Business Toolkit – thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

Navigating The Choppy Waters Of Disagreements

December 2, 2020/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Communications, Leadership /by Ryan Shaw

The how-to’s and don’t-do’s of disagreement, at work, but also in life.

Today’s post is by thoughtLEADERS principal Maureen Metcalf.

As leaders, we continue to face an increasing level of complexity. With political shifts happening across the globe, we are finding more than ever before that we are working with people who have dramatically different views than we have. Many are even violating the time-held rule not to discuss politics or religion at work.

For many, these discussions, along with a barrage of political demonstrations and news coverage, have left us feeling overwhelmed and often concerned about our immediate and long-term future. Many people appear more agitated, and agitated people are less effective employees, family members and friends.

An emerging leader and MBA student, Ben, recently told me that he watched two of his staff members come close to physical blows because of a political disagreement. His department is not directly impacted by the political discussion at hand, yet tempers are still high. The challenge for Ben was restoring a civil and supportive working relationship after people crossed lines that are hard to uncross.

Crises Need Leaders, Not Superheroes

November 30, 2020/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Entrepreneur, Sales, Strategy /by Ryan Shaw

Navigating crisis is not for the faint of heart, but what it takes to see your team through crisis is true, authentic leadership.

Today’s post is by Joseph Michelli, author of Stronger Through Adversity (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

Crises are humbling. They unmask imposters and reveal dormant strengths.

During COVID-19, many leaders navigated unrelenting and unchartered territory from their bedrooms, not their boardrooms. Some found themselves uttering previously unspoken words like “I don’t know,” “unprecedented,” “new normal,” or “pivot.”

I was fortunate to have a front-row seat on leadership behavior during the pandemic while serving on crisis task forces for my clients (C-suite leadership teams at globally recognized brands). Aided by videoconferencing technology, I observed vastly different leadership responses to the pandemic. As I worked with diverse teams, I asked senior leaders to share insights on strategies, successes, mistakes, and lessons learned during the pandemic.

In the months that followed, I spoke with more than 140 remarkable leaders (clients and their colleagues) who navigated chaos, lockdowns, re-openings, and more. These leaders stewarded for-profit, nonprofit, and public safety organizations. They included CEOs and Presidents of companies like Target, Verizon, Kohl’s, Microsoft, Mercedes-Benz, Marriott, Farmers Insurance, Dairy Queen, Zappos, United Way, and the Salvation Army.

How willing is your organization to walk away from low-margin business?

November 26, 2020/0 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Business Toolkit, Communications, Leadership, Poll /by Ryan Shaw

Our reader poll today asks: How willing is your organization to walk away from low-margin business?

Very — we do it all the time: 29.06%
Somewhat — it has to be really low margin before we consider walking: 41.89%
Rarely — we only walk away in extreme situations: 21.13%
Never — if they’re buying, we’re selling! 7.92%

Is the work worth it? There’s no shortage of “opportunities” to do work at low margins. Unfortunately all too many of you take on work that’s likely not worth it. Even if something is marginal in terms of value, you’re likely losing money on it. The hidden costs of administration, contracting, selling and servicing are rarely factored into the value you’re delivering and how much you’re getting paid for it. Add to that the opportunity cost of not being able to pursue higher-margin work, and you’re definitely in a negative situation.

Sure, there are times to take on low-margin work, like a pilot or trying to land a new customer, but those should be strategic exceptions. If you’re finding a lot of low-margin work on your plate, take the time to do the analysis of the true cost of delivering that work and add to that the opportunity cost of lost higher-margin work. That might help you make a compelling case for walking away from that low-margin project (or at least help you to price it more appropriately).

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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Saying Thank You to Your Employees

November 23, 2020/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Communications, Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Ryan Shaw

Dr. Cindy McGovern offers five meaningful ways employers can say “thank you” to their staffs during the holidays and throughout the year.

Today’s post is by Dr. Cindy McGovern, author of Every Job is a Sales Job (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

A holiday party for employees is a nice touch as the year winds down, and nobody ever turned down a big bonus as a reward for doing a good job month after month. But the best way a business leader can say “thank you” to valuable employees might not have anything to do with parties, money, or gifts.

The most meaningful way to show a hard-working, loyal staff that you truly value and appreciate them is to listen to them and respond when they have ideas, complaints, and personal struggles.

Here are five ways to show your gratitude to employees this season and all year round.

Solicit their ideas

When former PepsiCo CEO Roger Enrico sent a video to the corporation’s thousands of employees saying they should “take ownership of the company,” janitor Richard Montanez took it seriously. He pitched Enrico an idea for a new product that he created by dusting the company’s popular Cheetos with chili powder instead of cheese powder. The result: Flamin’ Hot Cheetos are among the company’s top sellers, and Montanez, who never went to college, is a marketing executive worth millions.

Montanez didn’t set out to create a goldmine snack. In fact, he was just trying to salvage a pile of Cheetos rejects that had come through a malfunctioning machine without any cheese dust so his family could eat them.

But Enrico gave Montanez the same attention and respect he gave to the corporation’s product development team. Now, Montanez is one of the company’s most-enthusiastic ambassadors.

The 4 Need to Know Approaches to Growth

November 16, 2020/1 Comment/in Business Toolkit, Entrepreneur, Sales, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

Knowing your growth strategy and understanding four key growth approaches – organic, acquisition, new products, and geographic expansion – will help you be more successful in achieving the growth you desire.

You have to ask yourself – how does your business grow? Is it geographic expansion? Are you selling new products? Are you selling the same products to new customers? Are you growing by acquisition and buying other businesses?

What’s your overall growth strategy? You need to be able to answer this question. Look at your historical growth and where it came from. That’s usually a pretty good indicator of how your organization is going to continue to grow from here. Pull out your strategic plan and look at your marketing plan to see where the future growth is expected. Assess whether or not that sales and marketing plan is aligned with where the future growth is supposed to come from.

Different Approaches to Growth

There are some very common methods for growing and they all have very different economic profiles.

Acquisition

One way you can grow is acquisition. The economics of conducting an acquisition are you spend a lot of money up front to buy another company or portion of another company. You’re buying a large piece of the market when you do so. The way you make acquisition economics work out is you reduce the costs of the combined entities by looking at synergies.

So, you bought another company. Congratulations! You have two HR departments now. You have two marketing departments. You have two Legal departments and two IT departments. You have two of everything! How do you consolidate those and reduce costs? That’s the first source of economic value in an acquisition.

The second source of acquisition value is all about growth. Now you have a new market you can enter if the acquired entity was in a different geography or targeted a different market segment. You can sell your existing products into that new market. You can sell the products you acquired into the existing markets you were in pre-acquisition. That’s how an acquisition is going to drive top-line growth.

Organic Growth

Veterans: Please Don’t Leave Your Military Values Behind

November 11, 2020/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Communications, Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Ryan Shaw

The military focuses on a unique set of standards and values. Transitioning military personnel advice are advised to focus on values for a successful military-to-civilian transition and career, and personal success in the civilian sector.

Today’s post is by Lida Citroën, author of Success after Service (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

In the 10 years I’ve been working with transitioning military service members and veterans, I’ve learned a great deal about the differing cultures between the civilian sector (where I come from) and The United States Armed Forces. The differences make for wonderful conversation and opportunities to learn and grow.

Most civilians grow up in households, communities, regions and areas where, as young adults, we’re encouraged to think independently, to serve ourselves (first) and others (also), while also getting educated, culturally socialized, and politically savvy.

Contrast the civilian environment – where most of the 98% of Americans who’ve not served in the uniform of our country grow up – with the military culture (1-2% of the U.S. population). I’ve been fortunate to have coached, mentored, helped, and collaborated with thousands of veterans, and they tell me that the military culture features standards, processes, clear expectations, and rules. Lots of rules.