Mike Figliuolo's Blog, page 79

Promoting Trust: Ways To Instill Transparency In Your Business

Whether you are running a service-oriented business or a product-oriented one, a key factor to growing a stable company is building internal and external trust. Today’s post is by Robert J. Hall. Employees want assurance that leadership will make the right decisions to foster a productive work environment. Customers give their trust to a company that provides superior customer service, accountability, and competitive prices. To develop trust in your business, you need to be truthful. Integrating candor in business activities can provide the solid foundation that strengthens business relationships with customers while helping employees reach professional success. Here are several ways to bring internal and external transparency into your business. Focus on Honesty It’s easy to fudge...



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What does your budget look like going into the new year?

Our reader poll today asks: What does your budget look like going into the new year? We have a lot more to spend than this past year. 15.4% We have about the same amount to spend as this past year. 54.7% We have much less to spend than this past year. 29.9% Belts are a little tighter. A large portion of you reported having less to spend in the coming year. That requires more focused prioritization. One way to free up some additional budget is by stopping unproductive activities. Stop throwing good money after bad and make the tough decision sooner rather than later. The faster you shut down unproductive projects, the less money you’ll burn on those efforts which means more money for more important ideas. The longer you let those bad projects run, the worse your budgetary challenges...



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How To Build Executive Presence

Mike Figliuolo, thoughtLEADERS’ Managing Director, talks about how to build executive presence. Beyond the Uniform is a site for career resources for Veteran’s and they host a podcast where they interview a military Veteran about their civilian career: what they do, how they got there, and advice for other Veterans seeking to do the same. This is a skills episode, where Mike sat down with the team at Beyond the Uniform to dig into a specific skill set that is likely to be highly relevant to all listeners. Mike is an expert corporate instructor on many topics, and in this episode he delves into Executive Presence – what it is, why it is so important to the Veteran community, and specific actions they can take – today – to start to further build this. Mike also...



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Recovering Your Company Culture

Company culture is one of the most widely discussed parts of the recruiting process, and takes strong leadership from the top to course-correct when things have gone astray. Today’s post is by Vicki Brackett. I recently spoke with Greg, an Executive Vice President who runs global operations for a multi-billion-dollar, multinational company. During our video conference, when I asked what challenges he was facing he responded, “Employee sourcing, recruiting and training costs.” Next, I asked Greg about his employee attrition and absenteeism.  Reluctantly, he shared that the organization had over 100 percent annualized employee attrition and over 20 percent absenteeism.  It wasn’t hard to do the math and see that the organization was bleeding money off its bottom line and eroding emotional...



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How rigorous are the change management practices in your organization?

Our reader poll today asks: How rigorous are the change management practices in your organization? Somewhat. We manage change for big changes but less for everyday stuff. 37.1% Not very. We don’t actively think about how to manage change. 23.3% Not at all. Change just happens and we react. 21.8% Very. We actively and effectively manage change. 17.8% Change just happens. 45% of you say you don’t manage change actively or are purely in reactive mode. People dislike change and times of change are times of risk for your business. People get distracted. Morale drops. Productivity flags. These events need to be managed actively. While huge change projects usually get the resources for change management, it’s the cumulative effect of all the small changes that saps the will of your...



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Being a Leader Through Conflict Management

Jon Wortmann, thoughtLEADERS Principal, sat down with Jim and Jan of The Leadership Podcast to discuss Conflict Management. In continuation of our new collaboration with The Leadership Podcast, Jon delves into conflict management in this short form “chalk talk.” These chalk talk series are bitesize sessions on a common (but challenging) leadership issue. Jon explains some of the keys to conflict management, the most important being the awareness of it, and also the importance of strong verbal communication skills in order to navigate through and best understand any conflict. In further discussion, Jon points out that, though navigating conflict itself and being able to hear individuals and various sides of an issue is important, conflict management is only successful when you...



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New Roles Aren’t Cause For Losing Old Skills

When leaders take on more responsibility it’s important not to lose all the skills and qualities that got them there. Today’s post is by Graeme Findlay, author of Evolve (CLICK HERE to get your copy). Ahmed, the Vice President for Manufacturing in a large pharmaceutical company could hardly sit still as frustration boiled over. He sat opposite me, stabbing his finger at the circular diagram on the desk between us and exclaimed “I don’t understand it, twelve months of concerted effort and I’ve gone backwards … BACKWARDS!” Ahmed had just received his latest 360-degree feedback report. I had recently started working with Ahmed as his executive coach and this was our first full coaching session. I thought it might be our last as Ahmed raged against the futility of trying to improve his...



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How challenging do you find it to lead across generations?

Our reader poll today asks: How challenging do you find it to lead across generations? Somewhat challenging. It takes effort to cut across generations. 45.4% Not hard at all. People are people. 41.5% Very. There are so many different issues and dynamics to deal with. 10.4% I don’t lead across different generations. 1.8% Extremely. I don’t know where to begin. 1.0% People are people. Is this whole “leading across generations” challenge as big as the market would have us believe? According to your responses, it’s not as big of an issue as it’s made out to be. Only 10% of you say it’s a big challenge. The rest of you feel like it takes some effort but it’s not excessive. What’s important here is maintaining your focus on treating people as individuals. As long as you focus on the...



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Building Your Resilience as a Leader

Jon Wortmann, thoughtLEADERS’ Principal, sat down with Jim and Jan of The Leadership Podcast to discuss Leadership Resilience. In continuation of our new collaboration with The Leadership Podcast, Jon explains leadership resilience in this short form “chalk talk.” These chalk talk series are bitesize sessions on a common (but challenging) leadership issue. Jim, Jan, and Jon define exactly what it means to be resilient, where Jon compares the idea to being a human slinky, and how to continually bounce back against the regular and extraneous stresses of life. The team at the leadership podcast ask Jon to breakdown recognizing when someone on our team may be struggling and how we, as a leader, can support and provide a strong environment for others to be able to develop their own...



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Hiring Experience Makes All the Difference

The quality of a candidate’s hiring experience significantly impacts an organization’s ability to attract top talent. Today’s post is by Lisette Howlett, author of The Right Hire (CLICK HERE to get your copy). I have had a number of bizarre hiring experiences which, supported by research and leadership experience, have led me to reach a number of conclusions about hiring, namely that it is an often undervalued and overlooked area which can have a profound impact on an organization. Along with many of my generation, my entry to the corporate world was through the fairly traditional graduate selection process.  As graduation approached, I bought a suit (mid grey) with my mother’s help, and participated in a number of 1-2 day selection centers held by my target companies. At one, I was asked...



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