Leadership – Page 3 – thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

Work Isn’t an Excuse for Lack of Self Care

September 7, 2020/2 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Career, Leadership /by Ryan Shaw

Work is a convenient excuse for not taking care of yourself. Not exercising, poor diet, and stress are a bad combination. You’ve got to make time for you. Work will always be there when you get back.

Today’s post is by Mike Figliuolo, Managing Director of thoughtLEADERS.

Back in 2015, I had a heart attack. A second heart attack. Yep. Two. The first one sucked but it was my fault. Crappy diet. Poor exercise habits. Not managing stress well.

I lost a lot of weight. Dropped my cholesterol. Modified stress responses. I was feeling great. I had conquered the cardiac event.

Wrong.

Heart attack #2 was a nasty little bugger. Hit me on a flight to Salt Lake City. I was headed out to teach my Leadership Maxims class. It ended up being the first class I’ve missed teaching in 12 years of running this business. It wasn’t fair. I was in shape. I was eating well. I was managing stress…Kind of.

A chunk of plaque blocked my obtuse marginal artery. Such B.S. ended up with a third stent. Missed teaching the class (although my client was unsurprisingly understanding of my dilemma). I quit caffeine after that one. That was painful but green tea isn’t a bad substitute.

Where am I going with all this?

It’s easy to fall out of good habits.

How do you allocate your time spent with your direct reports?

September 3, 2020/0 Comments/in Communications, Leadership, Poll, Training /by Ryan Shaw

Our reader poll today asks: How do you allocate your time spent with your direct reports?

I spend most of my time with my high performers. 17%
I spend an equal amount of time with everyone. 62%
I spend most of my time with my low performers. 22%

Spend time where it’s needed. While it may seem “fair” to give everyone on your team the same amount of your time, you’re doing them (and yourself) a disservice. Your high performers likely need less of your time. By giving them more than they need, you’re wasting their time – and yours. You’re also not being fair to low performers who need more of your time but aren’t getting it. While it’s easy to just schedule everyone for an hour a week (or whatever the timeframe is), be more deliberate about giving people the time they actually need. In total, you might even end up spending less time with them but that frees you up to do other things and it helps them be more productive because they’re not wasting time sitting with you when they could be getting more work done. In some cases, you’ll give them more time than you currently are and that’s good too because then they’re getting the attention they really need. Don’t be lazy with your time allocation. It’s the most precious resource you (and they) have. Treat it accordingly.

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

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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Don’t Pay It Back: How Positive Influence Leaders Pay It Forward

August 31, 2020/0 Comments/in Balanced Lifestyle, Career, Communications, Leadership /by Ryan Shaw

Positive influence leaders make a big impact on the people they encounter and the outcome of that positive leadership is to pay it forward and help others.

Today’s post is by Glenn Parker, author of Positive Influences.

Singer/songwriter Taylor Swift donated $1 million to the V Foundation for Cancer Research, but she also gave $50,000 to the nephew of one her backup singers who was being treated for cancer. It’s clear that people who have benefitted from a positive influence in their life tend to be a positive force in the lives of many of the people they encounter.

Research indicates that some people take their experience of being on the receiving end of a positive influence leader and look for opportunities to have a similar impact on people they encounter in their work life. They can point to specific people they have impacted and the positive outcomes of those encounters. We also found that others have adopted a more generalized approach to people that seeks to have a positive influence on everyone in their orbit.

How well do people in your organization take ownership for problems or issues?

August 27, 2020/0 Comments/in Communications, Leadership, Poll, Training /by Ryan Shaw

Our reader poll today asks: How well do people in your organization take ownership for problems or issues?

Extremely well: When people see a problem, they actively make sure it gets fixed no matter what. 7.70%
Very well: People work to fix most problems and own issues pretty well. 36.60%
Well: People take ownership of bigger issues, but smaller ones tend to slide by. 20.28%
Not very well: People infrequently take ownership of issues and tend to pass the buck. 27.27%
Poorly: No one wants to own anything, and they work hard to pass things to others. 8.15%

Less finger-pointing. While 65% of you indicate people in your organization do a decent job of taking ownership for problems, the 35% who say it doesn’t happen is a significant portion of respondents. Ask yourself how you can change that dynamic as well as how you might be causing some of it. Do you take ownership every time for every issue? Do you set a good example? Do you blame others when there are issues? Your people take their cues from you. If you complain about other departments not doing their job or you tell your team members to just let another group handle things, you might be feeding into this culture. This doesn’t mean you have to own the full resolution of every problem that comes your way, but you should consider taking an active role in moving it forward toward resolution. Culture is the sum of our daily behaviors over time. Are your daily behaviors creating the accountability culture you want to have? If not, change the behaviors.

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

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

How Great Stories Create Great Performance from You and Your Team

August 24, 2020/0 Comments/in Books, Communications, Leadership, Sales, Upcoming Events /by Ryan Shaw

Here are six great ideas to move performance from good to great. From the stories you tell to your own bold moves others will be telling stories about for years to come, you can build perseverance, passion, and engagement.

Today’s post is by Paul Smith, thoughtLEADERS instructor and author of Sell With a Story.

Here’s an easy way to learn some new leadership skills – in easy-to-digest 10-minute podcasts you can listen to at your convenience.

These podcasts are based on interviews with 100 executives and leaders at dozens of companies around the world. Each episode brings you an important leadership lesson through a single compelling story.

These next 6 episodes will help you learn to do remarkable things other people will talk about, lead your team to love what they do or find the perseverance to press on even in the face of defeat or ridicule, move their performance from good to great, and learn 5 steps to giving more effective feedback.

Staff meetings your employees won’t try to crawl out of

One of the perhaps less-than-obvious ways to help the people who work for you to find passion for their work, is to remove the things they’re decidedly dispassionate about – starting with your staff meetings.

Perseverance: The Pringles Story

Perseverance in the face of defeat is a required character trait in sports and politics. You have to lose a few games and races on the road to the Super Bowl or to Washington. Here’s what it looks like when you demonstrate perseverance in business.

The Jittery Compass: Moving your performance from good to great

What are your expectations of team members when it comes to their development?

August 20, 2020/0 Comments/in Communications, Leadership, Poll, Training /by Ryan Shaw

Our reader poll today asks: What are your expectations of team members when it comes to their development?

They are 100% in charge of their own development. 5%
They should drive their development, and I provide some resources. 41&
We should partner equally on their development plans and actions. 51%
I should drive most of their development efforts with their assistance. 7%
I am 100% responsible for their development. 1%

Individuals drive their development. 92% of you state that the individual needs to drive their own development with some assistance from you. While they’re responsible for driving it, be sure you give them the resources they need to do so. Guidance on skill gaps, suggestions on ways they can fill those gaps, access to training, funding for coursework, time away from their desks to develop, and growth opportunities in their roles are things only you can provide. You can tell them they need to drive their development but if you don’t support them with appropriate resources, they’ll get frustrated, disillusioned, and eventually look for a leader who will invest in their development. There are more opportunities than ever to help people learn – guide them to those options and put the conditions in place where they can take advantage of them.

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

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!