Mike Figliuolo's Blog, page 2

How well do you understand the differences between coaching, training, mentoring, feedback and counseling?

Our reader poll today asks: How well do you understand the differences between coaching, training, mentoring, feedback and counseling?

Extremely well — they’re all very different skills and disciplines 20%Very well — I can distinguish them fairly easily 40%Well — some of them seem the same with some minor differences 29%Not well — they all seem to be focused on the same thing 9%Poorly — they’re just words and it’s all semantics 2%

Know the difference in development techniques.

Read the rest of this post at thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World.

Are You Giving Your Teams the Resources They Need?

If you don’t give your teams the resources they need, they’re not going to hit their goals.

Once your goals are set, you have a responsibility to provide the team the resources it needs to achieve those goals. These resources should be identified during the goal setting process. Include those resources in budgets and project plans. Failure to conduct resource planning and allocation is going to frustrate your teams. 

Read the rest of this post at thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World.

How good of a customer is your company to your suppliers?

Our reader poll today asks: How good of a customer is your company to your suppliers?

We’re a great customer! We treat our suppliers as true partners and treat them well. 36.30%We’re a good customer. We try to make it easy to deal with us. 47.41%We’re not a good customer. We can make things challenging for our suppliers.

Read the rest of this post at thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World.

The Importance of Communicating Your Goals

 

 

People in your department need to understand how their own goals, as well as the goals of their colleagues, tie to the broader organization goals. 

Once you’ve built some great goals, you need to communicate them to the organization. People in your department need to understand how their own goals, as well as the goals of their colleagues, tie to the broader organization goals. 

Read the rest of this post at thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World.

Evolving from Commodity Business to Differentiated Brand

 

Understanding how people want to feel, and delivering on those emotional benefits, can be your greatest competitive advantage.

Today’s guest post is by Kevin Perlmutter, author of BRAND DESIRE: Spark Customer Interest Using Emotional Insights.

Do you often wonder how to differentiate your business from the competition?

When many competitive brands are offering very similar products or services, sometimes it’s challenging for a brand to stand apart.

Read the rest of this post at thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World.

What is your perspective on multi-day team offsite retreats?

Our reader poll today asks: What is your perspective on multi-day team offsite retreats?

They’re an invaluable way to build team cohesion and get work done 18.48%
Sometimes they’re effective at team building but sometimes they’re wasteful 52.87%They’re usually minimally effective and mostly wasted time 21.65%They’re complete wastes of time and resources 7.00%

Offsites are as valuable as you make them.

Read the rest of this post at thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World.

How to Troubleshoot Your Business Unit’s Goals

Troubleshooting your incentive plans can help you avoid undesired behaviors.

Goal setting processes can sometimes lead to unintended behaviors or undesired behaviors. If you don’t understand how compensation and incentives relate to how your team members work, they may do the wrong thing. Troubleshooting your goals requires you to look at the irrational behaviors that can arise from the goals you set. When you find those situations, you’ll need to either revise the goal or change the incentives.

Read the rest of this post at thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World.

5 Reasons Surveys Do Not Reveal Your Organization’s Culture

Today’s post is by Michael Henderson, author of Above the Line: How to Create a Company Culture that Engages Employees, Delights Customers and Delivers.

Archived Post: This blog was first published in 2015. We’re bringing it back to spotlight a topic that’s worth revisiting.

A company’s culture plays a significant role in driving performance, retaining staff and influencing customer experience. If you agree, then it might be time to look into how your organization identifies its culture.

Read the rest of this post at thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World.

How do you handle it when you find out about a workplace interpersonal/romantic relationship on your team?

Our reader poll today asks: How do you handle it when you find out about a workplace interpersonal/romantic relationship on your team?

I stay out of it. It’s none of my business 27.59%I refer them to HR to discuss complying with any company policies 41.00%I tell them to keep their personal lives private and out of the office 29.88%I tell them the relationship is improper and should end 1.53%

Managing relationships at work.

Read the rest of this post at thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World.

Give Your Goals a Reality Check

 

Goals can make sense in isolation, but when you add them all up, you may be asking for unrealistic results from your team. Watch out for conflicting goals.

It’s important to reality check your goals. Goals can make sense in isolation, but when you add them all up, you may be asking for unrealistic results from your team. You’ll need to evaluate how department goals impact one another. 

Read the rest of this post at thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World.