Guest Blogger – Page 50 – thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

A Simple Formula for Business Success

February 15, 2012/5 Comments/in Communications, Customer Service, Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by John Spence – author of Awesomely Simple – Essential Business Strategies for Turning Ideas into Action. He’s going to take hundreds of thousands of pages of information and boil it down into a simple formula for business success. Seriously. Here’s John…

As global markets become increasingly more competitive and financial turmoil worldwide continues to put pressure on nearly every type of business, I have had more and more organizations approach me to assist them in finding ways to be more competitive and successful in today’s economy. Although there is absolutely no “one size fits all” solution, to me the absolute most powerful strategy is to make sure that the core elements of your business are running so incredibly well that your customers absolutely love doing business with you and are eager to tell their friends, family and colleagues about your products and services. All the marketing tricks, ads and social media efforts in the world simply cannot overcome poor quality or lackluster customer service.

That is why for the past 19 years my career has focused exclusively on studying the fundamental elements of business success. Traveling worldwide at upwards of 200 days a year, I have worked shoulder to shoulder with some of the best (and worst) business leaders of our generation. I’ve also maintained a strict regimen of reading a minimum of 100 business books a year since 1989.

In preparation for writing my book Awesomely Simple, I compiled all of my research and reading down to a single page that I called my “Strategy Map.” This single piece of paper represented more than 175,000 pages of reading on business excellence and an additional 5,000 pages of interview notes and survey results from my work as a consultant and trainer. I then took all of that information and tried to uncover the pattern… the formula for business success. Well, here is what I came up with:

(T+C+ECF) x DE = Business Success

Let me take you step-by-step through the elements of this equation.

A Personal Interview with a Great Leader

February 8, 2012/3 Comments/in Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

The people in my professional network are awesome. Occasionally one of them is gracious enough to let me grill them on the subject of leadership. John Petrucci is one of those guys. He’s one of the most down-to-earth people you’ll ever meet and that’s part of what makes him an exemplary leader. You can read all about his accomplishments at the end of the post. Here’s my conversation with John about leadership. All of us can learn a thing or five from him!

Mike Figliuolo: What’s the most rewarding part of leading people?

John Petrucci: The most rewarding part is derived from supporting them. Supporting associates gives them the opportunity to develop to their fullest potential. To know folks you support have grown to be better, more productive associates, citizens and human beings is tremendously satisfying to a leader.

When someone asks me what my greatest professional accomplishment has been, I always respond with the name of an agent I supported while an agency manager at Allstate. I was able to help her see what she could become, and then was privileged to watch her become that person. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Mike: What’s the biggest mistake you see leaders make and how can they avoid it or recover from it?

Get Out of B.E.D. And Alter Your Outcomes

January 26, 2012/4 Comments/in Communications, Guest Blogger, Leadership, Project Management /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by Marty Stanley, author of Get Out of B.E.D. and the newest member of the thoughtLEADERS team.

“We got it done, but it was ugly,” the manager said, shaking his head in disbelief. Miscommunications, lack of communication, an inexperienced team leader and management on vacation resulted in cost over-runs exceeding $50,000, delayed implementation and loss of customer respect and confidence. The manager lamented that this was not an unusual experience. It happened more often than he wanted to admit.

We’ve all experienced these “ugly” scenarios at one time or another. But it seems that there’s a breeding ground for ugly outcomes in many organizations. People are going a hundred miles an hour, multi-tasking and taking on more as a result of reduced staffs. People are trying to cope with downsized environments and a sluggish economy. The demands and expectations are high and resources and clear communication are often scarce. A lot of things can slip through the cracks in this kind of culture.

Being in B.E.D. is the Breeding Ground

An environment like this can become toxic and counter productive. When a workplace is in B.E.D. (Blame, Excuses and Denial), people often react impulsively with each misstep, and more mistakes happen. Mistakes are like rabbits… they multiply! No wonder things turn out “ugly.”

A Better Way to Communicate

January 19, 2012/6 Comments/in Books, Communications, Guest Blogger /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by bestselling author Seth Kahan. It’s an excerpt from his book Getting Change Right: How Leaders Transform Organizations from the Inside Out. You can learn more about him and his book at the end of the post.

In 1996 I was working on my first large-scale change initiative at the World Bank. I was part of the small team that won international recognition for the World Bank’s Knowledge Management (KM) effort. Working on this program was like driving on a racetrack that was changing its course while you steer: the course and the environment were always changing, but we made incredible progress.

In two years we went from an unfunded idea in a back room to $60 million in annual allocations, from no resources or incentives to every staff member receiving two weeks to dedicate to KM as well as having a component of their annual evaluation dedicated to it, from no recognition to international awards.

To make this happen we had to answer questions like these:
– How do you penetrate the conflicting demands and mental clutter that are part of everyday business life in the twenty-first century?
– How do you penetrate the assorted messages the media constantly bombard everyone with?
– After you have gotten through this confusion, how do you get people’s attention?
– Once you have their attention, what do you do with it to get people engaged, involved, and contributing?
– How do you coordinate this activity when you have no formal authority?

We were able to answer these questions, and we were highly successful as a result. But, it took a major reframe of the way we communicate. To illustrate, let’s first look at the prevailing misunderstanding of how communication works, and then I will show you a much better way to think about it.

12 Most Consequential Books for a New Leader

January 11, 2012/38 Comments/in Books, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s post is by David Dye – COO of Colorado UpLift. You can learn more about him at the end of the post. And check out #11…

You may have heard that leaders take responsibility for their own growth, but with thousands of leadership and management books to choose from, where do you begin? You want resources that help you today, that you can immediately apply, and that build a strong foundation for your future leadership development.

To help you get started, I’ve put together a list of the 12 most consequential books for a new leader:

1. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High
The book in the #1 slot doesn’t even have leadership in the title? No, but it does feature a skill so rare and yet so vitally critical to effective leadership that it fully deserves to be at the top of the list. Effective leaders are able to build relationships while discussing the most difficult subjects and Crucial Conversations by Patterson, et al helps you do exactly that.

2. The Leadership Challenge
Kouzes and Posner make the case that leadership is influence and that effective leadership relies on your credibility. What sets The Leadership Challenge apart is its focus on five leadership practices through which you grow your influence and credibility. These five practices are easily understood and can be learned by anyone willing to do the work.

The Power of Declarations: Winston Churchill and Leaders Today

January 4, 2012/5 Comments/in Books, Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s guest post is by Lyn Boyer (no, that’s not her to the left – that’s Winston Churchill). You can read more about Lyn and her new book at the end of the post. Here’s Lyn:

In the darkest days of World War II, families in England huddled around their radios to listen to the inspiring words of Winston Churchill. Britain stood virtually alone against the powerful Luftwaffe that dropped thousands of bombs during the night raids of the Blitz. On June 4, 1940 after the Dunkirk Evacuation, which removed over 338,000 British, French and Belgian soldiers from the threat of the German army, Churchill delivered perhaps his most famous and stirring speech.

“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender…”

These are perhaps the most famous words of his most famous speech. They represent a powerful declaration that provided hope and encouragement during a time of overwhelming fear and hardship.

3 Keys Leaders Can Use to See the Future

December 14, 2011/0 Comments/in Books, Entrepreneur, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s guest post is by Daniel Burrus, author of Flash Foresight (CLICK HERE to get your copy now). You can read more about Daniel at the end of the post.

We’re all aware that there are timeless leadership principles that have been true since the dawn of time and that will continue to be valid in tomorrow’s business environment. Things like integrity, honesty, and personal responsibility immediately come to mind. While those are all vital traits, they’re not the leadership traits I’m addressing right now.

In today’s world of technology-driven transformation, leaders need to embrace a new leadership principle if they want their organization to be relevant today and in the future.

In the recent past, leaders have focused on agility—being able to change quickly based on external circumstances because change from the outside-in has been coming at an ever-increasing speed, and it’s only getting faster. Many of these types of changes are driven by technology, but they’re also from our customers, because technology is influencing our customers and changing the way they interact with us.

We also have increasing transparency, meaning your customers and prospects have access to complaints, as well as accolades, through social media and other new forms of communication. All of these changes, which are coming from the outside-in and force agility, cause leaders to react, crisis manage, and put out fires on a daily basis.

Knowing this, it’s evident that simply being agile no longer works. Instead, today’s leaders need to be anticipatory.

Best of thoughtLEADERS 2011: The Awesomest Posts Ever

December 12, 2011/0 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Books, Business Toolkit, Career, Communications, Customer Service, Entrepreneur, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership, Project Management, Sales, Social Media, Strategy, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

This year is almost over so it’s time for the year in review list of the BEST posts we’ve published in 2011. It’s time for the 2011 edition of The Figgies (here are the 2010 and 2009 editions).

This is an annual event here at the thoughtLEADERS Blog. 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. 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 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 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. Yes – I know I talk a lot about the book but it’s not for the money (I would have made more money if I worked in a sweat shop in Asia making sneakers). I talk a lot about it because I’m evangelical about the topic. Buy it. Read it. In the words of Roland Smith (CEO of Wendy’s) “It could change your life.”

Thanks for your incredible support in ’11 and best wishes for ’12! We hope to be a part of your future success!

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

A Revealing Interview Question

December 7, 2011/15 Comments/in Career, Communications, Guest Blogger /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s guest post is from Bob Herbold, the former Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft Corporation and author of What’s Holding You Back: 10 Bold Steps that Define Gutsy Leaders (CLICK HERE to buy your copy). You can read more about Bob at the end of this post.

In the 26 years I spent at Procter & Gamble, one of my most valuable learnings was in the area of interviewing candidates for jobs. Since P&G puts big investments into the development of talent, the company was highly selective in hiring. Hence, we sought out any research we could find regarding what individual characteristics were predictive of eventual achievement of a high level position in an organization.

One particular line of questioning that I found most useful, and research suggests is very revealing as to what motivates and drives an individual to eventual success, is as follows:

When you were young, who was the person that was most influential in teaching you valuable lessons about life? What were those lessons the person taught you? What are those tapes this person put into your head that are still there today and have emerged as guiding principles for you?

Usually the person is a parent, an influential teacher, or some other authority figure. Often times, this person came into the individuals life as early as grade school or high school.

The lessons you are looking for are basic principles that suggest a high degree of self confidence, a sense of personal responsibility, a strong drive to achieve, and solid fundamental ethics. No hint of these kinds of traits should be a red flag.

You Need to Hire a Social Media Expert. Now.

November 23, 2011/4 Comments/in Guest Blogger, Social Media, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s guest blogger is David Chapman from Webrageous. You can learn more about him and his work at the end of the post.

When the world of social media began to develop only a few years ago, networking online was all about connecting with friends, sharing personal likes and dislikes, finding out about new things to do in our personal lives.

The mocking snorts and disbelieving grunts began we people started to use social networking at work. And fair enough really. Change is always difficult. The world always needs time to readjust. How can being connected to Facebook truly be considered work?

Well, to be totally honest, social networking is work. The time has come in the 2010s to finally put a stop to the fact that some people still look down on social networkers in many ways. It is disappointing that a good number of leaders still fail to realize that investing good money in the recruitment of a professional social networker is worth every cent in this golden age of technology.

Every single business needs an effective social networker and every leader should be prepared to pay a decent salary to employ the best of the best. It takes more than a few posts or tweets here and there to be an effective social networker and the employees slaving away at all hours of the day and night in this newly developing industry deserve economic recognition for their efforts.

So…

Great Lessons You Can Learn from Great Leaders

November 21, 2011/0 Comments/in Books, Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

I’ve had the good fortune of meeting some wonderful leaders and thinkers over my years of blogging. Since the launch of my book I’ve met even more. And several of them have been wonderful enough to take the method I preach in One Piece of Paper and apply that method to their own leadership styles.

For your reading enjoyment and enlightenment, I’m sharing those perspectives today. It’s the least I can do to give these folks a shout out for their hard work and for spreading the message of how to make leadership personal again.

For each one, I’ve provided a quick snapshot of the author and a pearl of wisdom pulled from their post about their own perspectives on personal leadership using the leadership maxims method in the book. I encourage you to take the time to read each of their posts. They’re interesting, entertaining, insightful, and helpful. They’ll also help you crystallize your own leadership philosophy.

So here’s the roundup of some of my favorite leadership writers and their perspectives on their own leadership philosophies. Enjoy!

Creating Constructive Conflict

October 20, 2011/2 Comments/in Books, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Leadership /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s guest post is by Jeff DeGraff – author of Innovation You (CLICK HERE to get your copy). You can learn more about him at the end of the post.

“Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world. “ Arthur Schopenhauer

Dale Carnegie advised never to talk about religion or politics in public because you never know who you might offend. While I will leave religion to the wise, I would like to tackle the politics of the day for it provides a luminous example of how innovation really works… and doesn’t. So while I may not win friends or influence people, I do hope to use recent exasperating events to illustrate its fundamental dynamics.

Case In Point: According to the Congressional Research Service, the debt ceiling has been raised 74 times since March of 1962. However, on the advent of the 75th “adjustment,” it became clear that projections of growth and expenditures by the US Federal Government resulting from myriad of factors, including the Great Recession of 2008, would put the credit rating, and the cost of capital, of the great nation in peril.

While the deadline of August 2nd for a new agreement loomed large in the psyche of the world economy, it seemed to have little effect on the über-quibbling of our friendly neighborhood “representatives” who resolved the conflict at the proverbial eleventh hour through Homeric acts of derring-do. Ta-Dah! What, no applause? Whereas this type of “trigger” event is boondoggle for traditional management, it’s a veritable windfall for instigating the nouveauté.

Why? Because breakthrough innovation typically occurs in either crisis or exceptional situations.

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