Our reader poll today asks: How open is your leadership team to new strategic directions?

• Very: They’re happy to shift to a new strategy that makes more sense 25.85%
• Somewhat: It takes strong effort to compel change 37.64%
• Not very: It takes a massive market shift to get them to move 26.40%
• Not at all: Don’t even bother talking to them about new directions 10.11%

Moving with the market. 62% of you expressed a willingness on your leadership team’s part to shift strategy as the market shifts and new opportunities emerge. A word of caution here – be sure you’ve set out a clear mission and vision for the organization to serve as a north star. Without that, you risk meandering and getting distracted by the latest trend instead of driving your organization to a chosen destination. Being too willing to change course can put you at a disadvantage versus more focused competitors. For those with leadership teams less willing or even unwilling to shift, recognize the market is always moving. Either you change your business or the market will change it for you with the latter being significantly less desirable. If they’re unwilling to move, show them a cost of inaction – what does their world look like in the future if they don’t take action today? Sometimes seeing that stark future picture can spur them into action.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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Our reader poll today asks: How strictly do you enforce contract terms when someone backs out of a deal?

• Very: That’s what contracts are for. There need to be consequences 42.22%
• Somewhat: If it’s last minute with no good reason, we’ll enforce. Otherwise, not really 41.21%
• Not strictly: We’ll only enforce terms in the most egregious cases 13.56%
• Not at all: We may as well not have signed a contract 3.01%

Terms matter. A large portion (42%) of you strictly enforce contract terms when one party backs out of a deal and another large portion (another 41%) enforce them if it’s a last-minute change. Contracts have consequences. Parties should expect to be held to the terms of an agreement. The implication for you is, as you’re going through a contracting process, be sure everyone clearly understands all the terms and that the triggering of a penalty clause won’t cause excessively punitive consequences. Make consequences proportionate to the offence otherwise you run the risk of permanently damaging a relationship or getting pulled into litigation which may be seen as a cheaper option than paying the penalty. Fair contracts with reasonable consequences are always a best practice.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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Our reader poll today asks: How would you describe the mindset of the majority of the leaders in your organization?

• They’re always willing to put the organization’s well-being ahead of their own interests 27.68%
• They mostly put the organization first but sometimes act selfishly 40.22%
• They’re often self-centered and occasionally put the organization first 21.77%
• They always come first before the organization’s interests no matter what 10.33%

Organization first… mostly… While about 70% of you report leaders in your organization either always or mostly put the organization’s interests ahead of their own, an alarming 30% of you said those leaders are putting their interests ahead of the organization’s. Such behavior is catastrophic. People see it happen and then emulate that behavior because the mindset is “well if they’re taking care of themselves first, they’re not taking care of me so I have to take care of myself.” Before you know it, no one in the organization is doing right by the organization and everything crumbles. So what can you do? A few things. First, remind people of your organization’s values. If they’re not prominent, make them top of mind. Second, when you see self-interested behavior, ask questions to clarify why the behavior is the right choice for the organization. People generally know when they’re doing something wrong or selfish. Third, lead by example. When you put the organization first, people know it and they emulate those behaviors too.

– 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!

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