Poll – Page 6 – thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

How fearful are you of losing your high-performers to other companies?

May 8, 2025/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: How fearful are you of losing your high-performers to other companies?

Extremely – their departure would be devastating 9.28%
Very – I’d hate to lose them and it would be hard to replace them 51.00%
Somewhat – it would hurt but I can backfill for them 27.15%
Not very – they’re all going to leave at some point anyway 7.28%
Not at all – I have a lot of talent waiting to step into their role 5.29%

Build Your Bench. 87% of you have significant fears of losing your high performers to other organizations. You can try to keep them but no matter what, you’re going to lose some of them. You can’t control that. What you can control is making sure your other team members are ready to step into the vacancy. Send them to training. Give them stretch assignments. Put them on projects that will challenge them and help them build both abilities and confidence. Sure, these actions have a cost and you have to take some risk that things won’t go perfectly. The benefit is you’re building a bench of talent that will be better prepared to step into the inevitable vacancies created when your high performers leave.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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How do you handle “gatekeepers” at work?

May 1, 2025/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: How do you handle “gatekeepers” at work?

I work directly with them to persuade them to “open the gate” 59.68%
I find other ways to get the information I need 25.81%
I work around them to force them to work with me 9.68%
I give up when they provide too much resistance 4.83%

Collaborate with the Gatekeepers. Information is power and some people can tend to hoard it. Whether it’s someone who “owns” certain data or someone who manages a senior executive’s calendar, these people can stymie your efforts to get information or access you need. That said, going around them can create more problems than you expect. If they’re cut out of a process or conversation, they may feel threatened or disrespected and could seek to make future requests of yours impossible to fulfill. Seek to form a relationship outside of asking them for things. When you go to them with a request and only speak to them then, it can feel transactional and impersonal. If you build real relationships with them when you don’t need anything and you do so sheerly for the purpose of building a relationship, it can make getting future requests fulfilled a lot easier.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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How do you manage allocating new work to your team members?

April 24, 2025/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: How do you manage allocating new work to your team members?

I allocate work fairly and evenly 38.16%
I allocate more work to higher performers 29.61%
I let team members volunteer for work 11.19%
I give new work to whomever is available at that moment 14.47%
I rely way too heavily on high performers 6.57%

Don’t Burn Out High Performers. Almost 50% of you report putting a lot of emphasis on giving work to your high performers. 36% report relying on those team members a lot and another 11% give the work to those who volunteer (who, most of the time, are likely your high performers). This overreliance on high performers can prove harmful. They could get burned out, overcommit and not perform well, or end up denying opportunities for other team members to develop because all the good projects are given to high performers. If you struggle with allocating work fairly, keep a tracking list. Make note of who received the last project and track who’s the next person in line to receive such work. Being rigorous about spreading work out can prevent burnout and will create more opportunities for other team members.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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What is your reaction to a team member asking you for a raise?

April 17, 2025/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: What is your reaction to a team member asking you for a raise?

I’m happy to discuss it and am impressed by their self-advocacy 85.17%
I don’t like it at all. I’ll let them know when they’re due a raise 14.83%

Listening to your team members’ needs. While the vast majority of you say you’re welcoming of team members asking for a raise, for the 15% of you who are against it, ask yourself why. If someone feels strongly enough to do something intimidating like asking for a raise, you at least owe them the courtesy of listening to their case. They may bring up accomplishments or responsibilities you’re unaware of or have forgotten that would merit a raise. Or it might be an indicator they’re dissatisfied in their role and they’re looking for a new job somewhere else that pays more. Just because they ask, it doesn’t mean you have to say yes. If you’re saying no, it’s a good time to have a performance expectations discussion or perhaps better explain the compensation model at your company which they might not understand. If you’re not willing to have these conversations, there are 85% of your peers who are and you could be spending more time recruiting and interviewing than you’d like.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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When you have a team member who is underperforming and avoiding contact with you, what do you do?

April 10, 2025/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: When you have a team member who is underperforming and avoiding contact with you, what do you do?

I keep reaching out and hoping they’ll respond 46.97%
I leave pointed messages about their need to engage 45.96%
I threaten consequences if they don’t engage 5.56%
I ignore the issue and hope they’ll come around 1.51%

Making the conversation happen. Virtually everyone in the survey this week responded that they don’t let it slide when they have an underperforming team member avoiding a feedback conversation. Instead they actively reach out (and sometimes very pointedly) to discuss performance and hopefully improve the situation. If you’re in the 1.5% of respondents who avoid the situation, take a hint from the other 98.5% of leaders in this poll and make the conversation happen. If someone isn’t performing well and they’re avoiding contact, they’re not going to suddenly come around and ask to discuss their performance. You’re doing them a disservice by not getting to the root of the performance issue as quickly as possible so things can be turned around before more damage is done.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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How do you handle it when external parties (family, friends) influence your team members in unproductive ways?

April 3, 2025/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: How do you handle it when external parties (family, friends) influence your team members in unproductive ways?

I focus on their performance and ignore those external influencers 28.68%
I offer my concerns that those parties are having unproductive influence 27.97%
I tell them to stop listening to those parties and explain there will be consequences 4.19%
I seek to understand those parties’ concerns and alleviate them 39.16%

Understand External Influences. As much as people like to keep work as work and home as home, it’s impossible to keep home from impacting work and vice versa. If you’re dealing with a team member who clearly has personal relationships impacting their work, the vast majority of you seek to understand what’s going on (39%) or go even further and express concerns about the impact those other people are having on the team member’s work (28%). Simply sticking your head in the sand and avoiding the conversation seems imprudent for the 29% of you who ignore those situations. Take some time to understand what’s going on in their lives. Find out who’s impacting them in negative ways and why it’s happening. You might not be able to do anything about those negative influences but you may at least be able to alleviate concerns and minimize their impact on your team members’ performance.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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What is the biggest challenge you face when delivering difficult feedback?

March 27, 2025/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: What is the biggest challenge you face when delivering difficult feedback?

I get emotional too easily 5.98%
I have a hard time separating the behavior from the person 18.91%
I struggle to offer concrete behavior change suggestions 10.94%
I soften the message too much and the feedback doesn’t “land” 47.76%
Something else 16.41%

Don’t Soft-Peddle Feedback. A large percentage of you report softening your feedback messages too much and they’re not received correctly. This comes from a desire to be liked. We believe if we offer critical feedback that the recipient won’t like us therefore we soften the message to stay liked. Unfortunately you’re doing them (and yourself) a disservice. They’re not hearing input that is designed to improve their performance which means they’ll continue making the same mistakes or demonstrating unproductive behaviors. For you, you’ll have to continue dealing with the issue instead of correcting it. There are feedback models that focus on the behavior and not the person (which will also help the 19% of you who said you have trouble with that aspect of feedback). If you can remember to focus on the behavior and not the person and recognize you’re providing them useful input that they’ll appreciate if it’s delivered well, you’ll be able to offer more effective feedback.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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How is your organization handling remote work these days?

March 20, 2025/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: How is your organization handling remote work these days?

Everyone is free to work fully remote as they desire 10.77%
People are free to work remotely with explicit permission 19.24%
Only select people can work remotely because of their job responsibilities 24.61%
Everyone is encouraged to work from the office 22.05%
Everyone is required to work from the office 23.33%

Back to the Office. The majority of you report that most employees are encouraged or required to work from office with few exceptions (69% of total fall in these categories). If you’re back in the office, make the most of it. Don’t hide out at your desk. Deliberately make an effort to meet with others, network, and collaborate. While I’m not advocating meetings for the sake of meeting, I am encouraging you to work with others when the occasion calls for it. Resist the urge to fall into remote behaviors when you’re somewhere in person. You can forge stronger interpersonal connections, reduce the possibility of misunderstandings that can occur via video/email/text, and feel more connected to your work. For those of you still working remotely, consider going into the office occasionally for these collaborative reasons. If the majority of your organization is in person, you risk being left out, forgotten, or left behind if no one ever sees you in person. Again, connect in person deliberately and for specific reasons but do make the effort to connect.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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When you take vacation, upon your return, what situation do you typically face?

March 13, 2025/1 Comment/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: When you take vacation, upon your return, what situation do you typically face?

My colleagues have covered for me when I was gone and I only have a few pending tasks 21.59%
Some work was covered but much of it is left for me to do 48.02%
No one did anything for me and I returned to a mountain of work 30.39%

Cover me. 22% of you have colleagues who pick up the slack when you’re out on vacation and you come back to a nice clean desk. That’s a wonderful situation – just make sure you do the same for them when they take time off. For those of you who return to a big pile of work, ask yourself – did you ask colleagues to cover for you and did you give them the information they’d need to get the work done? Did you provide system access? Forwarding instructions on your out of office message? Did you ask them if they’d be willing and able to cover specific tasks while you were gone? Simply taking off for your trip and hoping someone will step up and take on your work is a recipe for disappointment. If you want them to handle your work while you’re gone, be explicit, give them the information and access they need, and get their agreement before packing your bags.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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How does your organization approach sending people to industry conferences?

March 6, 2025/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: How does your organization approach sending people to industry conferences?

We strongly encourage it in all cases 6.98%
We encourage it when it makes sense 67.45%
We allow it in high-priority situations 9.30%
We discourage it but occasionally allow it 5.11%
We rarely, if ever, allow it 11.16%

Go to the show! The trade show, that is. It looks like 75% of you actively encourage your associates to participate in industry conferences. For the 25% of you who take a harder stance on letting people attend, the concern is likely that people will treat it like a boondoggle and not get any value from it for the organization. To alleviate this concern, agree with them ahead of time on what they’ll come back with. For example, you could ask them to come back with 10 sales leads, two new industry best practices, possible acquisition targets, or new technologies your company could consider. Giving people homework to deliver on gives them purpose at the conference and enables you to hold them accountable for delivering value for the organization. If they deliver on their assignments, you can send them to future events. If they fall short and don’t deliver, they lose their conference privileges.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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How does your organization approach things when someone is on vacation?

February 27, 2025/2 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: How does your organization approach things when someone is on vacation?

We proactively avoid bothering them and prevent them from engaging with work 18.22%
We avoid bothering them unless there’s a crisis 54.26%
We email and message them but if they don’t answer, that’s fine 17.41%
We email and message and expect responses in a reasonable time 6.47%
What vacation? We reach out constantly and expect prompt response 3.64%

Leave them alone. 72% of you try to leave people alone when they’re on vacation and another 17% send messages but don’t expect replies. For the 10% of you bothering people on vacation, stop. Few of us work in industries where there are true crises requiring replies when someone has chosen to take vacation. You’re likely frustrating them and spoiling their time away that they earned as part of their compensation. Plan better or be more patient. If you get annoyed when work colleagues reach out to you when you’re on vacation, be sure to set a good example when you’re back in the office and don’t bother your team members and colleagues during their time off. Everyone is better off when we respect boundaries and give people time to recharge away from work.

– 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 frequently does your organization undergo major reorganizations?

February 20, 2025/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Leadership, Poll /by Trevor Jones

Our reader poll today asks: How frequently does your organization undergo major reorganizations?

Constantly. It happens multiple times per year 9.60%
Regularly. At least once a year 19.20%
Sometimes. Usually every couple of years 41.91%
Rarely. I can’t remember the last time we reorganized 29.29%

Not Mixing Things Up. Most of you (72%) report that your organization rarely reorganizes. There’s something to be said for stability. While some industries are rapidly changing and require new organizations to meet new challenges, most industries require a more measured approach. If you’re considering a reorganization, clearly define the rationale and desired outcome before making any changes. Hasty reorgs can break processes, frustrate team members, partners, and customers, and often fail to deliver the expected results because all the downsides were not properly accounted for. That said, if you’ve decided to change, make the change quickly after you’ve completed your detailed planning. People get confused and frustrated by continuous small changes and spend more time worrying about the next small change instead of throwing themselves headlong into the big one.

– 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!