Why you should forget Charisma – and those that tell you how to get more. A while back a client of mine asked me how he could get more Charisma. I suppose a better verb would be exude – how to exude more Charisma. (It’s already sounding unpleasant). I was a bit taken aback and…
I’ve listened to quite a few entrepreneurs pitch for investment. Some manage to destroy their chances before they’ve finished – in spite of a great proposition. I blame Dragon’s Den. That programme – as entertaining as it is – has created the fantasy of the impoverished entrepreneur going, cap in hand, to the mighty capitalist…
Many pitches fail to attract investment for reasons that are not immediately obvious to the entrepreneur. Here are a few… Having sat through numerous investment pitches, I’ve learnt that it’s not easy. I have the utmost respect for those that try it, let alone those that pull it off. I’m not sure I could… but I…
Vulnerability and Helplessness are attributes not normally associated with the role of a Chief Executive. Perhaps they should be… My client, the CEO of a national charity, was becoming increasingly worn down by a situation that was fraying her nerves and making her feel weak and inadequate: I was getting more and more frustrated and anxious…
How the Big Issue that no one wants to talk about can strangle progress. A few years back I ran a Strategy workshop for a small, rapidly growing company. About 30 turned up – everyone, apart from Mike, the MD, who had deliberately stayed away so as not to inhibit the discussions in any way. The…
Strategies fail for many reasons, but the most insidious rarely gets a mention… There are, of course, lots of ways of derailing a corporate strategy: a regressive culture that resists change; poor planning; over-ambition; lack of ownership… feel free to add to the list. But a favourite of mine comes about through a blithe and…
There are a multitude of reasons why businesses don’t grow beyond a certain size – but one pops up time and again and that’s YOU. I’ve been lucky enough to talk to many business owners and managers over the past few years and the conversation often centres around growth, or the lack of it. Of…
If you’ve got Time Management issues, the problem isn’t Time Management. Years ago I went on a Time Management course and came away rather perplexed and demoralised by all the things I had to do to use my time effectively. I started to implement them regardless, keeping time logs, prioritising tasks, setting and keeping to…
Your business is like a pack of cards – are you missing any? OK, so this is about relating your business – any business – to a pack of cards. Not in a House of Cards way where the whole thing falls apart at the slightest nudge, but in a more subtle and profound way. In particular…