Innovation – Page 13 – thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

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:

The Big Jump: Go From Having Answers to Asking Questions

October 25, 2010/12 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 (today is my 40th birthday and I’ve decided I’m going to be completely serious and professional this decade and if you believe that last part, you’re obviously a new reader to the blog).

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 recent 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.

3 Simple Steps for Achieving Global Domination

August 9, 2010/3 Comments/in Entrepreneur, Innovation, Sales, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

So you want to take over the world, huh? Not quite sure how to get started, you say? Then I have a treat for you

Building on our last post about how to think about capturing the huge global opportunities that are out there to improve your business, today I’ll offer some practical advice on how to get started.

Going global is intimidating. For some, anything beyond buying toys with a “Made in China” stamp on them can freak them out. But with a focused and measured approach, you too can start down the path of making your organization global.

In the last post, we covered some notions around evaluating opportunities on the revenue side and the cost side of the ledger. To capture them, you have to think about market entry, product/service delivery, and communications. Without those three, your efforts are dead on arrival. Are there other considerations? Sure. These are simply the first three I recommend considering as part of your global conquest plan.

How Your Business Can Achieve Global Domination

August 2, 2010/2 Comments/in Entrepreneur, Innovation, Sales, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

I’m going to take over the world!

It’s really fun to say that. It’s even more fun to take action toward that goal.

Our world has gotten smaller. Way smaller. Globalization is an unstoppable trend. But as they say, the trend is your friend so why not take advantage of it? I don’t care how big or small your business is – there are huge opportunities out there for you beyond the shores of your country (assuming yours has shores).

The real trick is understanding what globalization can do for your business then figuring out how to exploit those opportunities. Today I’ll cover some simple notions around what the global opportunities are and in the next post I’ll more importantly discuss a few key ways to capture them.

Going global is intimidating. It sounds huge. You need a passport and visas (and we know what a joy those processes can be). You need to understand new languages and cultures. And heaven forbid you have to take a coach class 14 hour flight across the ocean (trust me, it’s painful). Okay. So get over it and dive in.

To illustrate today’s points, I’ll use examples from two businesses I’m running: thoughtLEADERS (leadership training) and TiXiT (discounted event tickets). Sure, they’re simple businesses but they’re microcosms that will help get the following points across.

Think about it simply – opportunities exist in terms of revenues and costs. It’s not that hard. As far as how to capture the opportunities, it boils down to market entry, product/service delivery, and communication. So let’s go global! Here we go:

Leadership 102: Leading the Thinking

July 19, 2010/0 Comments/in Innovation, Leadership, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

Continuing on our theme of articulating your leadership philosophy on one piece of paper (your leadership maxims), we now need to move on to leading the thinking. This concept is the second major section of my upcoming book One Piece of Paper – go get a copy by CLICKING HERE

Once you’ve taken care of defining how you’ll lead yourself (learn how to do so in this post), you need to create some maxims that get you leaning forward and taking your organization to new places. The status quo is never good enough.

I can’t think of a single leader I’ve ever met whose strategy was “Don’t change a thing! Everything is perfect!”

In fact, the best leaders I’ve worked with continuously challenged the thinking, blew up business models, and constantly questioned how they could get their organization to a better place. This is what leading the thinking is all about. This approach is all about thought leadership (and lucky for you we not only cover the topic on this blog but we also teach a course on thoughtLEADERSHIP as well – click here to learn more about bringing the program into your organization).

Obviously the benefits of leading the thinking are that you’ll see new trends and opportunities (or risks) before your competitors. You’ll shape the market rather than the market shaping you. You’ll uncover those huge new breakthrough opportunities that get your team excited and energized about their work.

To do all these great things, you need to establish some maxims that force you to think about new opportunities and set a vision for where you’re headed. On top of that, I highly suggest you set aside some “think time” every month (at least 1/2 day) to take a step back and evaluate how you’re thinking about the business.

Now let’s dive into making leading the thinking practical and pragmatic.

Entrepreneurs Need to Bootstrap to WIN

February 9, 2010/2 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Entrepreneur, Guest Blogger, Innovation, Strategy /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s guest post is by Brian Link who is a partner of mine in weBuild, thoughtLEADERS, and TiXiT among the many other things he does (yes, both of us have many entrepreneurial interests). This perspective on bootstrapping a new venture is so spot-on it almost hurts. This article is prompted by today’s launch of TiXiT where Brian is the CTO and I’m CEO. Enough context. Here’s Brian:

I’ve seen my share of Internet startups and each entrepreneur, if you asked them, would tell you that getting started is the hardest part. Many people think they have a great idea. Some have even have written it down and dreamed of turning it into something big. But taking those first few steps of talking to other people, committing your own money, finding a team to help build it and figuring out how to tell the world about it is where you need great strategy (and some luck).

One strategy, if you’re lucky enough, is to borrow a million bucks from your rich uncle. You might also find an angel investor or venture capitalist and beat the one in a million odds and get funded before you have a product or revenue. The much more likely scenario and the smartest strategy is much more difficult, if you can pull it off. It’s called bootstrapping.

The term comes from a saying that started in the 1800s: “to pull yourself up by your bootstraps” which implies an impossible task. As a metaphor, it means to better oneself by one’s own unaided efforts. And today it often refers to starting a business that is self-sustaining and created with little or no external help. While bootstrapping is incredibly hard, there are huge rewards.

Bootstrapping is hard. You need to stick your neck out; quit your job; have some money to spend; have a great network to lean on; and have a lot of confidence and guts. It’s certainly not for everyone. But for the brave who have a great idea, the reward can be huge. The best practices for bootstrapping can fill volumes of books, but here’s a quick summary of some ideas and strategies:

Did You Blink? 4 Leadership Trends You Can’t Afford to Miss

November 23, 2009/1 Comment/in Communications, Customer Service, Innovation, Leadership, Sales, Social Media, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

It’s been a crazy year. Bank implosions, wars, Adam Lambert not winning American Idol… craziness I tell you! It has also been a crazy year for leaders. Leading organizations through a turbulent economy has been a Herculean effort.

Fortunately for me, I sit in a position where I can watch leadership trends unfold across the many industries and companies we work with here at thoughtLEADERS. We’re blessed to have the opportunity to train some of the brightest client organizations out there.

This year, we’ve seen four major trends take center stage. If you’ve missed them, you’re missing huge opportunities to improve your organization. As a leader, you need every edge you can get so I encourage you to explore these trends and figure out how you can take advantage of them. So in no particular order, here are trends you can’t miss as a leader:

How Blowing Up Your Business Can Drive Innovation

October 26, 2009/6 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Innovation /by Mike Figliuolo

Last week I pounded on folks for being wimps and not making decisions. Out of fairness, many of you want to move your organizations forward but might not have all the tools or resources to do so, Given that, I’d like to provide you some explosives.

These are the good kind of explosives. The kind that enable you to blow up your business model and find innovative new ways of doing things. Too many times we get trapped by our routines. Have you ever tried to change your personal routine? Uncomfortable and difficult, right? Now multiply that by the number of people in your organization and you have a sense for why nothing ever changes.

Sometimes the only way to change things is to (mentally) throw away everything you’re doing and declare a “do over.” In doing so, new opportunities might pop out and innovative ways of doing things can emerge.

Far too often, we wave our arms at innovation. We spew consultospeak like “think outside the box, push the envelope, and break the paradigm” with absolutely no clue what those words mean or how to do pursue those tasks. For those of you who know thoughtLEADERS well, we see it as our charge to provide you practical tools for taking action (shameless plug: we teach classes on this stuff too).

Enough blathering – here’s how you can (constructively) blow up your business and find potentially innovative new ideas:

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