Training – Page 13 – thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

BBQ, Planes, and Coffee – Keys to Customer Loyalty

February 28, 2011/1 Comment/in Customer Service, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

I’m fortunate enough to travel to some great places to serve my clients. During those travels I can’t help but have many customer service interactions from which to draw lessons. Today I’ll share how BBQ, airplanes, and coffee can teach you a few things to do (or not do) to create a better experience for your customers.

Coffee

Last week I was in Chicago and Memphis. In Chicago, I showed up early for a breakfast meeting. I got there 15 minutes before the client team arrived. The restaurant was still setting up the private room for breakfast. The wait staff was running around doing last minute preparations. I decided to stay out of their way and await the arrival of the client.

The hostess was helping set up the room (apparently the team was a little short-staffed that morning). When I arrived, she stopped what she was doing and asked if I would like some coffee. When I eagerly said “Yes!” she set down what she was working on, went and got me a cup of coffee, went back into the kitchen and made a second trip to my table to bring some cream and sugar. Her actions sent a clear message – even though she was busy, her customer was more important than what she was working on in that moment.

How often do your team members stop what they’re working on to help a customer? Do they treat the customer’s arrival as something special and important? Have you created a culture where your team is encouraged to behave that way? Consider doing so. It makes a difference.

5 Steps to Becoming a Great Coach for Your Team

January 5, 2011/6 Comments/in Guest Blogger, Leadership, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s guest blogger is Mary Jo Asmus. You can read more about her at the bottom of this post. If you haven’t read her blog yet, you should go read it and subscribe to it by clicking here. Enjoy her thoughts!

Many of my clients are beginning to see the value in coaching their staff to prepare for their future careers or to get better at their current position. My clients are very smart people. They know that coaching isn’t just about telling their employees what to do and how to do it. They’ve recognized that coaching others is a leadership tool that helps their staff to figure out a lot of things for themselves and to also sustain their learning.

When I ask a roomful of managers “how many of you are pretty good at telling people what to do?” about 90% of them raise their hands. Telling your staff what to do and how to do it is pretty easy for most of us. But it doesn’t always impart learning that is sustainable over the long haul. Coaching can help your staff learn and retain what they’ve learned, but it requires some new skills that are often very different than the ones you’ve used in the past.

How do you begin to coach others? Here are some of the things to be considered:

Your Thoughts on 2011 – Signs of Optimism

December 16, 2010/0 Comments/in Career, Entrepreneur, Innovation, Leadership, Sales, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

As many of you know, I write the weekly analysis of the SmartPulse poll for SmartBrief on Leadership. If you’re not reading SmartBrief, you HAVE TO (www.smartbrief.com). Great articles. Great abstracts. Anyway, we just conducted the end-of-year poll and I want to share the results with you here.

The end of year polls covered three major questions. The theme of all three is what do you think the new year has in store for all of us:

– What strategy will be central to your effort to enhance profits in the new year?

– Which of the following is of most concern as you look forward to the coming year?

– What of the following best describes your top personal goal as a leader for 2011?

The poll results are both interesting and encouraging. From the looks of your replies, 2011 should be trending in the right direction. I know it’s still scary out there but there are signs of hope. Check out the poll results and my analysis on each of them…

If You Don’t Read This, You’re Going to Die

November 8, 2010/3 Comments/in Career, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

As we get more senior in our organizations, we get a lot smarter. Our wisdom grows. We understand the business better than those around us. Newfangled management ideas come and go but we’re now wise enough to believe we know everything we already need to know.

Then – WHAM! The world smacks us upside the head with a powerful “didn’t know that, didja?” Your business is in turmoil. Chaos. Confusion. Cows raining from the sky. Armageddon.

There’s only one thing I know that can prevent those kinds of moments – learning. Ever heard “the day you stop learning is the day you die” thrown around before? Yeah. That. (Or as Yoda might say “Die you will that day when stop learning you do” or something like that).

If we all know that to be true, why do we insist on not learning? My thought: hubris. We demonstrate excessive pride and believe we’ve learned everything we need to. That’s just flat dangerous.

So how can you avoid this fate of dying due to dumbness? I’m glad you asked…

You’re a Bad Teacher Because You’re Too Smart

October 6, 2010/6 Comments/in Guest Blogger, Leadership, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s guest post is by Michelle Braden, CEO of MSBCoach. She’s running the Authentic Leadership Summit (you can read details at the end of the post). Join me in welcoming her to the blog.

I was recently reading the book, “Brain Rules” by John Medina. In the book, Medina teaches us that in order for learning to take place we have to connect with those we teach. He gives several examples of how to do this, but one in particular stood out to me. This example is that we have a tendency to forget that the information we are sharing is NEW to those we are teaching.

This hit me like a brick when I began to realize as leaders, mentors, and teachers we take for granted the information we have accumulated and how long it took us to master it. I first reflected on this insight within myself. I realized that I often move very quickly when teaching and coaching new concepts to those I am working with. I have a tendency to just assume they “have it” and are ready to move on; often I do not want to “bore” them (or myself).

According to Medina our brains:
– can only process 10 minutes of information at a time and
– can only focus on one thing at a time.

He also provides proof that our brains
– do not pay attention to things we are not interested in
– are inspired by emotional arousal and it helps the brain to learn.

This book enhanced and brought validation to concerns I already had. I began developing ways that I can more consciously connect with my audience – even if it is an audience of one. I also began to think about the executives I work with and how frustrated they get when people do not “get it” like they do, do not “get it” quick enough, or make mistakes.

Here are some of the tools that I use to connect with my audience. I encourage other executives I work with to do the same. Hopefully they will help you too.

8 Critical Steps to Getting Your Talent Management Strategy Right

September 29, 2010/4 Comments/in Guest Blogger, Strategy, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

Today’s guest blogger is Heather McCulligh talking about talent management strategy. It’s a great complement to this three-part article we’ve written before on the subject of why HR strategy fails (check them out too). Here’s Heather:

Great companies have a well-articulated strategy that guides their business decisions. But many of them fail to then take that strategy and translate it into a talent management strategy. Yet the successful execution of a strategic talent management plan can determine your company’s ability to succeed.

Let me explain how…

Why is it important?

More and more research is showing the strong link between mature, integrated talent management processes and financial results. The Hackett Group recently found that companies with more mature talent management capabilities have on average18% higher earnings, 54% greater net profit margins, and greater return on equity and assets than their counterparts without mature capabilities.

The Aberdeen Group’s latest research finds that companies who integrate their talent management processes see significantly greater performance gains, and can measure a correlation between their talent management efforts and business operational results. IBM, HCI, IDC and others have shared similar findings.

Truly successful companies are realizing that the only sustainable competitive advantage they have is their people. It’s clear that to achieve your goals, you need to effectively manage your workforce.

Now let’s stop for a minute and look at what I mean by a talent management strategy.

Leadership 103: Leading Your People

July 21, 2010/1 Comment/in Career, Leadership, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

Here we go with another step in the leadership maxims process. We’ve already covered how to lead yourself and lead the thinking (be sure to go read those posts). Now it’s time to articulate how you plan on leading your people. This concept is the third major section of my upcoming book One Piece of Paper – go get a copy by CLICKING HERE.

This step is NOT about feedback forms, progress reviews, goal setting sheets or any other template. This is about setting the expectation for yourself and your team on how you plan on working with them.

Expect this part of your toolkit to grow almost every day. I encourage you to reflect upon the success or failure of your leadership efforts and constantly look for new ways to improve. It’s hard. It’s a lot of work. It’s incredibly rewarding and can differentiate your team and your business from your competitors.

Creating your maxims in this third aspect of leadership is comprised of four areas of concentration- Knowing and living your style
– Understanding your team members’ wants and needs
– Living your team members’ lives
– Challenging, inspiring and developing your people

Let’s explore, shall we?

The Best of thoughtLEADERS 09: Why Your Team Hates You and Other Gems

December 29, 2009/1 Comment/in Career, Communications, Customer Service, Leadership, Social Media, Strategy, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

I’m an idiot (no comments). I almost forgot to give you this year in review list of the BEST posts we’ve published this year. This list is comprised of our most viewed, most forwarded, quirkiest, most provocative work as judged by you the readers (with a little of our discretion thrown in). We’ve also included a few hidden gems we think deserve another shot in the spotlight. There’s also a kicker bonus post on the list just for good measure (it’s a “wayback” – and speaking of wayback, check out the photo on the trophy… yes… that’s me ’80’s style baby!).

Enjoy. Share. We’ve loved writing them. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading them. Thanks for your incredible support in ’09 and best wishes for ’10! We hope to be a part of your future success!

Enough sentimentality. Here’s the best stuff we’ve written all year:

Most Viewed and Forwarded Post: 10 Reasons Your Team Hates You (They Just Won’t Say It To Your Face). This post was viewed over 20,000 times. In 2 days. Wow. I’m pretty sure I pushed every button I could when I wrote this (insecurity, paranoia, a 10 point list, etc.). Learn the 10 most destructive behaviors you can exhibit as a leader (and learn how to fix them).

Don’t Waste Your Time Hiring High Performers

November 30, 2009/30 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

It’s all about the people, right? If you hire right, you’ll do well (so states the conventional wisdom). The problem is hiring high performers isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Doing so can create tremendous problems for your organization and you’re the root cause of those problems.

Yes. You.

Hiring high performers can work out great if you do it for the right reasons and if you create the right conditions to bring them in. More often than not, however, we hire for all the wrong reasons and never think beyond our immediate needs for hiring that superstar. When we do so, all we’ve done is arm the timer on an employment bomb that will go off in our faces.

Why do we want to hire high performers in the first place? There’s the belief that their amazing skill set can either save us from the dire situation we’re in or can create that massive new growth idea we’ve been desperately seeking. We believe their stellar track record will rub off on our teams and make us all better at what we do. Sure those things might happen.

Usually what happens though is we bring that high performer in, they burn brightly at first, and then they either sputter or get frustrated and quit. Those are the problems you cause. How? It’s pretty simple…

To successfully hire high performers, you have to first understand the near-term rationale for hiring them and also think through the longer term implications of their personal growth rate relative to opportunities the organization can provide.

Did You Blink? 4 Leadership Trends You Can’t Afford to Miss

November 23, 2009/1 Comment/in Communications, Customer Service, Innovation, Leadership, Sales, Social Media, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

It’s been a crazy year. Bank implosions, wars, Adam Lambert not winning American Idol… craziness I tell you! It has also been a crazy year for leaders. Leading organizations through a turbulent economy has been a Herculean effort.

Fortunately for me, I sit in a position where I can watch leadership trends unfold across the many industries and companies we work with here at thoughtLEADERS. We’re blessed to have the opportunity to train some of the brightest client organizations out there.

This year, we’ve seen four major trends take center stage. If you’ve missed them, you’re missing huge opportunities to improve your organization. As a leader, you need every edge you can get so I encourage you to explore these trends and figure out how you can take advantage of them. So in no particular order, here are trends you can’t miss as a leader:

4 Ways NOT to Run an Internship Program

October 28, 2009/2 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Guest Blogger, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

An internship program can be great for your company, but don’t do it simply because everyone else is. Just like Mom used to ask, “If everyone jumped off a cliff, would you?” Make sure you can provide a mutually beneficial opportunity, and make sure you’re thinking from both perspectives – the employer and the intern – when you’re developing your program.

One of my favorite references of real-life internship nightmares (and how to prevent them) is Krista Reaves’ “Do Interns Take Lunch Breaks, Too?” It’s a pretty candid look at shocking internship debacles, including some of these common mistakes:

Leaders Who Empower: Why Kenny Kicks Tiffany’s Butt Every Time

September 14, 2009/13 Comments/in Customer Service, Leadership, Training /by Mike Figliuolo

Within a 4 hour period on Friday I witnessed excellent leadership and an abject failure of leadership. Both experiences occurred with the leaders in absentia. I’m basing my assessment of their leadership on the performance of their team members.

I needed a new tap for my beer keg because mine was busted. It was a crisis situation. I called the beer distributor at 4:47PM and spoke with Kenny.

“How late are you open?”

“We’re open until 5 but I’ll be here until 6 so no worries. Here’s my cell number. Just call me when you get here and I’ll hook you up.”

When I arrived, I called Kenny’s cell. A skinny 24 year old with an awesome Mohawk came around the corner and said “Hi, I’m Kenny. Don’t shake my hand, I’m covered in grease. Let me see what’s wrong with your keg.” At this point, things got interesting.

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