: People infrequently take ownership of issues and tend to pass the buck. 27.27% Poorly: No one wants to own anything, and they work hard to pass things to others. 8.15% Less finger-pointing. While 65% of you indicate people in your organization do a decent job of taking ownership for problems, the 35% who say it doesn’t happen is a significant portion of respondents. Ask yourself how you can change that dynamic as well as how you might be causing some of it. Do you take ownership every time for every issue? Do you set a good example? Do you blame others when there are issues? Your people take their cues from you. If you complain about other departments not doing their job or you tell your team members to just let another group handle things, you might be feeding into this culture. This doesn’t mean you have to own the full resolution of every problem that comes your way, but you should consider taking an active role in moving it forward toward resolution. Culture is the sum of our daily behaviors over time. Are your daily behaviors creating the accountability culture you want to have? If not, change the behaviors. 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 […]