Bite Sized Business Tips
2 minute reads for the values-led business leader
Snippets for purpose and values-led business leaders about meeting our responsibilities to our team, customers, owners, communities and suppliers. Context is everything, so these aren't dogma - rather a stimulus for thought. Subscribe below.
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The question is not “what will new normal look like?”
We will get to a normal. What it looks like, how new or not it will be is open to debate. But in times like these, I always like to remember that volatility disrupts as much as it presents opportunity. I was asked for the umpteenth time on a podcast ...

Goodbye Friedman, Hello 2021
2021 will be a turning point for business. The rising swell we've seen for businesses to strengthen their social purpose, to build on values will become more mainstream. And if you lead a company, it will be a genuine choice you face. Which side of business history do you want ...

2020 Was a year of real hope
2020 was a year that gave me some real hope. - Many companies stepping up to support their employees and communities;
- The environmental impact of lockdown;
- Our sudden collective appreciation of all the NHS and its staff does for us;
- How companies, universities and governments worked together at breakneck speed ...
- The environmental impact of lockdown;
- Our sudden collective appreciation of all the NHS and its staff does for us;
- How companies, universities and governments worked together at breakneck speed ...

Leadership Just Got Harder in 2020… and we should welcome it
The table stakes on leadership just got higher in 2020. And that's a good thing.We need to make impossible balances. Impossible because they won't work for everyone. And more impossible because we've got to be sensitive to the fact that they won’t work for everyone, while still trusting in our ...

Leadership needs to be completely different for remote. Or does it?
As much as leading is a responsibility and a privilege, it is an art and a craft. When you watch the best footballers play (RIP Diego), the ball looks like it's just an extension of their body. They are so natural and comfortable with it, it really doesn't sit apart ...
How much more do you need?
As much of Europe goes into the second lockdown, and the psychological, mortal and economic costs mount up, we congratulate or berate world leaders for responses they've made. We wait for vaccines and either wonder why they're taking so long or marvel at a human mind that can create something ...
The weather is grey – work doesn’t need to be
"Joy. And pain. Like sunshine. And rain" Anyone old enough (or South London enough) to remember that from the 80s? It's what we need right now. As second wave accelerates, as the days get shorter, as the economy tightens. We don't need to add more dark. Make an effort to ...

If you can’t change the world, change yourself
Do we take offence, or do we change things? Or do we do both? There’s a lovely parable in Buddhist tradition. To walk in a world of thorns, we could remove all the thorns or cover every inch with leather. Or we can wear leather sandals. Many of our current ...

The hype cycle on remote working
Headlines like to paint an extreme. So remote working is either our saviour, or the start of our demise. And the reporting has followed an accelerated form of Gartner's hype cycle. The hype told us that working remotely was all good - less commuting, more family time, greener planet. And ...

Have your kids influenced your business?
Next week, my eldest child starts at uni. And it makes me wonder what kind of parent I've been. Not just whether I've had a positive influence on his character, or created enough laughter on the way. But also whether I've helped create a better or worse world for him ...
Don’t be a Should Shoveller
I find that the people who should the most, often do the least. When I meet a manager who shoulds all over him or herself (an apt phrase at too many levels, but sadly not one I came up with!), I start to get wary. They're usually loud with it ...
Most strategic decisions are harmful or irrelevant
Most strategic decisions made by leadership teams are at best irrelevant, and at worst harmful. And this is for one simple reason. They don't get implemented. This is especially the case in SMEs looking to scale up. And it happens for a number of reasons. Sometimes no record is made ...