Latest high growth blog article

Competitive markets mean that it’s not just the quality of your product that matters.  A great experience can create loyal customers, while negative experiences can ruin your brand’s reputation both on and offline.  These ideas can help you to create an unforgettable experience for your customers and begin to them into advocates of your products … Read More »

With the rapid evolvement of technology and communication tools the opportunity exists to raise communication levels to a totally new level. Unfortunately the reality for many businesses however is that communication remains largely ineffective. Although there are many reasons for this, often it is a fundamental lack of discipline that is the key contributor. It … Read More »

When we think of high growth leadership one of the first questions that I am often asked is, “how do I get the best result out of team?” However, all great leadership should start with, “how do I get the best result out of myself?” Self-leadership is the practice of purposefully influencing your thinking, feeling … Read More »

In any business climate, it is imperative that businesses are leveraging their resources to achieve peak performance. Here are 8 simple but effective steps to help leaders move towards this desirable state: Develop a concise Vision Statement. A well written vision will assist you to enrol & inspire your people as well as provide a … Read More »

When it comes to job satisfaction, financial rewards may be lower on the list than most people think. Being happy with your job seems to depend more on the intangibles: feeling part of a team and being valued and appreciated consistently outrank money when employees are polled about job satisfaction. Here are some tips and … Read More »

Almost everyone I meet would like to be, act or feel more confident. How about you? What areas of your life would immediately improve if you became more assertive, more confident, CERTAIN. The Power of Certainty is an expectation that something or someone is going to win or achieve something positive. We recognise and often … Read More »

The Wall Street Journal ran an article recently on high growth leadership…how they often underestimate the problems they end up facing.  “Even the most realistic leaders underestimates the difficulties in building a business,” the article said. So true.  And a good thing.  Were it not for our inability (or not knowing what we don’t know) … Read More »

Brad Feld, the famous venture capitalist and co-founder of the TechStar movement has recently written a book entitled Startup Life: Surviving and Thriving in a Relationship with an Entrepreneur. Below he summarises 10 tips from the book on how to maintain that work/life balance and keep relationships with your partner thriving: 1. Never Schedule High … Read More »

High growth leaders know that their teams want to be led by whoever has the most energy. Sometimes that energy manifests itself in fiery speeches, Hitler being a good example. Winston Churchill was famous for only needing 5-6 hours of sleep per day, and working his staff late into the night. In Russia, Putin likes … Read More »

Business strategy did not really become a formal focus until 1960.  It really grew as  a discipline from the 1970s – in large part due to increased economic turbulence and a need to improve and change. Improvements in strategic thinking contributed significantly to business success.   However,  there have also been a large number of … Read More »

Over the last week I have met numerous companies who have some great customer strategie, but are struggling to implement them. Here are five common obstacles these companies are encountering during implementation: 1. Is anybody listening?  Unfortunately, many companies simply don’t have a good system set up to gather insights from their customers or employees. … Read More »

As you pursue your high growth ambitions, there are times when undoubtably you will feel stressed. If you are starting to feel that way then follow these simple stress busting ideas: Body- rhythm basics. Do what’s best for you by following your body rhythms. For example, if you are a morning person, don’t waste your … Read More »

To achieve your company’s potential you need to get ‘the right people on the bus in the right seats’. Great business books such as Good to Great by Jim Collins state you must get the tight team in place before focusing on what you do. Yet so often businesses forget this and fail to manage … Read More »

Increasingly companies use outside specialists to do their work. This is partly driven by the ever-lower costs of communication and better online collaboration tools. Almost anything can be outsourced to specialists and reconnected. Certainly companies have for decades outsourced low-value work such as payroll processing and call centres, yet today more critical activities are being … Read More »

Creating a great strategy is an area that ultimately will lead to business success or failure. The recent spate of business failures on the high street was driven by poor business strategies in response to changing consumer behaviour. Business strategy creation and implementation takes place on a daily basis within all organisations. Leaders need to … Read More »

HR experts speak about and evangelise about ‘engagement’. What does this mean? Of course engagement is all about the 4E’s: getting people excited, empathetic, ecstatic and energetic about the company and what it does. There’s nothing wrong with that, but how is that achieved? Some HR professionals think it is enough to post the words engagement on every wall, … Read More »

A member of your team is not performing? What do you do? Get rid of them? Blame yourself for not hiring them properly in the first place? Well, the traditional large organisation solution to the capability problem is to train them. Nothing wrong with that except there are some faulty assumptions built into this solution. … Read More »

As I work with high growth companies to develop their leading edge strategies one question I always ask is: If I ran a competing firm, how would I beat you? Which weakness would I attack? What would distinguish this new firm and seize business from your current one? Then do this: Eliminate that weakness. It … Read More »

It is strange how New Year’s has taken on a special significance for most of us, as if a calendar or certain date has more meaning or somehow is better suited for some things than any other date. Over the last few weeks it seems most people I have come across have spent time reflecting … Read More »

As you reflect on 2012 and set goals for 2013, remember the tale of the contented fisherman….. The rich industrialist from the North was horrified to find a Southern fisherman laying lazily beside his boat, smoking a pipe. “Why aren’t you out fishing?’ said the industrialist. ‘Because I have caught enough fish for the day’ … Read More »

“Goals. There’s no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There’s no telling what you can do when you believe in them. And there’s no telling what will happen when you act upon them.” Jim Rohn As we move into 2013, it is that time of year when we start personal … Read More »

Over last few months business press has paid particular attention to the fashion retailer Zara as their sales and success has continued to grow. Despite this recent attention, the business model of Zara has gone virtually unnoticed for over 30 years, allowing Zara’s parent company, Inditex, to grow from zero to almost $20B in revenues. … Read More »

Have you ever felt totally engaged and involved in an activity that you have lost track of time? When any distractions such as phone ringing, hunger or interruptions you were not aware of because you were so totally absorbed and energised with what you were doing? Most of us have had this experience of “being … Read More »