Leadership
Leadership is the first constraint on growth. A business cannot scale beyond the capability, energy and self-awareness of the people running it, which is why so much of our coaching work starts with the leader rather than the plan. In our experience of working with ambitious UK scale-ups, the point at which a company stalls is rarely a market problem. It is usually the point at which the founder's way of leading stops working at the new size.
This section brings together everything we have written about leading a high growth business. The articles are practical rather than theoretical, drawn from what we see in leadership teams week after week, and they fall into a handful of recurring themes.
Focus and priorities. Most leaders are not short of ideas; they are short of focus. Defining your needle movers explains how to pick the few activities that move the business forward, and how to avoid shiny toy syndrome deals with the constant distraction that kills them.
Energy and mindset. Energy is contagious, and a leadership team takes its cue from the top. Your role as chief energy officer sets out why managing your own energy matters more than managing your time, and what's your primary question? looks at the habitual question that quietly shapes every decision you make.
Letting go. Founder-led businesses hit a ceiling when everything still routes through one person. The three levels of delegation and ownership gives you a simple model for handing over real responsibility, and breaking free from micromanagement covers the trust that has to come with it.
Communication and feedback. Why feedback is the key communication skill argues that giving and receiving feedback well is the single most valuable habit a leader can build, and how to run an effective weekly leadership team meeting shows where that habit lives in the calendar.
Where leadership goes wrong. What causes poor leadership? names the four failures we see most often, and four hidden leadership bottlenecks explains how to clear them before you try to scale.
Developing yourself. The leaders who scale well keep working on themselves. High growth leadership starts with self-discovery explains why, five underrated leadership habits picks out the quiet routines that compound over time, and the servant leadership mindset makes the case for putting your people first.
The newest articles are listed first below. If you prefer to browse by theme, our strategy, team and implementation sections cover the other three disciplines of a high growth business. And if you would rather work on your own leadership with someone alongside you, that is exactly what our one-to-one business coaching and non-executive support are for.
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>The Power of the Common Goal
>If you lead a team, one of the most powerful ways to unite people is to have everyone working towards a common goal.
The Power of Priorities
There are two things that business people find very challenging: thinking ahead and doing things in order of importance.
Getting Back to Basics
Sometimes, it pays to change your business for the sake of change. At other times, you have to change your business because the market tells you to. And if you don’t change, you’re dead.
It’s our self image
Over the years I have become fascinated with finding out why business owners are challenged with taking action and executing the routine action points they need to accomplish in order to be successful.
Time Management = Self Management
Are you like most business owners out there that are struggling to find enough time to breathe? Do you have a list of tactics and strategies that would take your business to the next level if you only had the time to implement them?
Eat That Frog
Okay. So, you’ve started your day, and there’s so much to do. Ever ask yourself, “Where do I start?” Many business owners I talk to do.
Know your customers better,,,,,,
Most sales trainers agree there are a certain number of steps that need to be taken towards making a sale; typically the steps are:
Understanding why customers buy…..
The first thing to understand about selling is why people buy a particular product or service and what it is that they really buy. You may be surprised to learn that people buy only two things:
Make your Systems Easy…..
Ever wish you had an “Easy” button?
How to keep the momentum going in 2012…..
The New Year often brings renewed energy and enthusiasm, and for many, a vision of how 2012 will be different from previous year.
Change in your Organisation
No organisation is ever where the leader wants it to be, there is always room for improvement, or something to be different.
Focus on what you want…..
I get it that the economy isn’t great and people have had their lives turned upside down. Over the Christmas period I was around several ‘business people’ who could only tell me how bad things were.
No or Not Yet?
How would you like a 25% increase in new clients? “How?” I’m sure you are asking. Well, you start by answering this all important question.
Why Planning is so Important…..
In his book, “What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School,” Mark McCormak made and interesting discovery about the 1979 graduating MBA class.
The ‘I Know’ Syndrome
As a business coach one of the first things I must determine is whether a business owner suffers from the “I Know” disease and whether they can be cured.
Sometimes Simplicity is Best
How did something as simple as the iPod dominate the market?
7 Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs
1. Do what you love
Have you made your Bucket List?
Last week I watched The Bucket List starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson – a ‘must see’ movie……
Turn Problems into Opportunities
Like the glass half full/half empty scenario, there are those who look at situations and see obstacles, where others see only opportunities.
Are you spending time with poor prospects?
All prospects are not created equally. Some are worth the continued investment of your time, resources and energy, while others will only sap your motivation, as well give you ample frustration .
The Importance of Delivery Mastery….
Customers return to buy from a business not only because they have a great product, but because they know that HOW to deliver the product as a trademark – what sets them apart from our competition.
Vision – the start of effective time management
As we begin our look at time management, it only makes sense to start with the end in mind. Why is that important?
Confronting Bad Worker Attitude
If you are a boss that relies on disciplinary memos to improve employees’ attitudes or performance you should know by now, it rarely works.
People Processes That Create Leverage
In this article we are building Leverage into our business through our People Processes.