Freedom after the sharks

June 2, 2014

Micro Management – looking at the bigger picture

I had a very interesting discussion recently with one of my associates who works across the public sector. We were discussing micro management. As you can imagine, this became a very passionate discussion.

Why do managers not delegate to others
Is it even realistic to ask that question?

How can education transforms people to enable learning and growth so they will be able to embrace new challenges and develop leadership learnings?

Do successful entrepreneurs fear delegating?

Collecting responsibilities, multitasking, and wearing multiple hats can at times give a false sense of security and control to someone in a position of authority. But when 20% of their time is spent on one task, and 30% on another, and 10% on another…well, you’re not 100 percent focused on anything!

Strategic planning deserves your full attention. Delegating can help you use your time and staff more efficiently, ultimately reaching your strategic goals regardless of whatever roadblocks might lie ahead.

If you go to Wikipedia to look up the word micromanagement you will find the word “symptoms” in the table of contents. Symptoms are used with sickness and illness. Cancer and diarrhoea have symptoms. Like cancer, micro management can kill team spirit and enthusiasm.

The effects of micromanagement to your business

Micromanagement is a destructive way of leadership. It can destroy trust, morale, and you could damage your line of communication. You can get disengaged employees and then creativity will drop. Employees self-esteem will then drop as well and over time, their performance. All in all, you become a large contributor to a hostile and dysfunctional work environment.

What should you do instead of micromanage?

What drives employee engagement? Engaged employees produce amazing results, there is no doubt about it. Employee engagement is the main building block of a winning culture and all companies need a solid foundation and strategic plan to work from.

Keyword: Trust

Trust is a key component to drive employee engagement. Have faith in your employees and leave them room to perform. You will soon see an increase in productivity. Trust will also give you valuable feedback, as micromanagement leads to employees shutting down the lines of communication.

Keyword: Time

You spend a lot of time micromanaging, is it worth it? Could you be better at time management? Should you focus on growth strategies instead of being detail oriented?

Keyword: Communication

When you micromanage you are shutting down lines of communication. Your employees will stop talking to you in fear of becoming micro managed. Laying low will become a strategy in your office, resulting in no communication, no engagement, no growth, and you will not have enough information to do your own job effectively.

Implement Trust, Free Time and Communicate

Display trust, become a better communicator. Try to motivate performance and use positive feedback to accomplish your desired outcome. Be clear about what you want in results. Engage the employee in conversations. Listen, ask questions, and listen. Talk with the employee and display trust until you are sure that the message is understood.

You need to see that micromanagement can damage the work environment and that micromanagement is a result of unhealthy communication skills.

May 26, 2014

The New Digital Business Economy

International leaders face an era of unprecedented change. The recession and financial crisis that ended in 2009 caused a seismic shift that has reshaped the global business landscape. The world economy is now characterized by sluggish growth in the West, a shift in power to the East, and value-driven customers and rising risks everywhere. At the same time, the downturn has hastened the adoption of key technologies—mobility, cloud computing, business intelligence and social media—that are transforming businesses and sparking a new wave of wealth creation, particularly in the emerging world.

Economic growth and technology are inextricably linked. Current economic conditions are fostering investment in technology as emerging markets ramp up their demand for technology to fuel growth, and advanced markets seek new ways to cut costs and drive innovation. This becomes a virtuous circle as digital technologies drive consumer income and demand, education and training, and efficient use of capital and resources—leading to increased economic growth, particularly in emerging markets.

Executives must be aware of the new challenges facing their firms as market momentum accelerates. Rising middle classes in places like China and India offer extraordinary potential for companies that understand their needs. Emerging markets are also spawning rivals that are unencumbered by legacy systems and corporate bureaucracy—with their sights set on advanced economies.

Against this backdrop, there are potentially several significant shifts companies will need to address
over the next five years:

1. The global digital economy comes of age.
2. Industries undergo digital transformation.
3. The digital divide reverses.
4. The emerging-market customer takes center stage.
5. Business shifts into hyperdrive.
6. Firms reorganize to embrace the digital economy.
7. Restoring trust

Research has shown that an emphasis should be placed on reducing the level of organisational complexity and enhancing the ability to move quickly and effectively in following new opportunities or countering threats.

The sharing economy, collaborative economy and crowd business models are all variations on a theme. A clear strategy on how to engage with and profit from this trend is key.

The new mobile and social business models bring myriad challenges and contradictions, notes Wharton management professor Harbir Singh. “Most businesses today understand that they need to exist in an ‘ecosystem’ that includes other companies, some of their competitors. “ He advocates careful monitoring of what it being yielded, vs expenses put into, such models. He also advocates opening up of products/services to create a platform that others can contribute to.

Executives should have a forward-looking mobile strategy for emerging markets, where the phone is the primary means for internet access. At the same time, they must consider how to improve data analytics to anticipate rapid global market shifts. Remember that in a fast-moving world, the threat of security breaches increases; companies must build stronger safeguards into their operations.

Trust is also a huge subject in companies, there are two avenues of restoration that businesses need to consider, the first relating to employees’ trust and the second consumers’ trust. Business must show that it has a broader skill set and can execute on engagement and integrity-based attributes , which can involve a complete overhaul of the company culture, ethic, moral and humanity based issues in business.

Finally, while emerging markets are growing quickly, companies should remember to protect market share in their home countries—rivals in emerging markets will be looking to play in your backyard

What do you believe companies should change in 2014?

May 19, 2014

The Power of Communication

I had the most amazing fortune of being introduced to Maia Kincaid, PH.D whilst I was in Sedona, Arizona, on a recent trip.

Maia works as an animal and nature communicator and is the author of several books. Our venue was a superb organic restaurant on the West Side of Sedona called The Field. As I walked into the restaurant to meet Maia there was an excellent quote on the wall “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about” – Rumi.” This inspired me deeply. I was received by a smiling Maia and a delightful lunch menu.

Maia asked me about Freedom After The Sharks, my recently published book. Then the conversation turned to her work across animal and nature communication. She wanted to know if I ever wondered what my pet was thinking or what my pet would say if he could talk. Did I know that animals do speak as humans do?

Two years ago, I read a book called Animal Speak by Ted Andrews. Animal Speak teaches that our relationship with animals on this earth is not merely a physical one. It involves our mystical side too. The lessons learned will benefit the animals in our life by increasing our communication with and respect for them. In general, animals teach us valuable lessons. They offer guidance and support if our heart is open to shamanic teachings.

I explained to Maia that I have seen butterflies dancing around my head at 4500 ft of a hike, eagles circling my head at 7000 ft, and squawking red breasted Colorado hawks at 6000 ft. I had tarantula climbing on my foot during the daytime on a hike, watched mountain lions, elks, hummingbirds, ravens and many other species. These animals all carried a message at a certain time in my life and wanted to communicate with me. What if I could actually communicate with these animals and form a two-way communication and bond? Imagine the power of human nature, wisdom, and how this could change my life! I was amazed just with the possibilities.

From Maia’s website: “Talking with an animal directly is a powerful way to provide exactly what they desire, what they need, and what is in their highest good. And, besides that, animals have the most amazing and enlightening things to share with us about their way of viewing and living life, and they have great wisdom to share with us on living our own unique lives.

We communicate telepathically with all species of animals large and small including; wild animals, whales, dolphins, insects, plants and the Earth. It brings us great joy to inspire and guide others in awakening their own innate animal and nature listening abilities through our Telepathic Animal and Nature Communication Classes and a Certification Program in Telepathic Animal, Nature and Veterinary Communication. We work with veterinarians and other animal specialists training them in animal communication as a powerful tool to add to the already profound difference they make for people and their pets. And, we have the ongoing joy of training animal and Nature lovers and upcoming Telepathic Animal Communication Specialists in animal and Nature communication and coaching them on the development of their fulfilling lives and new careers.”

I was fascinated and had a revelation. I had met Maia who teaches humans to speak with animals. Humans often have difficulties communicating with each other in our business and personal lives. Why is this so?

Have you asked yourself why technology is so important? Just look around and you see why. Literally, at every instant of time, you are surrounded by technology. Whether you are working, resting or playing, you are always using technology. It is used everywhere and all the time.

Technology is about speed to reaction, performance, and 24/7 delivery. There are very few things that your smart phone will not allow you to complete: work, book a holiday, arrange a tennis match, entertainment. It is all possible. You can even find a new wife or husband online without speaking to them. It is all virtual but how is this effecting society? What are the long terms effects of virtual communication vs. an interactive discussion or meeting?

The internet, and especially social media, is having an impact on American couples as technology becomes more deeply integrated into people’s lives. A new study published by Pew Research Internet Project reveals that couples are feeling both the positive and negative effects of digital communication tools in their relationships.

The researchers found that 27% of American adults online who are in business, married, or in committed relationships report that the internet has had an impact on their relationships. A majority report that the impact has been positive. However, in some relationships, technology has been seen as a negative source of distraction. For example, 25% of cell phone users in serious relationships report that the phone distracts their spouse or partner when they are alone together.

Technology has changed the face of many relationships, affecting the way couples communicate, grow closer, plan, fight, and make up. The findings look at the role of technology in the lives of married or partnered adults, exploring both the positive and negative effects.

Maia has achieved an amazing revelation in her journey for communication with animals and nature. It certainly proves that simple communication whether verbalized or through telepathy is incredibly important to the relationship. It enhances our ability to build relationships and not deconstruct and build longevity and lasting relationships which is the traditional and social model that has survived.

I think that in the last 15 years, technological developments have given humans permission to evolve from purely direct communication to an advanced form of connection. We still need to meet face-to-face, speak on the telephone, and handwrite letters and cards primarily. But, now this interaction is enhanced and embellished by what we people define as connected technology.

Maia finished our discussion by saying that we all need smiles, feelings of fulfillment, feelings of empowerment, feelings of love, appreciation and gratitude. It inspires one’s unique creative expression and it enriches the human heart, mind and soul. These are things that unite humans. We need to be more thankful for the simple joy of being human.

May 12, 2014July 16, 2017

The thrill lies in the challenge

I was recently asked to go fishing with some friends in Sedona, Arizona, on Grasshopper Creek. Apart from many interesting challenges, this is a beautiful creek in the Red Rock and one on the most beautiful destinations in the world.
So why exactly do people fish? Ask most anglers why they enjoy spending time in the outdoors and you’re likely to hear the word “freedom.” Spending a day afield casting for trout on a cool mountain stream or bobber fishing for bluegills on a pond helps to release us from our highly stressful, everyday environment. Nothing brings on the sense of being alive and helps to rebuild our personal reserves like a day spent interacting with nature.
Fishing has a way of fulfilling an age-old need of pursuing and catching. The thrill lies in the challenge, such as stalking an elusive wild trout or matching the hatch. But there are many who will be quick to profess that it’s not the catching of fish that’s important, but the immeasurable life lessons that you will experience along the way.

“Fishing provides that connection with the living world. It gives you the opportunity of being totally immersed, turning back into yourself in a good way. A form of meditation, some form of communion with levels of yourself that are deeper than the ordinary self.“

– Ted Hughes

My partners were Rob, a successful budding entrepreneur in the Internet world, Shafeeq, a successful director of medicine in Neurology and Electrodiagnostic disorders, and Jon, a senior partner in law for investments and securities.

They were my company on a two-day fishing experience. We discussed many subjects including innovation and strategy of new inventions and creativity. In summary we came up with what strategies you should be consider from an embryonic blank page to insight, which were:

1. Creativity
2. Mindset
3. Engage
4. Customer connected
5. Observe insights
6. Ask the right questions
7. Always challenge
8. Create a think tank

Rob mentioned one really cool business that was launched in 2010: Pulse, an elegant news reader. The app has been downloaded by more than 20 million people and stands as one of the original fifty apps in Apple’s App Store Hall of Fame. Interestingly enough, the founders got many things right:

They started with a ‘driven’ mindset and were not content to merely comply with the standard requirements of their graduate program.
They minimized planning and maximised action, interacting with customers immediately.
They prototyped quickly and cheaply, fueling thousands of variations that ultimately resulted in their wildly popular final product.
They thrived in spite of time constraints, investment and spurred on by necessity to constantly develop creative ideas at an accelerated pace.

What companies do you follow or admire based on culture, values and performance and why?

May 5, 2014July 14, 2017

Meeting Adara Blake

I recently had the pleasure to be in Sedona, Arizona, contemplating my next book.
Sedona is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona.
Sedona’s main attraction is its array of ed sandstone formations. The formations seem to glow in brilliant orange and red when illuminated by the rising or setting sun.
The red rocks form a popular backdrop for many activities, ranging from spiritual pursuits to the hundreds of hiking and mountain biking trails.
Sedona is also the city in the US where I wrote Freedom After The Sharks.
I decided one evening to have dinner at my one of my favorite restaurants in uptown overlooking the red rock, when I had the fortuitous of meeting Adara Blake. Adara’s revolution as a musician was greatly influenced as she began to record & produce her own music. She started a small recording studio out of her home & began to produce & record other local musicians as well. Delving into the world of recording, really affected the way she thought about, wrote, created & heard music.

Adara began learning piano about six years ago. Becoming a pianist, opened up Adara’s scope as a songwriter & singer.

We began talking about the meaning of words, the depth of the message in music and compared notes as artist’s in writing from poetry, music, performing arts to writing books, the power of words as a message that reaches audiences with love, compassion and prospective, how words can affect people’s moods, their light and even some of their darker moments.

The popularity of music and books show us that this is a part of our culture, but researchers continue to find that music and reading can also be an part of our health.

Scientists at the University of Missouri have found that people can boost their mood simply by listening to upbeat music or reading a book. Although pursuing personal happiness may be thought of as a self-centered venture, research suggests that happiness relates to a higher chance of socially beneficial behavior, better physical health, higher income, and greater relationship satisfaction.

People can successfully focus more on enjoying their experience of the journey towards happiness and not get hung up on the destination.

Once I provided the synopsis of Freedom After The Sharks, Adara spoke greatly about the love and passion for one of her songs Free Fall, which she decided to perform, which I must say was an excellent solo piece that caused an ovation of applause.

FREE FALL

Have you ever wandered
Lost in the dark
Nothing to hold you
No glimpse of a spark
No one to save you
As you’re falling apart
No one to love you
When you forgot who you are

Let it all come tumbling down
Laid deep, so deep into the ground
Let go, let go of all you know

Be fearless in the free fall
Be fearless in the free fall

Have you ever wanted
A place for your heart
Where it’s held softly
Safe from the dark
Have you ever needed
A break from the knots
That tie up your joy
With the pain that you got
Let it all come tumbling down
Laid soft, so soft inside the sounds
Let go, let go of who you thought

Should catch you, catch you when you fall
Should catch you, catch you when you fall

Have you ever pleaded
With your soul to be strong
When you feel half naked
& everything’s wrong
When you’re left to remember
All that you’ve lost
& you can’t find shelter
From the storms in your heart

Let it all come tumbling down
So deep, so deep into the ground
Take hold, the hand that’s placed beneath

It’s there for you if you just breathe
It’s there for you if you just breathe

Let go of your control
The fear that you’re all alone
We are so simply intertwined
More that you can ever know
So slow your spinning down
Feel the drifting of the flow
It is there to catch you
If you let go of what you hold

Let go of all you hold
Let it all come tumbling down
Laid soft, so soft inside the sounds
Let go, surrender, to it all

Be fearless in the free fall
Be fearless in the free fall
Be fearless in the free fall

Adara loves to write, “no matter how I am feeling at a certain moment in time or time of day, I know my words are the truth that will never change even when my feelings do, so I will write, I will write when I want to, giving myself love, grace and balance and having gratitude for the devotion and abilities to; write, create and perform to others which is the greatest gift of all”

Adara’s new album New Crossing is available shortly, do visit her website!

April 28, 2014July 14, 2017

Book Review: Murray Eldridge’s “Leading High Performance”

A good friend and fellow Non-Executive Director Murray Eldridge, has just launched his new book Leading High Performance.

Over the Easter break, Murray asked me to read and critique his book. Not only was I honoured with such a request, I decide that this week’s blog post should present Murray and a synopsis of his new book.

Murray rowed for Great Britain at Junior World Championship level. He won at Henley and other national competitions. Completing a career at sea as a captain at twenty-nine he embarked on a thirty year business career. He ran companies in China, Singapore, and the UK in oil & gas, and telecoms. He was also active in the water sectors where he remains a shareholder in a desalination company.

Murray runs a consultancy company, carries out board evaluations under the Governance Code, and delivers leadership and strategy workshops for the Institute of Directors. He is a Chartered Director, Chartered Manager, Fellow of the Institute of Management, and an MBA.

Murray’s book provides an excellent and candid summary of the winning principles that rip apart the methods used in many such books, as well as arguments from evidence-based management.
The book focuses not only on leaders, but on the people who work in complex and highly competitive environments. Those environments need people not only to be the best they can be individually, but to cooperate closely over time to secure long-term winning performances.

In sports, coaches are intimately involved in developing athletes, squads, and teams and bring an impressive array of technology and wide-ranging expertise to bear on all aspects of high performance development. There is much that businesses, especially leaders, can learn from coaches and sports.

Leading High Performance takes those elements of sports coaching that are relevant to businesses and shows how the principles of coaching, sports science, training, and even psychology offer tremendous opportunities for achieving high performance in all organisations. It looks at ways in which high performance is achieved in sport and describes, using examples, how this approach develops individuals while encouraging them towards high performance. It then analyses the most relevant ideas and techniques, converting them into easily applicable business models and tools.

The book then goes on to describe how not only leaders, but people in general rely on their connections with other people for business sustainability, that other people can change our very physiology and our emotions, and how people, especially in groups, can inevitably “catch” feelings from one another. This is especially true of the leadership simply because everyone watches the boss. Even when the boss isn’t visible, his or her attitude affects the mood of his direct subordinates, and a domino effect will eventually ripple through the company’s emotional climate. In this way, the author demonstrates the reason a successful leader must be credible at all times.

The last part of the book describes exactly what is required of the high performance leader to effect results, demonstrating through a bespoke methodology, the performance triangle, how leaders can select followers and develop these people in ways that will offer the highest possible chance of achieving high performance in the organization.

In summary; great performance is as much about the belief system and culture in the organization. These beliefs are found in the vision, ethos and values, leadership, the strategy and plans, in people, and importantly that people are trusted to make things happen.

Murray continues to state that if these core attributes are applied to the business then high-performance leaders must have an overwhelming desire to lead – and that the desire to lead must be for the right reasons. It is only through having this overwhelming desire that they will have the energy, enthusiasm, stamina and drive to undertake the unremitting pressure and sustained hard work required to turn an average organisation into a high performing one.

Books that made an impact

Great leaders learn every day in business that storytelling is key to their role. Reading great books is one of the best ways to learn for some. A company that inspires leaders and business owners to meet results using the power of stories, personal branding, and thought leadership is a necessity in today’s business world.

I have been fortunate enough to read some excellent books over the last 25 years – books that have inspired me to change the way I see the world, my career, business, and the opportunities in front of me. Below is a list of those books that changed my life:

1. Mark H. McCormack – ‘What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School’

Mark McCormack, dubbed ‘the most powerful man in sports’, founded IMG (International Management Group) on a handshake. It was the first and is the most successful sports management company in the world, becoming a multi-million dollar, worldwide corporation whose activities in the business and marketing spheres are so diverse as to defy classification.

In this book, Mark McCormack reveals the secret of his success to key business issues like analysing yourself and others, sales, negotiation, time management, decision-making and communication. What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School fills the gaps between a business school education and the street knowledge that comes from the day-to-day experience of running a business and managing people. It shares the business skills, techniques, and wisdom gleaned from twenty-five years of experience.

2. J.W. Marriott, JR., Kathy Ann Brown and Jim Collins – ‘The Spirit To Serve’

Since taking over the business from his father in 1964, J.W. Marriott has moved from triumph to triumph, building an international chain that includes more than 1,000 hotels making Marriott one of the most recognized names in the hospitality industry. In this book, Marriott explains for the first time the unique management philosophy that brought him this enormous success. Written in an informal first-person narrative that is both engaging and easy to read, The Spirit to Serve distills his years of hard-earned wisdom and experience into a practical blueprint that anyone wishing to emulate his achievements can follow. It includes tips on how to motivate employees, nurture in-house talent, cultivate customer loyalty, as well as invaluable advice on handling growing pains, understanding the big picture, and knowing when to take risks. Packed with many real-life examples that illustrate his principles, The Spirit to Serve is vital reading for all CEOs, middle managers, and department supervisors.

3. Phil McGraw “Self Matters”

The well-known “life strategist” and TV personality Dr. Phil begins this upbeat self-help book by recalling one of the most unpleasant phone calls he ever had to make. In 1989, ten years into a flourishing career, McGraw called his father to say that, despite the outward trappings of success, he was miserable. His new plan was to move away and start a new career and a new life. According to McGraw, many people are now in a similar situation. They are trapped in unsatisfying lives or jobs that they loathe.

Too many people, says McGraw, are “so busy being busy, that they have let the colors fade from their lives. They’re worried about superficial matters rather than what’s important: “I’ll bet 90-plus percent of them spent months, or even years, planning their wedding and almost no time planning their marriage!”

To change their lives, McGraw’s readers must first complete two questionnaires that he designed to assess their “authentic self” and their “congruence” (how someone’s current life compares with a vision of an ideal life). With the scores from these tests, readers can then embark upon a specific plan for changing their lives and for determining which external and internal forces they will, or won’t, allow to control their futures.

Readers familiar with McGraw’s aggressive TV personality may be surprised by this book’s thoughtful and serious tone. McGraw’s notion of making change is not a simple one. It requires readers to look at every aspect of their daily lives and it’s likely that some readers may not be able to make all the changes he advocates. However, his book offers a thorough, realistic resource for those who are committed to turning their lives around to get what they really want and need.

4. Tom Peters – The Circle of Innovation

Business guru Tom Peters has been recognized for his originality and perception since co-authoring one of the most influential management books of all time: 1982’s ‘In Search of Excellence‘. Now, in his seventh work, ‘The Circle of Innovation: You Can’t Shrink Your Way to Greatness’, he presents a provocative new vision for prospering in the “permanent state of flux” that is ruling today’s business world. By juxtaposing short text passages and bold graphic images, Peters simply but passionately offers his prescription (perpetual innovation) in a nontraditional way intended to foster individual interpretation.

5. Paul R. Lawrence & Nitin Nohria – Driven

Harvard Business School professors Lawrence and Nohria present a socio-biological theory of motivation, claiming that humans have four basic drives

to acquire,
to bond,
to learn, and
to defend

What makes their theory novel is the way they apply it to the workplace. The authors use historical case studies to show that successful organizations are those that give their employees opportunities to fulfill these drives, while those that fulfill only the drive to acquire are ultimately less stable. Examples of both types of organizations are provided.

The authors are well versed in sociobiology and their four-drive theory makes intuitive sense. There are, however, a number of competing drive theories, from Freud’s sexual drive and death urge to Steven Reiss’s 16-drive theory. The authors acknowledge that the numbers and exact nature of our drives need further exploration and offer suggestions for research projects that would verify their hypotheses.

6. John Simpson – A Mad World My Masters

Some people just aren’t cut out for the suburbs. As one of the BBC’s top foreign correspondents, John Simpson has been at the epicentre of many of the world’s flashpoints for more than 30 years. Afghanistan, Belgrade, Hong Kong, Baghdad; you name it, he’s been there. And what’s more, he hasn’t just met the great and the good, such as Clinton and Blair, he’s met the top bogey men, too. He’s had Osama Bin Laden pleading with some Afghani guerrillas to kill him and his crew, he’s interviewed Emperor Bokassa, Colonel Gadhafi and Arkan and had close up dealings with Saddam Hussein. And it goes without saying he was one of the first people in the entire world to see in the new millennium on the specially named Millennium Island, which the Kiribati government claimed just squeezed inside the international date line.

What books can you recommend to me?

April 15, 2014

How I experienced the Shen Yun performance

I was lucky to attend a performance of the Shen Yun Performing Arts Troupe in Birmingham.

Shen Yun was established in 2006 as a company with about 30 dancers, as well as an orchestra, soloists, artistic directors and production staff. Since its inaugural season, the company has expanded to include three equally large companies with dozens of dancers, soloists, and orchestras.

Shen Yun promotes itself as “a presentation of traditional Chinese culture as it once was: a study in grace, wisdom, and virtues distilled from five millennia of Chinese civilization.”

I was interviewed after the show, you can see that here. The news anchor and the short narrative are in Chinese but my interview is in English. In your browser an option should pop up to translate the page.

Here is a YouTube clip to show you a Shen Yun performance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaHfe_-s3ok

Enjoy!

April 9, 2014

Guest blog post for Alium Partners

The Financial District in London, UK. Photograph by Geoff Searle.

My first guest blog post has been published with Alium Partners. It was an amazing writing experience and I cannot thank them enough for hosting me.

Alium Partners has provided senior executives into a variety of organisations across the UK and around the world, for over 10 years.

Working across both the private sector and public sector, the team at Alium Partners consist of a variety of sector and functional led professionals who work collaboratively to identify the right recruitment solutions for their clients from a talent pool of over 10,000 skilled professionals.

As always, if you have any questions, please contact me. I will gladly help.

Have a successful week!

April 7, 2014

Heads-up for my guest blog post

I have very exciting news to report!

Remember that on March 10th I sat down with Alice for a Q&A session? We discussed business plans, start-ups, how to support business continuity, and more.

This Q&A was of value to many people. As a result, I got requests to expand a little on some of the issues.

One of those requests came from Alium Partners. They asked me to write a guest blog post for their blog. That guest blog post will be about the current demand for business growth and how interim directors can play a part in the economic recovery.

I will name three challenges for today’s leaders, which skills you need to master, and how to upgrade your talents. You do not want to miss this.

My guest blog post will go live on 9th April. I will post the link here as soon as it is up!

Have a successful week, everyone!