“Turn it into a process”. Most businesses I work with are either doing this, or live in shame because they’re not! I enjoyed Sam Carpenter’s Work the System. Along with The E-myth, it creates a compelling case for proceduralising what your business does. Rightly so. But the key justification I hear leaders cite for process […]
Tips, News & Views
Leaders – pause before launching your team at your latest idea
More crucial than knowing which things to focus on is absolute clarity about what to not do altogether. Because those “not quite as important” things will block out your time, energy and focus, and prevent you giving those to the things that count. And that wastage gets amplified exponentially when you’re a leader. Those “wouldn’t […]
Culture radiates to all your business relationships
There was little greater testament of the culture we built than the annual London to Paris or Amsterdam bike rides that we organised. Every year, a group of us from the ultra-fit semi-pros, to the overweight, unfit, anything-but-pros (i.e. me) would do the 3 day cycle to raise money, mostly for Hope and Play, the […]
Good people sometimes do bad things
Sadly, I all too often see criticism at work focus on the individual rather than their actions. While we contextualise our own actions, we generalise everyone else’s. For example, I was late because my train was delayed, but you were late because you’re disorganised and don’t build in contingency. Or my report wasn’t 100% because […]
Founders – your team aren’t all entrepreneurs. And that’s a good thing.
A common story I find when working with founders is frustration with the managers that they appoint into their business. Not responsive enough. Not thinking big enough. Not hungry enough. I always need to remind them that this is why *they* are founders, and their team isn’t. Typical founder traits are both a strength and […]