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.

Heading back to the business of business is business

Is the business of business just business? And if so, how far does "business" go? Are benefits business? Internal committees? I've always been a fan of the ethos of Basecamp. I love how they simplify. I really like their readiness to do the things that make sense, rather than the ...
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In plateaus, do you learn or do you defend?

Plateaus are insidious. Because although they're not a good place to be, there's not so much pain that you rip off the plaster to do something different. There are some common patterns in most companies that hit The Plateau... ... There's always a good reason why doing things differently won't ...
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If you’re frustrated with your leadership team, the feeling’s probably mutual!

"It annoys me how often I need to tell my leadership team what to do. But if I don't, they just won't do the right thing." (How to upset everyone in one fell swoop. But it needs saying, so here goes...) If you're a CEO frustrated with your leadership team ...
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If you don’t like choosing between horrible and cataclysmic, don’t become CEO.

Hard choices often end up in one of two ugly places:

Analysis paralysis - no decision, but just an ongoing slow pain, or
flip-flopping decisions - often depending on who you're speaking to.

I've seen this a lot in many leaders, including CEOs. Sometimes, it's because the choices ...
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Hire the right people, and then trust them

People problems in companies tend to boil down to one of two things. Wrong people hired, or right people hired, but then not empowered. We need to both (1) hire the right people to bet on, and; (2) place our bet. Doing either of those well isn't easy. But I ...
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Teams are good, but networks make them stronger

Suppose for a minute that there's this country with a government comprised largely of an old boys' network from the same schools, universities and degrees. Crazy, but just suppose. That's the kind of scenario that (rightly) gives networks get a bad rep. But inside a company, networks can create real ...
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Strategy Sessions for SMEs are a waste of time

Strategy sessions in SMEs are usually a waste of time. Mostly because they don't turn into what the company does. In my experience, it usually comes down to a combination of these issues.

No coherence. The strategy is a smorgasbord of ideas rather than a plan to get somewhere ...
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Employees have the right and responsibility to be treated like adults

Employees have the right to be treated like adults. They also have the responsibility to behave accordingly. Today, I saw a post from one of LinkedIn's beloveds (~4m followers) on the approach for new hires. "I hired you for a job and I trust you to get it done. Just ...
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Sometimes you need to quit to win

This is an interesting article from Fast Company. Especially for those of us schooled with the discipline to always finish what we start. Some things have to be finished (yes mum, my plate). For instance, one my most intense periods of work was when I had just taken on a ...
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If you don’t give honest feedback, don’t expect improvement

I found this on a school report from when I was 12. It's wonderfully honest. I'd wager he was really thinking "The kid's a bit shite, but as he's large, we can use him as an obstacle in defence." But he was worried about my feelings, so he softened it ...
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Your lack of engagement isn’t entirely your boss’s fault

Unpopular post alert. We read a lot these days about low employee engagement. Fingers usually point at managers, and often for good reason. But I can't help but wonder how much of the ennui with jobs is down to people choosing not to engage. Usually not intentionally. Engaging takes effort, ...
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In world of uncertainty, leaders need to lean on confidence

In the uncertain world we live in, effective leadership bridges the gap to certainty with humble confidence. Today's high levels of uncertainty are a hangover-inducing mix of at least these 4 factors:

increasing interdependencies which make the consequences of our decisions less predictable;
fragility as we've been sacrificing all ...
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