Career – thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

How open is your leadership team to new strategic directions?

January 20, 2022/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: How open is your leadership team to new strategic directions?

Very: They’re happy to shift to a new strategy that makes more sense 25.85%
Somewhat: It takes strong effort to compel change 37.64%
Not very: It takes a massive market shift to get them to move 26.40%
Not at all: Don’t even bother talking to them about new directions 10.11%

Moving with the market. 62% of you expressed a willingness on your leadership team’s part to shift strategy as the market shifts and new opportunities emerge. A word of caution here – be sure you’ve set out a clear mission and vision for the organization to serve as a north star. Without that, you risk meandering and getting distracted by the latest trend instead of driving your organization to a chosen destination. Being too willing to change course can put you at a disadvantage versus more focused competitors. For those with leadership teams less willing or even unwilling to shift, recognize the market is always moving. Either you change your business or the market will change it for you with the latter being significantly less desirable. If they’re unwilling to move, show them a cost of inaction – what does their world look like in the future if they don’t take action today? Sometimes seeing that stark future picture can spur them into action.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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How You Can Lead with Influence

January 17, 2022/0 Comments/in Books, Career, Communications, Leadership, Upcoming Events /by Trevor Jones

The notions of perception, visibility, and influence are the keys not only to better performance for your organization but they’ll also help you advance your career to the next level.

Today’s post is by Joel Garfinkle, one of our thoughtLEADERS instructors.

How often have you looked at a situation in the company and thought of a better way to do it? Or felt that change was needed… but didn’t know how to make it happen? Sometimes we feel frustrated that we aren’t in a position or job title that has the power to make those changes.

But there are some techniques and methods designed to turn you into a strong influence in your company regardless of your title or position. Getting Ahead: Three Steps to Take Your Career to the Next Level introduces the value of Perception, Visibility and Influence.

When you understand how to use perception, visibility and influence – the PVI model – you can lead from where you are right now. Those around you recognize your value. They respect your opinion and you have the skills to influence decisions and changes.

Start with Yourself

Sometimes advancing in leadership means changing cultural patterns and beliefs. You may have been taught to “not push yourself forward,” or “don’t ever volunteer for something.” You’ll need to push aside these well-meaning teachings in order to gain an unexpectedly powerful way of taking leadership.

The first step in perception is to examine how you see yourself. It’s not uncommon for people who want to be leaders to feel insecure – feel like a fraud. Here’s the secret. You’re likely better than you think.

So how can you raise your perception of yourself?

How effectively do you help your teams arrive at their own solutions rather than giving a solution to them?

January 13, 2022/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: How effectively do you help your teams arrive at their own solutions rather than giving a solution to them?

Very effectively: Almost everything we do is the team’s idea 17.52%
Effectively: I help them often but sometimes drive my own solution 71.89%
Not effectively: My solution often dominates the conversation 7.37%
Not at all: I almost never use the team’s solution and always default to mine 3.22%

Let them own the solution. While the majority of you responded that you let your teams develop and implement the solution to a problem, there is a pretty strong hint of leaders driving their own solutions. While you’re responsible for leading the team, it doesn’t always have to be your solution. Sure, your solution might be the best one but is it significantly better than the one the team generated? If there’s only a marginal difference, try letting the team run with theirs. They’ll be more excited about it, learn more effectively from where their plan had shortcomings, and be more invested in the outcome which should lead to better execution and higher engagement. Reconsider your role in the problem solving process and move from problem-solver-in-chief to being the enabler of your team building, executing, and learning from their own solutions.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

How strictly do you enforce contract terms when someone backs out of a deal?

January 6, 2022/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: How strictly do you enforce contract terms when someone backs out of a deal?

Very: That’s what contracts are for. There need to be consequences 42.22%
Somewhat: If it’s last minute with no good reason, we’ll enforce. Otherwise, not really 41.21%
Not strictly: We’ll only enforce terms in the most egregious cases 13.56%
Not at all: We may as well not have signed a contract 3.01%

Terms matter. A large portion (42%) of you strictly enforce contract terms when one party backs out of a deal and another large portion (another 41%) enforce them if it’s a last-minute change. Contracts have consequences. Parties should expect to be held to the terms of an agreement. The implication for you is, as you’re going through a contracting process, be sure everyone clearly understands all the terms and that the triggering of a penalty clause won’t cause excessively punitive consequences. Make consequences proportionate to the offence otherwise you run the risk of permanently damaging a relationship or getting pulled into litigation which may be seen as a cheaper option than paying the penalty. Fair contracts with reasonable consequences are always a best practice.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

How clear is your organization’s mission and vision?

December 30, 2021/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: How clear is your organization’s mission and vision?

Crystal clear: It’s direct, differentiated and inspiring. 20.36%
Very clear: I generally know where we’re headed. 30.17%
Clear: Even if it is a little generic and uninspiring. 28.42%
Not clear: I’m not sure where we’re really headed. 12.28%
Opaque: We don’t have an articulated direction. 8.77%

Setting a clear vision. Half of respondents know their organization’s mission and vision and find it very clear and generally compelling. For the other 50%, even though many stated their vision and mission are clear, it lacks inspiration and for the remainder it’s not clear at all. People want to share a higher purpose. It connects their efforts to something larger than them and gives meaning to their work. Invest the time in crafting a clear, compelling mission and vision statement. Eliminate the buzzwords. Make it short, memorable, and inspiring. Repeat it constantly and make it ubiquitous across the organization. Sharing it once isn’t enough. Once people see how their work connects to what the organization is trying to achieve, it helps them take action without direction and can generate more passion for their work.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

How would you describe the mindset of the majority of the leaders in your organization?

December 23, 2021/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: How would you describe the mindset of the majority of the leaders in your organization?

They’re always willing to put the organization’s well-being ahead of their own interests 27.68%
They mostly put the organization first but sometimes act selfishly 40.22%
They’re often self-centered and occasionally put the organization first 21.77%
They always come first before the organization’s interests no matter what 10.33%

Organization first… mostly… While about 70% of you report leaders in your organization either always or mostly put the organization’s interests ahead of their own, an alarming 30% of you said those leaders are putting their interests ahead of the organization’s. Such behavior is catastrophic. People see it happen and then emulate that behavior because the mindset is “well if they’re taking care of themselves first, they’re not taking care of me so I have to take care of myself.” Before you know it, no one in the organization is doing right by the organization and everything crumbles. So what can you do? A few things. First, remind people of your organization’s values. If they’re not prominent, make them top of mind. Second, when you see self-interested behavior, ask questions to clarify why the behavior is the right choice for the organization. People generally know when they’re doing something wrong or selfish. Third, lead by example. When you put the organization first, people know it and they emulate those behaviors too.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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