Mike Figliuolo

Founder and managing director

Mike Figliuolo is the author of The Elegant Pitch (Weiser, 2016) and One Piece of Paper (Jossey-Bass, 2011), and co-author of Lead Inside the Box (Weiser, 2015). He’s also the managing director of thoughtLEADERS LLC, a leadership development training firm. He regularly writes about leadership in the thoughtLEADERS Brief on LinkedIn.

Wed, 10/15/2025 - 12:01
A Leadership Lesson From Kung Fu Panda Focusing on today, not yesterday or tomorrow
Tue, 06/18/2024 - 12:03
You can learn a lot about leadership from Master Oogway in Kung Fu Panda. He emphasizes leading today rather than worrying about yesterday or tomorrow. My expectations for the movie were quite low. I mean, a panda that does kung fu? A jackrabbit I…
Authentic Leadership: ‘He Drinks 7Up’ It helps to know your people
Wed, 06/05/2024 - 12:02
One of the most exciting things you can do as a young tank platoon leader is participate in a tank gunnery exercise. Essentially it’s going to a shooting range with some really big cannons mounted on a 68-ton chassis. One particularly hot summer in…
How You Can Lead Like the Green Hornet The famous crimefighter can teach us a lot about leadership, both good and bad

Mon, 06/03/2024 - 12:03
I just rewatched The Green Hornet, and it was awesome. As I finished the movie, I wondered what made him a great leader (or not) and how those lessons might apply to the business world. I know. I’m weird like that. The good news is I’ve unlocked…
‘He’s under the tank, sir’ The benefit of leading by example
Tue, 05/28/2024 - 12:03
My platoon was out in the field on training exercises. We had been out there for about two weeks, so we all smelled kind of “ripe” at that point. One of the more senior officers in my battalion came to my unit’s area to see how things were going.…
How Mr. Spock Helps You Make Better Decisions Surround yourself with people capable of challenging you
Wed, 05/22/2024 - 12:03
As leaders, we like being decisive and making quick decisions. We know our businesses well and are willing to act. Doing so without true contrarian input can be dangerous, though. You can make better decisions simply by identifying and relying on…
Barbecue, Planes, and Coffee: Keys to Customer Loyalty Strengthen relationships and affinity with your customers, and they’ll likely come back and promote your business
Wed, 05/01/2024 - 12:03
I’m fortunate enough to travel to some great places to serve my clients. During those travels, I can’t help but have many customer service interactions from which to draw lessons. Here, I’ll share how barbecue, airplanes, and coffee can teach you a…
Ditch the Rules and Grab the Guidelines Instead of a long list of ineffective rules, give your team solid behavioral guidelines
Tue, 04/23/2024 - 12:03
This article is an excerpt from the cutting room floor. It was in an early draft of my book One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership (Jossey-Bass, 2011; order your copy here). It covers how to lead through guidelines…
Doing Nothing Can Make You More Productive Take a break, recharge your batteries, and do more
Wed, 04/17/2024 - 12:03
Sometimes the key to getting a lot done is to actually do nothing at all. I’ve been dreading writing this post. Massive writer’s block. “I have nothing to say,” says the tired little voice in my head (no comments from the peanut gallery). Normally…
Safely Navigating the Pay-for-Performance Minefield Avoid booby traps by defining metrics and enforcing standards
Wed, 04/10/2024 - 12:03
Pay. It’s the topic we love to avoid. We don’t discuss it with friends or family. It’s verboten at cocktail parties. Heck, we discuss cancer, religion, and abortion at dinner parties more easily than we talk about our paychecks. We don’t even like…
Are You Telling Customers You Don’t Care If They Die? Don’t risk ruining your business. Eliminate bureaucracy and focus on your customer.
Mon, 04/01/2024 - 12:03
  If you have kids, you know the nauseating feeling of one of them going down for the count and having to rush them to the emergency room. I had that grim experience recently. What I learned from that ER visit is businesses can make very strong…