Mike Figliuolo's Blog, page 77

Can You Identify Thought Leaders by Their Emails?

Leaders practice productive email habits. Here are the results of the University of Northern Colorado & Booher Research Survey of 30 industries about writing faster, fewer, better emails. Today’s post is by Dianna Booher, author of Faster, Fewer, Better Emails (CLICK HERE to get your copy). Although you may not be able to tell a book by its cover, you can definitely tell thought leaders by their emails and their communication habits. First, the content of their email: Their emails begin with a succinct summary of a clear message targeting specific readers. None of this “I know what I want to say, but I just can’t say it.” They know what they want to say it, and they say it—clearly, concisely, and directly. After the summary, the email states very clearly what action should...



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How often do you move team members around to cross-pollinate skills and culture?

Our reader poll today asks: How often do you move team members around to cross-pollinate skills and culture? Rarely: 34% Occasionally: 30.88% Never: 18.41% All the time: 16.71% Don’t let them get stagnant. Leaving your people in the same role, same location or same team for extended periods of time creates risks and misses opportunities. The risk is they get bored or disillusioned and when that happens, performance drops or they leave the organization. By not moving them around, you’re also missing an opportunity to spread and reinforce culture, build new skills and strengthen co-worker relationships. Granted, there’s a balance of how often you move them, but no movement at all is problematic. Think about how you can create some fresh experiences for the members of your...



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Structured Thought Problem Solving, The Nitty Gritty

Mike Lynn, thoughtLEADERS Principal, sat down with Jim and Jan of The Leadership Podcast to discuss structured thought problem solving, on a micro level. In continuation of our new collaboration with The Leadership Podcast, Mike goes into his explanation on structured thought problem solving, on a micro level,  in this short form “chalk talk.” These chalk talk series are bitesize sessions on a common (but challenging) leadership issue. Mike explains the difference between structured thought problem solving at a macro level compared to micro level, and utilizing this practice to save time and be more efficient. Jim and Jan ask Mike to delve further into identifying the need for this type of practice and how to notice in yourself whether you are “good” or...



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Three Myths about Love as a Business Principle

Who said love and business didn’t go together, find out just where you’re making a misstep. Today’s post is by Steve Farber, author of Love is Just Damn Good Business (CLICK HERE to get your copy). At a 2009 conference in Dubai, I was making the case that love is more than a touchy-feely emotion but actually a profitable leadership and management tool that results in good business. Following my keynote, a healthy (yet borderline contentious) debate broke out among the participants. As the discussion developed, two familiar factions emerged. One essentially said that I was selling them a bunch of American nonsense. “Leadership is not about love,” they said, “it’s about fear.” The other, primarily younger, faction was pointing to the first and saying, “See what we have to deal...



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How often do you move team members around to cross-pollinate skills and culture?

Our reader poll today asks: How often do you move team members around to cross-pollinate skills and culture? Rarely: 34% Occasionally: 30.88% Never: 18.41% All the time: 16.71% Don’t let them get stagnant. Leaving your people in the same role, same location or same team for extended periods of time creates risks and misses opportunities. The risk is they get bored or disillusioned and when that happens, performance drops or they leave the organization. By not moving them around, you’re also missing an opportunity to spread and reinforce culture, build new skills and strengthen co-worker relationships. Granted, there’s a balance of how often you move them, but no movement at all is problematic. Think about how you can create some fresh experiences for the members of your...



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Leveraging the Quantum Field: Turn Job Hopping Millennials into an Asset

Take a step back from your milliennial frustrations and understand how to leverage the entire Field to your advantage. Today’s post is by John Jay McKey, author of LEVERAGE THE FIELD FOR SUCCESS (CLICK HERE to get your copy). An executive might view the “job hopping” reputation of Millennials as a cause for frustration.  Such a position sees the higher costs due to employee turnover and related training costs.  But here is the other side of the coin:  Millennials are more savvy than past generations in seeking a job they find rewarding.  Executives of best-in-class companies know that happy employees are more productive employees, but what is the right mix of addressing job satisfaction vs. the costs of turnover and additional training?  What approach will maximize investment and minimize...



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What is your perspective on personality assessments like Myers-Briggs?

Our reader poll today asks: What is your perspective on personality assessments like Myers-Briggs? They’re incredibly insightful and helpful tools. 19.3% They’re interesting and foster some good conversations. 52.4% They’re amusing, but I don’t use their results a lot. 14.1% They’re distracting and can be misleading. 7.9% They’re hogwash, and I wish we didn’t use them at all. 6.2% It’s the conversation. 72% of you find value in personality assessments like Myers-Briggs with a note that they’re more about fostering conversations than generating deep insights. Be careful not to overemphasize the results of these tests and miss out on the point that they get people speaking the same language. That’s where respondents say the value lies. Also...



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Structured Thought Problem Solving

Mike Lynn, thoughtLEADERS Principal, sat down with Jim and Jan of The Leadership Podcast to discuss structured thought problem solving, on a macro level. In continuation of our new collaboration with The Leadership Podcast, Mike goes into his explanation on structured thought problem solving in this short form “chalk talk.” These chalk talk series are bitesize sessions on a common (but challenging) leadership issue. Mike breaks down exactly what structured thought problem solving is exactly, and what it means for organizations and the impact it can have. The group furthers the discussion about where the gap lies with current leadership and organizations, and how this structured thought problem solving is directly correlated to a businesses proclivity for risk. And Mike...



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Three Proven Ways to Win Hearts and Maximize Performance

Three proven ways to win hearts at work with the 3Ps of Balanced Accountability in the workplace: Personal, Positive, and Performance. Today’s post is by Hernani Alves, author of Balanced Accountability (CLICK HERE to get your copy). When my wife and I became parents, we had no idea how much our children would teach us. From infancy to toddlerhood, they’ve shown me that accountability is integral to love. I love my children, and so I hold them accountable for their actions. It’s not always easy, but I know it will help them become the best versions of themselves. This is exactly how I approach leading. The path to lasting success is paved by others. No one can do it on their own, which is why how we interact with one another is so important. If you want to excel as a leader, you must...



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How frequently do you update your strategic plan?

Our reader poll today asks: How frequently do you update your strategic plan? We refresh more than once per year—13% We update it annually—43% We update every couple of years—19% We rarely refresh it—12% What’s a strategic plan?—13% Regular strategy review. 56% of you are refreshing your strategic plan every year or even more frequently. The world moves rapidly. Priorities change quickly. Investing the time in regular reassessment is highly recommended. Shifting too slowly in response to market changes can put you at an extreme disadvantage you might not recover from. For those of you who don’t have a strategic plan or aren’t updating them regularly, you should be concerned. Even if you aren’t the owner of the strategic plan, you can still push for the...



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