Mike Figliuolo's Blog, page 7

Answer the Seven So-Whats?

A great tool for thinking through the consequences of an action is the Seven So-Whats. 

Good critical thinking processes don’t just look at causes, they look at consequences as well. A great tool for thinking through the consequences of an action is the Seven So-Whats. The Seven So-Whats force you to go from an early answer to think through all the possible implications and future consequences of your action.

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

5 Levers for Building Your Desired Culture

Building the culture you want is a matter of modeling the right behaviors, investing in your people, training your team, and communicating the culture effectively.

Today’s guest post is by Soyini Coke, Managing Principal at Annona Enterprises.

In over 130 interviews with high-performing CEOs, across a wide variety of industries, culture was almost universally cited as the single most important factor contributing to company success.

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

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

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.

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

Do You Challenge How Your Business Operates?

 

Thinking critically about the way your business runs can help you generate new ideas to run things better.

When you go to generate new ideas to run things better, you need to think critically about the way your business runs. I like to look at three things: a business model blowup, a revenue blowup, and a cost blowup.

On the business model blowup, fundamentally rethink about how you go to market, even rethink what your market actually is. 

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

The One Question Great Leaders Never Stop Asking

Discover how a single question sparked a 4-billion-dollar acquisition and why the best leaders never stop asking it.

Today’s guest post is by Joseph A. Michelli, Ph.D., author of All Business is Personal. 

What if one question could reshape your industry?

In the early 2000s, Tom Lee, a Harvard and Stanford-trained primary care physician, was frustrated by outdated, impersonal, and inefficient primary care delivery.

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

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

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.

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

How to Find the Root Causes of Your Problems

Understanding the real cause of your problem and considering the consequences of potential solutions can help you make better decisions.

The final thing you should think about as you’re trying to define your problem is causality. I’ve mentioned thinking about causes and consequences. That applies to thinking through how you’re going to define the problem in the first place. You should understand, are some elements of the problem you’re trying to solve derived from other problems or other related elements?

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

Grandpa Charlie’s 15 Principles for Success in Business and in Life

Learning from those that came before us is one of the best ways not repeat the mistakes of the past and make the best decisions for the future.

Today’s post is by Marc Demetriou, author of the book, Lessons From My Grandfather

Many people, including those in leadership positions, tend to overthink things. Haralambos “Charlie” Pistis, the archetypical self-made man and my grandfather, fortunately was not one of them.

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

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

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.

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

Use New Lenses to Think Critically

 

Looking at a problem from different angles may help you uncover a solution you never would have seen before.

Another set of critical thinking tools for defining your problem is looking at the problem through new lenses. Can you change the point of view? Can you change context? And can you change reality? Let’s look at what those mean.

Changing point of view. How is the problem defined from the perspective of the CEO, of the frontline staff, of customers, of adjacent groups? 

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