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 to grow up in to. […]
Leadership
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. “We should improve how we […]
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 that could lead to action, […]
New processes won’t replace old (bad)habits
Those of us with an entrepreneurial mind tend to be bling-hogs (guilty as charged). Our bling is new books, new systems, new processes, new products, latest recruit, newest client… One of the worst impacts of this is that we can allow our obsession with bling to obscure what we really need for positive change. We […]
The redundant founder / CEO
The majority of my work these days tends to be with companies that need support in scaling up. That may be because they’re on a rapid growth path, and need to ensure that the business scales robustly. Or because they’ve plateaued (or started a slow decline), with a myriad of symptoms to boot. In almost […]