How does your company handle times of extreme challenge?

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EKG Pulse Graph with Glowing Blue Line

Our reader poll today asks: How does your company handle times of extreme challenge?

  • We hunker down and don’t do anything different until things calm down. 16%
  • We play defensively but take on small new initiatives with low risk. 37%
  • We aggressively seek new opportunities and invest behind them. 48%

Seizing the moment: While the poll is split on those playing offense and those playing defense, the implications are pretty clear. For those acting defensively, you need to factor in how other market participants will behave when calculating your stance. If you’re not factoring in the aggressive 48% into your expectations, your defensive stance might cost you more than you anticipate. Strategy isn’t just about your actions – it’s about your actions in relation to other players in the market. You might find your defensive strategy puts you further behind your more aggressive competition and when you come out of that defensive stance ready to compete aggressively again, you may have a lot of catch-up to play. While being defensive is certainly understandable, you could be creating many more risks than you believe you are. Conduct a rigorous market assessment before choosing a stance.

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

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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How important is it to your employees that you treat them consistently with one another?

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EKG Pulse Graph with Glowing Blue Line

Our reader poll today asks: How important is it to your employees that you treat them consistently with one another?

  • Extremely: They want everyone to always be treated equally: 51.14%
  • Very: They’ll tolerate some special treatment but not very much: 31.99%
  • Somewhat: Some want consistent treatment, while others don’t seem to care: 11.34%
  • Not very: Most of them only worry about how they’re treated themselves: 4.28%
  • Not at all: Special and different treatment is an accepted norm: 1.25%

Fair versus equal? The majority of you said your team members want consistency and equal treatment. Be sure you have a perspective on equal versus fair though. Should a new hire be held to the same equal standards of performance as a senior peer in a similar role? Should someone be given time off to handle a personal issue while another person who doesn’t have a personal issue be denied the same time off? Equality absolutely matters on the vast majority of topics. Your challenge is figuring out when fairness comes into play and how to apply it. A big part of doing that right is explaining the difference to people and when you make decisions that aren’t necessarily equal or consistent that you’re able to explain to them why you did what you did and why it is fair. These are challenging topics to navigate. As long as you’re doing what is right and explain things, you can have a productive conversation. Also be open to other perspectives on how to handle the situation because “fair” to you might not seem fair to someone else. Enlist the aid of trusted advisers for those challenging situations.

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

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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How do you handle distractions that break your concentration and focus?

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EKG Pulse Graph with Glowing Blue Line

Our reader poll today asks: How do you handle distractions that break your concentration and focus?

  • I ignore them as best I can and press on: 14.75%
  • I accept the interruption, take a break, then get back to work: 76.75%
  • Nothing ever distracts me enough to break concentration: 1.89%
  • I completely lose focus and give up on the task for a long time: 6.61%

Deal with it and move on. Interruptions are a part of life and they’re pervasive both at work and at home (especially when working from home). The vast majority of you see them as a cue to take a break then get back to work. Just be careful that it doesn’t sap your productivity. Do what you can to minimize interruptions because you’re not only giving up the time of the break but also time to get your mind back in the mode of what it was working on. Find a dedicated work space and make an agreement with those who might interrupt you as to when it is or isn’t OK to interrupt. You have to take active control over your work environment lest it end up dictating how productive or unproductive you are.

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!

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What is the biggest impediment to you making a big change in the way you work?

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Our reader poll today asks: What is the biggest impediment to you making a big change in the way you work?

  • I like my routine and simply don’t want to change. 16.10%
  • I don’t know how to make the required changes. 9.52%
  • People around me refuse to change with me. 20.49%
  • I’m afraid to change. I might fail or things won’t go well. 6.82%
  • I don’t have the resources I need to make the change. 17.56%
  • I love change and always embrace it. 29.51%

Many obstacles to change. There isn’t a dominant reason for change resistance, apparently. Sometimes it’s our desire for routine or it’s others’ desires not to change. Whatever the reason for change resistance, identify it, give it a name, and compare the cost of not changing with what the value of the obstacle is. Many times we don’t do this math and we let inertia lead us to a bad outcome. For the 30% of you who love and embrace change, help those around you do the same. Share the techniques you use to overcome fear or routine inertia. Don’t push them to change — lead them to change. Also don’t let your love of change turn into change for the sake of change. Some of us love change too much and make changes that might not be necessary. Understand this is a risk for you 30% and could cause unnecessary turmoil for the 70% of your colleagues.

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!

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When your annual plan goes off the rails, how does your organization react?

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EKG Pulse Graph with Glowing Blue Line

Our reader poll today asks: When your annual plan goes off the rails, how does your organization react?

  • We try desperately and in vain to make the plan happen. 13%
  • We keep the plan but accept that we’ll fail. 6.3%
  • We tweak the plan and do the best that we can. 66%
  • We disregard the plan and write an entirely new one. 14.6%

Are tweaks enough? When bad things happen to good strategic and annual plans, the vast majority of you say you “tweak it and do the best you can.” You might be missing great opportunities or assuming gigantic risks with that approach. Usually when a plan goes off the rails it’s because of a massive external dislocation. Those can be opportunities to reassess everything you’re doing and plot a new course. Your competitors are reeling from those challenges, too, and while they’re taking a “tweak and hope” approach, you have a real opportunity to compete differently in a new market environment.

Press pause on the plan. Do a fundamental reassessment of your strategy given the new realities of the market. Make the changes you need to make today, and do so of your own volition rather than tweaking, hoping and waiting. Because the market will ultimately force you to change, and that’s a lot less pleasant than making the change on your own terms.

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!

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What are the biggest mindset challenges you face when leading your team remotely?

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Our reader poll today asks: What are the biggest mindset challenges you face when leading your team remotely?

  • I worry they’re not actually working. 19.5%
  • I have little control over their deliverables. 8.4%
  • I worry they feel like I’m not developing them. 22.2%
  • I worry they feel I’m not necessary or adding value. 16.9%
  • I don’t worry at all about anything. 12.7%
  • I worry about something else. 20.3%

It’s not you, it’s me. While 28% of you worry about your team members’ productivity and managing their deliverables because you can’t supervise them closely, the bigger concerns (39%) are with how the team members see you as their leader. You’re worried about not developing them or adding value. These are the true leadership concerns to keep top of mind. To manage them, schedule regular development and 1:1 calls. Don’t let good in-office habits fall by the wayside. Have explicit conversations about their development needs especially in a distanced environment. In terms of adding value, don’t just ask “What can I help with?” because you’ll get a “nothing” response. Make specific offers of assistance like “I’m happy to talk to that one stakeholder who’s giving you trouble and see if I can help remove the barrier.” Specific requests show you’re tuned into what their issues are and are more likely to be met with a response of “that would be really helpful.”

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!

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