Mike Figliuolo's Blog, page 40

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Making a Big Decision

Before you make a big decision, make sure you pause and spend some time considering these questions.

As you get ready to make an important decision and take action, there are some critical questions you need to ask yourself before you move forward. Take the time to think this stuff through. As you get ready to move forward, ask yourself, how big is this decision? Can I break this big decision into smaller ones to reduce the risk that I face?

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

Strategic Creativity is Your Secret Business Weapon

Strategic creativity is a secret superpower. It provides a handle on what people desire or need—even before people know they want it or need it.

Today’s post is by Robin Landa, author of Strategic Creativity: A Business Field Guide to Advertising, Branding, and Design. (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

Strategic creativity is a secret superpower.

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

How willing are you to “blow up” to force overdue action to occur?

Our reader poll today asks: How willing are you to “blow up” to force overdue action to occur?

Very: I’ll blow up whenever anything slows down unreasonably 4.04%Somewhat: I’ll blow up when something important gets bogged down 22.43%Not very: It takes an extreme situation to get me to blow up 49.77%Not at all: I don’t see any value in losing my temper 23.76%

Keeping your cool.

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

3 Ways to Reduce Decision-Making Risk

All decision-making involves risk. Use these three strategies to reduce risk when making decisions.

You face risk in all decision-making. A goal of yours should be to reduce that risk as much as is reasonable. There are three primary methods for reducing risk.

First, involve more people in the decision-making process. They’re going to give you additional information and offer perspectives you may not have thought of. 

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

How to Spot and Handle Red Flags with Your Leadership

Leaders sometimes mistake form for function without truly understanding and appreciating the impacts on their teams. Failure to do so can lead to major issues. You need to think through what you want your team to deliver versus focusing on how they’re delivering it.

Today’s post is by Robbie Hardy, author of Upsetting the Table (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

RED FLAG.

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

How do leaders in your organization view the world?

Our reader poll today asks: How do leaders in your organization view the world?

They’re exceedingly, and sometimes dysfunctionally, optimistic 17.05%They’re reasonably optimistic 39.21%They balance optimism and pessimism 32.95%They’re somewhat pessimistic 7.95%They’re exceedingly pessimistic 2.84%

Balanced optimism. While most of you reported your leaders skew optimistic, there’s a large group (17%) that believes the optimism is excessive.

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

How to Find Your Internal Motivation in Difficult Times

As a leader, you won’t always have someone to pick you up and dust you off when you fall. Develop a leadership maxim that motivates you to push through hard times.

As leaders, we’re always going to go through difficult times. When we were more junior we had other people to pick us up when we fell down. As a kid it was a parent or a coach who would dust us off and say “Get back out there.” We’ve had bosses who have been helpful when we faced crises.

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

The Secret Key to Maximizing Your Productivity

A great executive assistant is only half the equation. Learning how to work with him or her effectively is the real key to maximizing your productivity.

Today’s post is by Jan Jones, author of The CEO’s Secret Weapon (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

For my new book, The CEO’s Secret Weapon: How Great Leaders and Their Assistants Maximize Productivity and Effectiveness, I interviewed the world’s #1 leadership thinker, Marshall Goldsmith and management guru Ken Blanchard, who expressed a deep appreciation for the value executive assistants bring to the lives of time-constrained executives.

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

How decisive are the leaders in your organization?

Our reader poll today asks: How decisive are the leaders in your organization?

Extremely: They make decisions quickly as soon as they have enough information 11.90%Very: They make rapid decisions but can occasionally get bogged down 37.30%Somewhat: It takes a lot of effort to move them to make a decision 30.27%Not very: They’re hesitant to make decisions and only do so when forced 13.51%Not at all: They’re paralyzed by the notion of making a decision 7.02%

A 50/50 toss-up.

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

Achieving Balance at Work

When most people think of balance at work, they think of work/life balance. Learn about a new type of balance—work/work balance.

Leading a balanced life is a critical aspect of performing well as a leader. And there are two types of balance. We always think about work-life balance in terms of how much time we spend away from the office. But there’s another kind of balance that I encourage you to think about.

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