Learning how to develop good strategy takes time. Most people get it wrong. In 2011 I was consulting to a technology investment fund. The job was to help founders of the investee companies to refine their plans and get moving. Strategy and execution work. From the fund’s perspective it was to derisk the investments and…
One of the challenges leaders face as they step up is the change in how they contribute to the team. There’s comfort in being part of the crew, and in the familiar old role. But the captain’s job is different. For me, staying in the comfort zone of the team created two problems: Helping the…
Wise Guides: The Secrets to Working Well with Advisors Navigating the leadership labyrinth can often feel like a solitary quest. However, even the most independent and skilled leaders recognise the value of advice in shaping their decisions and strategies. It can be lonely at the top. But the best leaders all have a carefully curated…
Assumptions and heuristics help us navigate and progress despite uncertainty. Relying on old maps can be high risk in accelerating and increasingly complex world. In systems engineering, assumptions and unknowns are identified, tested, and managed throughout the process. The goal is to understand and mitigate risks but not be paralysed by them. This is humility…
There are four fundamental areas of responsibility for leaders in every organisation. Three are essential, and one is the difference between good and great organisations. Purpose, Leadership, Strategy and Culture.
Leadership and strategy both hinge on accurate understanding, shaping and leveraging human motivations. What people say they want and what they actually do are often very different. Leaders must understand and manage this as enablers of progress and performance. But the first step is to start with the leader themself. What motivates people can be…
One of the most important processes in leadership is to set strategy. To put a finer point in it, the job requires the leader to set good strategy. Strategy matters because its purpose is to help create the future you desire.
Be humble. It’s a fundamental of all the ancient Cynic, Stoic and Taoist philosophy texts. Here’s my interpretation from the Tao te Ching. Avoid hubris. Be simple. Avoid overconfidence – your own and others’. Nothing is certain. No one can tell the future. No one knows everything. Leave room to be wrong. Preserve optionality. Don’t…
All progress turns on leadership and the luck experienced along the way. A leader’s choice is to be either a victim of circumstance or a creature of it.
Part II coming soon
Leadership is a complex dynamic system that enables people to progress. The four elements of the process are people, purpose, trust and value.
Firstly, I’m rounding down. It was actually closer to $3.5million. There are so many lessons from this loss about business, leadership, strategy and people. But the biggest lessons were what I learnt about myself and are now core to how I think today. So, setting the scene… In early 2008 I founded a business with…