26 November 2023 Newsletter
“Be a doer not a talker. You have these people who want to dabble in a wide range of different projects, but are never all in on one. I think that’s bad, because history belongs to the doers.” Sam Altman, Open AI CEO
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a productive week with three workshop days, many meetings and a lot happening – love it!
Of course, whilst I’ve had a lot happening, I’ve had nowhere near as much happening as the team at Read More...
26 November 2023 Newsletter
“Be a doer not a talker. You have these people who want to dabble in a wide range of different projects, but are never all in on one. I think that’s bad, because history belongs to the doers.” Sam Altman, Open AI CEO
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a productive week with three workshop days, many meetings and a lot happening – love it!
Of course, whilst I’ve had a lot happening, I’ve had nowhere near as much happening as the team at Read More...
5 November 2023 Newsletter
“No, that is the great fallacy: the wisdom of old men. They do not grow wise. They grow careful.” — Ernest Hemingway
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a full week with a pair of 2-day offsite meetings and a few other meetings. It’s now November, and around six weeks until the end of the work year here and the traditional break at Christmas.
I encourage you to make the most of the next six weeks!
The Case For A Slowing Economy
(and how to Read More...
5 November 2023 Newsletter
“No, that is the great fallacy: the wisdom of old men. They do not grow wise. They grow careful.” — Ernest Hemingway
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a full week with a pair of 2-day offsite meetings and a few other meetings. It’s now November, and around six weeks until the end of the work year here and the traditional break at Christmas.
I encourage you to make the most of the next six weeks!
The Case For A Slowing Economy
(and how to Read More...
29 October 2023 Newsletter
“Expanding your freedom is the ultimate purpose of the entrepreneurs journey. And there is no end to how much freedom you can have or create.” Dan Sullivan
Hope you’re Thriving!
I’ve enjoyed a week of learning and meetings. I hope yours has been fruitful!
Hiring A CEO
Perhaps it’s the pandemic, perhaps my age or something else, but I’ve noticed recently that more of our clients are hiring CEOs (or COO / General Managers) to Read More...
29 October 2023 Newsletter
“Expanding your freedom is the ultimate purpose of the entrepreneurs journey. And there is no end to how much freedom you can have or create.” Dan Sullivan
Hope you’re Thriving!
I’ve enjoyed a week of learning and meetings. I hope yours has been fruitful!
Hiring A CEO
Perhaps it’s the pandemic, perhaps my age or something else, but I’ve noticed recently that more of our clients are hiring CEOs (or COO / General Managers) to Read More...
17 September 2023 Newsletter
“I never lose. I either win or I learn.” – Nelson Mandela
Hope you’re Thriving!
I’ve enjoyed a productive week with meetings and preparations for my new book Onboarded for Managers which is set for release on October 1st.
More about that in a moment, but first, I heard a fascinating statistic this week about people’s ability to keep commitments.
“In a study of 2,500 people who were asked to keep one promise for 21 days, only 58 Read More...
17 September 2023 Newsletter
“I never lose. I either win or I learn.” – Nelson Mandela
Hope you’re Thriving!
I’ve enjoyed a productive week with meetings and preparations for my new book Onboarded for Managers which is set for release on October 1st.
More about that in a moment, but first, I heard a fascinating statistic this week about people’s ability to keep commitments.
“In a study of 2,500 people who were asked to keep one promise for 21 days, only 58 Read More...
27 August 2023 Newsletter
Motivation pushes you for days. Intention pushes you for years.
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a good week with two quarterly planning workshops, a speaking event, and a few meetings. We also sent my next book, ‘Onboarded for Managers,’ to the printers and have set a release date for 1 October 2023.
Also, this week, I calculated the number of business plans I’ve built.
712.
That’s how many one-page plans I’ve built with Read More...
27 August 2023 Newsletter
Motivation pushes you for days. Intention pushes you for years.
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a good week with two quarterly planning workshops, a speaking event, and a few meetings. We also sent my next book, ‘Onboarded for Managers,’ to the printers and have set a release date for 1 October 2023.
Also, this week, I calculated the number of business plans I’ve built.
712.
That’s how many one-page plans I’ve built with Read More...
20 August 2023 Newsletter
“Winning has a Price. Leadership has a Price. Are you willing to pay that Price?” – Michael Jordan
Hope you’re Thriving!
I’ve enjoyed a great week as we’ve held our own team annual retreat.
Yes, we eat our own dog food!
Our team went a few hours from town and worked through strategy, priorities and different team exercises.
It’s exciting to see how far we’ve come since I started writing this newsletter eight years ago, and looking forward to Read More...
20 August 2023 Newsletter
“Winning has a Price. Leadership has a Price. Are you willing to pay that Price?” – Michael Jordan
Hope you’re Thriving!
I’ve enjoyed a great week as we’ve held our own team annual retreat.
Yes, we eat our own dog food!
Our team went a few hours from town and worked through strategy, priorities and different team exercises.
It’s exciting to see how far we’ve come since I started writing this newsletter eight years ago, and looking forward to Read More...
9 July 2023 Newsletter
“The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom”
James Clear – Atomic habits
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a productive week working on the new Onboarded for Managers book and being a guest on a podcast. In Australia, we also entered a new financial year; I hope yours is highly profitable!
Let’s begin.
Meta Swings Again
A couple of days ago, Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, released a new social networking app called Read More...
9 July 2023 Newsletter
“The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom”
James Clear – Atomic habits
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a productive week working on the new Onboarded for Managers book and being a guest on a podcast. In Australia, we also entered a new financial year; I hope yours is highly profitable!
Let’s begin.
Meta Swings Again
A couple of days ago, Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, released a new social networking app called Read More...
25 June 2023 Newsletter
“My drive in life comes from a fear of being mediocre…because even though I have become somebody, I still have to prove that I am somebody. My struggle has never ended and I guess it never will.” – Madonna
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a productive week with some deep dives with teams on Profit per X, and how that changed the structure of an org chart for one team. We also delved into three different ways to connect strategy with execution Read More...
25 June 2023 Newsletter
“My drive in life comes from a fear of being mediocre…because even though I have become somebody, I still have to prove that I am somebody. My struggle has never ended and I guess it never will.” – Madonna
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a productive week with some deep dives with teams on Profit per X, and how that changed the structure of an org chart for one team. We also delved into three different ways to connect strategy with execution Read More...
Effective execution of strategic objectives is a common challenge faced by many leaders I work with.
A McKinsey global survey indicated that 60% of respondents thought they were not effective at translating strategic priorities into action, highlighting issues with unclear accountability among other reasons.
Having facilitated several quarterly strategic workshops with leadership teams, most leaders seem to have a 1-year (and some of them even have a 3-year) Revenue target. However, there is Read More...
Effective execution of strategic objectives is a common challenge faced by many leaders I work with.
A McKinsey global survey indicated that 60% of respondents thought they were not effective at translating strategic priorities into action, highlighting issues with unclear accountability among other reasons.
Having facilitated several quarterly strategic workshops with leadership teams, most leaders seem to have a 1-year (and some of them even have a 3-year) Revenue target. However, there is Read More...
11 June 2023 Newsletter
Don’t aspire to build a $10m company. Aspire to create the systems that will build a $10m company.
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a really good week. It started with a father & son long weekend, spending time with my 12-year-old – an occasion I would encourage everyone to try.
Also, our team held a fantastic private event learning about cash for all our clients.
Then finally, I had a great quarterly workshop with a team in Sydney.
Don’t Worry About Read More...
11 June 2023 Newsletter
Don’t aspire to build a $10m company. Aspire to create the systems that will build a $10m company.
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a really good week. It started with a father & son long weekend, spending time with my 12-year-old – an occasion I would encourage everyone to try.
Also, our team held a fantastic private event learning about cash for all our clients.
Then finally, I had a great quarterly workshop with a team in Sydney.
Don’t Worry About Read More...
Determine Your Economic Engine With 2 Metrics
In our work with leadership teams, we use proven frameworks to consistently build, validate and evolve strategic plans. The Hedgehog concept from Jim Collins is one of them, helping our clients explore their strategic core, acting as a guardrail as they climb their growth mountain towards the summit, or as Jim Collins calls it, the BHAG.
In his book “Good to Great”, Jim Collins explains the Hedgehog as a concept to focus an organisation’s Read More...
Determine Your Economic Engine With 2 Metrics
In our work with leadership teams, we use proven frameworks to consistently build, validate and evolve strategic plans. The Hedgehog concept from Jim Collins is one of them, helping our clients explore their strategic core, acting as a guardrail as they climb their growth mountain towards the summit, or as Jim Collins calls it, the BHAG.
In his book “Good to Great”, Jim Collins explains the Hedgehog as a concept to focus an organisation’s Read More...
7 May 2023 Newsletter
“You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.”
James Clear
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a productive week, with several podcast recordings, strategy workshops and a King’s coronation.
In this week’s podcast, we discuss taking a new perspective on a mature set of tools. We’re reviewing how to rate your firm on Jim Collin’s 7 Good to Great principles.
These principles are:
Level 5 Executive Read More...
7 May 2023 Newsletter
“You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.”
James Clear
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a productive week, with several podcast recordings, strategy workshops and a King’s coronation.
In this week’s podcast, we discuss taking a new perspective on a mature set of tools. We’re reviewing how to rate your firm on Jim Collin’s 7 Good to Great principles.
These principles are:
Level 5 Executive Read More...
30 April 2023 Newsletter
“Someone once told me the definition of Hell: The last day you have on earth, the person you became will meet the person you could have become.”
– Anonymous
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a productive week, with several meetings and a two-day strategy workshop. My car was in the repair shop, so I rented a Tesla, which was much better to drive than I anticipated.
Let’s get it started!
Jeff Bezos’ Regret Minimisation Framework
This week I came across an Read More...
30 April 2023 Newsletter
“Someone once told me the definition of Hell: The last day you have on earth, the person you became will meet the person you could have become.”
– Anonymous
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a productive week, with several meetings and a two-day strategy workshop. My car was in the repair shop, so I rented a Tesla, which was much better to drive than I anticipated.
Let’s get it started!
Jeff Bezos’ Regret Minimisation Framework
This week I came across an Read More...
23 April 2023 Newsletter
“Your margin is my opportunity” – Jeff Bezos
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a productive week with some interesting meetings and a solar eclipse.
In other news, I was delighted to finish the first draft of my new book, Onboarded for Managers. I’ll keep you up to date as we get closer to publication, but here’s a photo, alongside other photo’s when I reached the same milestone with my other books Made to Thrive and Onboarded.
Uber Read More...
23 April 2023 Newsletter
“Your margin is my opportunity” – Jeff Bezos
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a productive week with some interesting meetings and a solar eclipse.
In other news, I was delighted to finish the first draft of my new book, Onboarded for Managers. I’ll keep you up to date as we get closer to publication, but here’s a photo, alongside other photo’s when I reached the same milestone with my other books Made to Thrive and Onboarded.
Uber Read More...
12 March 2023 Newsletter
“The novice sees the answers. The professional sees the complexity. The master sees the simplicity.” Shane Parish
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a good week with lots of interesting meetings and a trip to Sydney for a 2-day strategic planning workshop.
After many years running strategic workshops with leadership teams, I’ve learned that the disciplined habit of the meeting rhythm creates the most significant results.
As Albert Einstein said, Read More...
12 March 2023 Newsletter
“The novice sees the answers. The professional sees the complexity. The master sees the simplicity.” Shane Parish
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a good week with lots of interesting meetings and a trip to Sydney for a 2-day strategic planning workshop.
After many years running strategic workshops with leadership teams, I’ve learned that the disciplined habit of the meeting rhythm creates the most significant results.
As Albert Einstein said, Read More...
Using Job-To-Be-Done framework for innovation
As a business owner or leader, you’re constantly looking for ways to improve your products and services to better meet your customers’ needs.
But how do you know exactly what your customers need?
How do you go beyond surface-level wants to uncover the deeper motivations driving their behaviour?
That’s where the concept of “Job to be Done” (JTBD) comes in.
Job to be done is a term coined by Harvard Business School Read More...
Using Job-To-Be-Done framework for innovation
As a business owner or leader, you’re constantly looking for ways to improve your products and services to better meet your customers’ needs.
But how do you know exactly what your customers need?
How do you go beyond surface-level wants to uncover the deeper motivations driving their behaviour?
That’s where the concept of “Job to be Done” (JTBD) comes in.
Job to be done is a term coined by Harvard Business School Read More...
5 March 2023 Newsletter
“The distance between dreams and reality is called discipline.”
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a fun and productive week, with lots of meetings, working on Healthy Wealthy and Wise with some leaders, and enjoying a few days on Rottnest – our favourite island.
Is lack of stress impacting your performance?
Perhaps you read that and thought, “I need less stress, not more!”.
Understandable, but this is a follow on from my ‘rant’ last week Read More...
5 March 2023 Newsletter
“The distance between dreams and reality is called discipline.”
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a fun and productive week, with lots of meetings, working on Healthy Wealthy and Wise with some leaders, and enjoying a few days on Rottnest – our favourite island.
Is lack of stress impacting your performance?
Perhaps you read that and thought, “I need less stress, not more!”.
Understandable, but this is a follow on from my ‘rant’ last week Read More...
26 February 2023 Newsletter
“The only real test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life.” Naval Ravikant
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a productive week with a trip to Sydney, two online masterclasses, a training day and a handful of meetings.
On several occasions, I noticed that some companies are desperately trying to find staff, and recruiters are pumping up salaries because they have been given the mandate “just get someone!”.
In one case, a “B/C” Read More...
26 February 2023 Newsletter
“The only real test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life.” Naval Ravikant
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a productive week with a trip to Sydney, two online masterclasses, a training day and a handful of meetings.
On several occasions, I noticed that some companies are desperately trying to find staff, and recruiters are pumping up salaries because they have been given the mandate “just get someone!”.
In one case, a “B/C” Read More...
12 February 2023 Newsletter
A company hiring a new CFO, asks only one question of each candidate:
“What’s 2+2=?” Everyone except the person they hired answered 4.
The guy they hired replied: “What number did you have in mind?”
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a great week with a lot happening. It’s fantastic to be back in the rhythm.
This past week I’ve been with two teams who took years to fully act on their core customer, focusing on delivering what Read More...
12 February 2023 Newsletter
A company hiring a new CFO, asks only one question of each candidate:
“What’s 2+2=?” Everyone except the person they hired answered 4.
The guy they hired replied: “What number did you have in mind?”
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a great week with a lot happening. It’s fantastic to be back in the rhythm.
This past week I’ve been with two teams who took years to fully act on their core customer, focusing on delivering what Read More...
5 February 2023 Newsletter
“The best plan is only good intentions unless it degenerates into work” Peter Drucker
Hope you’re Thriving!
Aaaand we’re back!
It’s been a fantastic summer; for the past several weeks, we’ve been on a “non-ratings period”, as my friend Tristan puts it.
This means I’ve been taking a break over the past weeks while sending you weekly newsletters containing the best from the past year. But that’s over now. Back to our regularly Read More...
5 February 2023 Newsletter
“The best plan is only good intentions unless it degenerates into work” Peter Drucker
Hope you’re Thriving!
Aaaand we’re back!
It’s been a fantastic summer; for the past several weeks, we’ve been on a “non-ratings period”, as my friend Tristan puts it.
This means I’ve been taking a break over the past weeks while sending you weekly newsletters containing the best from the past year. But that’s over now. Back to our regularly Read More...
15 January 2023 Newsletter
“If you build your business on customer needs, not technology, you have good chance of success because customer needs do not change.” Hermann Simon
Hope you’re Thriving!
I hope your New Year is off to a good start.
Over the holiday season, I’ve collected some of my favourite articles and podcasts from the year to share with you. Kind of like a best-of from 2022.
Couple this with my recommended reading list and hopefully, there is something of Read More...
15 January 2023 Newsletter
“If you build your business on customer needs, not technology, you have good chance of success because customer needs do not change.” Hermann Simon
Hope you’re Thriving!
I hope your New Year is off to a good start.
Over the holiday season, I’ve collected some of my favourite articles and podcasts from the year to share with you. Kind of like a best-of from 2022.
Couple this with my recommended reading list and hopefully, there is something of Read More...
18 December 2022 Newsletter
“The key to a leader’s impact is sincerity. Before he can inspire with emotion he must be swayed by it himself. Before he can move their tears his own must flow. To convince them he must himself first believe.” Winston Churchill
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a busy week with several planning workshops and meetings to start closing out the year. And what a year it’s been!
The two significant events for me were expanding the team Evolution Partners and Read More...
18 December 2022 Newsletter
“The key to a leader’s impact is sincerity. Before he can inspire with emotion he must be swayed by it himself. Before he can move their tears his own must flow. To convince them he must himself first believe.” Winston Churchill
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a busy week with several planning workshops and meetings to start closing out the year. And what a year it’s been!
The two significant events for me were expanding the team Evolution Partners and Read More...
11 December 2022 Newsletter
In the short term, you are as good as your intensity. In the long term, you are only as good as your consistency.” Shane Parrish
Hope you’re Thriving!
Some weeks I sit down to write this newsletter, and there hasn’t been a lot happening. On other weeks I can’t squeeze it all in. This is one of those weeks.
So let’s do this.
Take The 10%
I saw someone talking this week about accepting the negative in people.
We can like perhaps 90% about a person, but Read More...
11 December 2022 Newsletter
In the short term, you are as good as your intensity. In the long term, you are only as good as your consistency.” Shane Parrish
Hope you’re Thriving!
Some weeks I sit down to write this newsletter, and there hasn’t been a lot happening. On other weeks I can’t squeeze it all in. This is one of those weeks.
So let’s do this.
Take The 10%
I saw someone talking this week about accepting the negative in people.
We can like perhaps 90% about a person, but Read More...
27 November 2022 Newsletter
“You’re either in the time and effort economy or you’re in the results economy” Dan Sullivan
Hope you’re Thriving!
I was talking on a podcast this week about the new book Onboarded, and the host asked me, “What is the one thing you wish you knew when you were 20 years old?”.
I thought for a few moments and replied, “The importance of consistency and how that leads to the power of compounding.”
That’s what is really at the heart of most Read More...
27 November 2022 Newsletter
“You’re either in the time and effort economy or you’re in the results economy” Dan Sullivan
Hope you’re Thriving!
I was talking on a podcast this week about the new book Onboarded, and the host asked me, “What is the one thing you wish you knew when you were 20 years old?”.
I thought for a few moments and replied, “The importance of consistency and how that leads to the power of compounding.”
That’s what is really at the heart of most Read More...
20 November 2022 Newsletter
“The job of the leader is to grow more leaders.” – Robin Sharma
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a fun week, which concluded with a 2-day annual planning session with a group of companies.
I just love that quote above, which states, “The job of a leader is to grow more leaders”. It speaks to the leader as a coach concept, and why the genius with 1,000 helpers is failing as a leader. In ten words, it says to leaders, look at the Read More...
20 November 2022 Newsletter
“The job of the leader is to grow more leaders.” – Robin Sharma
Hope you’re Thriving!
It’s been a fun week, which concluded with a 2-day annual planning session with a group of companies.
I just love that quote above, which states, “The job of a leader is to grow more leaders”. It speaks to the leader as a coach concept, and why the genius with 1,000 helpers is failing as a leader. In ten words, it says to leaders, look at the Read More...
“Until you work as hard as those you admire, don’t explain away their success as luck.” – James Clear, Atomic Habits
Is it wrong to start by swearing and complaining? Probably. I try to avoid that here. But this week, I’ve had the dreaded ‘C’ for the second time in six weeks – meaning in the past seven weeks, I’ve spent two weeks in isolation. I’m feeling OK and haven’t really been sick, so I’m grateful for that, but you know, ‘iso’.
All of the work Read More...
“Until you work as hard as those you admire, don’t explain away their success as luck.” – James Clear, Atomic Habits
Is it wrong to start by swearing and complaining? Probably. I try to avoid that here. But this week, I’ve had the dreaded ‘C’ for the second time in six weeks – meaning in the past seven weeks, I’ve spent two weeks in isolation. I’m feeling OK and haven’t really been sick, so I’m grateful for that, but you know, ‘iso’.
All of the work Read More...
