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What is the biggest impediment to you making a big change in the way you work?
Our reader poll today asks: What is the biggest impediment to you making a big change in the way you work? I like my routine and simply don’t want to change. 16.10% I don’t know how to make the required changes. 9.52% People around me refuse to change with me. 20.49% I’m afraid to change. I might fail or things won’t go well. 6.82% I don’t have the resources I need to make the change. 17.56% I love change and always embrace it. 29.51% Many obstacles to change. There isn’t a dominant reason for change resistance, apparently. Sometimes it’s our desire for routine or it’s others’ desires not to change. Whatever the reason for change resistance, identify it, give it a name, and compare the cost of not changing with what the value of the obstacle is. Many times we don’t do this math and we let inertia lead us to a bad outcome. For the 30% of you who love and embrace change, help those around you do the same. Share the techniques you use to overcome fear or routine inertia. Don’t push them to change — lead them to change. Also don’t let your love of change turn into change for the sake of change. Some of us love change too much and make changes that might not be necessary. Understand this is a risk for you 30% and could cause unnecessary turmoil for the 70% of your colleagues. 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 […]
Transforming Misunderstanding Into Trust
Devin Singh, thoughtLEADERS Principal, sat down with Jim and Jan of The Leadership Podcast to discuss his thoughts on transforming misunderstanding. In continuation of our new collaboration with The Leadership Podcast, Devin gives his tips and tricks for transforming misunderstanding into trust in this short form “chalk talk.” These chalk talk series are bitesize sessions on a common (but challenging) leadership issue. Misunderstanding is not an uncommon part of any environment, especially business, but Devin breaks down that we have tools to break down these misunderstandings and how it can lead to greater innovation, happier workplaces, and deeper relationships. Jim and Jan ask Devin where he starts when he is working through this course material with people, asking if he starts at the base level that all of our memories are flawed and tainted. Devin goes further into some of his basic tools for trying to mitigate misunderstanding and how to recover and move forward with it after the fact. Stay tuned for more of these brief Chalk Talks featuring Devin, as well as many more members of the thoughtLEADERS team.
Why Authentic Leadership Matters
The difference between a good leader and a great leader may be their ability to be authentic. Today’s post is by Katy McQuaid, author of Everybody Loves Grace (CLICK HERE to get your copy). If you’ve ever worked with an authentic leader, you understand how empowering it can be. Authentic leaders aren’t very common and once you’ve worked with one, you’ll never want to work with anyone but an authentic leader again. Why is that? Because authentic leaders are self-aware, genuine and they lead from the heart – they bring out the best in people. Most importantly, they can be counted on to do the right thing because they know their core values and live by them. Authentic leaders create an environment where their values are known and they are willing to be held accountable to them; they are transparent. Ultimately, an authentic leader inspires trust, loyalty, and confidence within their workforce which drives optimal results, mission success, and personal growth. They create an environment where employees can grow and learn by taking risks. In addition, the authentic leader understands the need to focus on the long-term. He or she will not sacrifice their long-term vision for a short-term quick win.
How To Lead Inside The Box
In this episode of Innovating Leadership, Maureen Metcalf, thoughtLEADERS Principal, interviews Mike Figliuolo, thoughtLEADERS Managing Director, about what it means to lead inside the box. Mike will talk about his book: Lead Inside the Box: How Smart Leaders Guide Their Teams to Exceptional Results. In this episode Mike will discuss his thoughts and perspectives on a few of the following topics: Why he decided to write this book What he hopes readers take away from it The questions the book answers that successful people need to know His Top 3 points he wants readers to take away that will encourage them to learn more What guidance he would give leaders based on his experience Mike will further discuss his legacy as a leader, the way thoughtLEADERS operates as an organization, and how thinks of training and development in a very easy to apply and practical manner. Mike uses this time to share more depth to his experience with some easy practices for leaders at any level to apply to become more effective. Stay tuned for more of these leadership discussions between Maureen and Mike, along with a few other team members from thoughtLEADERS , being featured on the Innovating Leadership podcast.
Kenny Rogers on Strategy
Three proven ways to win hearts at work with the 3Ps of Balanced Accountability in the workplace: Personal, Positive, and Performance. Today’s post is by Jeff Bennett. When my sons were about 6 and 8 years old, in an effort to create an alternative to video games, I taught them to play poker. Okay, so that admission probably disqualifies me from any ‘father of the year’ awards. But in the process of watching them learn to play, I gained some fascinating insights both about how novices approach poker and, by analogy, how many companies appear to approach strategy. It didn’t take too long for my children to get a grasp of the basic rules and hand rankings (three of a kind beats two pair, etc.), but even with this working knowledge, they weren’t very good at the game. What I realized is that without an intuitive knowledge of probabilities, they were focused only on what was possible, and not what was likely. This caused them to rack up big losses because they would keep betting on a bad hand long after an experienced player would have folded. In short, they hadn’t taken Kenny Rogers’ advice in The Gambler: “you’ve got to know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em…” When I asked them to describe their thinking, it was something like: “I will stay in, because if the last card is an eight I will have a straight and will likely win.” Whereas an experienced player would have looked at the same cards and said: “I am going to fold because if the last card is anything other than an eight, I will have nothing and will certainly lose.” My children were focused on the possibility that the outcome they desired would occur, whereas the experienced player is […]
When your annual plan goes off the rails, how does your organization react?
Our reader poll today asks: When your annual plan goes off the rails, how does your organization react? We try desperately and in vain to make the plan happen. 13% We keep the plan but accept that we’ll fail. 6.3% We tweak the plan and do the best that we can. 66% We disregard the plan and write an entirely new one. 14.6% Are tweaks enough? When bad things happen to good strategic and annual plans, the vast majority of you say you “tweak it and do the best you can.” You might be missing great opportunities or assuming gigantic risks with that approach. Usually when a plan goes off the rails it’s because of a massive external dislocation. Those can be opportunities to reassess everything you’re doing and plot a new course. Your competitors are reeling from those challenges, too, and while they’re taking a “tweak and hope” approach, you have a real opportunity to compete differently in a new market environment. Press pause on the plan. Do a fundamental reassessment of your strategy given the new realities of the market. Make the changes you need to make today, and do so of your own volition rather than tweaking, hoping and waiting. Because the market will ultimately force you to change, and that’s a lot less pleasant than making the change on your own terms. 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!
Transforming Anger Into Trust
Devin Singh, thoughtLEADERS Principal, sat down with Jim and Jan of The Leadership Podcast to discuss his tools for turning anger into trust. In continuation of our new collaboration with The Leadership Podcast, Devin gives his tips and tricks for turning anger into trust in this short form “chalk talk.” These chalk talk series are bitesize sessions on a common (but challenging) leadership issue. Devin breaks down some of the natural causes of anger, particularly as a protective strategy or as a way that respond to supposed threats, but also as an energy that can compel us to create change. Delving into anger further, Devin talks about the effect anger can have on a relationship, of any sort, and that it’s important to be able to manage these feelings: both feeling them in ourselves, as well as reacting to these feelings in other. And then goes further into strategies to really transform these emotions for the better. Stay tuned for more of these brief Chalk Talks featuring Devin, as well as many more members of the thoughtLEADERS team.
The Philosophy of One Team & Extreme Ownership
Leadership is not always about being the loudest voice in the room, it’s about the ability to bring a group of people together around one goal. Today’s post is by John Piester, President of RedPeg Marketing. Nearly four years ago I became President of RedPeg Marketing. I quickly encountered many firsts in my 20+ year career that I wasn’t sure I was prepared for, namely becoming the leader of a then 21-year-old privately owned agency with roughly 45 employees. For the first time in my professional life, I’d have the overall responsibility for the success or failure of an organization and, in turn, everyone who worked there. I’d been in leadership positions before across business units, work groups within companies, sports teams — but this felt different. Bigger. Was I ready? A team is only as good as the people on it As a young boy, I learned the importance of being part of a team from watching my dad coach football and basketball for a local high school. Unsurprisingly, sports have always played a huge role in my life and I know it helped me learn valuable lessons about leadership that I’ve been able to apply throughout my career as well. The most important takeaway for me is that a team is only as good as the people that are on it.