Blog

In dealing with clients over the years I’ve found that pIanning is a bit like marmite. You either love it and see the benefit of it, or you hate it, and think it’s a complete waste of time. Certainly, not everyone is a fan.  “It takes way too long to pull a

So many people are terrified of presenting – more afraid of presenting than dying, if you believe that mythical stat. But the ability to present is a great tool to add to your communication toolbox, and a skill that’s well worth mastering for anyone in a leadership role. Presenting is a

‘Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say.’ – Andy Stanley. I have to admit that listening wasn’t something I was great as a young manager. Having grown up with four older sisters I had to work hard to get a word in

‘The only constant in life is change’ – Heraclitus. In every business, things change, stuff happens and all too often s**t happens too – there isn’t a business out there that hasn’t been affected by covid, for good or bad. It’s never been more important to keep your team up

Communication is the golden thread that runs through every element of our business and every aspect of our role as the leader of the team. It’s fundamental to our success. And good communication will always be aligned with our values – reflecting who we are as a person. Reflecting what’s important

What if giving feedback was something you simply took in your stride – even those difficult conversations that you dread? In last week’s blog I explored the five main reasons why so many managers avoid giving feedback.  But what if giving feedback was a normal part of your day to

When you’re looking to grow a scale-ready business there are two essential foundations that you need to build: simple logical and repeatable systems in every area of your operation, and a high performing team who take ownership for their role and run your systems effectively. Building that high-performing team relies

In last week’s blog I talked about the benefits of delegation and how important it is for you, your team members and your business to grow.  So today I want to share the ‘how to’ and give you a free template which will help you .* Before you delegate, ask

Long long ago, when I was first learning to be a manager with McDonald’s, I was taught that it was my responsibility to take each new employee that walked through the door and not only train them to be a productive team member, but also develop them as a person. 

Be honest! How much time do you invest in training your team? And I mean properly training them – showing them the one right way to do a task, letting them ask questions and practise, sharing what’s important and why it is. I hear so many managers rant in frustration about

Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve looked at building a team, and how to get it right first time. But what if you already have a team, and what if you built it the usual/old-fashioned way – by hiring the best cv, and hoping they fit? How do you assess that

Here’s something I bet you didn’t know… over 40% of potential employees say that they look for the development opportunities within a business when they’re deciding where they want to work. (Udemy) Every successful entrepreneur recognises that training and development isn’t just a tool to keep people sweet – it’s

Did you know that over 40% of employees say that they look for the opportunity to be developed when deciding where they want to work. (Udemy) Successful entrepreneurs recognise that training and development is not just a tool to keep people sweet but an essential investment in their business growth. They

I think you’ll agree with me when I say that we’re not all the same. We all work in different ways; we all have different styles, different characteristics, quirks and foibles. We communicate in different ways, we want to receive communication in different forms, and we get pleasure out of

I want to talk to you about the lost art of running an effective probation period. Because let’s face it, there are so many people working merrily away in businesses who never actually ‘passed’ a probation. They just drifted into full time employment or their probation period has been extended

Right now as business owners, we’re all assessing and re-assessing key elements of our operation – from our business model to our marketing, from our team to our own role in the day to day. We’re thinking about what we’ve missed during lockdown, and what we’ve loved, and wondering if

Like everyone else, I’m wondering what will happen after lockdown, what’s going to have changed for good, and what’s going to go back to business as usual? And how quickly? Will the milkman, the village shop, the local butcher still get our trade? Maybe we’ve supported them to avoid the crowds

As I write, we’re in week six of lockdown and I want to share something that’s really struck me over these past few weeks – just how much of pretty much every business owner’s focus, has been on marketing and sales.​ Of course that’s sensible – we all need to

‘To work successfully with other people, you have to trust each other. A big part of this is trusting people to get their work done wherever they are, without supervision.’ – Sir Richard Branson Trust has never been such a valuable commodity. With the over night jump in people working

Have you decided what your goal is for lockdown? Do something transformational in these precious weeks and months, and reap the benefits for years to come. I’m sure that for many of us the lockdown period has been a chance to rethink what’s really important, and to reset our goals

What do you want to achieve in the next few months? Have you set your self goals? Are you really focused on what you’re going to get done, and how? Something really struck me this week, and I feel the need to share it with you. I want to talk

I took a bit of stick this week for writing a post suggesting that we all use the current situation as an opportunity to do something positive – to create something – to do something that you’ve been talking about doing, but have never quite got round to. I suggested

When I start working with a new client I always spend some time talking to each of their team members individually to discover: What they love about their work What they find frustrating What aspirations they have What blocks them from giving great service to their customers What one thing

Job turnover in an organisation with positive company culture is around 14%, compared to turnover in low company cultures at almost 50% In last week’s blog I wrote about digging deep to find your true core values. Having defined them, it’s important to live them consistently, because from these behaviours

People talk about values a lot. But I think often they don’t really understand what they are and why they’re important. There may be a list of your business values up on the wall where you work. But what are they really all about? The word value comes originally from the