Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Curious Leadership with Dominic Monkhouse
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| E332 | Turning a 75% win rate into 86%: Leadership strategies with James Kerr | 04 Feb 2025 | 00:58:15 | |
James Kerr is a writer, coach, and consultant who specialises in leadership, culture and mindset in high-performing teams. His global bestseller, 'Legacy' has been described by The Daily Telegraph as “the modern version of Vince Lombardi’s guides to coaching”, saying that "for those searching for genuine keys to team culture, it is manna from heaven". James has worked with Tier One Special Forces, the English Premier League, international cricket, Formula One, America’s Cup, Major League Baseball, and Olympic pathways. He has guest lectured at Westpoint Military Academy, Sandhurst and Eton College and written for the BBC, Independent, Times and Guardian. His corporate clients have included Google, Spotify, Goldman Sachs, McKinsey & Co, Adidas, and Arc'teryx. In this frank discussion, Dominic explores the synergy between individual leadership and collective vision, and the critical role of cultural evolution in maintaining relevance and potency. James shares how the iconic “Sweeping the Shed” mantra, revolutionised team culture at the All Blacks, and how these principles can be applied beyond the rugby field into business and everyday life. Discover The Role of Values in Sustainable Success: By embracing values such as humility, responsibility, and respect, the All Blacks created a foundation for long-term success, demonstrating that values-driven cultures outperform talent-driven ones. The Power of Rituals and Symbols: The enduring significance of the Haka demonstrates how rituals and symbols can reinforce identity, unity, and purpose within a team. Leadership Across Domains: The principles of leadership and cultural excellence are universal and can be applied across diverse fields, demonstrated by James’ work in sports, military, and business. Neuroscience and Leadership: The interplay between neuroscience and performance underpins how understanding the brain's responses to fear and confidence can inspire leaders to strike a balance between challenges and support, fostering growth and accountability. Book recommendations: Viktor Frankl - Man's Search For Meaning Daniel Kahneman - Thinking, Fast and Slow Daniel Coyle - The Culture Code James' book Legacy is out now. Dominic’s book Mind Your F**king Business is out now. | |||
| 2025 trailer - new season launches 4th February! | 28 Jan 2025 | 00:00:45 | |
A message from Dom about some exciting changes coming to the podcast from next week. | |||
| E323 | Curating Psychological Safety with Minette Norman | 19 Nov 2024 | 00:50:10 | |
Summary In this conversation, Minette Norman, a seasoned leader and author, explores psychological safety, leadership myths, and managers' real impact on employee wellbeing. Minette shares her journey from technical writer to leading an enormous team of 3,500 engineers at Autodesk without learning any code. Minette has a genius way of simplifying the complex. She shares insight from her two books, The Boldly Inclusive Leadership and The Psychological Safety Playbook, giving you tangible how-to’s. Minette successfully navigated resistance to collaboration in her long-held position in Silicon Valley. From book recommendations to actionable insights for creating safe and productive work environments, this episode is packed with wisdom for aspiring leaders and curious minds alike. Takeaways
Chapters (00:00) Collaborating Ideas With An Open Mind With Minette Norman. (03:08) Minette’s Journey From Technical Writer To Leader. (04:59) Transforming Workspace Culture and Unify Teams. (06:54) Overcoming Resistance To Collaborative Coding and Internal Competition. (10:57) Importance of Yearly Summit In-Person Gathering. (12:01) Adapting Meetings to Equalise Space & Include Quieter Individuals’ Insights. (14:52) Reasons Behind The Boldly Inclusive Leader. (17:36) Conceit of Leadership. (21:47) Psychological Safety, Inclusion & Interpersonal Risk Taking. (24:28) Co-Authoring Focused on How To Increase Psychological Safety. (26:27) Asking For Other Points of View With An Open Mind. (28:16) Learning From Mistakes. (31:59) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Conference. (35:17) Overcoming Affinity Bias To Embrace Diverse Groups. (38:49) Loneliness in the Workplace. (41:39) Quickfire Q&A with Minette Monkhouse. (47:02) Book Recommendations. About Minette Norman Minette Norman is an author, speaker, and leadership consultant who previously spent decades leading global technical teams in the software industry. Minette has extensive experience leading internationally distributed teams and believes that when groups embrace diversity in all its forms, breakthroughs emerge, and innovation accelerates. Before starting her consultancy, her most recent position was as Vice President of Engineering Practice at Autodesk. Responsible for influencing more than 3,500 engineers around the globe, she focused on state-of-the-art engineering practices while nurturing a collaborative and inclusive culture. Minette is a keynote speaker on inclusive leadership, psychological safety, collaborative teams, and empathy. Named in 2017 as one of the “Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business” by the San Francisco Business Times and as “Business Role Model of the Year” in the 2018 Women in IT/Silicon Valley Awards, Minette is a recognised leader with a unique perspective. Minette is the author of The Boldly Inclusive Leader and the co-author of The Psychological Safety Playbook. Minette holds degrees in Drama and French from Tufts University and studied at the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris. Follow Minette Norman Website: https://www.minettenorman.com/ LinkedIn: | |||
| E233 | From Professional Rugby Player to Innovation Consultant with Aidan McCullen | 07 Feb 2023 | 00:43:43 | |
What comes to mind when you think about innovation? Creating something new from nothing. But does the word innovation push people away from doing it, thinking they don’t have the skills? Our guest on the podcast thinks so, and that’s why he uses the word reinvention instead. And that, reinventing, is exactly what he did with his own career after retiring from professional rugby. Today, we hear about his fascinating journey. This week on The Melting Pot, we learned from the author of Undisruptible, and host of The Innovation Show, Aidan McCullen. Formerly a professional rugby player, Aidan now works as an Executive Coach and Innovation Consultant. In this episode, Aidan talked about his journey as a rugby player and how he shifted from that to a career in innovation, and became a podcast host and innovation consultant. He also explored the cultural differences between some of the teams he played with, and he dived into the Butterfly metaphor that he uses in his book Unsdisruptable to explain the life cycle and how it applies to businesses.
Make sure to download and listen to this fascinating episode day.
On today’s podcast:
Follow Aidan McCullen: Book recommendations The Heart of Business by Hubert Joly The Biology of Belief by Bruce H. Lipton Change Your Paradigm, Change Your Life by Bob Proctor How Will You Measure Your Life by Clayton Christensen Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers by Robert M. Sapolski The Hidden Messages in Water by Masaru Emoto Built from broken by Scott H. Hogan Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review
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| E232 | Leading the Twice Microsoft UK Partner of The Year with Neil Marley | 31 Jan 2023 | 00:40:16 | |
How do you find enough qualified people to deliver on the revenue opportunities that your business comes across? This is a problem that might be familiar to many professional services organisations, particularly within the cloud space. Our guest this week Neil Marley, came across that challenge whilst he was working at New Signature.
Neil is the Managing Director at Qualyfi. He's also former UK MD and EMEA lead at New Signature, an IT Services Management company that grew from 8 to 300 people in the UK and twice won the prestigious Microsoft UK Partner of the Year award (2014, 2019), before being acquired by Cognizant in 2020.
We know Neil since 2017 when New Signature started coaching with us. During the course of our time working together, they grew from about ten people to 350. From a revenue perspective that’s around 48% compound annual growth rate.
There are two things that Neil is excited about. The first is helping people build an exciting new technology career, regardless of their background or previous opportunities; the second is building long-term partnerships with growth organisations, offering services to help fuel their growth. He has now taken his experience doing that to make Qualyfi a positive force for the world.
In this episode, he shares his journey working in public cloud technologies with Microsoft, moving from working in a big organisation to a small team, and he and his small team managed to become one of the leading partners for Microsoft. He also talked about the challenges the business faced along the way, the secrets to New Signature’s success and the impact coaching had on the team dynamics.
Download and listen to learn more.
On today’s podcast:
A journey of growth in Microsoft Leading a successful partnership with Microsoft New Signature and Winning Microsoft UK Partner of the Year The importance of business coaching Qualyfi and placing new cloud tech talent
Follow Neil Marley Book recommendations:
What got you here won't get you there by Marshall Goldsmith CEO Excellence by Scott Keller Awaken The Giant Within by Anthony Robbins Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review | |||
| E231 | Bringing Transparency And Honesty Into The Recruitment Process with Ross Lauder | 24 Jan 2023 | 00:43:47 | |
Hiring top talent –the right talent– is crucial to growing a business. Yet, so many companies get their recruitment process wrong. Clarity on what an A-Player looks like, and transparency with candidates in the process are just some of the missing elements that our guest this week noticed in many companies after falling into the world of recruitment.
This week on The Melting Pot, we learned from Ross Lauder, founder and CEO at Single Focus Talent. Before becoming the talented headhunter he is today, Ross was a tech sales manager, working for big firms like Dell and Hubspot. Today, he recruits salespeople across Europe and North America.
In this episode, we wanted to learn more from him about sales, and how the role of a salesperson has changed over time. Ross also shared his approach to recruitment and how he’s helping candidates in their careers. Also, what are people thinking about returning to the office, remote and hybrid work, and what's happening in the labour market. Is the tech world awash with talented people after the big tech layoffs?
A great conversation.
Make sure to download and listen today!
On today’s podcast:
How the sales process has changed over the years Moving from sales to recruitment A transparent and honest approach to recruitment What's going on in the current labour market Remote or office? What candidates prefer
Follow Ross Lauder:
Book Recommendations:
Unlimited Power by Anthony Robbins Awaken The Giant Within by Anthony Robbins Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review | |||
| E230 | Building A Culture of Trust Through Vulnerability with Ronan Harrington | 17 Jan 2023 | 00:44:21 | |
Building trust is at the heart of a high-performing team and a great culture. Sometimes, that trust comes from allowing vulnerability and honesty into the room and acknowledging our flaws, as well as our geniuses. Our guest this week is a huge advocate of using that vulnerability to strengthen the relationships in leadership teams. On this week's episode of The Melting Pot, we learned from Ronan Harrington, an expert in the neuroscience of resilience. After receiving a Master in Public Policy from Balliol College, Oxford University, Ronan then became one of the youngest executives in the City of London, as Director of Futures and Strategy at RPC. At the age of 24, he authored a report on the world of 2030 and how the British Government should respond. In this fascinating episode, Ronan shared his views on what it takes to develop a great business culture, how allowing vulnerability can help build trust in teams, and how power can impact cultural change in an organisation. He also talked about his experience working with Extinction Rebellion and how ethical power plays work in politics and business.
Download and listen to learn more.
On today’s podcast: Developing a conscious culture How competing commitments affect culture Building trust through vulnerability Working for Extinction Rebellion Defining resilience and dealing with burnout
Follow Ronan: Book recommendations 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Jim Dethmer and Diana Chapman Smalls things like these by Claire Keegan Enjoyed the show? Leave a Review | |||
| E229 | The Secrets Behind Building Value-Based Businesses and How to Sustain Interest For Investors | 10 Jan 2023 | 00:57:56 | |
The definition of value creation is giving something valuable to receive something else that’s more valuable to you. In today’s fast-paced economy, every business owner should strive to make his company as valuable as he can, and optimize wherever possible to provide value. Isn't it all about profit? It may be true for large company stockholders, but it is less true for small business owners. A major corporation's stockholder may be exclusively concerned with earnings. It's part of their investment portfolio, and its sole purpose is to increase their wealth. However, a small company would be more interested in communicating a mission and vision that attracts the world, creating a product or service that adds value to both customers and shareholders, and creating value through optimizing processes and finance. Some investors have advanced to impact investing because they seek more than just profits from their investments. As a result, B-corporations are becoming increasingly common. Impact investment and B-corporations seek to maximize financial returns while also providing a public benefit and creating long-term value. Today, on the Melting Pot, we are joined by Patrick E. Donohue, an expert in valuation, business angel, and financial advisor for entrepreneurs. He started his adventure at a very young age when he showed interest in stock shares and making money at only 10 years old. His passion lies in helping small businesses grow in a way that generates value and has a lasting impact on the community. He firmly believes that business owners shape the world by providing solutions to the complexities of human life.
In his book “Breakout Valuation”, he breaks down complex financial concepts and shares them in plain easy English. His aim is for every leader to be able to understand financial intelligence and apply it in actionable plans to drive sustainable growth.
In today’s episode: Business Valuation For Beginners How to Define a Sustainable Level of Growth Insights from “Breakout Valuation” Business Design That Drives Value Every Business Has A Special Talent That Makes It More Investable What Patrick E. Donohue WishesHe’d KnownEarlier
Links:
Book Recommendations:
Aiden McCullen - Undisruptable Mike Michalowicz -Profit First Greg Crabtree – Simple Numbers 2.0 Patrick E. Donohue – Breakout Valuation | |||
| E228 | Rebroadcast: What it Takes to Become a Great CEO with Scott Keller | 03 Jan 2023 | 00:51:27 | |
Having travelled to every country in the world, Scott Keller, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, New York Times best selling author of Beyond performance 2.0 and CEO Excellence, was looking for a new challenge. And he found it during lockdown. Along with his fellow authors, he sought to uncover what makes the best CEOs of this century the best. They combined extensive quantitative analysis with in-depth interviews with today’s top CEOs to understand what sets exceptional leaders apart. And they found the best CEOs have to master six core things to become great. Because, and Scott uses the analogy of Ashton Eaton, the greatest decathlete of all time here - no decathlete is the best 100 metre runner in the world or the best Javelin thrower, they have to not suck at anything, while being amazing at everything. In this episode of The Melting Pot, Scott shares the methodology they used to narrow down their list of CEOs from 7,800 to the 67 they interviewed, before discussing the six things they found were the core of every great CEO. On today’s podcast:
Links:
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| E227 | Rebroadcast: The Jobs Only the CEO Should Do with Anthony Rose | 27 Dec 2022 | 00:56:01 | |
If your business is struggling to innovate, or is in fact resisting innovation all together, then don’t miss Anthony Rose, founder and CEO of SeedLegals on this week’s episode of The Melting Pot. Who better to learn from about how to incorporate, raise funds and grow your business, than the founder of the startup that one in six of all early-stage startups in the UK are using in their funding rounds. Widely known as “The man behind BBC iPlayer”, Anthony ran the iPlayer and other BBC services from 2007 to 2010, taking the iPlayer from pre-launch to a major success story. In this episode, Anthony talks about the jobs that only the CEO should do, including the CEO’s role in innovation, building company culture, getting to product market fit, and why, when you’ve got product market fit, the most important job of a CEO is to then manage culture. This is a truly insightful episode and a must listen for all leaders of startups looking to grow and build their companies. Book recommendations: The Mom Test - Rob Fitzpatrick History of Western Philosophy - Bertrand Russell On today’s podcast:
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| E226 | The science behind forecasting liabilities and the art of letting them go with Annie Duke, author of “Quit”. | 20 Dec 2022 | 00:56:00 | |
Hard decisions are part of every aspect of our human life. In business, these are what shape the future of a company and what define its success if done right. We often praise the hiring process in a company, as it constitutes a decision based on precise forecasting and analysis. However, we often brush off the equally important decision of letting someone go, as we generally believe it should be done as easily as this: take a subjective decision, have an end-of-contract meeting, and empty a desk. What we don’t realize is that letting go of an employee should be subject to the same amount of well-thought analysis, as it is as strategic for the company as hiring.
Today, on the Melting Pot, we are joined by Annie Duke, an ex-professional poker player and author of two books called “Thinking in bets” and “Quit”. The first makes a parallel between poker and business and covers ways in which we could bring the critical decision-making process from gambling into our entrepreneurial adventure. The second book is a gem that helps us know when to call it quits. More specifically, it helps decision-makers discover the neuroscience behind firing people, and how to do it right. She proposes a precise methodology to know when an employee is not a good fit anymore, and how to let them understand that it is time for them to quit.
After earning the title of “The Duchess of Poker”, she now focuses on cognitive-behavioural decision authorship and coaches businesses in making the right decisions in their environment.
Listen and download this fascinating episode in which Annie shares the journey that got her into coaching decision-makers and interesting concepts such as loss aversion, and aspects of the human cognitive bias that can affect our forecasting.
In today’s episode:
Links:
QUIT - The Power Of Knowing When To Walk Away
Book recommendations:
Phillip E.Tetlock and Dan Gardner- Super Forecasting Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths- Algorithms to Live By Alex Sangha- The Modern Thinker | |||
| E225 | Invest In Your Leaders With Cameron Herold, The CEO Whisperer | 13 Dec 2022 | 00:52:37 | |
Leadership development is not about studying leadership, but about practising leadership in an intentional way, in a culture and environment that enables learning. For over 20 years, Cameron Herold has been the mastermind behind hundreds of companies’ exponential growth and his passion for coaching and mentoring others earned him the reputation of THE CEO Whisperer. His career in business coaching started with College Pro Painters, a house painting franchise he joined at the age of 21. This franchise turned out to be the perfect breeding ground for an entire generation of entrepreneurs and businesses. By the age of 35, Cameron built his first two 100 Million Dollar companies and in just six years of being the COO for 1-800-GOT-JUNK? he transformed it into one of the most successful new business ventures of the last decade, with a spectacular growth from $2 Million to $106 Million in revenue. In 2016 he founded the COO Alliancewith one simple goal in mind: to provide COOs with the same professional development and growth opportunities CEOs have enjoyed for many years. In this episode, Cameron shares how he discovered his passion for mentoring leaders, his beginnings in the College Pro Painters franchise, and the strategies that CEOs should use to achieve alignment in their organisations. We also dive in and talk about his 5 books, a truly powerful resource on leadership and growth solutions for companies.
In today’s episode:
Links: Website - cameronherold.com Instagram- @cameron_herold_cooalliance Linkedin - Cameron Herold Facebook - Cameron Herold Podcast - Second in Command Youtube - COO Alliance Cameron Herold - Published books Cameron's solution to breeding high-performance leaders - Invest In Your Leaders Cameron and his wife’s travel channel - @EverWanderTravel | |||
| E224 | How To Better Prepare To Combat Inflation, with Hermann Simon | 06 Dec 2022 | 00:51:01 | |
According to important voices in the economics sphere, inflation is back and here to stay. For companies, this “new normal” means that the world in which they do business has fundamentally changed. Their main priority now is to discover and apply new strategies that can ensure their survival.
Hermann Simon is a renowned speaker, founder and honorary chairman of the world’s number-one pricing consultancy, Simon-Kucher & Partners. His impressive background and expertise in strategy and marketing recommend him as one of the world's most influential management thinkers and an invaluable source of knowledge on topics such as globalization, profit orientation, corporate strategy, world market leadership and pricing. Hermann is also an acclaimed author with multiple bestsellers like Confessions of the Pricing Man and Hidden Champions of the Twenty-First Century, published and translated into over 25 languages.
Hermann joins me again in this new episode of The Melting Pot and shares some insights into his new book, Beating Inflation. This guide comes as a solution to the current economic inflation, exacerbated by the worldwide pandemic and the war between Ukraine and Russia. We debate on increased costs and pricing, how often should companies increase their prices so they don’t put too much strain on their clients and how to prepare their sales teams to combat inflation.
Download and listen! This is a conversation you don’t want to miss!
In today’s episode:
Hermann’s new book, Beating Inflation: An Agile, Concrete and Effective Corporate Guide What is inflation and how to deal with it How often should companies raise prices Increasing prices as a consultancy business Reducing cost by offshoring How should leaders prepare their sales teams to tackle inflation Managing the leaky bucket
Links:
Website - Hermann Simon Linkedin- Hermann Simon Twitter-@HermannSimon Facebook- Hermann Simon Youtube-Hermann Simon Hermann Simon- Book catalogue Links to a list of articles and interviews with Hermann Hermann’s latest book-Beating Inflation- An Agile, Concrete and Effective Corporate Guide
Book recommendations:
Hermann Simon- Hidden Champions in the Chinese Century: Ascent and Transformation Hermann Simon- True Profit!: No Company Ever Went Broke Turning a Profit Hermann Simon- Beating Inflation- An Agile, Concrete and Effective Corporate Guide Hermann Simon- Many Worlds, One Life: A Remarkable Journey from Farmhouse to the Global Stage Philip Baechtold- My Great Right Enjoyed the show? | |||
| E322 | Revenue is Vanity, Profit is Sanity and Cash is King: Lessons with Alan Miltz | 12 Nov 2024 | 00:46:57 | |
Summary In this conversation, Alan Miltz, a renowned financial analysis and business strategy expert, shares insights into scaling up a business and improving its cash flow. He dives deep into the intricacies of financial management, from optimising cash flow and managing working capital to the fine art of pricing strategy. Alan keeps the conversation simple, outlining how small 1% changes in one day can revolutionise a company's financial health. He offers his understanding of The Magic Number 200 and practical tools for improving cash flow and sustaining growth, even in challenging economic climates. Finally, Alan provides some excellent book recommendations for anyone looking to find hidden value in their business segments. Takeaways
Chapters (00:00) Discussing Cash Flow, The Power of One and More With Alan Miltz (05:13) Cash Flow Is Crucial In The Current Economy (9:58) Seven Levers and Four Chapters In Business (13:53) Management Team Responsibilities (17:08) Cash Flow Burn (20:42) Relationship of Price vs. Volume to Cash Flow and Profit (25:37) Identifying Profit Segments Using Cash Flow Ladder (34:12) Magic Number of 200 (38:58) Cash Flow Story Software Tool (41:02) Book Recommendations for Improving Business About Alan Miltz Alan Miltz has dedicated his life to helping business leaders and everyone in their team love the numbers. Revenue is vanity, Profit is sanity and Cash is king (or queen) are usually his opening words. Alan is a co-author of Verne Harnish’s global best-selling book Scaling Up (having written the financial component of the book). Alan believes that running a business is like managing a sports team: Everyone needs to know the score. Every business wants to scale up its profit, cash, and value. The Power of One, developed by Alan and the team at Cash Flow Story, is your company’s code. How many 1% or 1-day changes do you need to make to achieve your desired financial results? Everything Alan has developed has had one common theme – to make the complex simple. As a founder of Inmatrix (known as Optimist software) in 1998, which is now the global standard for over 500 banks in more than 90 countries. More recently co-founded Cash Flow Story allowing non-financial individuals to easily analyse and improve business Profit, Cash & Value. This has helped 1000’s of businesses to scale 2xProfit, 3xCash and 10xBusiness Value. Alan has been voted best speaker in Australia for TEC (the world’s largest CEO forum) and continues to speak at many CEO conferences globally, including the CEO syndicate in Australia, Entrepreneurs Organisation, and YPO. He also sits on the boards of 15 well-recognised companies globally. Follow Alan Miltz Mentioned in this episode: Get Mind Your F**king Business | |||
| E223 | How Human Connection Can Help A Business Achieve Excellence With Tom Peters, Co-author Of “In Search Of Excellence” | 29 Nov 2022 | 00:56:36 | |
A company’s success is measured by the happiness of its employees, and that goes for any industry we can think of. This sounds like basic knowledge, but increasing happiness in the workplace is one of the most overlooked and at the same time essential changes a company can make in order to be more successful. Often times even simple acknowledgements like a handshake or a hello at the beginning of the day can really impact an employee’s level of engagement and create a positive workplace culture. Today, on The Melting Pot, we are joined by Tom Peters, a business management pioneer and co-author of “In Search Of Excellence”, the book that, to this day, is recognized as one of the most influential books about business practices. Through this work, Tom’s ultimate goal was to motivate business owners and entrepreneurs to focus more on their employees and the way their happiness directly affects productivity and to discover their products through the eyes of their customers. Twenty books and forty years later, Tom is still one of the leading management thinkers, preaching about the importance of human connection and creating business excellence through work culture. Listen and download this fascinating episode in which Tom shares the story behind his well-known bestseller, the legacy that leaders should really focus on leaving behind and his views on women as business leaders, remote leadership and building excellent culture in this “work from home” era.
In today’s episode:
40 years of “In Search Of Excellence”- the book that changed the way the world does business Why businesses need more women leaders A leader's job is to grow people Remote leadership and building excellent culture and business in the “work from home” era Tom’s latest book, “The Compact Guide To Excellence”
Links:
Website - Tom Peters.com Linkedin- Tom Peters Twitter-@tom_peters Youtube- Tom Peters Blog- tompeters! Biography- Tom Peters Publications-Tom Peters- books and articles Tom’s latest book- Tom Peters' Compact Guide to Excellence
How Human Connection Can Lead A Business To Excellence With Tom Peters, Co-author Of “In Search Of Excellence”
Tom Peters is a well-renowned business management pioneer and co-author of “In Search of Excellence”, the book that even 40 years after its publication is still considered to be the book that changed the way the world does business. But as he himself declares, this is just one of the numerous ventures in his life and career.
Tom attended Cornell University where he received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and a master's degree and later on, earned an MBA and a PhD in Organizational Behaviourfrom the Stanford Graduate School of business. During the war in Vietnam, he served in the U.S. Navy, making two deployments as a Navy Seabee and also participated in an exchange program between the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy (UK) which led to him serving as a midshipman on the HMS Tiger (a battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy during the 1910s).
While working forMcKinsey & Company, he was inspired to develop different practices for business management that support the idea that... | |||
| E222 | When Unconventional Co-Leadership Turns Out To Be The Recipe For Success- Robert Chapman on Firebrand’s 21 Years As A Market Leader In Accelerated Learning | 22 Nov 2022 | 01:00:11 | |
When it comes to leadership, we normally think of one person that is in charge of holding the reins and steering the direction of a company. While it might seem counterintuitive to our traditional view regarding authority, oftentimes equally sharing power and influence can have more benefits than we can imagine. Robert Chapman, co-founder of Firebrand joins today’s episode of The Melting Pot and shares how Firebrand became an incontestable leader of the Accelerated Learning market, with 21 years of continued growth and performance even while going through three major recessions and a world pandemic. We talk about the unconventional way he and his business partner Stefano Capaldo shared the responsibilities of leading the company as co-CEOs, the sales and marketing strategies they’ve improved and adapted for Firebrand and how they transformed Verne Harnish’s book, “Scaling up” into the perfect blueprint for scaling their company.
This is a fascinating episode packed full of insights, so make sure to download and listen.
In today’s episode:
21 years of successful business in an unconventional co-leadership, with Robert Chapman, co-founder of Firebrand
Firebrand Training was co-founded by Stefano Capaldo and Robert Chapman and for the last 21 years has been a leader in the Accelerated Learning market.
Even though conventional wisdom says two heads are better than one, co-partnership in the business world is often looked at as the odd one out. So how did Robert and Stefano build a successful company under such unconventional leadership? Like all relationships, being co-leaders requires trust, constant communication and a very clear understanding of the role each CEO has. “I was in charge of business development, sales, marketing, go-to-market strategy, he was in charge of delivering, hence the cook it, catch it tactic. If I got the fish, I threw it over the fence and I just trusted Stefano to go and make sure a great meal conjures up.” Delivering high-quality training at twice the speed of traditional methods
Since its inception in 2001, Firebrand has grown at an incredible rate, from a start-up to a £ 20 million business. A testament to the value they offer through their unique Accelerated Learning methodology is their applicants' high rate of success in getting their IT and project management certification. “That puts a huge amount of pressure on us,” says Robert. “We gotta do a great job. We can't hide if the instructor's done a poor job of delivering that knowledge.” Leading a business through four recessions
In regards to their leadership strategy, they’ve certainly made the right decisions, because successfully navigating a company through 4 major recessions including a global pandemic is not something everyone can do. “We took some really difficult decisions. We did make some people redundant, we asked staff to take pay cuts. But by the end of 2020, we'd navigated those waters pretty well and in a really strong position financially and paid back all the staff that had pay cuts.” “I do genuinely get really emotional because so many people went the extra mile during those periods and they genuinely didn't complain.”
The Firebrand version of scaling up and the one thing that ensured its success
When Brett Raynes, CEO of Cloud Direct and... | |||
| E221 | Change Your Organisational DNA and Bring Back Innovation Into Your Business with Ben M. Bensaou | 15 Nov 2022 | 01:11:53 | |
There’s no secret that, in today’s business climate, innovation is the only way companies can maintain an advantage over their competitors. No matter the field or industry you position yourself in, if you manage to create extra value for your company and the customers your company serves, you are almost undoubtedly destined for success. But, in order to achieve this holy grail and transform your organization into an innovating engine, you first need to learn to listen to your customers and your employees and understand the role they play in helping you identify real problems and the right solutions for those problems. Today’s guest on “The Melting Pot” is Ben M. Bensaou, professor and former Dean of Executive Education at INSEAD and business innovation thought leader. In his book, “Built to Innovate- Essential Practices to Wire Innovation Into Your Company's DNA”, Ben shares the proven system for building relentless innovation and culture that he discovered while researching companies from all over the world. We talk about all of his findings and the skills he thinks are required to create that perfect innovating culture, so make sure to download and listen to this fascinating episode!
In today’s episode:
Solutions for businesses that struggle with innovation Listen to your customer- they hold the key to discovering the weaknesses in your business Three skills you need to develop in order to create the perfect exchange of information between you and your clients (or potential clients) The importance of middle managers How to identify real problems that need solving Improve your ability to spot and develop good ideas for your business
Links:
Website - Built to Innovate Linkedin- Ben M. Bensaou Twitter- BenBensaou Blog- Built to Innovate by Ben M. Bensaou Biography & Publications- Ben M. Bensaou Ben’s book- Built to Innovate- Essential Practices to Wire Innovation Into Your Company's DNA
Follow Dominic:
Mentions:
We Solve- an inclusive community engagement platform for companies and organizations that Co-create sustainable and lasting solutions together.
Kordsa- develops reinforcement technologies for the tires of automobiles, airplanes, motorcycles, agricultural and industrial vehicles.
Fiskars- a Finnish group company; its products are related to the home, outdoor activities, interior decoration and table setting.
Allianz Insurance- the largest general insurer in the UK, offering a range of personal and commercial insurance solutions for their customers.
W.L Gore & Associates- an American multinational manufacturing company specializing in products derived from fluoropolymers; it is best known as the developer of waterproof, breathable Gore-Tex fabrics
Book recommendations:
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| E220 | Refreshing the World of Work with Hoxby Co-Founders, Alex Hirst & Lizzie Penny | 08 Nov 2022 | 00:54:43 | |
Like most good ideas, the idea for Hoxby, the purpose-led organisation that exists to create a happier, more fulfilled society through a world of work without bias, came to co-founders Alex Hirst and Lizzie Penny, in the pub. Fed up with, and burned out from the traditional way of working, they decided it simply wasn’t what they wanted. So they decided to take matters into their own hands. Fast forward a decade and Alex and Lizzie not only changed the way they work, but they’ve also changed the way their community works too. A community made up of more than 1,000 handpicked, talented and diverse freelancers who work remotely in 30 countries around the world. Alex and Lizzie have recently published a book, Workstyle, about how workstyle is better for wellbeing, improves productivity, and can reshape inclusion for the benefit of society. And in this episode of The Melting Pot, they share why they’re so passionate about autonomy at work, what Hoxby is, the conditions necessary to foster workstyle, and how to create connections remotely. Book recommendations
How The Future Works - Brian Elliott On today’s podcast:
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| E219 | Creating Businesses that Bring Joy to Work with Jay Radia | 01 Nov 2022 | 00:47:02 | |
Have you ever felt that you’re in a job that doesn’t fit your genius, but you’re not sure how to find your real purpose? Then don’t miss Jay Radia on this episode of The Melting Pot. Having spent a few years in banking, working in a job that didn't bring him the joy he was after, Jay realised his unique expertise lay in coming up with ideas that need to be funded. Today, Jay is the founder of startup studio, Bliss Growth. And he has founded three tech startups - the first three got to £1 million in 12 months, and two of them got to £10 million in three years. While Jay has invested in 25 angel investments, coming up with the idea is his secret sauce. In this episode, Jay shares what the challenges of coming up with new ideas and funding rapid trajectory are, and what he's learned along the way, and how he got comfortable with not being the CEO anymore. This is a truly insightful episode from a passionate entrepreneur, download and listen. Book recommendationsOn today’s podcast:
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| E218 | Why the World is so Full of Rubbish Leaders with Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic | 25 Oct 2022 | 00:47:17 | |
Did you know that the 80:20 principle also works in reverse? Whilst 80% of your output will come from 20% of your people, the same is true of your problems. Meaning 80% of the errors will be caused by 20% of your people. But, says Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Organisational Psychologist, currently Chief Innovation Officer at ManpowerGroup, companies spend way more time on development than they do on talent acquisition. So, what can you do about that? Well, don’t miss Tomas on this episode of The Melting Pot explaining how technology is revolutionising the recruitment role, why assessing candidates is a costly mistake, the difference between genders in terms of curiosity, why the world is so full of rubbish leaders, and how we can bring about change in leadership. This is a fascinating episode, truly insightful. Download to listen. Book recommendations
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| E217 | Rowing the Atlantic with The Entrepreneurs’ Adviser, Guy Rigby | 18 Oct 2022 | 00:40:40 | |
Are you looking for your next big adventure? How does rowing across the Atlantic sound? Think you’re not fit enough? Too old? Think again. Guy Rigby, chair of the Entrepreneurial Services Group at Smith & Williamson, and founder of advisory and mentoring business, The Entrepreneurs’ Adviser, holds the world record for the oldest, fastest man to row across the Atlantic (aged 68), and he’s looking for crews to do the same for 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027. But before we get into that, in this episode of The Melting Pot, we find out why a man in his late 60s would want to row the Atlantic, and more importantly, how on earth did he pull it off?
Want to learn more? Of course you do! Download and listen today. On today’s podcast:
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| E216 | Uncertainty: The Portal to Possibility with Nathan and Susannah Furr | 11 Oct 2022 | 00:55:14 | |
How do you deal with uncertainty? Do you avoid it at all costs or do you embrace the unknown excitedly? To discuss the upside of uncertainty is husband and wife team, Nathan and Susannah Furr, authors of The Upside of Uncertainty. As the Professor of Strategy and Innovation at INSEAD, and with a PhD from Stanford, Nathan is an expert in innovation and technology strategy. Susannah is an entrepreneur, designer, artist, and contrarian who’s recently started a bio-intensive garden as part of a ‘hope accelerator’ in Normandy, France. On this episode of The Melting Pot, Nathan and Susannah share their experiences of tackling uncertainty, and discuss how you can improve and train your risk tolerance and seek the upside of uncertainty. And in doing so, how we can then impact organisations. Download and listen to learn more. On today’s podcast:
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| E215 | From Coaching Habit to How to Begin with Michael Bungay Stanier | 04 Oct 2022 | 00:47:41 | |
Do you want to be a force for change in the world? Of course you do, but how to begin? That's actually the title of Michael Bungay Stanier’s latest book - How To Begin, a book written to help people be ambitious for themselves, for the world, to help them find their Worthy Goal, and start something thrilling, important, and daunting. Best known for writing The Coaching Habit, a best selling coaching book that’s sold over 1.2 million copies world wide, Michael is back on The Melting Pot once more to talk about how you can figure out what that thing is you want to do, and then how you stop procrastinating so you can go and have an impact. Having handed over the reins of Box of Crayons, a learning and development company, Michael has had to find his own worthy goal, and in this episode he shares how he stepped away from Box of Crayons, how to find your purpose, and the key elements of what makes a worthy goal. To hear all this and more, download and listen today. Book recommendations Super-Infinite - Katherine Rundell On today’s podcast:
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| E214 | How to Think Differently About Compensation with Verne Harnish | 27 Sep 2022 | 00:47:39 | |
How do you think about compensation in your organisation? In this episode of The Melting Pot, Verne Harnish, a world-leading expert, speaker, author, and entrepreneur in the field of business growth, shares his recent research into how different organisations tackle compensation. Having founded the Entrepreneurs' Organisation in 1987, Verne’s also the Founder and CEO of Scaling Up, as well as author of Scaling Up, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, and co-author of The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time, for which Jim Collins wrote the foreword. But it’s his latest book, Scaling Up Compensation, a short read at just over 100 pages, that Verne is discussing here. In this book, he explores over 100 case studies to help you move top and bottom lines by hundreds of percent, just by tweaking your existing comp plan. While the case studies aren’t there for you to copy, let them inspire and guide you in how you can take compensation and make it work for you, so you can attract and retain the best possible talent you can afford, so you can build the best team money can buy for your organisation. This is a fabulous conversation, download and listen now. On today’s podcast:
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| E321 | Mastering the Art of Business Exits with Nick Bradley | 05 Nov 2024 | 00:47:49 | |
Summary In this conversation, Nick Bradley - world-renowned author, speaker, and business growth expert - shares his insights on private equity, business exits, and the common myths and mistakes entrepreneurs make when preparing to sell their businesses. He emphasises the importance of leadership, understanding the dynamics of private equity, and the need for businesses to focus on growth and valuation strategies. Nick also discusses the impact of customer concentration on business value and the transition from being a business owner to an investor. Throughout the conversation, he highlights the significance of personal growth, defining success, and the role of culture in scaling businesses. Finally, Nick offers book recommendations that can aid entrepreneurs on their journey. Takeaways
Chapters (00:00) The Importance of Recording Interviews (02:57) Navigating Private Equity and Exits (05:56) Common Myths and Mistakes in Exiting Businesses (08:53) The Role of Leadership in Business Growth (12:00) Understanding Private Equity Dynamics (15:06) Valuation and Growth Strategies for Businesses (18:03) The Impact of Customer Concentration on Value (21:01) Preparing for a Successful Exit (24:04) The Transition from Business Owner to Investor (27:00) The Evolution of Business Owners (29:56) The Role of Culture in Scaling Businesses (32:50) Defining Success and Personal Growth (35:52) The Next Act After Exiting a Business (38:59) Book Recommendations for Entrepreneurs (42:07) Quickfire Questions with Nick Bradley Mentioned in this episode: Get Mind Your F**king Business | |||
| E213 | How to Attract & Capture the Attention of A-Players on LinkedIn with Donna Serdula | 20 Sep 2022 | 00:42:12 | |
In this incredibly tight labour market where the power well and truly sits in the job seekers’ hands, how can you optimise your LinkedIn profile so that you make yourself (and your company) more attractive to A-players and job seekers? Don’t miss Donna Serdula, author of LinkedIn Profile Optimization for Dummies, and founder of LinkedIn specialist firm LinkedIn-Makeover, on this week’s episode of The Melting Pot. What should you do as a company? More specifically, what should you do as individual leaders and hiring managers to try and make it more likely that candidates, prospects, even partners, find you and connect with you on LinkedIn? Donna details how people should be thinking about this. She shares what you as an individual leader, a CEO, should be doing. How often should you post? Should you put hashtags on? If you do, which ones? Should you share content that's already on the LinkedIn platform? Or try to get people to connect to content off the platform? To find out all this and more, download and listen to this episode today. On today’s podcast:
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| E212 | How to Transition your Culture as you Scale your Organisation with Darrin Jahnel | 13 Sep 2022 | 00:51:42 | |
If you’ve grown your organisation and you’re now at the point where you don’t quite remember everyone’s name, and the coffee cups aren’t being stacked in the dishwasher, perhaps it’s time to reassess your company culture. To share how they’ve transitioned their culture as the organisation has grown to just over 150 people in 6 years, is co-founder and CEO of Jahnel Group, Darrin Jahnel. In this episode, Darrin explains why they’ve moved away from an executive team to implementing an extended leadership team, why he’s maniacal about company culture, and why they believe they've cracked the code on hybrid working. He also talks about inclusion, how he’s got people to show up to work being their authentic selves, as well as a fantastic metric for how many culture drivers per employee you need in your business. So, to learn more about how to transition your culture as you grow, download and listen today. On today’s podcast:
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| E211 | Why Your Organisation Needs Systemic Change, Not Individual Change with Michael Cahill | 06 Sep 2022 | 00:55:15 | |
Do you have a problem with the free flow of energy in your organisation? Perhaps you’ve been replacing individuals who aren’t performing only to find that their replacements are also not bringing in the results. Then you need to listen to Michael Cahill, author, trainer, coach and facilitator at MarketMatters. Michael blends a rich and deep knowledge of NLP (neuro linguistic programming), Systemic Coaching and Constellations with his considerable experience of business and investment, to inspire change, growth and transformation within organisations. In this episode, Michael explains systemic coaching, his energy model, and how making decisions with the right energy can make all the difference in your organisation. He also discusses how you build a business, what leadership looks like, how you make decisions, and how you become more strategic. To learn more, download and listen today. Book recommendations
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| E210 | Why Leading from the Heart is Better for Business with Mark C Crowley | 30 Aug 2022 | 00:52:12 | |
Leading from the heart is the secret to high performing teams and financial success, says leadership speaker, consultant, change agent for workplace engagement and culture, and author of ‘Lead From The Heart’, Mark C Crowley. Mark has spent 25 years leading teams in the financial services industry to record breaking sales and profitability performance by focussing his leadership on the most authentic driver of human engagement - emotional connection. In this, The Great Resignation, demonstrating to employees that you not only care about them, but value them and trust them, is one of the best ways to retain them. Simple, heart felt reciprocity, Mark found, is what is required for employees to not just excel, but routinely exceed expectations. So, how do you lead from the heart? How do you connect with employees and redefine your employee proposition? In this episode of The Melting Pot, Mark reveals why he advocates for leading from the heart, he shares a few simple ways that leaders can lead from the heart, and explains why, 11 years on, the Second Edition of his book is coming out. Book recommendations Swami Yogananda - The Autobiography of a Yogi Zoe Chance - Influence is Your Superpower On today’s podcast:
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| E209 | How to Hack Growth Marketing with Kurve Founder & CEO, Oren Greenberg | 23 Aug 2022 | 00:51:10 | |
If you’re struggling with your marketing efforts, or you’re concerned that what you’re doing isn’t working, or is a waste of time and money, then don’t miss Oren Greenberg, founder and CEO of Kurve, a digital marketing agency, on this episode of The Melting Pot. Now, Oren may specialise in search marketing, but he splits his time between getting companies to rank in Google, and being a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer with FTSE 250 companies such as Canon, Investec Bank, Lenovo & HomeServe, and supporting a number of the world's fastest scale-ups. So, if you’re looking to hack growth marketing in your business, if you’re wondering where to spend your money - distribution or content, if you’re unsure about Account Based Marketing, if you don’t know where to start with building your marketing tech stack or even your marketing team, download and listen to this episode. On today’s podcast:
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| E208 | How to Do Hard Things in a Human Way with Rasmus Hougaard | 16 Aug 2022 | 00:46:55 | |
If you struggle to have difficult conversations then you aren’t alone. According to Rasmus Hougaard, founder and CEO of global research, leadership development and consulting firm, Potential Project, only one in 100 of us are naturally wired to be able to give difficult feedback the right way, instinctively. “You really have to step up if you want to lead people and learn how to do the hard things. Because it's the most compassionate and kind thing you can do. Everything else is indecent, period.” Rasmus and the team at Potential Project have spent the last three years undertaking a huge research project to find out just how CEOs and leaders do hard stuff with humanity. In this episode, Rasmus shares why he learned the art of mindfulness in Buddhist monasteries not just as a way of driving employee wellness, but actually driving leadership behaviours. He also explains why, if we care deeply about people, it's on us to be direct and to give them the feedback they need to grow to be the best version of themselves that they can be. To find out more about the four behaviours Rasmus and the team uncovered, to create more trust, psychological safety, and improve performance in your individual employees, your teams, and the culture, download and listen to this episode. Book recommendations The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying - Sogyal Rinpoche On today’s podcast:
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| E207 | Why Positive Psychology is for Everyone with Dr Vikki Barnes | 09 Aug 2022 | 00:44:45 | |
How do you get people to bring their authentic selves to work? By building a culture of psychological safety in the workplace, says clinical psychologist, Dr Vikki Barnes. With 10 years working in the NHS delivering psychology services to patients with mental health issues under her belt, and designing and leading the national wellbeing programme across the Virgin Group, Vikki subsequently set up her own business called Positive Wellbeing. With Positive Wellbeing, she tries to bring the science of clinical psychology of positive psychology to those organisations she works with and tries to help them get the best from their people. In this episode, Vikki discusses the Google programme Project Aristotle, how you can build psychological safety in the workplace, how to get people into flow, and how you can get people to be authentic and bring their best selves to work. So, to learn how you can implement positive psychology in your workplace, download and listen to The Melting Pot today. Book recommendations On today’s podcast:
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| E206 | How to Design a Conducive Culture for the Modern Workplace with Gustavo Razzetti | 02 Aug 2022 | 00:48:45 | |
How can you help your team to do the best work of their lives? By building a conducive culture that allows them to thrive. Gustavo Razzetti is a sought-after speaker, culture consultant, and author of three books. He realised that most companies don’t lack ideas, resources, or talent, but rather an advantageous culture. And so he created Fearless Culture, a workplace culture consulting firm, to help organisations become purpose-driven, agile, and innovative. He’s also the creator of the Culture Design Canvas, a culture mapping tool used by consultants, coaches, and organisations worldwide. On this episode of The Melting Pot, Gustavo discusses the book he wrote during the pandemic, Remote Not Distant, which takes the concept of deliberately designing a culture and applying it to a new normal hybrid workplace. Because how do you design a culture that helps everyone thrive when not everybody is office based? Download and listen to find out. Book recommendations: Insight: The Power Of Self-Awareness In A Self-Deluded World - Tasha Eurich On today’s podcast:
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| E205 | How to Become a Hidden Champion with Hermann Simon | 26 Jul 2022 | 00:54:13 | |
Do you aspire for your company to become a Hidden Champion? Hidden champions are what businessman and bestselling author, Hermann Simon, describes as medium-sized, unknown companies with annual revenues under $5 billion that have quietly, under the radar, become world market leaders in their respective industries. Having previously written about hidden champions in his bestselling book, Hidden Champions, Hermann now explores China’s continued impact on the business world since its meteoric rise in the global business and economic sphere in recent years. While the main focus of Hermann’s research is on companies in German-speaking countries, because they comprise 56% of the world’s hidden champions, their success factors can be applied globally to any mid-sized companies as they strive to become global market leaders. “The takeaway is to go really deep, find something you can really be the best in the world, that will drive your profit margin. It will drive a strategic moat around your business. You can be world famous in your niche.” So, whether your company is a “Hidden Champion”, or aspires to be one, don’t miss Hermann on this week’s episode of The Melting Pot. On today’s podcast:
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| E204 | How to Launch into the US as a European Tech Business with Daniel Glazer | 19 Jul 2022 | 00:44:25 | |
If you’re thinking about targeting the US market with your startup or to scale up business, do you have a US expansion plan? Don’t miss Daniel Glazer, an American technology lawyer and strategic business adviser, and founding partner of Wilson Sonsini’s London office on this episode. If you’re confused as to why you would need legal support so early in the process, Daniel explains the difference between hiring a lawyer in the UK and hiring a lawyer in the US, in particular why having lawyers attached to companies is a much more strategic decision in the early life of a US business. But mostly what Daniel talks about in this latest episode of The Melting Pot is US expansion - M&A, moving your HQ to the US, raising money in the US, or wanting to do an IPO on one of the stock exchanges in North America. Honestly, nobody knows more about how to launch into the US as a European technology business than Daniel. So if the US is where you’re heading, download and listen to this episode. Book recommendations On today’s podcast:
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| E320 | How to Win the War on Talent & Get Through Any Crisis with Jade Green | 29 Oct 2024 | 00:44:09 | |
Summary In this conversation, Jade Green discusses sustainable business growth through effective recruitment strategies. She emphasises the importance of understanding client needs, creating attractive job descriptions, and nurturing new hires. The discussion also covers the significance of company culture, purpose, and values in attracting and retaining top talent. Jade shares insights on the war for talent, interviewing techniques, and the ideal recruitment process, along with recommended readings for further understanding of these concepts. Takeaways
Chapters (00:00) Introduction to Sustainable Business Growth (02:53) The War for Talent (05:47) Understanding Client Needs in Recruitment (09:04) The Importance of Job Descriptions (11:55) Recruitment Challenges and Solutions (15:08) Interviewing Techniques for Success (18:01) Creating an Attractive Employer Brand (20:54) Executive Recruitment Strategies (24:10) The Ideal Recruitment Process (26:54) Nurturing New Hires (30:03) Defining Purpose, Mission, and Values (32:57) The Role of Culture in Recruitment (36:10) Recommended Reading for Recruitment Success About Jade Green As a transformational teacher, best selling author, global speaker, and adventurer, Jade has built an international reputation as a hard-charging, rule-breaking, serial entrepreneur and high performance coach. As a certified trainer and facilitator for Mindvalley and The Genius Group (Entrepreneur Resorts/Entrepreneurs Institute/GeniusU), Jade combines world class content and methodologies with two decades of experience building businesses. Among other accolades, she has been honoured as one of StartUp Daily's Top 50 Women Entrepreneurs Under 40, received two Bronze International Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and her Search Firm, Velocity Consulting, was the very first business to receive investment from The Entourage Growth Fund. Follow Jade Green Mentioned in this episode: Get Mind Your F**king Business | |||
| E203 | Smart Growth Leadership and Personal Disruption with Whitney Johnson | 12 Jul 2022 | 00:45:01 | |
The fundamental unit of growth in any organisation is the individual. The more you understand about how to respond to your own deep longing to grow, the greater your capacity to grow your people, to grow your organisation, says Whitney Johnson, co-founder of tech-enabled talent development company, Disruption Advisors. Disruption Advisors supports people and organisations through coaching, training, and technology, empowering innovation through disruption. Whitney’s latest book, Smart Growth, explains if you grow your people, you grow your company. In this episode of The Melting Pot, Whitney talks about the S curve model and what it means to you as an individual, how to start one, how to envisage it, how to get up when you might get stuck. And by way of as an example, we use Whitney's personal journey along her own S curve of public speaking. So, if you’re looking to grow your organisation, your team, or individually, download and listen to Whitney today. Book recommendations: Anti Time Management - Richie Norton On today’s podcast:
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| E202 | What Do You Need to Do Your Best Work? with David Lancefield | 05 Jul 2022 | 00:54:20 | |
What do you need to do your best work? That is the question David Lancefield strives to find the answer for with his clients in his role as CEO catalyst, strategist and coach. What does that mean? It means David works with CEOs, senior professionals and executives, helping them become more extraordinary, by focusing on strategy, innovation, leadership and culture. In this episode of The Melting Pot, David talks us through how a new leadership team comes together and gets to agree on the way forward, how and why M&A or creating new teams works and doesn't work, as well as sharing how leaders can set priorities, i.e. how do you bring a team together to agree on the few things that the team needs to do? This is a fascinating episode packed full of insights, so grab a pen and paper and listen. Book recommendations: On today’s podcast:
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| E201 | How to Change Brains, Minds and Culture with David McRaney | 28 Jun 2022 | 01:00:24 | |
How can you change someone’s mind? Don’t miss David McRaney, a science journalist fascinated with brains, minds, and culture, explain all in this podcast. In this episode, David, author of three books, discusses his latest book ‘How Minds Change’. He lifts the lid on how people who believe in flat Earth come to believe in flat Earth; how people who are anti vaxxers come to have that as their belief system; as well as explain the Dunning Kruger effect. Why are these insights relevant to the modern workplace? Because the results of these studies have far reaching implications, including how you hold your management team meetings, your all hands meeting, how you hire, how you might want to hire to avoid bias, as well as overcome the heuristics that are in place that make you make snap decisions on people. This is a fantastic episode, we’re sure you’ll enjoy it as much as we did. On today’s podcast:
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| E200 | The Impact of Hybrid Work on Employees and Employers with Peter Cappelli | 21 Jun 2022 | 00:46:13 | |
What does the future of your office look like? Are all of your employees back to work yet? Or do you have a hybrid approach to working? That’s the question today’s guest, Peter Cappelli, Professor of Management at Wharton School, and director of Wharton's Centre for Human Resources, has been researching. Why do we go to offices and what don’t we like about them? In the wake of the pandemic, our thoughts around offices have changed dramatically, with more employees than ever before keen to adopt a hybrid approach to work. But having zero offices and fully remote staff simply doesn’t benefit employers (or employees), yet according to the Financial Times, the UK is one of the last countries where offices have returned to ‘normal’, so what gives? In this latest episode of The Melting Pot, Peter shares his thoughts on AI, the decline in employee training, and why it’s so hard to hire in the current market. On today’s podcast:
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| E199 | How to Create Value Based Strategy with Felix Oberholzer-Gee | 14 Jun 2022 | 00:50:06 | |
Are you struggling to create a simple strategy for your business? Then don’t miss Felix Oberholzer-Gee, faculty member at Harvard Business School in the Strategy Unit, and author of the recent book on strategy: Better, Simpler Strategy, on this week’s episode of The Melting Pot. In Felix’s new book, he shows readers how to create value based strategy with their service or product. Not in the sense of making customers or employees happy, but in so much as - creating a product or service that delivers so much value, people are willing to pay more for it. The simple truth of the matter, says Felix, is that business and financial success boils down to imagination. Finding new ways to serve your customers or employees better will always yield better business results. But it’s amazing how many businesses have forgotten this simple strategy in their quest to be successful. So, if you’re overthinking your business strategy, or you think you have no place to think strategically, think again. To find out more, download and listen to this latest episode. Book recommendationsOn today’s podcast:
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| E198 | The Jobs Only the CEO Should Do, with Anthony Rose | 07 Jun 2022 | 00:56:01 | |
If your business is struggling to innovate, or is in fact resisting innovation all together, then don’t miss Anthony Rose, founder and CEO of SeedLegals on this week’s episode of The Melting Pot. Who better to learn from about how to incorporate, raise funds and grow your business, than the founder of the startup that one in six of all early-stage startups in the UK are using in their funding rounds. Widely known as “The man behind BBC iPlayer”, Anthony ran the iPlayer and other BBC services from 2007 to 2010, taking the iPlayer from pre-launch to a major success story. In this episode, Anthony talks about the jobs that only the CEO should do, including the CEO’s role in innovation, building company culture, getting to product market fit, and why, when you’ve got product market fit, the most important job of a CEO is to then manage culture. This is a truly insightful episode and a must listen for all leaders of startups looking to grow and build their companies. Book recommendations: The Mom Test - Rob Fitzpatrick History of Western Philosophy - Bertrand Russell On today’s podcast:
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| E197 | Why Redesigning your Business Structure will Help you Scale with Lex Sisney | 31 May 2022 | 00:49:48 | |
Are you a mid to late ‘nail it’ stage business, trying to scale your company? Then you don’t want to miss Lex Sisney, business coach and author of Organizational Physics, on this week’s episode of The Melting Pot. Organizational Physics might be an odd title for a book, but it’s memorable, and it explains the repeatable systems that all organisations have difficulties with. But more importantly, it teaches readers how to overcome their issues by redesigning their organisation’s structure. Rather than thinking in terms of hierarchy, or thinking about your business’ org chart, Lex advises clients to think about things that need to be done in the short term and things that need to be done in the long term. Because there are things that have to be effective, and things that have to be efficient to scale a business. So, if you’re looking for guidance about how to scale your business, or you need a new way to look at your organisational design, then this is a conversation you’ll want to listen to. Book recommendations
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| E196 | How to Scale your Business with booking.com Founder, Jeff Hoffman | 24 May 2022 | 00:50:09 | |
If you’re looking for advice on how to grow and scale your startup or business, then don’t miss Jeff Hoffman, founder of booking.com, award-winning global entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, bestselling author, and Hollywood film producer on this week’s episode of The Melting Pot. Jeff has been an entrepreneurial CEO from the second day he joined university. He got kicked out of Yale University because he couldn’t pay the tuition fees and started a business on his second day of school to pay for his college education. You might have heard of his little venture… booking.com (priceline.com in the US). Jeff has recently put pen to paper and written down the seven principles for growing a business in his book, SCALE: Seven Proven Principles to Grow Your Business and Get Your Life Back. In this episode of The Melting Pot, Jeff talks about the importance of mindset, why CEOs need to get out of the way, and what the role of a CEO really is. So grab a pen and paper now, this is a truly insightful podcast, you’ll want to take notes. On today’s podcast:
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| E195 | The Importance of Business Continuity with Smartsourcing CEO & founder, Mike Selfe | 17 May 2022 | 00:34:05 | |
Think your organisation is too small to outsource processes? Think again, says CEO and founder of Smartsourcing, Mike Selfe. If you feel like your team’s time could be better spent elsewhere then don’t miss Mike explaining how Smartsourcing supports small businesses. Founded in 2015, Smartsourcing, a purpose led, business process outsourcing (BPO) organisation based out of Cebu, Philippines, has been growing 100% year on year, with 350 staff now on their books. In this insightful episode, Mike discusses how they handle the challenge that significant growth brings, how they tackle recruitment challenges, and what it takes and what it looks like to be awarded Great Place to Work certification. Finally, he reveals how Smartsourcing has managed business continuity following a natural disaster - just 24 hours after Cebu was devastated by the Typhoon Odette, MIke and a skeleton team were back ‘at work’ the next day. So, if you’re looking for a way to maximise your team’s productivity and efficiency, listen today to find out more about how business process outsourcing (BPO) could help your small businesses. On today’s podcast:
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| E194 | The Evolution of the Professional Services Sector with Ray D’Cruz | 10 May 2022 | 00:37:11 | |
If you’re in the legal, accounting or professional services sector and you’re looking to harness the intelligence and creativity of your partners and employees through performance management, don’t miss Ray D’Cruz, CEO of Performance Leader, a consulting and software for professional services firms, on The Melting Pot. In this episode, Ray shares why firms should consider moving away from the annual performance review for partners and employees, to a more 360 review, incorporating client feedback and behavioural and project based feedback. He discusses why prioritising leadership is vital in remote or hybrid organisations, why purpose is more important than ever before, and how nudge tools can benefit everyone. So, if you’re wondering how to leverage performance and feedback software in your professional services firm, download and listen today. On today’s podcast:
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| E319 | From Know-It-Alls to Learn-It-Alls with Dan Pontefract | 22 Oct 2024 | 00:54:10 | |
Summary In this conversation, Dan Pontefract discusses his journey as a leadership strategist, focusing on the importance of emotional intelligence, culture change, and the impact of nurturing curiosity within organisations. He shares insights from his experience at TELUS, where he helped transform the corporate culture and introduced innovative programs like the TELUS MBA. The discussion emphasises the need for a unified leadership philosophy and the significance of treating employees with kindness and respect to foster a thriving workplace. In this conversation, Dominic Monkhouse reflects on the evolution of corporate culture and leadership, emphasising the importance of emotional intelligence, collaboration, and a unified purpose within organisations. He discusses the identity crises faced by companies like Starbucks and Wells Fargo, highlighting the need for leaders to foster a culture of learning and development. Dominic also shares insights from his books and recent readings, advocating for a more human-centric approach to leadership and work-life dynamics. Takeaways
Chapters (00:00) Building Bridges: The Journey Begins (03:14) Leadership Strategies: Transforming Organizations (05:54) Culture Change: Lessons from TELUS (09:11) The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership (11:52) Learned Helplessness: A Barrier to Growth (14:47) Nurturing Curiosity: The Key to Engagement (18:07) Creating a Unified Culture: The TELUS Leadership Philosophy (20:53) Measuring Success: Engagement and Performance Metrics (27:04) Reflecting on Leadership and Culture (29:00) The Identity Crisis of Corporations (31:22) The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership (33:42) Collaboration and Constructive Conflict (35:59) The Shift from Know-it-alls to Learn-it-alls (39:54) The Role of Leaders in Team Development (40:50) Exploring the Books of Dominic Monkhouse (44:30) Navigating Work-Life Dynamics (46:51) Recent Reads and Inspirations (49:39) Quickfire Questions and Insights About Dan Pontefract Dan is an award-winning author, leadership strategist, culture change expert, and renowned keynote speaker. His books and keynotes are a great starting point for transforming your team or corporate culture into a competitive advantage. His five books include WORK-LIFE BLOOM, LEAD. CARE. WIN., OPEN TO THINK, THE PURPOSE EFFECT, and FLAT ARMY. WORK-LIFE BLOOM won the 2024 Axiom Business Book Gold Medal in the Leadership Category and is one of the Thinkers50 Top New Management Books for 2024. LEAD. CARE. WIN. won the 2022 Nautilus Book Awards Silver Medal in the Leadership/Business category. It was a short-list finalist for the 2021 getAbstract International Book of the Year. OPEN TO THINK won the 2019 getAbstract International Book of the Year and the 2019 Axiom Business Book Silver Medal winner in the Leadership Category. Dan has presented at four different TED events and also writes for Forbes and Harvard Business Review. Previously as Chief Envisioner and Chief Learning... | |||
| E193 | What it Takes to Build an Organisation’s Culture with James L Heskett | 03 May 2022 | 00:51:12 | |
Do your employees love your business? asks James L Heskett, UPS Foundation Professor Emeritus at Harvard Business School and author of Win from Within. Because if your employees don’t love your company, your customers won’t love it either. In Win from Within, James argues about the importance of building organisational culture for competitive advantage. Having spent 30 years on this journey, his latest book is about busting myths and shattering beliefs around what it takes to build an organisation's culture. Why is your company culture so important? Because, argues James, if you need to attract customers, then you need to have great employees. And to attract great employees, you need to have a great environment that encourages them to come join you and to stay the course. In fact, the most amazingly successful businesses, says James, are those who have at their heart the trifecta of employee engagement, customer engagement, and sales, growth and profit levels for the investor. Does yours? To find out more, download and listen to this episode today. On today’s podcast:
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| E192 | How to Try a New Way of Thinking with Roger Martin | 26 Apr 2022 | 00:52:31 | |
If you’ve found that the way your organisation does things isn’t working for you any more, rather than flogging a dead horse, why not try a new way of thinking? In this episode of The Melting Pot, Roger L Martin, author, advisor, speaker, and one of the world’s top business thinkers, shares how he turned Canadian Tennis around, as well how he took the Rotman School of Management and transformed it into Canada’s #1 business school, on a limited budget. Now when company leaders come to him for help, his response is to first break the spell of their current way of thinking. But how can you transform your way of thinking? Download and listen to this insightful episode to find out more. On today’s podcast:
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| E191 | What it Takes to Become a Great CEO with Scott Keller | 19 Apr 2022 | 00:51:27 | |
Having travelled to every country in the world, Scott Keller, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, New York Times best selling author of Beyond performance 2.0 and CEO Excellence, was looking for a new challenge. And he found it during lockdown. Along with his fellow authors, he sought to uncover what makes the best CEOs of this century the best. They combined extensive quantitative analysis with in-depth interviews with today’s top CEOs to understand what sets exceptional leaders apart. And they found the best CEOs have to master six core things to become great. Because, and Scott uses the analogy of Ashton Eaton, the greatest decathlete of all time here - no decathlete is the best 100 metre runner in the world or the best Javelin thrower, they have to not suck at anything, while being amazing at everything. In this episode of The Melting Pot, Scott shares the methodology they used to narrow down their list of CEOs from 7,800 to the 67 they interviewed, before discussing the six things they found were the core of every great CEO. On today’s podcast:
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