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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Culture radiates to all your business relationships
There was little greater testament of the culture we built than the annual London to Paris or Amsterdam bike rides that we organised. Every year, a group of us from the ultra-fit semi-pros, to the overweight, unfit, anything-but-pros (i.e. me) would do the 3 day cycle to raise money, mostly ...
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Good people sometimes do bad things
Sadly, I all too often see criticism at work focus on the individual rather than their actions. While we contextualise our own actions, we generalise everyone else's. For example, I was late because my train was delayed, but you were late because you're disorganised and don't build in contingency. Or ...
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Founders – your team aren’t all entrepreneurs. And that’s a good thing.
A common story I find when working with founders is frustration with the managers that they appoint into their business. Not responsive enough. Not thinking big enough. Not hungry enough. I always need to remind them that this is why *they* are founders, and their team isn't. Typical founder traits ...
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Business is not a spreadsheet
I’ve worked in places where making the numbers right on a spreadsheet meant playing with people’s lives. I’ve also worked in places where supporting people’s lives made the numbers right on the spreadsheet. If you run a business, it’s your choice which way you want to go. It’s your choice ...
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Don’t let your clients’ lack of ethics or inefficiency endanger your business
Cash flow, revenue, sales. These are the oxygen for our businesses. They're not what creates the value, but we'd be unable to create value without them. Which is why it's infuriating to see small businesses often left at the mercy of late paying larger customers. Recent surveys by the Small ...
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Promotion into Management isn’t always the best thing for your stars
When you promote within your team, bear in mind that different jobs are suited to different personalities, and don't expect your promoted star to instantly become a star manager. Sure, sometimes it happens. But the best salesperson doesn't automatically become a great sales manager. The greatest developer doesn't instantly become ...
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Your company can only contribute sustainably if it is profitable
When discussions with my clients turns towards the contribution their company makes to their community or environment, I obsess that they need to be reliably profitable. Especially if their contribution is philanthropic. I’m a governor at my kids’ primary school. I was astonished how many children struggle to do their ...
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Your team MUST be able to disagree with you
I remember once having a really heated debate with one of my team members. We held strongly divergent views on how to proceed with some of the Intellectual Property we were creating. A fellow board member was there, and tried to shut the debate down. Afterwards, he asked me why ...
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The importance of having a priority system
A bad, or no, prioritisation system can kill your company. Having an effective way to prioritise is one of the best defences against shiny object syndrome (any other business founders suffer?), analysis paralysis, procrastination and untenable life balance. Reading is my personal killer. I’ve a ton of books, articles and ...
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Numbers aren’t always the answer
My background is in data analysis, so I do and love numbers. I'm all for KPIs / MBOs / OKRs / BRBs / ROFLs etc. Except when they don't work. Business leaders need to accept that there are many desirably outcomes for their companies and teams that can't be easily ...
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Supporting the next generation of female founders
Lovely to chat with Margaret-Ann Splawn today, sage and advisor on climate finance investment. One thing she raised that I hadn't considered was how climate change will also exacerbate the gender divide. For instance, much of the work that is done in developing countries, such as walking to wells for ...
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Great People or Great Processes?
Turn it into a process. Most businesses I work with are either doing this, or live in shame because they're not! But can be an unhealthy obsession. I enjoyed Sam Carpenter's Work the System. Along with The E-myth, it creates a compelling case for proceduralising what your business does. Rightly ...
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