Mike Figliuolo's Blog, page 78

Breaking Down Structured Thought and Communication

Victor Prince, thoughtLEADERS Principal, sat down with Jim and Jan of The Leadership Podcast to discuss structured thought and communication. In continuation of our new collaboration with The Leadership Podcast, Victor dives into his explanation on structured thought and communication in this short form “chalk talk.” These chalk talk series are bitesize sessions on a common (but challenging) leadership issue. Victor utilizes a few real-world examples to better define structured thought and communication, or rather to point out situations where we can identify a lack thereof. Jim and Jan ask a few key questions, particularly around why clear communication and structure is so difficult and Victor explains the need most of us feel to really showcase our hard work and the time...



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Miracle Minded Entrepreneur: How to Move Past Fear and Start Your Own Business

Fear keeps us from doing a lot of things in our life, but if you can move past that fear and get out of your head, the possibilities become massive. Today’s post is by John Murphy, author of Agent of Change (CLICK HERE to get your copy). It was 1988 and I was suddenly unemployed. My position was being eliminated due to an acquisition. I was 28 years old and the sole breadwinner for my growing family. My wife was pregnant with our second child and we had very little savings. What should I do? Logic suggested I polish up my resume and start interviewing for a similar job, head of human resources. Surely, with my credentials I could find something decent. I was also given a reasonable severance package, so I had a few months to figure things out. No need to panic. That’s when creativity and...



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What portion of your time do you work from home?

Our reader poll today asks: What portion of your time do you work from home? 100%: 7.6% 75-99%: 8.2% 50-74%: 5.4% 25-49%: 8.2% 1-25%: 54.7% 0%: 15.8% Time from home. 85% of you spend a decent amount of time working from home. Only a small portion go to the office every day. As an employee, be sure your home environment is conducive to being productive and actively manage staying connected with your office coworkers. It can be easy to leave people off meeting invites or forget to check in with them when they’re out of sight. If you’re leading a team with remote workers, find ways to involve them in team events and conversations. This takes deliberate effort on your part. Team members who feel disconnected find it easier to “mail it in” and also have less attachment to your organization....



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Leading Inside The Box

Victor Prince, thoughtLEADERS Principal, sat down with Jim and Jan of The Leadership Podcast to discuss leading inside the box. In continuation of our new collaboration with The Leadership Podcast, Victor explains what exactly it means to lead inside the box in this short form “chalk talk.” These chalk talk series are bitesize sessions on a common (but challenging) leadership issue. Jim and Jan kick things off asking Victor to explain what it means to lead inside the box, to which Victor explains the need for leaders to adjust and shift their leadership style and format to address the needs of the individuals on the team they are working; that leadership cannot be a one-size-fits-all. Victor goes further to discuss that the “box” analogy is not meant as a limiting...



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When Innovation Talk Turns Toxic

Innovation thrives on meaning, but superficial innovation talk can lead to stress and fatigue, and thus less creativity, in a company culture. Today’s post is by Alf Rehn, author of Innovation for the Fatigued (CLICK HERE to get your copy). It is common knowledge that talking the talk is easier than walking the walk. What we still tend to miss is that sometimes, the talk can actually hinder the walk, and in my research I’ve found that this holds particularly true in the field of corporate innovation. Here, excessive and repetitive innovation talk can trigger two issues that are harmful to organizations but have received scant attention: Innovation stress and innovation fatigue. Both can act as powerful barriers to take action on and engage with innovation, yet managers often respond to...



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When someone does something differently than you would, how do you react?

Our reader poll today asks: When someone does something differently than you would, how do you react? I encourage people to try ways different than the way I would do something. 39.6% I accept their way and try to learn new approaches. 50.9% I accept their way but still think mine was better. 8.3% I tell them they should have done it my way. 1.2% Different isn’t wrong. The vast majority of respondents are open and encouraging of doing things differently than they’d do it themselves. For those who are challenged by seeing someone do something differently, you’re missing an opportunity to grow (and possibly do things better than you ordinarily would). When you have that moment of “I wouldn’t do it like that…” please pause, inquire, and seek to understand why they’re doing things...



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Knowing When You’re In the Middle of Negotiation

John Fisher, thoughtLEADERS Principal, sat down with Jim and Jan of The Leadership Podcast to discuss identifying when you are in the midst of a negotiation. In continuation of our new collaboration with The Leadership Podcast, John is back discussing how to know when you are in the middle of a negotiation in this short form “chalk talk.” These chalk talk series are bitesize sessions on a common (but challenging) leadership issue. John begins by pointing out a very important piece of negotiation, which is to say, that it starts well before any of us would normally identify being in the “middle” of negotiation, but that it truly starts the minute you introduce yourself.  Teams will begin asking small but knowledgable questions to try and understand your level of...



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Five Tips to Deal With a Difficult Coworker

It seems to be that everyone has that one coworker that they can’t seem to get along with, but here are a few tips to help you along the path of dealing with a difficult coworker. Today’s post is by Kourtney Whitehead, author of Working Whole (CLICK HERE to get your copy). We’ve all worked with someone who makes us roll our eyes, cringe when we see their name in our inbox, or dread an upcoming meeting.  A difficult co-worker can be unavoidable, but we can gain new perspective on how to work with them. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from coaching hundreds to people through job changes, is that difficult coworkers can undermine your career trajectory as well as job satisfaction. Should you find yourself in this situation, here are five tips to make sure you’ve done all you can to...



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What is your perspective on anonymous feedback (both giving and receiving)?

Our reader poll today asks: What is your perspective on anonymous feedback (both giving and receiving)? If you can’t put your name to it, you shouldn’t provide it. 47.7% It’s OK in rare instances where it’s inflammatory, but not beyond that. 17.6% It’s acceptable anytime. People shouldn’t have to identify who said it. 21.9% It should be anonymous all the time. Who provided it is irrelevant. 12.8% Put your name to it. Two-thirds of you believe people should provide their name along with any feedback they provide (with rare exceptions for inflammatory situations). The mindset of owning your perspectives seems to be prevalent. The rest of respondents believe anonymous feedback is acceptable anytime or should actually be the default. The question on the...



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What Do Pie And Negotiation Have In Common

John Fisher, thoughtLEADERS Principal, sat down with Jim and Jan of The Leadership Podcast to discuss Negotiation. In continuation of our new collaboration with The Leadership Podcast, John discusses another perspective on negotiation in this short form “chalk talk.” These chalk talk series are bitesize sessions on a common (but challenging) leadership issue. John breaks down his pie analogy for Jim and Jan, explaining that there are different styles of negotiation, and that an easy way to think about these different styles and approaches is to think about divvying up the pieces of the pie. Utilizing the different “slices of the pie,” not only the different styles, but each style of negotiation has a very different end goal in mind and that you need to know and be...



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