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

When things slow down at work, what do you do?

September 10, 2026/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: When things slow down at work, what do you do?

I enjoy the peace and slower pace while it’s here – 22%
I fill the free time with projects I’ve been putting off – 69%
I spin up a bunch of new work to speed things up again – 8%

Taking advantage of the slowdown. Many of you get some much-needed rest when things slow down (22%). We all know it’ll eventually speed up so it’s a great idea to catch your breath during those natural lulls. For the 69% who tackle projects that have been on the back burner, that’s also a fantastic use of time. The one caution here is making sure you don’t fill all your available time with those projects because when things speed up again, you’ll be left with several projects in flight that may not get completed. Try taking a sequential approach to these projects. Pick one, focus on it, complete it, then assess if you have time for the next one if things haven’t sped up again. If you have time, tackle that next one in serial and repeat the process. By ramping up several of these projects simultaneously, you might fall into the trap of spinning up a bunch of work, overwhelming yourself, and being left with a bunch of unfinished projects.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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What is your biggest frustration with hiring processes?

September 3, 2026/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: What is your biggest frustration with hiring processes?

Too many interviews – 14%
Lack of communication and feedback from interviews – 30%
Unclear job requirements – 10%
Roles are posted just for show — they already have their person – 28%
Lack of visibility into open roles – 8%
Something else – 11%

Want to fill a role? Communicate! Almost 50% of respondents to this week’s poll cite poor communication as a major frustration with hiring processes. Whether it’s unclear job requirements, lack of visibility into open roles, or poor communication and feedback from interviews, it all boils down to how you’re communicating with candidates. Too many leaders see recruiting as a situation where candidates need to impress them to get the role. The thing is, you have to impress the candidate too. How do you look as a leader when you can’t articulate what a role requires? When you don’t provide feedback? When you don’t advertise open roles? Recognize candidates are assessing you as well to see if your role is something they’d find attractive. You’re sending signals whether you mean to or not. Failure to explain roles, provide feedback, and highlight growth opportunities isn’t a brand you want as a leader. That will make it harder to fill roles and the candidates who do take the role are likely settling because they have to take it. Put more energy into your communications during recruiting and hiring processes. You’ll get better candidates and build a better leadership brand for yourself.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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How do you feel about running your own entrepreneurial venture?

August 20, 2026/1 Comment/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: How do you feel about running your own entrepreneurial venture?

I already do, and I love it – 27%
I already do, and wish I were in a large company – 8%
I’m in a large company, but I’d love to run my own venture – 22%
I’m in a large company, and I’m happy right where I am – 43%

The grass is always greener. It’s interesting how 8% of people currently running entrepreneurial ventures wish they worked in a large company and 22% of people currently working in large companies wish they were running entrepreneurial ventures. While you may look across the fence and long for the freedom and autonomy of a small venture or wish for the stability and predictability of a large company, be sure you fully understand what it takes to grow that grass before you climb the fence. Making a move without fully appreciating the challenges, risks, and effort required to succeed is a recipe for failure. While you may see an entrepreneurial venture as fun and exciting, you might not see the long hours, the scary moments of demand drying up, or the financial pressures. While you may think corporate is a great option, you might miss the more competitive environment, organizational politics, and career inertia. Whichever path you choose, make sure you’re fully informed before making a change.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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How robust is the mentoring culture in your organization?

August 13, 2026/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: How robust is the mentoring culture in your organization?

It’s great — we have tons of mentoring relationships and opportunities – 11%
It’s good — you can enter a mentoring relationship with some effort – 28%
It’s marginal — building mentoring relationships takes a lot of effort – 37%
It’s poor — barely anyone is involved in a mentoring relationship – 24%

More mentoring is needed. Over 60% of you indicate the mentoring environment in your organization is less than ideal. There might not be enough mentors. There might not be awareness of the programs and resources you have. People may be reluctant to ask for mentoring. Mentors might not have the time or skill to provide mentoring guidance. Whatever the reason, you’re missing an opportunity. The future leaders of your organization need help navigating their careers. They want to know how to find new roles and build skills. Left to their own devices, they might struggle, get frustrated, and leave your organization for another that will give them those opportunities. Your best talent is the group that want and benefit most from a strong mentoring relationship. Find the time. Communicate the resources, Build your skills as a mentor and make yourself available. It’s one of the least expensive ways to develop the next generation of talent in your organization.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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How do you feel when you have a week with no scheduled meetings?

August 6, 2026/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: How do you feel when you have a week with no scheduled meetings?

Amazing! I can get work done and not be pulled in all directions – 56%
Terrified! What am I going to do with all that open time? – 5%
Wait…you guys have weeks without meetings? – 38

Protecting your time. While I know having a week without meetings can seem like a fairytale, don’t dismiss it out of hand. While you may not be able to engineer five clean days on your calendar, ask yourself if you can protect at least two or three. Take charge of your availability. Instead of letting people select times to meet, ask them for windows they’re free then schedule meetings when it’s best for you. Batch your meetings and try to put them all on the same day. Place work blocks on your calendar and only cede that time if you have no other options. While it takes some effort beyond being a simple “invite accepter,” you’ll find it’s not as hard as you might think to carve out time for yourself where you can focus on getting actual work done.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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Which dynamic best describes your organization’s approach to written communications?

July 30, 2026/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: Which dynamic best describes your organization’s approach to written communications?

We focus purely on the message and don’t worry about the aesthetics around it. – 31%
We balance our focus on the message while putting a lot of work into aesthetics. – 51%
We focus mostly on aesthetics of the communication and worry less about message. – 18%

Form over function? 69% of you report putting substantial effort into the aesthetics of your presentations – sometimes to the detriment of the actual content or message (18%). This is an alarming response. Sure, you can make presentations look slick and beautiful with high-resolution photos, AI-generated images, and complex graphs but if your audience doesn’t walk away with a clear message, all that effort at creating an elevated design environment is wasted effort. You’ve wasted your time and theirs. Start with the message. Have a clear, concise action you want them to take and explain the benefit they’ll receive from doing so. They don’t care why the action benefits you. They want to understand the benefit to them. While this may leave less time for beautifying slides and making them “slick” it gets them to take action. While a visually “boring” presentation doesn’t seem cool, getting the audience to do what you want them to do is the coolest outcome you can hope for.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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What is your biggest motivational challenge related to your work?

July 16, 2026/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: What is your biggest motivational challenge related to your work?

I don’t like the subject matter/tasks I work on – 16%
I don’t like my manager – 10%
I don’t like my team/teammates – 7%
I don’t get paid enough – 13%
I don’t like my company’s culture – 13%
I’m not rewarded or noticed for my efforts – 17%
Something else – 24%

No shortage of motivational challenges. There’s no clear leading reason driving motivation challenges. Pay, management, culture, recognition, and many other drivers impact your motivation. As leaders, the takeaway here is there is no silver bullet that magically unlocks team member motivation. Wile a change you make might motivate a portion of your team, that change might fall flat with others. The implication is you need to spend time with your team members as individuals and uncover their personal sources of motivation. Once you understand those better, you can take targeted actions to motivate them. Sure, this takes time and effort but that’s what you’re paid for as a leader. Spend the time getting to know your people. The results will speak for themselves.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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Which option best describes your involvement in your team members’ work?

July 9, 2026/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: Which option best describes your involvement in your team members’ work?

I stay out of their way and let them keep me updated with relevant information – 44%
I involve myself in major work products and ask for regular updates – 47%
I involve myself in much of their day-to-day until they push me out – 5%
I get involved in every element of what they’re working on so I can help them – 4%

Can you? Yes. Should you? Maybe not. 56% of you report being involved in regular daily aspects of your team members’ work. While supervision is required and you need to know what they’re working on, you might want to ask yourself if your involvement in their work is advancing their efforts or taking away time from them getting things accomplished. Are you meaningfully contributing to work getting done or are you simply asking for updates and questions so you can answer questions if your manager or a stakeholder asks? When helping them with tasks, it’s not a question if you can perform the task yourself (the answer is likely ‘yes”). The more relevant question is whether or not you should be performing or contributing to the task. If you take a step back, look at higher level tasks you can be performing, and which is the best use of your time (and theirs!), you might change where you exert your effort.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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How do you handle someone going around your established process and doing things their way?

July 2, 2026/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: How do you handle someone going around your established process and doing things their way?

I let them do their thing and don’t worry about it – 14%
I mention the process and ask them to use it in the future – 71%
I tell them they need to start again and follow my process – 10%
I take over the effort and drive it through my process – 5%

Follow the process. The vast majority of you who are process owners will gently push people to follow the process when you see them deviate from it. Processes have purpose – consistency, traceability, quality, etc. That said, if you’re seeing people circumvent your process, there might be a few reasons they’re doing so. Either the process is not well-communicated, the process is overly cumbersome, or the process is no longer adding value. Look for trends related to which processes people are avoiding and why. Ask them their view of the process when you find them going around it. Your real issue might be a need for a process redesign, elimination, or communication. Consider yourself as the owner of the result and the process is simply one way to drive that result.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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Do you believe “the universe” puts opportunities in front of you and you can capture them if you’re paying attention?

June 25, 2026/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: Do you believe “the universe” puts opportunities in front of you and you can capture them if you’re paying attention?

Yes, random opportunities arise for me all the time – 82%
No, I make all my own opportunities – 18%

Are you paying attention? The vast majority of you see opportunities appearing before you on a regular basis. Being open to those possibilities and knowing what your long-term goals are will help you see those opportunities as they arise because you understand how they fit in your long-term journey. If you’re convinced you make all your own opportunities, I invite you to reflect on where you’re headed long-term and as events unfold around you, ask yourself what opportunities there might be related to that event given what your long-term goals are. You might be surprised by how many new opportunities you find along your journey. You just have to be looking for them.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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When a new direct report joins your team, how do you approach their onboarding?

June 18, 2026/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: When a new direct report joins your team, how do you approach their onboarding?

I spend as much time as necessary training them and getting them up to speed – 31%
I spend substantial time training them, but move on when I feel they’re comfortable – 41%
I spend some time training them, but rely on them to educate themselves mostly – 19%
I spend little time training them and hope they’ll figure it out quickly – 5%
I spend no time training them — they have to get themselves up to speed – 4%

Setting people up for success. 72% of you report spending substantial amounts of time with new team members getting them up to speed on their role. This is a worthwhile investment. The shorter their “time to competence” is, the sooner they’ll be delivering value and taking work off your plate. While that initial time investment can feel overwhelming, it’s almost always a high return activity. For those of you who don’t invest time in the initial training, you are saving time up front but could be causing problems down the road. If your team members aren’t properly trained, they’ll make mistakes you have to fix, they’ll be less efficient, and they’ll feel more challenged in their role than they need to be. That can lead to low morale and attrition. Spend time setting your people up to succeed. It’s an investment in them that pays off for both of you.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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When you have an underperforming employee who you know you need to move on from, which dynamic best explains how you handle the situation?

June 11, 2026/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: When you have an underperforming employee who you know you need to move on from, which dynamic best explains how you handle the situation?

I act quickly and decisively (sometimes a little too quickly, perhaps) – 7%
I act after careful deliberation, but I don’t wait to take action – 43%
I hold out hope and keep them for longer than I should but then I act – 36%
I delay way too long on taking action until it’s clear I’m acting too late – 8%
I never take action and simply ignore the performance issue – 6%

The cost of inaction. More than half of respondents say they’re too slow to act when taking required action with an underperforming employee who needs to move on. While it can be hard to fire, demote, or move someone to a different role, the cost of that delayed action can be significant. They’ll continue to underperform in their role, be dissatisfied with their work, drag down and frustrate their colleagues, and cost you more time trying to manage them. It’s best for everyone involved to move quickly once it’s certain the person won’t be successful in their role. That lets you move someone into the role who will perform better and helps the underperformer move on to a different role where they can hopefully be more successful. All delays come with a cost. It may feel easier to avoid the situation but you’re simply creating new problems by not taking decisive action.

– 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!