Business Toolkit – Page 71 – thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

An Easy Trick for Getting the Resources You Need

April 1, 2015/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Leadership, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

Resources are tough to come by. By using a simple, logical approach, you can get your stakeholders to cough up those additional resources you need. If they’re not willing to do so, at least they’ll understand why you can’t get everything they want done.

One of your greatest responsibilities as the leader of a high-performing team is making sure your people have the resources they need to execute against all the projects and initiatives you’ve put on the prioritization list. I’d like to offer you some techniques for getting those resources because resources are scarce. Just because you ask doesn’t mean people are going to give you more cash, more people, or more time.

You have to make a clear and compelling business case to get those resources allocated to you versus them being allocated to other parts of the organization. Just asking isn’t a viable strategy. First, take the list of your priorities with initiatives laid out from highest to lowest priority. Add to that list the “business-as-usual resources” you need to run the engine every single day and perform the tasks that are required of your team operationally.

Once you have that list, you’re ready to go to your stakeholders and ask for resources. It could be your boss. It could be a steering committee. It could be a monthly prioritization meeting. You’re going to go in and say, “Here’s the list of initiatives. Do you agree that this is the priority that we should pursue these in?” You want to get that explicit agreement from those stakeholders that “Yes, we want you to do this one first, and then this one, and then this one.” You also want their agreement that the business-as-usual work is work that they demand you do.

How financially educated are the members of your team?

March 26, 2015/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Leadership, Poll /by Mike Figliuolo

Our poll today asks: How financially educated are the members of your team?

– They understand our business’ economics very well: 15.67%
– They generally understand our business’ economics: 52.61%
– They’re somewhat unclear on our business’ economics: 19.4%
– They’re clueless about our business’ economics: 12.31%

Show them how they matter. It’s hard to be engaged and fulfilled if you don’t understand how your work has an impact on the broader organization. Helping your people understand the basic economics of your business is the first step in helping them see the impact their work has. Once they understand your economics, then they’re better able to align their activities with driving the financial results that are important to you. Invest the time in educating them on the dollars and cents – the return on that education can be tremendous.

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

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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The 4 Key Approaches to Great Decision-Making

March 18, 2015/5 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Communications, Entrepreneur, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Making great decisions is a key leadership responsibility. If you choose the wrong decision-making style, you could face a disaster. Choose the right style and you’ll make decisions faster and more effectively.

When you make decisions, there are four decision-making styles that you can use. There’s an Autocratic style, a Participatory one, a Democratic style, and a Consensus-based decision-making style. Your choice of which of those four styles to use is driven by two things. First, the urgency of making the decision – from low urgency where you’ve got plenty of time to make the call, to high urgency where you need a decision right now.

The second dimension to consider is the size or impact of the decision, from small decisions that won’t have a large impact, to big decisions that are going to have a huge impact. As you look at which style of decision making to use, you need to consider both of these dimensions.

Autocratic Decision-Making

For situations where you have low impact and they’re reasonably small decisions, but they get larger as urgency goes up, an Autocratic decision-making style is the most appropriate. In Autocratic decision-making, decisions are made at the top. Buy-in is not seen as an important aspect of making this decision. And actually, it may be counterproductive to involve a lot of people in making the call. Typically, in an environment where you’re making Autocratic decisions, work activities and roles are very tightly structured, they’re monitored and well controlled. Command and control is very important in these situations.

Participatory Decision-Making

For larger decisions where there’s higher urgency and you need to make a call soon, but the impact is going to be big, you’re looking at a situation where you need to use a Participatory decision-making style. This is where you’re going to make a decision with input from the people who are going to be impacted in that final call. Remember, Participatory decisions are made when the decision is much bigger and there’s a lot more risk involved. Getting that additional information from more people is going to reduce that decision making risk. Also by getting that buy-in, you’re reducing execution risk because people have had an opportunity to give their input and have a say in the final call that’s made.

Managing Teams More Effectively Using the Rule of 3

December 29, 2014/2 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Guest Blogger, Leadership, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Külli Koort of Weekdone.

Have you ever wondered why the number 3 is so magical?

I am not talking about magical in terms of its unnatural abilities. I am talking about the importance of the Rule of 3 from a business perspective, from marketing people to development geeks. For example:

– in business overall, the Rule of 3 is a rule of thumb suggesting that there are always three major competitors in any free market situation;

– in computer programming, the Rule of 3 is a code refactoring rule of thumb to decide when a replicated piece of code should be replaced by a new procedure;

– in your brand communications, the Rule of 3 suggests the number of messages you should use, since your target market is most probably able to remember only 3 key things.

According to Carmine Gallo, a popular keynote speaker and bestselling author, Steve Jobs applied the Rule of 3 in every presentation and product launch he ever made. For example, when he first introduced the iPad, he told the audience it would come in three models. A year later, he introduced the second version as “thinner, lighter, and faster” – the three adjectives that soon after ended up in thousands of blogs and newspaper headlines.

The Rule of 3 is often used in diverse areas of life and business. It’s about time we bring it to team leadership and team collaboration. Here’s how…

Best of thoughtLEADERS 2014: Seriously Our Awesomest Stuff Yet

December 10, 2014/0 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Books, Business Toolkit, Career, Communications, Entrepreneur, Innovation, Leadership, Sales, Social Media, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

It’s time again for our annual year in review list of the BEST posts we’ve published in 2014. Welcome to the 2014 edition of The Figgies (our SIXTH of em! Wow!) which are the awards we give ourselves for writing awesome blog content (here are the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 editions of those awards).

This is an annual event at the thoughtLEADERS Blog. This list is comprised of our most viewed, most forwarded, quirkiest, most provocative work. Enjoy. Share. We’ve loved writing them. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading them. I don’t ask a lot of you folks so I have two small requests as your holiday gift to me (you are getting me something, right?):

1. Invite all your coworkers, friends, and family to come check out the blog and become readers. The only way we all get better is by raising everyone’s game. I’m not asking a lot here. If you found this blog helpful at all this year, here’s your chance to return the favor for all our hard work. Just email folks and tell ’em to come take a look.

2. Pick up a copy of One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful Personal Leadership (especially if you’re looking for last-minute holiday gifts for bosses, team members, or your mom – she’ll love it). I talk a lot about the book because I’m evangelical about the topic. Buy it. Read it. In the words of Roland Smith (former CEO of Wendy’s/Arby’s) “It could change your life.” To get a sense for what the book is about, read this free ChangeThis Leadership Manifesto which is based on the book. If you like the manifesto, you’ll love the book.

Thanks for your incredible support in ’14 and best wishes for ’15! We hope to be a part of your future success! Now on to the best of list!

Think Like a Senior Executive and Ask More Questions

September 10, 2014/3 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Communications, Innovation, Leadership, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

Do you know the difference between a “worker bee” and a senior executive? Have you ever wondered what it takes to move up in the world to those loftier roles? It’s pretty simple. You need to move from a world where you provide all the answers to a world where you ask all the questions.

I know there’s a cheeky clueless executive joke in there somewhere but I’m actually not joking around (which I know comes as a shock to you longtime readers).

As we enter organizations and rise through the ranks, we’re expected (and trained) to have the answers. We, after all, are the front line. We do the work. When someone more senior asks us for information, our job description is to provide it. And provide it we do. We become experts in our field. We know all the answers. We become that “go to” person Scott Eblin describes in this post.

And every day we kick butt. We know everything that’s asked of us. Heck, we get to a point where we’ve created everything around us. But one day we wake up wondering why we’re not getting promoted. We can’t figure out why we, the expert of all experts, isn’t rising to the executive ranks. After all, those guys are clueless. All they ever do is ask questions that we have to provide the answers to.

And that my friends is the key to the paradox of advancing to senior management. Questions.

Victory through Successful Networking

August 4, 2014/2 Comments/in Books, Business Toolkit, Career, Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by David Bradford, author of UP YOUR GAME: 6 Timeless Principles for Networking Your Way to the Top (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

The story is told of two woodcutters who decided to compete against one another to see which of them could cut down more trees in an eight-hour period of time. They started simultaneously; but, after one hour, one of them heard that the other had stopped cutting trees.

The first woodcutter, believing that this was his opportunity to gain a competitive advantage, redoubled his efforts. Ten minutes passed, and he heard the second woodcutter had recommenced his endeavors. After about another hour, the first cutter heard that his combatant had stopped again. Feeling confident that he had gained an important edge in the competition, the first woodcutter continued to chop vigorously.

This continued throughout the day with one woodcutter stopping for ten minutes and the other working non-stop. The first woodcutter was completely certain he had won the prize but was dismayed to learn that he finished a distant second to cutter number two. “How did it happen?” he asked his competitor. “Very simple,” answered the second woodcutter.” “Each hour, I stopped my work for ten minutes. And when you were busy continuing to cut trees, I sharpened my ax.” There is no doubt that both woodcutters worked very hard, but the second woodcutter secured his victory by working smart and efficiently.

Building Your Network

Building a world-class network takes hard work, time, and smart organization. With each passing day, one needs to do something to scale up his or her network to make it as efficient and usable as possible. To scale up your network effectively, you have to do two things: work hard and work smart.

Turn the Bad Boss Blame Game to Your Advantage

June 16, 2014/7 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Communications, Guest Blogger /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Dr. Noelle Nelson, author of Got a Bad Boss? (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

Break room, 10:00 a.m. You’re complaining about your boss. You rant to your head-nodding-I-get-ya co-worker about your boss’s latest tirade: blaming you because you were unable to dig up the info he was looking for. The boss doesn’t want to hear about the software crash that prevented anyone from finding anything.

Your co-worker listens sympathetically, and launches into her own “Our boss is the devil” story.

And on it goes. All through the day, no matter what time you hit the break room, someone is angsting or raging about the bad boss’s behavior.

Which is perfectly natural, make no mistake about it. Getting frustrated, depressed or just plain angry about yet another unwarranted outburst from your bad boss is the human thing to do. After all, it is demeaning, disgusting and at the very least, disrespectful. However, wallowing in your misery prevents you from pushing through to the very success you long for.

Here’s an easy three-step process to get off the blame game (oh, you didn’t notice you were blaming your boss for blaming you?) and on to your own success:

12 Keys to Delivering a Litigation-Proof Warning Letter

June 9, 2014/1 Comment/in Business Toolkit, Career, Communications, Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Johanna Harris, author of USE PROTECTION: An Employee’s Guide to Advancement in the Workplace (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

Why a Written Warning is so Important

A written warning is not simply the lens through which an underperforming employee can see his deficiencies and correct them. It is the backbone of an employer’s defense in the event that an employee fails to improve, ends up being fired and then challenges the legality of the termination.

Basic Questions to Answer First

Before you start to draft a written warning, you need to answer some basic questions. Exactly what aspects of your employee’s performance are unsatisfactory? If he has performed poorly on specific tasks, are these tasks clearly within his job responsibilities? Is the employee’s inadequate performance in fact the fault of several people, and if so, is he alone being singled out for a warning?

No Legal Jargon or Technical Terms

Your written warning letter should be understandable by a neutral, non-lawyer third party who has no intimate knowledge of your company’s business. Don’t use insider’s abbreviations or complicated technical terms. Avoid informality, sarcasm, or any hint of disrespect. “Hi Joe, Your bug fixes to version 7.5.2 of the PLX interface haven’t cut the mustard” needs to give way to “Dear Joe, Your performance on your more recent computer programming assignments has not been satisfactory.” Above all, your warning letter needs to be accurate. If one of Joe’s programming jobs was, in fact, satisfactory, you’ll need to say that his performance on “all but one” were unsatisfactory.

A Dozen Critical Components

Now that you’re ready to draft the actual document, you need to know the 12 key components of every warning letter.

Collateral Value is the Key to Your Business’ Success

April 7, 2014/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Entrepreneur, Guest Blogger, Sales /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by John Cameron, author of ROCK SOLID – How to Strengthen Your Company (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

What is collateral value and more to the point, why is it important? It’s easier to understand this concept by contrasting it with direct value. Direct value is what your customers actually pay for. Collateral value is what happens around the transaction.

When you get new tires on your vehicle you pay for the tires and the technician’s time to install them. That’s direct value. What you don’t directly pay for is the expert advice or the friendliness of the staff. You also don’t directly pay for the nicely laid out showroom with a good selection of tires on display. That’s an example of collateral value.

It’s important to define the concept because the small business world is naturally competitive on the direct value front. There is always somebody, somewhere who does what you do. To compete and win business on direct value alone you have to provide more for less. That erodes your profits – unless you have a structural cost advantage over your competition.

I know a real estate agent who has built a very profitable career. He makes everyone he meets feel important by giving them his full attention. It doesn’t matter where it’s at, a restaurant, a golf course or at a community meeting. That’s his collateral value. He rarely talks about real estate unless you bring it up, but when people need real estate advice they regularly go to him first. It works.

How to Solve Big Problems by Creating Small Problems

March 26, 2014/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Innovation, Leadership, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

We all face large, ambiguous problems every day. The real challenge is getting our arms around that problem and understanding what’s really driving the issue. Until we can do that, we’ll never be able to solve the challenge we’re facing. To break those big issues down into smaller ones, I’d like to introduce you to a problem solving tool called the logic map.

If you’re really interested in getting better and faster at problem solving, you can either check out our problem solving course or you can learn our entire problem solving method in video form in 39 minutes and 3 seconds at lynda.com. Just CLICK HERE to check out the video version of the course. Now, let’s explore creating and using a logic map…

At one point, I worked for the financial services firm, and we had a program where we were making offers to consumers. And when that program first launched, we were making about $5 million a year. The problem was, after a few months, we started losing $5 million a year. This was a huge issue. And there were a lot of things that could contribute to it. We used the problem solving process to get a better understanding of what issues are really driving the problem before we rush off and solve it.

We broke it down into what’s called a logic map. We looked at technology. We looked at training. We looked at systems. We looked at hiring. We looked at processes. And we broke that really big problem down into smaller issues that we could bite off and actually solve. Now the good news is, once we broke the problem down, we identified the core issue, followed the rest of the problem-solving process, and turned that program around from losing $5 million a year to actually making $20 million a year a few years after that.

Let me walk you through what a logic map is, and how you can use it to break down your own problem solving. Read more

3 Things You Should NEVER Say When Presenting

February 5, 2014/7 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Communications /by Mike Figliuolo

PowerPoint is the devil’s instrument and when you use it, you risk becoming a musician in his demonic orchestra. All of us are required to give presentations in some form or fashion at various points in our careers. If you’d like to succeed in those efforts, there are three things you should NEVER say when you’re presenting.

I’ve witnessed my fair share of presentations (and given more of them than I care to count). I’ve personally made all of these mistakes at one point or another. I’ve also seen others make all of these mistakes, many times with ugly results. I’d like to spare all of you the same fate.

First, remember why you’re presenting in the first place. You’re likely either teaching/sharing information or trying to influence someone to make a decision on something. You are NOT there to show off your wickedawesome PowerPoint skillz that killz. To convey that information and influence that decision, you need to get your point across clearly and concisely (which we help people with all the time – CLICK HERE if you’d like some help too). Given those two purposes, be mindful of what you say and how you say it as well as the information you use to make your case.

If you’d prefer to fail miserably instead, say or do any of the following three things: