Leadership Advice
“Go see, ask why, show respect.” The words of Toyota chairman Fujio Cho have become renowned as the basic lean principles on which to build and run a large business but what does this mean for small to medium-sized Australian businesses? The concept here revolves around the importance of business leaders getting up from their desks […]
It’s not always easy to take up a CEO role. It can be easier if no one liked your predecessor. It can be harder if you’re taking over from the founder and harder still if the founder is still in the business. The nature of the challenge depends somewhat on the stage at which the […]
How many times have you heard little boys described as “strong”, while the same behaviour in a little girl would be called “bossy”? Or a male CEO described as “determined or smart” while a female demonstrating the same business acumen would be called “calculating or shrewd”? There’s no escaping the fact that we are all […]
Over the past 10 years, we’ve seen AirBnB become the largest accommodation provider with no properties, Uber become the largest taxi company with no cars and Alibaba become the largest retailer with no stock. Tesla, which is changing the rules of the game in the automotive industry, is led by someone with no industry experience […]
The days of the CFO sitting in the corner office counting beans are long gone. No longer just the most senior accountant, today we look to our finance leaders to embrace digital technologies and use data analytics to drive consistent and measurable growth for our business. Modern CFOs are increasingly expected to be key drivers of […]
“Motivation” is the snake oil of modern society. These days, it seems like every half-decent public speaker and author is shelling out advice on staying motivated, kicking goals and winning at life as though there’s a simple formula that the rest of us are too foolish to grasp. It’s not that simple. The Tony Robbins(s) […]
It’s a familiar tale: a small business gets off to a flying start…and then growth stalls. Sales plateau, staff morale falls and the company’s leader feels frustrated at his or her seeming inability to take things to the next level. Often, this is caused by the leader’s failure to adjust their leadership approach from a directive […]
“Getting an audience is hard. Sustaining an audience is hard. It demands a consistency of thought, of purpose, and of action over a long period of time.” (Bruce Springsteen) Bruce Springsteen, aka The Boss, has been making music now for more than five decades. He’s run a pretty tight ship over that time with his […]
Have you started 2017 struggling to get your staff involved in process improvement initiatives? If so, you’re not alone. Businesses in virtually every industry wrestle with how to engage teams in efforts to improve business processes and then, once they do get them involved, how to sustain the momentum. The good news is that employees […]
Women who want to rise to executive roles, start their own business, or gain more credibility and confidence at work should not overlook a Master of Business Administration (MBA), as it can offer benefits that can otherwise be difficult to gain. Recently, women have risen to make up more than 40 per cent of business […]
Countless studies have shown that happiness leads to more success, increased productivity and overall workplace wellbeing in companies. However most workplaces are focused on success rather than happiness. The approach to creating a successful company needs to be flipped on its head to be successful. Instead of purely focusing on success and reaching targets, we […]
How do you generate a chorus of support from business owners? Simple. When we all agree that business success is predicated on finding the right people with the right skills who are the right fit for our individual business culture. We know that the process of recruitment is the single most important function for business […]
When reviewing the financial performance of a business, the primary measure I look at is Return on Capital Employed (ROCE). ROCE not only measures the profitability of a business but also the efficiency with which its capital is employed. In Laymen’s terms, ROCE works out how much bang for your buck you’re getting out […]
As a CEO, you’ll have to know a lot about the critical nature in supply chain management and how it affects the bottom line of a company. There are a lot of ways to make it better and increase the connection between CEO duties and supply chain management. Many companies over the past decades have […]
With the Olympics still fresh in memory and our football codes now into the finals, people start using sporting metaphors to push their perspective on personal efficacy, development and leadership (and, yes, the irony of that is not lost on me!). Sporting heroes are examined in their approach, application, performance, support, bearing, attitude and every […]
Home-grown Business Management Systems (BMS) provider, Holocentric has outbid larger international companies for tenders in Australia by harnessing the strengths of being a smaller operation and eliminating, where possible, the need to go head-to-head with better-resourced competitors, according to its CEO, Bruce Nixon. The tech company, which has offices in Sydney and Canberra, has worked […]
‘Corrine’ is a hard worker who consistently smashes her KPIs. Over time, she becomes invaluable to her employer, who rewards her by promoting her to a position of authority. It’s a well-deserved win – simply put, she’s the best person for the job. Corrine, however, doesn’t agree. She believes she has tricked her way into the C-suite and […]
With IT teams largely responsible for its success, digital transformation has plunged IT professionals into the spotlight – for all the right reasons. You have to hand it to IT professionals. They keep critical systems running with limited resources, they configure networks like it’s no big deal, and they are often the first to recognise […]
New research by NRMA Business Insurance[1] shows the majority of small business owners believe the emotional benefits of running their own business outweigh the financial return. The NRMA Insurance Business Owner Sentiment Study (BOSS) surveyed more than 1,000 small business owners and found they rated being the boss (66%), work flexibility (63%) and the sense […]
This year I’ve been vocal on why leadership is failing in Australia. In my recent interview with Dynamic Business, I drew a sharp contrast between fields of elite performance (such as sports, chess, science, music and the performing arts) and the mediocrity of business leadership. My thesis was a simple one. In these elite fields, […]
