“Our ambition should not be to win, then, but to play with our full effort. Our intention is not to be thanked or recognized, but to help and to do what we think is right. Our focus is not on what happens to us but on how we respond. In this, we will always find […]
Values
You don’t lead organisations. You lead people.
You don’t lead organisations. You lead people. Obvious, but so often forgotten. I know many CEOs who are at heart very human and humane, but feel a peer pressure especially when in groups to do “what a CEO is supposed to do”. And they lose sight of the fact that in the end, it’s people […]
Are you a mini-Boris? Am I? Are we all?
On climate, on social issues, on using business for good – are we all mini-Borises? Boris’s climate policies and plans (inasmuch as they exist) fall a long way short of Boris’s climate promises. If you’re generous, you may flatter him with a “road to hell paved with good intentions”. If you’re a cynic, you’ll see […]
Guaranteed business failure
You can absolutely do things guaranteed to make your business fail. But unfortunately, there aren’t things you can do which are guaranteed to make your business succeed. It is the same asymmetry at play in Seneca’s sage quote that _”an age builds up cities: an hour destroys them. In a moment the ashes are made, […]
Moving from what my job is to what my contribution is
In the best leadership teams, Sales Directors evolve from “My job is sales” to “My job is to meet our company’s goals through my contribution in sales”. As it is for Sales Directors, so it is for Finance Directors or Product Directors or Delivery or Marketing or Technology or …. This is a key part […]