Entrepreneur – Page 28 – thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

How to Handle When Someone Else Takes Credit for Your Work

May 2, 2011/30 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Communications, Entrepreneur, Social Media /by Mike Figliuolo

We’ve all had that experience where we work really hard on something and instead of getting recognized for our contribution, we have to sit there and choke back bile when someone else takes credit for the work. It’s infuriating to think about how hard you worked and how much effort you put into a project only to see some other glory-hound or charlatan pass all that effort off as their own.

Heck, I got a taste of that this week. I saw a bunch of traffic coming to my blog from Dr. Shailesh Thaker’s blog (UPDATE: security software now indicates his blog is a virus attack site – DO NOT GO THERE). At first I was psyched. Here was a self-proclaimed “Management Thinker, HR Guru, and Corporate Coach” telling his fans my content was good.

Then I saw it. It was my blog post on shutting your cake hole. The ONLY thing that was different was the author. Apparently that article was now written by Dr. Thaker himself. Hmmm. I wonder if Thaker rhymes with faker.

That’s right folks. Blatant plagiarism. Here’s my original post and here’s his post (UPDATE: he finally removed all posts however his site is now showing up as an “attack site” in my antivirus so I’ve disabled links to him). Unfortunately he wasn’t bright enough to disable the hyperlink back to my blog and that’s how I found the content. It turns out he ripped off several of my articles, a few from SmartBrief on Leadership, some from Kevin Eikenberry and others.

So what can you do when you’re in this situation? What do you do when someone else passes your work off as their own? How do you handle it when someone else takes credit for work you did? Here are a few thoughts:

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Great Leaders Make Decisions

March 21, 2011/1 Comment/in Entrepreneur, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is an excerpt from my upcoming book One Piece of Paper (CLICK HERE to learn more about it).

As a leader you need to drive action. Ideas are great but someone has to put them in motion for them to be worthwhile, and deciding to do that is no easy task.

Acting on a decision can be terrifying, especially in the case of large-scale change. Your decision may affect a significant number of people, and what if it is the wrong decision? What if things do not go as expected and the resulting outcome negatively impacts you or your organization? You could lose your job. Worse, hundreds of other people could lose theirs.

It is hard enough to act on decisions when just facing your own insecurities. Throw the complexities of your organization into the mix and the angst increases exponentially. Politics, lack of resources, uncertainty, doubt, and fear all mess with our minds right when we are on the verge of taking action. It is no wonder so many leaders have gray hair!

However, I am challenging you to be thought leaders. Being a thought leader requires you to be bold. Your decisions must be clear and forceful. The “thought” part of the equation only gets you halfway to your destination. As my colleague Alan Veeck says “It’s good to have thoughts, but that’s not enough.” Being a true thought leader means you not only agitate for but also lead change. Such leadership requires decisive action on your part.

You probably see it all the time – people and teams suffering from analysis paralysis. They are unable to make a decision and instead their organization languishes in the purgatory of endless Excel models.

Yoda’s Three Steps to Achieving Your Goals

March 14, 2011/2 Comments/in Entrepreneur, Innovation, Leadership, Social Media /by Mike Figliuolo

Life goals. Bucket lists. “One day I’ll…”

We all have dreams and goals. The biggest difference between people who achieve them and people who don’t is the act of actually DOING. Do you have goals and things you want to achieve? Professional aspirations? Personal bucket list items?

Let me ask this – what’s stopping you from starting on them?

I don’t tend to get motivational on this blog (every time someone asks me if I’m a motivational speaker I can’t help but think of that Saturday Night Live Chris Farley skit). But today I’m serving up a little motivation, Yoda style.

Luke whined “All right. I’ll give it a try.”

Yoda gave Luke an attitude adjustment “No. Try not. Do… or do not. There is no try.”

What would Yoda say to you if you talked to him about your goals and your progress toward them? That’s what I thought.

I’m here to be your Yoda. I’ll share some experiences related to my goal of getting my book One Piece of Paper published (CLICK HERE to get your copy of the book). Hopefully my story can help you on your way toward achieving your goals. Here are some great first steps you can take right now to help you move toward achieving your goals.

How Mr. Spock Helps You Make Better Decisions

February 21, 2011/19 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Communications, Entrepreneur, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

As leaders, we like being decisive and making quick decisions. We know our businesses well and are willing to act. Doing so without true contrarian input can be dangerous though.

You can make better decisions though simply by identifying and relying on your own personal Mr. Spock. Yes, I’ve been watching movies again and as usual, I can’t help but draw a leadership perspective from them.

In Star Trek (the new version – which was awesome) Captain Kirk is decisive yet impetuous. He takes on huge risks and acts on emotion. Many times he’s right. He has a good gut feeling and intuition. He knows his team and his organization’s capabilities. He’s a great tactician. But it’s easy to see how his snap decisions could lead to disaster.

Mr. Spock on the other hand is brutally logical and dispassionate. He is stylistically diametrically opposed to Captain Kirk. Needless to say the two of them go at each others’ throats (both figuratively and literally when Spock snaps and chokes out Kirk).

As a team, however, the two of them make better decisions. As conflict-laden and dysfunctionally painful as their relationship is at times, it works.

All of us would do well as leaders to find our own Mr. Spock. Here’s what I mean…

New Business Idea? What’s Your Problem?

January 3, 2011/3 Comments/in Communications, Entrepreneur, Innovation, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

If you have a new business idea, I’m excited for you. If you ever want to get it off the ground however, be sure you have a problem. A REAL problem. I know that sounds cryptic. Allow me to explain.

I love entrepreneurial ventures. I don’t just run thoughtLEADERS – I’m also a principal at weBuild which is a web and mobile startup accelerator. I’m also the CEO of one of weBuild’s portfolio companies called TiXiT. TiXiT offers discounts for tickets to events like theatre, jazz, concerts, sports, and family shows (and if you’re not a member yet, go join here – it’s free). I’m also a member of the Ohio TechAngel fund where we regularly evaluate new startup investments. Many folks in my network know my passion for launching companies so I regularly get pitched new ideas.

Why all this context setting? Because I want you to understand the lens I look at new ventures through.

When I hear a new pitch, the first question I ask is “what’s the problem?”

You would be surprised how many times the response to that question is a look like a dog looking at a ceiling fan (dazed and confused). If you want to be successful as a new startup, you MUST have a problem. If you cannot articulate what problem you solve for the world, there is a low likelihood you will sell anything. “Pull” selling is exponentially more powerful than “Push” selling. When the world has a problem, they will pull your solution. No problem? You’re pushing your solution on the world.

Allow me to offer some examples then some guidance on how to think about this issue.

Some example problems:

My Top 5 Tips for Entrepreneurs

December 20, 2010/4 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Customer Service, Entrepreneur /by Mike Figliuolo

Entrepreneurs have it hard enough as it is. Why make it even harder on yourself with self-defeating behaviors? I know you are saying you would hate to do that but I see these kinds of behaviors all the time. You should know if you are demonstrating them.

If you’re an entrepreneur you pour your heart and soul into your business. You need every edge you can get. The first edge available to you is not doing stupid stuff. In the past month I have spent a lot of time with other entrepreneurs and I have seen a bunch of good things and a bunch of bad things. Today I’ll share some of those observations with the hope you find it helpful and use these perspectives to strengthen your business.

In the past I have covered some other challenges entrepreneurs face and I hereby declare them required reading. So here they are:
– Two traps that destroy entrepreneurs – CLICK HERE TO READ
– Two more traps that destroy entrepreneurs – CLICK HERE TO READ
– Entrepreneurs need to bootstrap to WIN – CLICK HERE TO READ

After you’re done reading them, continue with this post. And I’ll know if you didn’t read them because I can see your clickstream. Not really. But maybe…

The following tips are in no particular order nor are there broad categories they belong to. It’s simply a list of things I have seen go wrong recently and some thoughts on how to avoid those behaviors. Here goes:

Your Thoughts on 2011 – Signs of Optimism

December 16, 2010/0 Comments/in Career, Entrepreneur, Innovation, Leadership, Sales, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

As many of you know, I write the weekly analysis of the SmartPulse poll for SmartBrief on Leadership. If you’re not reading SmartBrief, you HAVE TO (www.smartbrief.com). Great articles. Great abstracts. Anyway, we just conducted the end-of-year poll and I want to share the results with you here.

The end of year polls covered three major questions. The theme of all three is what do you think the new year has in store for all of us:

– What strategy will be central to your effort to enhance profits in the new year?

– Which of the following is of most concern as you look forward to the coming year?

– What of the following best describes your top personal goal as a leader for 2011?

The poll results are both interesting and encouraging. From the looks of your replies, 2011 should be trending in the right direction. I know it’s still scary out there but there are signs of hope. Check out the poll results and my analysis on each of them…

The Best of thoughtLEADERS 2010: The Greatest Posts You’ve Ever Seen

December 6, 2010/3 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Career, Communications, Entrepreneur, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership, Sales, Social Media, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

2010 is almost over so as usual it’s time for the year in review list of the BEST posts we’ve published in 2010.

We’re now making this an annual event therefore the award needs a name. I proudly introduce you to The Figgies! A tip of my hat to all my McKinsey buddies who used to call me that. Winning a Figgie is indeed prestigious. Here’s how it goes: this list is comprised of our most viewed, most forwarded, quirkiest, most provocative work as judged by you the readers (with a little of our discretion thrown in). We’ve also included a few hidden gems we think deserve another shot in the spotlight. There’s also a kicker bonus post on the list just for good measure (it’s a “wayback” – and speaking of wayback, check out the photo on the trophy… yes… that’s me ’80’s style baby!).

Enjoy. Share. We’ve loved writing them. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading them. I don’t ask a lot of you folks so here’s my one request for a holiday gift – invite all your coworkers, friends, and family to come check out the blog and become readers. The only way we get better is by raising everyone’s game. I would love if you would invite your friends and colleagues to come read our stuff. 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 them and tell ’em to come take a look.

Thanks for your incredible support in ’10 and best wishes for ’11! We hope to be a part of your future success! A little foreshadowing for 2011 – I’ve signed a book deal with Jossey-Bass and my book on leadership will be hitting stores next fall. This is a REAL book (not one of those self-published vanity press jobbies). I hope you’ll sock away a few bucks and save up to buy a copy. More to come on that soon.

Enough sentimentality. Here’s the best stuff we’ve written all year:

How You Can Keep the Board Room from Being the Bored Room

November 29, 2010/1 Comment/in Communications, Entrepreneur, Leadership, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

Board meetings are a total pain. They can also be some of the most powerful get-togethers for your company. The difference between the two is how you approach the meeting itself.

Before you say “I never present to the board” and stop reading, allow me to expand the definition of a board meeting. A board meeting is any meeting where a group of impartial outside observers of your organization get together to discuss your business with you in a candid and long-term focused way. Board meetings can be with your advisory board if you’re an entrepreneur, an executive steering committee if you’re running big projects, or any other assemblage of brain power that is willing to focus on improving your business. Now keep reading.

Most board meetings suck. Bad (or should that be “badly?”). That’s because folks want to update the board on all the great things they’ve been working on. Between that dynamic and the insecure paranoia of not wanting to have any question unanswered for the board, most organizations completely overprepare for the meeting. That overpreparedness becomes totally dysfunctional very quickly.

The good news is you can make board meetings productive, insightful, and enjoyable. You merely have to understand the current unproductive behaviors and shift your thinking on how you want to approach the board and what you want out of them. Here’s how to do that:

Can’t Diversify Your Business? It’s Because You’re an Addict

September 27, 2010/1 Comment/in Entrepreneur, Sales, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

I had a great conversation with a friend of mine. He was bemoaning the fact that his company was almost completely dependent upon one huge customer. He saw the inherent risks in that relationship but confessed his organization had a bad habit they couldn’t kick. They had succumbed to the addiction of predictability and comfort.

Is your business overly-reliant on one key customer? Is your organization tied closely to one key client or partner or supplier? If that customer went away, would your world come to a crashing screeching halt? The rule of thumb I’ve always heard is no customer should be more than 25% of your business (and the same holds true for your suppliers or partners).

We always hear about diversification but usually it’s in the context of our stock portfolios. If your 401k became a 200.5k in the past few years, you know what I’m talking about. It’s easy to do the diversification thing in a portfolio – sell a few stocks, buy a few stocks and presto! you’re done. Diversifying your customer base is much harder to do.

If you’ve never thought much about this topic (or even if you have) you need to understand the true risks involved in not diversifying, understand why it’s hard to diversify, and use some practical methods to achieve the diversification goal.

Five Steps to Entrepreneurial Success on the Web

September 15, 2010/0 Comments/in Entrepreneur, Guest Blogger, Social Media /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s guest post comes from across the Atlantic. Straight from Denmark I’m delighted to bring you Steffen Hedebrandt, COO of VintageandRare.com.

Do you know the recipe for transforming your passion into a global business?

Here’s a real life start-up story where someone did exactly that.

As newly appointed Chief of Operations at VintageandRare.com (a company focused on vintage and rare musical instruments) I have learned a lifetime of entrepreneurial lessons within a very short period. I have identified five crucial elements that when combined can transform a seed of passion into a growing and sustainable global business.

These five elements are: passion, persistence, people, SEO, and social media.

Passion

My partner Nicolai Schneekloth, the CEO and Founder of VintageandRare.com is a lifelong guitar player, collector and aficionado. He has always been completely captivated by guitars. Their sounds, details and uniqueness fostered and reinforced this enthusiasm which grew into a lifelong passion. This passion impelled him to perform as a solo artist, to become a band member of a national hit band, and a singer-songwriter expressing the grief of the loss of his mother through music.

Today, the same passion has driven him to become the CEO and Founder of long tail company at the tipping point of its full potential. His passion has taken the business there.

What in your life is so captivating that you cannot resist the temptation of getting engaged? What makes you feel energized and stimulated? What makes you get out of bed every day? That is your passion.

Dead End Job? It’s Never Too Late for a Second Career

August 23, 2010/5 Comments/in Career, Entrepreneur /by Mike Figliuolo

Put your hand in the air if you feel trapped in your job. Wow. That’s a lot of hands. And you’ve been doing that job how long? Really? You don’t say.

Well I have some good news for you. There’s life after that job. Heck, there are entire careers out there just waiting for you. Careers where you can once again be excited and fulfilled. The biggest obstacle is you taking the plunge and putting in the effort.

You folks know I don’t mince words. I’ve told you plenty of times to quit your job (like I did in this post where I also told you to stop complaining). If you look at your career and see a big “Dead End” sign and/or you hate driving to the office every day, perhaps it’s time you give a second career a second thought.

I know. It’s daunting. And I’m speaking from experience. I’ve changed roles/careers many times (left the Army, McKinsey, Capital One, and Scotts Miracle-Gro). All departures are hard. They’re scary and confusing. But there is life on the other side.

The most important questions to answer are:
– Should I stay or should I go?
– If yes, where and how?

Let’s figure these out, shall we?