When I was studying for my Masters degree I was somehow infatuated by the research work of Gareth Jones on Leadership. Unfortunately he died early this year. In his work with Rob Goffee he established that leadership is non-hierarchical concept. Much of the leadership literature is overly concerned with those who reach the top of organisations. …
Digital Transformation
The pandemic has surely accelerated the need for digital transformation of all business organisations. However, the most common mistake I see is that business leaders believe that such digital transformation is only and exclusively related to investing or buying new technology, without going through the extremely important process as to how such digital transformation will …
Employee Retention
All business leaders I meet seem to be facing some sort of staffing problem or another. It has become a common conversation subject. As I keep repeating, while recruiting new staff is important, retaining the good staff you already hold in your team is even more important.The challenge is severe. Many employers are presently seeing …
Incompetence in Family Businesses
I would not be exaggerating when I say that I face and deal with incompetence in various family businesses on a daily basis. If there is one thing that I learnt is to analyse family businesses with an open mind and to build my own conclusions on the facts I see rather than what I …
ESG for SMEs
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors are not the latest business thinking fad. It is fact that today’s investors increasingly want to invest in sustainable businesses with good investment models and integrating ESG factors will set you on the journey that your investors will be wanting to see evidence of – and importantly this will increasingly include all providers of finance into your business …
Family Businesses – Shape up!
Acting as advisor of various family businesses I truly understand the various particular difficulties that family business face - from different family owners with different views and priorities, to the difficulty in discussing critical issues like corporate governance, succession planning, compensation and performance management. Normally these delicate issues end up being constantly swept up under …
Purpose
Any typical conversation with a business owner always evolves to discuss this matter at some point or another and now more than ever, as businesses seem to be all finding it hard to find the right type of employees to work for them. At some point in the conversation, business owners will likely grumble with …
Your business is not your family
I meet many family business owners who proudly tell me “We’re a family here.” It makes me cringe when I hear it. It is true that the relationships we build at the workplace can help you grow in your career and provide you emotional support and friendship. However thinking that the team working in your …
Be Human….A Human Leader
We know that one of the components within the world famous Emotional Intelligence theory developed by Daniel Goleman is "Self-Awareness" i.e. the ability of knowing one's strength and weaknesses and able to have a self-deprecating sense of humour about your weaknesses. Yet I still see business leaders who operate based on the so called the …
Why do some businesses perform and others do not?
Some may say it is just down to luck. I always preach that for businesses to succeed they need to be supported by an efficient structure (organisational structure, processes and systems) and a cooperative culture. I walk into various different businesses every week and it always boil down to these two important things. The latest …
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A Business Blog for SMEs & Family Businesses 