Photo by Sylvain Mauroux on Unsplash

What’s This All About?

A Different Way For Leaders To Work With Me

Direct access to the insight, lessons, creativity, strategic experiences, the pitfalls, the opportunities tools and techniques.

Access to the things I’ve learned from the biggest brands on the planet over the last few decades.

I’ve been asked to do this many times but always resisted.

There are incredible technologies and tools available today.

New methods for more meaningful discussion - both online and off.

Hybrid opportunities to work remotely and in-person.

I’m making this available as a solution for senior executives in any way that works.

Conversations that lead to leadership advantage.

Mountains And Sherpas

 Leadership is climbing mountains - every day. 

I’ve been privileged to spend quality time listening to people who’ve climbed mountains before.

They’re always memorable and enjoyable exchanges of wisdom. 

Like a Sherpa would they showed me the path, taught me to avoid catastrophic mistakes and readjusted my way of thinking.

I achieved greater altitudes through their insights, found new areas of opportunity, accelerated my time to value and equipped myself for the next climb.

Every leader needs a leader.

"I always try to make sure every client succeeds to the summit. But there is a line. If in doubt, descent is always the best decision, because Everest will always be there if you survive." - Kami Rita Sherpa. Summiting Everest World Record Holder

One On One

I bring decades of experience to senior leaders - directly.

• Impartiality. Creativity. Ingenuity. Objective Challenge.

• Access to unique approaches to complex challenges.

• Access to techniques and learnings that accelerate opportunities.

• Understanding new approaches and models to unlock the future of the business.

• Learn to think differently and creatively in countless cases.  

• Taking advantage of practical objectivity through decades of experience in the worlds biggest enterprises.

• Gain the insights of thousands of strategic, transformation and change programs

A Very Different Approach To Enterprise Change And Impact:

The Backdrop Of Group Partners

The continuity of our ongoing work with clients in the field.

The Leadership Toolkit

A few of the conversations that I have with Leaders.

1. Knowing How To Focus On What Matters - What metrics, which indicators and what conditions to make what needs to happen - happen. When, why and how to prepare for what might stop things from happening as planned. 

2. Words And Body Language Matters - Helping leaders to move beyond the superficial idea of values. How to be present, authentic and work to establish meaningful principles and behaviours within the workforce. 

3. Going Beyond The Platitudes - Turning ideas like empowerment, quality, innovation, creativity and motivation into reality. Showing evidence that the meaning behind these concepts has been applied. Applying the leadership skills inspiration and celebration to encourage and respect human beings. 

4. Making Progress Meaningful - Creating team interaction and establishing collaborative working patterns - making changes as a team and more deeply understood. Becoming comfortable with sharing and developing how to collaborate better. 

5. Ask Better Questions - The criticality of challenging convention and assumption. The first base when plans are being made for the future is to build on solid ground. Inconvenient truths come back to haunt if left unchecked - they’re often possible opportunities. 

6. Overcome Subjectivity And Vested Interest - Ensuring they never get in the way of healthy thinking. Develop methods to constructively challenge during the processes of vision, mission and objective creation.

7. Developing Superpowers - Improve the skills of curiosity - dealing with ambiguities, paradoxes, dilemmas and conflicts - the conditions within which the opportunities live. Real leaders know they need to hunt - and as a consequence where the shifts in investment need to go.

8. Developing Story - How to create the narratives and build distinctive value propositions. The leader is now the steward of the product, packaging and marketing - this is as vital as the manufacturing or financial mechanisms that underpin the enterprise.

9. Relationship Mastery - Being a leader that clients and customers want to be in a relationship with is crucial. Many businesses do countless unintended things that deter potential customers. Leaders can understand what they are and what to do about them.

10. Creating A Magnet For Talent - Diversity is a fashionable term and widely misunderstood. It has to be meaningful - diversity of thinking, diversity of experience and diversity of capability is at the heart of creativity and for most businesses the fuel of the future. 

11. The Mix Of Ideas - How to master the alchemy of important discussion and conversation is the foundation of dialogue and required for successful and intelligent operations. 

12. Prioritize. Make and keep promises - including delivering serious consequences.

Leaders Are Decision-Makers

You have to make the right choices every day. You are in the cross-hairs - responsible and accountable for the investment of people’s time and where to focus the operations money. You are expected to be knowledgeable and always right. 

It can feel like Mission Impossible when everything is in constant flux.

The Leadership Confidante 

Leaders need safe and trusted advice to get through the blizzard of thinking and planning. A safe route to the way forward where there’s no selling, no vested interests and a healthy distance from experts. 

There’s nothing wrong with experts when the problem is fully defined. But there’s plenty wrong with an expert's bias when the challenge is systemic, entangled and needs objective and impartial discussion.

Leaders are surrounded by colleagues who are responsible for their own areas of specialism. 

Over 2000 cases working with leadership teams has provided me with insight and tools that I transfer to my clients in one to one conversations. 

Enlightened Leaders Only

Enlightened leaders know they don’t know everything. They are always open to new insights, input, ideas and challenges. 

But:

They are often insulated from the right input by the outdated deference paid by close networks/organisations. They’re constrained by the narrow field of focus forced on them by their context.

Big And Small Picture Thinking

• Dealing With Shifting Systems - Objectivity is often a casualty because it’s tough to see the big picture. Especially when the big picture is constantly moving. 

• Build On What Works -  I’ve proven that structured and visual thinking helps everyone literally see the operation. After that, they think differently and can take advantage. The techniques learned through bitter experiences are crucial lessons for leaders today. 

• Making It Doable - Decision-makers are humans. Humans need to grasp situations quickly to feel safe and survive. They do this far better when they are helped to see things clearly. 

In between direct conversations my clients have access to archives of ideas, proven strategies and tools and visual techniques and technology designed to assist and equip them. 

• Thinking Techniques - Redesign the mindset. Develop better ways to think and act in tune with what’s happening and what’s to come - simple techniques to develop and feed greater curiosity, creativity and the mentality to win. Getting out of our comfort zones and echo chambers. 

• Inspirational Models - Developing an ever more inspirational and motivational leadership style to lead teams and create winning cultures. How to push and aim higher in ways to increase ownership in visions and missions that will work. 

• Really Communicating - Learn the new ways and means to communicate meaningfully with the workforce - overcome the jargon, develop better language, phrasing, messaging, value propositions and techniques that better package the vision, mission and strategies that are critical to the business.

• Developing Intelligent Operations- Debating and developing options from different or adjacent markets. Consider the new models, methodologies, strategies and blueprints used by large and small companies from all over the world. Show how these become practical behaviours to construct engaged teams with clear actions, metrics and roadmaps. Go beyond the claptrap of outdated concepts like business plans, organisation charts and the regular principles and conventions that stop leaders and decision-makers from winning.

• Being Real - The successful leader is an authentic mix - equal parts integrity, humility and courage. Inspiring leaders always seem to be in front - armed with insights and observations about what’s coming.