Recently attending a Mahler concert highlighted an important leadership lesson about courage and confidence. Let me set the scene. We were at the newly refurbished concert hall at the Sydney Opera House. [...]
We all have competition. How do you stand out? Why would someone come to you over everyone else? Research from Harvard Business Review revealed potential clients are 57% of the way through [...]
“For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider [...]
A couple of nights ago, Barbara and I were watching “Strictly Ballroom” – the classic Ugly Duckling story of the young “beginner” dancer convincing a ball room champion to take her on [...]
We live in a complex world. And there’s a tendency to think the greater the complexity the greater the value. So we make our products and services increasingly complex and sophisticated thinking [...]
Years ago I vividly remember sitting in a conference where the speaker proclaimed he’d never had an original thought. To my (now) shame I thought, “Gee – what an idiot The [...]
I have a background in Engineering. Something I’ve observed with my ilk is we’re often lazy. I don’t mean we don’t work hard. I mean we look for the most efficient way [...]
I'm a big fan of Star Trek. Both the original and Next Gen series. What strikes me in both are the leadership lessons from both captains, Kirk and Picard. Lessons which apply [...]
Over 20 years running a business consultancy I've made a lot of mistakes. Frankly when we started I had absolutely no idea what it would take. I'd moved out of the corporate [...]
As a business leader, one of your most important tasks is to be strategic and lead. You are the one that sets direction. You are the one that is ultimately responsible for [...]
Why do your clients work with you? When was the last time you asked yourself how you create value for them? When I coach partners and consultants in professional services firms in [...]
There's an old saying, "If it's to be, it's up to me". It's applicable in business and life generally. Right now Federal Reserves are putting up interest rates. The media talks about [...]
KPI’s – Key Performance Indicators are a term bandied around in every organization. What people are responsible and accountable for. Having said that, I think many KPI’s are overthought. We tend to [...]
Who’s driving your bus? I’ve been thinking about self leadership. What it takes to succeed in business. To be both emotionally and financially rewarded for the risks we take. In transactional analysis, [...]
It’s probably an understatement to say we live in interesting times. There’s a lot of uncertainty with everything from the pandemic to high inflation, the cost of living going up, the war [...]
This video is part of a business advice series focusing on leadership and strategy. It comes out of recent conversations I've had with business leaders regarding staff not working out for various [...]
I'd like to talk about the relationship between security opportunity and prosperity and the chasm of possibilities this opens up.
What is your knowledge, expertise and experience worth to your clients? meter level expert 3d rendering The clients we work with are experts in their field and unconsciously competent. They [...]
Simon Sinek famously asks “What’s your big why?” So following on from that theme, what’s your big why for being in business? While there are likely to be as many reasons as [...]
I used to love playing snakes and ladders as a kid. Rolling the dice and hoping to climb a ladder not slide down a snake! It’s a great metaphor describing businesses. I’m [...]
If you own a business, when was the last time you stopped and asked yourself, “Why?” Why you’re in business. What your end goal is? How close to achieving you are? Most [...]
Agility, resilience, resourcefulness. Courage, confidence and conviction. Are all attributes which I believe have a direct correlation with success in life. Agility means you rapidly respond to opportunities and adapt to different [...]
Vigilance, diligence, agility and vulnerability. As a business leader, what do these words conjure up for you emotionally? For many of us the last couple of years have been anything but stable. [...]
How often do you review why you're in business? Why you got started in the first place? If you're like many of us, you may well have fallen into business at some [...]
I speak with a lot of business owners who tell me they have a booming business. Turnover between $1M to $5M+ per year. While this looks great on paper, when I ask [...]
A huge risk to growth in business is the number “one”. Dependency on one major client. One key employee. One product. One major supplier. A client is facing this with a supplier. [...]
It’s 6 months into 2021. Hopefully Covid is on the retreat with the vaccine rollout. Business will open up. Which is why you should adapt your sales and business strategy so that [...]
Do you have a solution in search of a problem? You’d be surprised at how often we have businesses espouse some expertise, create a product or service and then look for a [...]
I grew up watching Lost in Space. Just about every episode had Dr Smith getting up to no good and the Robot waving his arms with Danger, Danger, Danger. Which [...]
The new year is rapidly looming. What will it bring? None of us can predict the future. But we can learn from history. Now is a great time to sit back and [...]
Camels. I think they’re pretty ugly and they spit. But that aside they’re one of the most resilient creatures on the planet. They survive in stinking hot deserts all [...]
The Camel and the Unicorn. One has been around for millions of years and will continue to do so. The other is a mythical creature symbolising magic and miraculous growth. Which one [...]
It's almost the end of the year. What you do now will set you up for a great 2021. You either relax and take a break after all your hard [...]
Well, it's November and it's almost the end of the year. It's mission critical time! Why? Because it's the time where you either set yourself up for a great 2021 or you [...]
Simon Sinek popularised the importance of knowing your “Why”. This is especially important when you’re in business. Because when times get tough, as they inevitably do, it’s crucial to know what’s driving [...]
If I were to ask you who your market was, how specific would you be? Would you say, “potentially everyone”, or could you narrow it right down to specific people experiencing specific [...]
What advice would you give to your 11 year old self? I’ve been watching a group of successful people do just that. We’ve been in business 20 years, which got [...]
As we come out of lockdown and enter a new phase, none of us really knows what the new normal will look like. My name’s Rashid Kotwal. Here are some [...]
As we come out of lockdown and enter a new phase, what will that look like for you? Will it be more of the same or have you really thought about what [...]
What a difference a few weeks make! Opportunities are everywhere. You just have to look and more importantly, take action! A mastermind member who deals with commercial real estate investment was in [...]
