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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Does your business need great people or great processes?
Most businesses I come across, especially in the SME world, are either trying hard to get a bunch of processes in place or are living in shame because they're not! And the ones trying to get processes in place, for a variety of avoidable reasons are usually doing so without ...
The organisation trying to fix a fundamental employment paradox in the UK
We have a bit of an employment paradox in the UK. As Matt Powell, the founder and CEO of Breaking Barriers, puts it "We have a government that is anti-immigration, and an economy that needs immigration to function at its capacity."That's the gap, the gap between refugees that have made ...
Empowerment and Response in a Time of Recession and Volatility
It's tough to make decisions and run a business with the volatility we've got going on around us, but there's one business priority at the highest level which I think those of us running SMEs should keep focussed on. Watching politics at the help of the UK right now, you ...
The effective leadership team’s superpower…
... is discipline. Sure, being human, having vision, empathy, clarity, and so on - all of these are essential. But the place I've seen more SMEs fail to live up to their potential is a lack of discipline. Simply not doing what they say they're going to do. I recently ...
Bad news may sell. But it doesn’t make things better.
What do you do if the prevailing business "sense" is very clearly saying one thing, yet your values and what the world needs are in diametric opposition to this? That's the dilemma that faced my Karmic Capitalist guest on this week's podcast, Seán Wood, CEO of Positive News. "Bad news ...
When things go wrong, do you fix the transaction or the relationship?
S**t happens. And when it happens with a client, you can choose whether you use the opportunity to genuinely make a difference, or to abuse it. We've recently returned from visiting stunning Croatia. While on Hvar, we'd booked a small boat for the day - my son is a licenced ...
Selflessness, leadership and followership
Selfless. A word I'm hearing demanded a lot from our leaders. Whether in companies, politics, or elsewhere. And for good reason. When you're in a position of power, it's your responsibility to think of those whose support you need to achieve (hopefully positive and purposeful) goals. But I hear it ...
Enough of more – we need more enough!
The most powerful but underused word is "enough". We focus on "more", and see "enough" as a cop-out. As us not being ambitious. The trouble with "more" is that it is infinite. It never stops. With a "more" attitude, having more just makes you want more. And wanting more leads ...
Coffee and TV – growing a creative, human-focussed B Corp business
Like probably most people who start a business, Derek Moore founded Coffee and TV because he believed that there might be a better way to do things than how it was being done in the industry. Key for him was that there had to be a better model than pushing ...
How ready are you for whatever direction the economy takes?
Have the actions of Truss & Kwarteng in the UK increased the chances of a low-tax-fuelled growth, or of a debt and low-confidence fuelled recession? More importantly, whatever your opinion, have you figured out what that means for your company? Because if you're running an SME in the UK today, ...
Your team may not need a big purpose
Purpose in business is real. Everyone needs it. But not everyone needs it in the way that the purpose-brigade preaches. A cringemaking story that does the rounds is the one about bricklayers working on a cathedral. I'm ashamed to say I probably used it in the past. Here's a straight ...
When was the last time you gave your $Bn company to a charity?
Yvon Chouinard’s donation of Patagonia to an environmental charity was as stunning as it was not unexpected from him. But it created a moment of doubt for me. And having spoken to a handful of purpose-minded owner-CEOs since, I know I’m not alone. Because there’s "all in”. And there’s "ALL ...