Mike Figliuolo's Blog, page 71

How do you allocate your time spent with your direct reports?

Our reader poll today asks: How do you allocate your time spent with your direct reports? I spend most of my time with my high performers. 17% I spend an equal amount of time with everyone. 62% I spend most of my time with my low performers. 22% Spend time where it’s needed. While it may seem “fair” to give everyone on your team the same amount of your time, you’re doing them (and yourself) a disservice. Your high performers likely need less of your time. By giving them more than they need, you’re wasting their time – and yours. You’re also not being fair to low performers who need more of your time but aren’t getting it. While it’s easy to just schedule everyone for an hour a week (or whatever the timeframe is), be more deliberate about giving people the time they actually need. In...



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Don’t Pay It Back: How Positive Influence Leaders Pay It Forward

Positive influence leaders make a big impact on the people they encounter and the outcome of that positive leadership is to pay it forward and help others. Today’s post is by Glenn Parker, author of Positive Influences. Singer/songwriter Taylor Swift donated $1 million to the V Foundation for Cancer Research, but she also gave $50,000 to the nephew of one her backup singers who was being treated for cancer. It’s clear that people who have benefitted from a positive influence in their life tend to be a positive force in the lives of many of the people they encounter. Research indicates that some people take their experience of being on the receiving end of a positive influence leader and look for opportunities to have a similar impact on people they encounter in their work life. They can...



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How well do people in your organization take ownership for problems or issues?

Our reader poll today asks: How well do people in your organization take ownership for problems or issues? Extremely well: When people see a problem, they actively make sure it gets fixed no matter what. 7.70% Very well: People work to fix most problems and own issues pretty well. 36.60% Well: People take ownership of bigger issues, but smaller ones tend to slide by. 20.28% Not very well: People infrequently take ownership of issues and tend to pass the buck.  27.27% Poorly: No one wants to own anything, and they work hard to pass things to others. 8.15% Less finger-pointing. While 65% of you indicate people in your organization do a decent job of taking ownership for problems, the 35% who say it doesn’t happen is a significant portion of respondents. Ask yourself how you can change...



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How Great Stories Create Great Performance from You and Your Team

Here are six great ideas to move performance from good to great. From the stories you tell to your own bold moves others will be telling stories about for years to come, you can build perseverance, passion, and engagement. Today’s post is by Paul Smith, thoughtLEADERS instructor and author of Sell With a Story. Here’s an easy way to learn some new leadership skills – in easy-to-digest 10-minute podcasts you can listen to at your convenience. These podcasts are based on interviews with 100 executives and leaders at dozens of companies around the world. Each episode brings you an important leadership lesson through a single compelling story. These next 6 episodes will help you learn to do remarkable things other people will talk about, lead your team to love what they do or find the...



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What are your expectations of team members when it comes to their development?

Our reader poll today asks: What are your expectations of team members when it comes to their development? They are 100% in charge of their own development. 5% They should drive their development, and I provide some resources. 41& We should partner equally on their development plans and actions. 51% I should drive most of their development efforts with their assistance. 7% I am 100% responsible for their development. 1% Individuals drive their development. 92% of you state that the individual needs to drive their own development with some assistance from you. While they’re responsible for driving it, be sure you give them the resources they need to do so. Guidance on skill gaps, suggestions on ways they can fill those gaps, access to training, funding for coursework, time away from...



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Authentic Leadership For Progress, Peace And Prosperity

Being an authentic leader isn’t just good practice, it’s a necessity for the short, and long, term success and progress of your business. Today’s post is by thoughtLEADERS principal Maureen Metcalf. I am keenly interested in understanding how leaders progress their business agendas as well as the global agenda in times of significant geopolitical shifts. I attended the International Leadership Association’s conference, Authentic Leadership for Progress, Peace & Prosperity, in West Palm Beach, Florida, where keynote speakers, academics, award recipients and leaders across industries and the globe discussed their perspectives on the subject. This article summarizes my key takeaways. With 39 countries represented at the conference, the focus on the volume,...



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The last time you provided difficult feedback, how did it go?

Our reader poll today asks: The last time you provided difficult feedback, how did it go? The reaction was much better than I expected. 36% The reaction was about what I expected. 54% The reaction was much worse than I expected. 11% It’s not as bad as you expect. While many of you got pretty much what you expected the last time you delivered difficult feedback, more of you were positively surprised by the reaction than negatively surprised. That’s not surprising. Giving feedback is a stressful process. We don’t like delivering tough messages and we mentally prepare ourselves for conflict going into the conversation. Recognize that people appreciate being told when something isn’t going well. The vast majority of people want to do better and are happy to hear ways they can do that. To get...



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The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

Emotional intelligence is no longer a ‘nice to have’ in the workplace, but a ‘must have’ to be effective in the modern workplace. Today’s post is by Asha Tarry. Emotional intelligence skills are those important soft skills that are now reaching the desk of more and more leaders. It used to be targeted as a set of skills that belonged to customer-driven and service industries. However, we are learning there are people who are inept at having those important, emotional, human skills which connect people and build strong teams.  That is why emotional intelligence is now being considered an important asset for employees. We need to reevaluate how we review resumes. It matters that employees have a good grip on soft skills. For example, being an effective communicator,...



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Collaboration Improves Business Outcomes

Creating a culture of overt collaboration is foundational to an organizations ability to maximize results. Today’s post is by thoughtLEADERS principal Maureen Metcalf. In the United States, where we recently came out of a challenging election season, a concern for many leaders in the last few months has been creating workplaces where all employees are focused on the mission of the organization and not distracted by the political views of their colleagues. It seems that with this election, we are seeing a decrease in civility, openness and appreciation for alternate points of view. While this problem is accelerated by the recent election in the U.S., we are seeing similar concerns globally as we experience factions pushing toward globalism while others move toward localism. For example:...



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Change Starts At The Top

Leadership cannot be do as I say, leadership must also be do as I do, show your team how you want to operate. Today’s post is by Pat McManahom, author of The Intentional Sales Manager (CLICK HERE to get your copy). As a sales leader, you have to admit it’s been an interesting year. You’ve been faced with business challenges you never even imagined you would encounter. Guess what? Your sales people are in the same situation! Your decisions, like theirs, are going to be crucial.  What criteria will you use to make them? Business is still being conducted; prospects are reaching out; your competition is on the phones and on the streets; customers are buying.  Many companies I’ve spoken to had a record month in March despite the disruption of a nationwide shutdown. All signs point to a strong...



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