I remember in the early 90s being told to staple my photograph to any CVs I sent out applying for work. I’m no George Clooney, so I wondered why. I later found out it was so that people who only had my name to go on would see that I wasn’t Pakistani! So offensive at […]
What if the easy thing were always the right thing?
Make doing right easy. If there were a single mantra for consistently improving business (and life, and the planet, and my dancing), it would be tough to find a more effective one than “make it easy to do the right thing”. Whether it’s addressing commercial issues, strategic execution, or values (e.g. Diversity as I discuss […]
Fashion can be done ethically – Antonia Johnstone, CEO Sign of the Times
When it comes to sustainability and human rights, Fashion has earned a terrible reputation. And mostly for very good reason. But there are some shining examples in there. One of these is pre-owned luxury fashion retailer Sign of the Times. The original Chelsea shop was founded to media buzz in the 1970s. Antonia Johnstone trained […]
Too little clarity disempowers your team. Too much suffocates them
A key foundation stone for scaling effectively is clarity. Clarity of purpose first, then of values, of means and of responsibilities. But every CEO who wants to scale will have to grapple with how much detail is needed in terms of that clarity. Your team probably wants more detail (while also wanting more autonomy). And […]
Is your impatience impacting your team?
We’re a restless bunch, us founders. We’re don’t tend to be particularly patient, and we get frustrated when people “don’t just get it”. Or in reality, when they don’t “get” what we get. It’s because we’re passionate about what we’re building. And as a result, we can be less forgiving – either to their face, […]