About the author: Mike Figliuolo | SmartBlogs

Mike Figliuolo Mike is managing director of thoughtLEADERS. Prior to launching his own company, he worked at McKinsey & Co., Capital One and Scotts Miracle-Gro. His is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and author of the leadership book “One Piece of Paper.”

SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 170,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each Tuesday in our e-newsletter.

Last week, we asked: How do you feel about our next generation of leaders?

  • They’re going to be better leaders than we’ve ever been: 24.25%
  • They’ll be as good as we are: 39.34%
  • They’ll be worse leaders than we are: 36.36%

We’ve got some work to do.[…] Continue Reading »

SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 170,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each Tuesday in our e-newsletter.

Last week, we asked: What is your perception of leaders who use buzzwords?

  • They sound ridiculous and lose all credibility: 47.2%
  • It’s distracting, but they can still get their point across: 40.65%
  • I don’t mind when they use buzzwords: 9.19%
  • It helps make their communication clearer via shared language: 2.96%

Stop the madness.[…] Continue Reading »

SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 170,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each Tuesday in our e-newsletter.

Last week, we asked: How direct are you when providing unpleasant feedback?

  • Very direct — I don’t hold back: 10.78%
  • Direct — they get the message, but I sometimes soften it: 73.15%
  • Somewhat direct — I can get a little wishy-washy: 14.69%
  • Not at all direct — my message gets lost in other things: 0.95%
  • Avoidant — I rarely provide unpleasant feedback: 0.42%

Feedback is a gift.[…] Continue Reading »

SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 170,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each Tuesday in our e-newsletter.

Last week, we asked: How well do your team members understand how their jobs contribute to the bottom line?

  • Well — they generally understand their role’s impact on profit: 39.21%
  • Somewhat — they know their work is important, but the link to profit is fuzzy: 27.57%
  • Extremely well — there’s a direct link between their role and our profit: 27.4%
  • Not at all — they have no understanding of how they contribute to our profit: 5.82%

So why am I doing this?[…] Continue Reading »

SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 170,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each Tuesday in our e-newsletter.

Last week, we asked: What is the ethical climate like in your organization?

  • We always uphold the highest moral and ethical standards: 53.90%
  • We have an occasional ethical or moral lapse: 35.18%
  • We have regular ethical lapses: 7.94%
  • Our climate is pretty unethical/immoral: 2.98%

“Occasional” isn’t good enough.[…] Continue Reading »