Business Leaders Coach | Helping business leaders build businesses that grow and flourish

Having a clear strategy can help your business navigate in turbulent times -however, creating a strategy that is simple and easy to understand is usually quite difficult.

In this second part, I walk through the final questions that can help you develop a strategic plan for your business.

Key Questions:

1. Where will you play? The focus Question.
2. How will we win? The Success Question
3. What Capabilities must we have? The Resource Question
4. What management systems do we need? The Systems Question

Having a clear strategy can help your business navigate in turbulent times - however, creating a strategy that is simple and easy to understand is usually quite difficult.

In these next two episodes, I walk through some questions that can help you develop a strategic plan for your business.

Key Questions:

1. The Purpose Question – why do we exist?

2. The Core Values Question – what do we stand for?

3. The Vision Question – what do we want to see?

4. The Goals Question – how will we measure our success?

If almost all successful people have encountered failure along the way, then failure could be seen as the path toward success.

This is the last episode in our series on How to Fail Forward. In this part 5, I highlight that our perspective must be to embrace failure and see it as part of the journey. And then take on the mindset that "Failure is the path towards success".

When we fail, sometimes we find it hard to forgive. The capacity to forgive ourselves and others could be daunting, but it is necessary if we want to move forward.

Over the last few weeks, we have been going through a series on How to Fail Forward. In this fourth episode, we see why it is important to: Forgive yourself and others.

Have you ever felt the need to blame something or someone when you have failed at something? Well, most of us do.

Over the last few weeks, we have been going through a series on How to Fail Forward. In this third episode, we see the benefit of asking ourselves: Have I Done Everything I Could?

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We are going through a series of five episodes looking at the topic: How to Fail Forward, and in this second episode, I ask; “What Do I Still Need To Learn?

Sometimes the reason why we are facing a failure is because we need to learn something from it.

Therefore, asking the question; “What Do I Still Need to Learn?” is important.

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How we handle failure can play a key role towards how we achieve our goals.

Over the next five episodes, we are going to be looking at the topic:  How To Fail Forward, and in this episode, I ask; “How Do We See Failure?

I share some mindset statements that should help us start to see failure from a more healthy perspective.

We all know that things are changing rapidly in the world of work, and recently Gallup pulled together what they called the 'Big 5'. According to them, the workplace is seeing the biggest disruption in some time, and it is changing the way we work and the future.

This episode covers 'The Big 5 Disruptions That Business Leaders Must Address and what you can do.

Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, is known to have said:

"In a few hundred years, when the history of our time will be written from a long time perspective, it is likely that the most important event historians will see is not technology, not the internet, not e-commerce. It is the unprecedented change in the human condition. For the first time – literally – substantial and rapidly growing numbers of people have choices. For the first time, they will have to manage themselves. And, society is totally unprepared for it".

In this episode, I share why learning to lead yourself is the essential skill of the 21st Century, using this quote to give us this insight.

I also highlight counterintuitive behaviours we need to adopt to lead ourselves and inspire those around us to do likewise.

Key Resources

In this short podcast episode, I share why Business Leaders Coach is explicitly on a mission to help small and medium-sized businesses grow from start-up to scaleup.

I give a very high-level overview of why the economy grows when leaders choose to grow their businesses.

Giving feedback sometimes can be a challenging behaviour to apply as a leader when you don't have a clear framework.
In this episode, I show you how to give feedback using four simple steps.

Key Points:

1. Position - Making sure that you position the conversation in right place and at the right place.

2. Action - Focus on the behaviour: What you heard them say and/or saw them do.

3. Impact - Share the impact that the action has on you the people or the situation.

4. Do/Don't - You want to either encourage the action or ask how it can be changed. The best way is to ask a question.

In this episode, I reflect on the importance of the meaning of work.

Have you ever asked yourself why we work? Of course, a simple answer would be to put food on the table and pay bills, but what if there's more?

Here, I share some deeper insights on how we should view work. Any leader with challenges attracting or retaining people needs to understand how important this is.

Key Resources:

In October 2001, Jim Collins published his book Good To Great, and since then many CEOs have made reference to this iconic book. Twenty-one years later, this book is perhaps more relevant now than ever before.

In this episode, I share principles to learn from Good To Great.

Key Points:

Companies need to focus on having:

- Disciplined People
- Disciplined Thought
- Disciplined Action

Key Actions:

1. Become a Level 5 Leader
2. Choose The Right 'Who' Then 'What'
3. Face The Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith)
4. Find Your Hedgehog Concept
5. Create A Culture Of Discipline

What is VUCA? It is a term the US Army coined describing the world as Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. In this episode, I give more meaning to these words and share the VUCA counter to help business leaders navigate these turbulent times.

Key Points:

• What is VUCA, and where did this idea originate?
• What does VUCA mean for businesses?
• What is the VUCA counter to this?

In this episode we tackle a common question leaders ask: how do I motivate and engage my people? In the current climate of hybrid working, many leaders are eager to know how to ensure that their people are motivated.

Key Points Covered:

· What is Motivation?

· The two main ways we are motivated

· P.R.E.P (4 principles to help motivate and engage your people)

· Practical ways to create a Self-Motivating Culture

Having leaders at all levels within an organisation is essential for business success. Yet the leadership pipeline is one area that gets neglected the most in scaling up companies until it is almost too late.

In this episode, I walk you through how to build your leadership pipeline and the five transitions that a typical leader will need to go through as an organisation grows.

I also share the leadership pipeline mindset shift that needs to occur at each level.

The leadership levels:

1. Leading Yourself (Individual contributor)

2. Leading Others

3. Leading Leaders

4. Leading a Function

5. Leading the Organisation

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Following on from Part 1, in this second episode I walk you through the final steps to apply situational leadership style. 

Situational Leadership is a well-known leadership model that every manager and leader in a scaleup company must master.

This episode is divided into two parts.

In this part two, I share

· The two main overall approaches to the leadership style used

· The four leadership styles to use based on the development level of your direct report

· Final steps to apply Situational Leadership

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What great business books did you read in 2021? Well, in this episode I share with you 5 Great Leadership Books I Read in 2021. 

I give you one main thought or big idea and also an action to take based on this thought.

The 5 Great Books are:

As the world rapidly changes, becoming a learning leader is the only way to stay relevant, but how do we do that? 

In this episode, I share 5 Steps to Becoming A Learning Leader and I share practical ways to implement a learning strategy daily.

Key Points:

• Choosing to become a Self-Directed Learner
• A Learning Leader must have a Growth Mindset.
• A learning Leader must model being a learner.

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Do you know yourself? As simple as this might sound, many leaders struggle to articulate this. In this episode, I share three questions that can help you get to know yourself better as you continue to grow to become the leader you want to be.

Key Action:

1. Motivation: What motivates you?

2. Trait: Take your personality profile test.

3. Skill: Become more self-aware: Journal:

Key Resources:

As a leader, having both character and competence is essential to gain trust and credibility from your people, but how can we develop them?

We usually think that to develop such essential qualities, we have to go into the classroom and might not be aware that every day is an opportunity for us to grow in these areas.

In today's podcast, I share some insights on how to grow your character and competence as a leader in just 15 mins a day!

Using insights from two outstanding books on this topic; 'Leading with Character' by Jim Loehr and 'The Leader Habit' by Martin Lanik, I explain how you can invest 10 mins on character and 5 mins on competence daily.

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In today's episode, I interview Jasmin Thomas, Founder of Ohana.  

A woman on a mission! Many people dream of starting their own business; Jasmin made it more of a life or death choice. After being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, Jasmin quickly discovered the benefits of CBD oil. After much research, she started her own company and is now serving others with products that benefit their situation.  

Jasmin shares things she has learned and her next area of impact on the femtech world!  

We discuss her passions as a black female founder, femtech and the importance of having a vision.  

She shares the importance of women having access to good healthcare and why it is not right for women to be dismissed in the boardroom or at meetings.   

In this interview, you will get a vivid picture of what someone on a mission looks and sounds like!

You can reach Jasmin in the following ways:

Uncommon Service | How to Stand Out From the Crowd 

As a service business, how do you stand out from the crowd?  

Research is showing that over 80% of businesses in both the UK and US are service businesses. 

Today, I want to share four insights from the book uncommon service by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss.

Uncommon service: how to win by putting customers at the Core of your business. 

If you are a business leader, I will strongly recommend you buy, read and implement this - if there was ever a time to gain the skills to make sure that your business stands out among the crowd, now is the time to start working on it.

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In this episode, I share with you the top ten skills needed to in our new economy. As we transition into this new normal, you've got to ask yourself if these are the skills you need personally or, that you are looking for as you build your team. One thing is sure. They are essential.

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As the world is going virtual, leaders are realising that they need a new perspective to navigate this new world. What do business leaders really need to focus on? Being a 21st Century leader is not just a shift to working remotely, but a shift to an entirely new way of thinking. 

In this episode, I share 5 Mindset shifts that business leaders need to make to survive and become 21st Century leaders.

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As nations have millions of people working from home, daily core habits have never been so needed for each leader and employee.

In this episode, I share with you 5 Core Daily Habits that will help you maintain control of your mental, emotional well being. These Keystone Habits have the ability to make you feel in control despite all the uncertainty that might be going on around you.

Key Points

• How your mindset is of most importance and how to take charge of it.
• The number of priorities to tackle each day
• How to focus on 'your' work.
• The most powerful activity to add to your day
• Making sure that no day is wasted

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In this episode, I share my thoughts on what I think Small Business Owners should focus on as we go through the Coronavirus outbreak.

What can Small Business Owners do as the Coronavirus outbreak threatens to potentially cripple some businesses? Well, if you haven't started doing this, you must start now!

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In this episode, I interview Joanna Abeyie, a go-getter who has blazed a trail as a multi-award-winning social impact entrepreneur, and a champion of diversity, inclusion and equality. She has played a key role in creating the employment of diverse talent over the last 12 years.

Joanna is currently the CEO and founder of Blue Moon, a flagship inclusive Executive Search Business as well as a Diversity and Inclusion Consultancy Practice. 

Joanna shares her story, what drives her, the benefits of having great Mentors, Coaches and books to guide her on her entrepreneurial journey.

Key Points:

• The importance of having mentors and coaches speaking into your life;
• The benefits of learning from great books;
• Why it is important to not get carried away with awards;
• The importance of building a sustainable business from day one;
• Learning how to keep your eye on the cash coming into the business.

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In this episode, I interview Nick Frost. Nick is the Co-Founder of CRMG and has been involved in Cyber Security for over 20 years. Prior to starting his own business, he has held leadership roles at PWC and other similar companies. He started his first company in 2015 and just started CRMG in 2018 with a colleague.

Nick shares with us his wisdom on how to build a business that serves its customers.

Key Points:

• The importance of having a vision; 
• The skill of leveraging from partnership relationships;
• Finding people with the right chemistry when hiring;
• Why it is important to focus on delivering excellent service.

Resources:

In this episode, I talk about why leaders should make reading books a habit.  

All entrepreneurs, leaders and managers get stuck in their thinking and find it hard to deal with the various challenges they are facing. One trait you’ll see from successful entrepreneurs is their love for reading. We can find many of the answers in good books.  

Key Resources  

In this episode, I interview Obi Abuchi - 

Obi Abuchi is the CEO of CORE Leaders International, the author of The Magic of Monday, a transformational speaker and Coach with an obsession for helping leaders grow in the area of personal mastery. He has been married for 17yrs and has three very exuberant and delightful boys.

Key Points:

• The Importance of leading from your CORE
• Seeing failure as an opportunity to learn
• Tips on how to thrive in personal leadership

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In this episode, the focus is on 'PEOPLE' and I describe the four most common attributes that people display when communicating - this is the 6th and final P of the 6 P's of Highly Productive People.

John Maxwell is famous for saying that 'One is too small a number to achieve greatness". If you are building a business, you cannot achieve any success without having the ability to get along, lead and motivate people. One of the common questions people ask is: How do I lead and manage people who are different to me? We take a look at the following:

Key Points:

• Understanding the four most common temperaments;
  
• Knowing your default communication preference is your starting point;
  
• Understanding how other people communicate will help you interact better;
  
• Having a mindset that people are your greatest asset is key;
  
• Learning how to understand people must always be high on your agenda.
  

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In this episode, I look at Productivity, the 5th P in the 6 P's of Highly Productive People.

We are now living in an age where it is so easy to be busy but not productive. Being a productive person is more challenging in today’s world than ever before. In this Podcast, I look at three ways to categories our work.

Key Points

• Three ways of categorising work

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In this episode, I talk about ‘Purpose,’ the 3rd P in our 6 Ps of Highly Productive People.

As a Leader and Entrepreneur, it is vital that you have a clear purpose, first for yourself, and then for your organisation.

However, Purpose isn’t always that straightforward. As a startup leader, you want to bring on board engaged staff members who share and are passionate about your vision.

You might not know that ‘Purpose’ is what will help you find these people.

Key Points

• The one question you need to answer on Purpose;
• The reason Purpose has different dimensions;
• The importance of having a personal purpose before organisational purpose.

Resources

In this episode, I talk through the second P–PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT.

“If you leave your growth to randomness you’ll always live in the land of mediocrity.” – Brendon Burchard

Highly productive people are passionate about their personal development. These are people that are hungry to learn and grow as individuals. As a leader, these are the people that you are going to need to hire in your organisation; but does this describe you?

The quote from Brendon above reminds us that taking ownership of our growth is our responsibility and unless we are intentional about it, it won’t happen. This episode will give you a starting point.

Key Points

• Why you must be intentional with your personal development;
• The 5 Steps to creating your development plan;
• 3 areas to focus on as a leader;
• 5 daily habits to keep growing every day;

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In this episode, I start with 'Principles'- the first of the 6 P's, in The 6 P's of Highly Productive People.

Leaders need to know what they stand for and will also benefit if they have chosen a guiding set of Principles to help navigate through challenging times.

Key Points

1. The distinction between Values and Principles.

2. The two different types of Principles that you need to select from.

3. The examples of choosing your principles upfront.

4. The potential consequences of not having a set of guiding principles.

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In this episode I introduce a concept that I call The 6 P's of Highly Productive People.

As competition becomes more intense and the pace of change is moving at rapid speed, leaders need to select, develop or hire employees who have much potential for the future of their organisation. It is without a doubt that the companies and organisations that will stand the test of time will be those that hire and/or develop highly productive people. This episode looks at why this is important and how can you identify these people.

In this Podcast, I introduce you to the 6P’s that every knowledge worker needs to know, understand and constantly be developing as we continue on this rapid change. The first question to first answer thought is: do they describe you?

Key Points

• The Four Future Trends in Leadership Development
• The Role of the Knowledge worker
• The 6 P's of Highly Effective People

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David Mudrick has been a keen entrepreneur since his teenage years, but detoured to become a qualified Civil Engineer working for the Federal Government for many years. Finally following his passion, he started his own business which hit the 500 Inc list. 

In this episode, I interview David as he shares his entrepreneurial journey. He shares the challenges he faced to reach the success he was looking for, and the complexity that came with the success. 

As an Entrepreneur, you need to ask yourself: Are You Ready for the Journey?

Key Points:

• If your idea isn't working, be open to getting other people's perspective
• Because you are making sales, doesn't mean you are making money!
• There is more to life than business

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 In this episode I share 4 Core Leadership roles that an entrepreneur would need to master to take their company to the next level

Key Points

• The distinction between your strength roles and your leadership roles
• A dive into the 4 Core Leadership roles
• Questions you need to ask yourself

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