Barnsdale Hall Hotel in Rutland provided the venue for a very different Academy Speaker Showcase this week. The format of the day grew out of feedback from The Academy's existing speaker community – Director of Speaker Development, Phil Jesson commented,

"One of The Academy's core values is to openly give and receive feedback, so we were keen to act upon feedback which suggested we could improve our communication channels with existing speakers."

The day had four objectives – to present an opportunity to network; to provide a platform for existing speakers to promote new products and topics; to foster a relationship where speakers and Academy chairmen work in partnership; and finally, to recognise this year's 'Speakers of the Year'.

"Two of our established speakers, Michael Tipper and John Cremer, provided excellent facilitation throughout the day. Opinions and views were openly discussed and worked on together towards some open solutions. There was a lot of good learning, particularly on how The Academy and its Chairmen are working with the speaker community." Concluded Phil.

Feedback from speakers included,

"A great day: enjoyable and instructive. I'm glad I came."
- Raymond Walley

"An excellent opportunity to build on old relationships and develop new."
- Molly Harvey

"Lots of good continuous feedback and suggestions from all sides."
- Rob Brown

Winners of the 2008 Speaker of The Year Awards were:

New Speaker of the Year:

Winner: Caspar Berry

Runner up: Ken Allison

Speaker of the Year:

Winner: Roger Martin-Fagg

Runner up: John Cremer

And Brian Chernett's Founders Award went to Nigel Risner
for a decade of service.

On collecting his award, Roger Martin-Fagg commented, "I am delighted to receive this accolade from such a demanding audience especially as my speciality is the dismal science! I am sure that Academy members are better prepared than most for the recession as a consequence of the sessions we have enjoyed together. Thank you all very much."

For details of the next speaker showcase, please email speaker@chiefexecutive.com.

Frank Taaffe, Business Director of Bailey Rail and Academy Group 42 member, recently delivered a fascinating presentation to his fellow group members on the design and build of Solais House, NG Bailey's new Scottish HQ.

Solais House showcases exactly how a commercially viable sustainability proposition can not only increase asset value and reduce running costs, but can also provide a great place for people to work. (Take a virtual tour of NG Bailey's new HQ >>)

Frank (pictured, left) commented further on the savings NG Bailey expect to realise over the 60 year life cycle of the building, "Various innovative ideas have been integrated into the building to cut down running costs. We believe that we will save £3.3m during the life of the building."

Cynics amongst you may well ask the question, 'but how much extra did it cost to implement all of these green initiatives?'. The answer is quite a surprise. Frank advises that a 'conventional' build would have cost around £800,000 less. Not a small sum - however, there are many grants available to offset this extra investment and with the massive long-term savings they bring, it's certainly worth considering some if not all of the innovative ideas implemented in Solais House.

Frank impressed upon his audience that this was not the first venture of this type for NG Bailey, "This is our third build. Our first was in Birmingham in 2003, followed by Reading in 2005. As an organisation, we're trying to consolidate our disparate locations – many of which are in old buildings where running costs and maintenance are a huge overhead. We've learnt from our previous projects. We do, of course, have the benefit of our own team of highly skilled engineers – and we designed and installed everything ourselves."

Yet Frank insists that an in-house team of experts, whilst an advantage, is not the main factor to consider. "A new office is a big investment for any organisation. The key is to have a clear understanding of what you want to begin with. A lot of people buy or develop a building and ask for all these separate schemes. It's expensive to put these in, but often they work against each other. So, start at day one by knowing what you want – for example, if you want to install a ground sourced heat pump, ensure you've made plans for this before your builder has dug the foundations!"

Some of the key elements of Solais House include:

• solar thermal heating
• PV glass
• intelligent building management system
• rainwater harvesting
• sun pipes
• maximum efficiency lighting
• ground source heat pump

Throughout the 20,000 m² building the clever use of air flow is adopted to help maintain optimum temperature levels (only a handful of meeting rooms have traditional air-con units). Most of the offices are open plan, the top sections of windows open & close automatically; there's a weather station on the roof with additional sensors inside. Blinds are sealed into each window and turn automatically to reduce glare and help maintain room temperature.

A combination of sunpipes providing natural light, together with energy efficient LCD lighting ensures that running costs remain low. And as you would expect, lighting and air-con units switch off automatically when the room is empty. All services are wireless, ensuring easy installation for future additions.

The system is monitored on NG Bailey's internal network and can be accessed by their engineers anywhere in country, indeed, it's even possible to fix some faults online.

Another surprising element is that the server room contains no air conditioning. Parrafin-based material inside the glass surrounding the room absorbs heat. This heat is repurposed at night for use elsewhere in the building.

All materials selected for the build were scrutinised for carbon footprint impact; all appliances are 'A' rated throughout the building and where possible, they've tried to use recycled materials. In fact, Solais House is the only commercial building to be awarded 'A' rated energy performance in Scotland.

Frank advises that as you approach Solais House, one of the first things you may notice is that the building is 'skewed'. This is intentional; it allows them to take advantage of south-facing light. The glass at the front of the building and surrounding the stairwell is made of small solar cells that create energy. This energy is then transferred to heat the domestic water supply. This, together with the solar units on the roof, are the only water heating sources for the entire building.

The use of a ground sourced heat pump provides heating for the building during the cold Scottish winter months. Rain water is harvested and used in WCs and for the pond feature at front of the building.

Even the carparking facilities have a green theme. Spaces closest to the building are for car-sharers only. Employees are actively encouraged to cycle to work – secure cycle parks are provided as well as showers and changing rooms.

Frank closed the presentation by summarising that businesses today need to focus on lowering their carbon footprint and this can be achieved by using energy efficient technology, reducing waste, using fewer resources and travelling efficiently:

"I see sustainability as meeting the needs of today without compromising those of the future. As a business, we can create quality space for our people with low environmental impact both now and for years to come".

ENDS
© The Academy for Chief Executives, November 2008

Employment angles: (legal tips from Ken Allison, an Academy speaker whose 'Your fired' presentation explodes the myths and anxieties about employment law with ice - involvement, challenge and entertainment).

Christmas cheer!

Recent research carried amongst 5000 employers showed that 80% had received grievances as a result of behaviour at Christmas parties. It would be a mistake to write this off as a large company phenomena, as the majority of respondents to the survey were probably from the SME sector (Peninsula Business Services, 2006).

Whether organised and sponsored by the company, or organised by staff themselves, behaviour at social events that are connected with work are your business.

In 1999 an Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled (Chief Constable of the Lincolnshire Police v Stubbs and others (1999 IRLR 81; EAT)) that even a drink in a pub after a day at work was 'merely an extension of work', and that an employer had constructively dismissed an employee by failing to take her grievance, about the behaviour of a male colleague, seriously.

It will be a matter of judgement as to how far you need to go, but here are a few tips to safeguard yourself against potentially expensive claims, and perhaps more importantly, ensure that staff get the respect they deserve:-

• If there have been previous incidents, then remind staff that the standards of acceptable behaviour at work also apply to social events that may be connected to work.

• You may not want to appear a 'kill joy', but if you have an equal opportunities policy, remind them that it applies to such events. If it does not already have a statement about 'out of hours' activities, you may want to add one.

• Set an appropriate tone yourself, people will be watching senior management to help them decide how to behave.

• Take care with 'free bars'. If they lead to excessive drinking, and then poor behaviour, you could find yourself guilty of contributory fault. In 1996 the Whitbread Beer Company (Williams and others v the Whitbread Company Ltd (CA; 19 June 1996)) was found to have unfairly dismissed three employees who threw beer around and engaged in a brawl at an event where the Company had provided free drinks. Amongst other things, the tribunal thought it unreasonable to dismiss them given the Company had created the situation.

• Treat any grievance seriously, and remember that if it is put in writing, the aggrieved has a statutory right to an invitation to a meeting, and an appeal against any decision.

• Excessive drinking is not an offence, but the behaviour arising from it may amount to gross misconduct.

• The fact that both parties had been drinking cannot be used as an excuse for poor behaviour.

• And finally, what about your responsibility for the behaviour of third parties such as the comedian you hire, or the 'strippergram' booked for the employee who is also having a birthday that night? If these activities cause offense (for instance of a sexual, racial or religious nature) you will probably be liable.

Happy Christmas!

Ken Allison
Paradigm Partners
www.paradigmpartners.co.uk

0161 928 3213

Stress is a topical subject because of the relevance to the current economic changes we are going through but it is still seen as a potentially negative experience with the resultant threat of illness. In reality, it is hugely valuable to understand stress and recognise that many people thrive on a modicum of tension and pressure for which life would really be quite dull without it!

To run a business or be involved in a senior position within it, we all have tensions and pressures. These are normal and everyday occurrences which mean we develop some resilience and appropriate skills to run a demanding task list and deal with multiple requirements.

Amongst the skills we learn, an added benefit would be to appreciate how our bodies deal with this pressure and add some simple jobs to the daily action plan that deal with the stress our lives create in us. If we can view the tasks that help reduce the impact of stress as important as the rest of our task list, then we have really accomplished something.

Effectively, we have a primitive reaction in our brain that is related to recognising any situation that may threaten us. Unable to tell the difference between a positive and negative situation because this is not relevant given the speed with which we may be called upon to react, adrenaline is pumped in to our bodies and quickly accelerates the relevant organs to give us the wherewithal to get out of trouble.

Our muscles therefore contract ready for action, our heart beats oxygen faster, the lungs bring the oxygen in and our brain sends multiple messages to ensure this all happens. The only organ very little used during this short-lived fight or flight response is our stomach which is why we have difficulty digesting any quantity of food at the time and why many of us suffer indigestion on a tense day.

These essential reactions describe a limited state of affairs and do little to provide us with a definition of stress. In the last ten years a better description has emerged. When the cumulative effect of pressure in our daily lives peaks unexpectedly due to unforeseen changes the 'demands' of our lives may now exceed our resources. This can happen at any time of the day and for any reason because our resources ebb and flow depending on whether we have had enough sleep, enough to eat, time to plan and act on our day and how good we are feeling about ourselves.

When the demands exceed our resources we can feel mildly to significantly overwhelmed, unable to think straight or make a good decision. It is this negative and uncomfortable state most of us associate more commonly with stress. Prolonged exposure to stress when our business is in trouble for example, stretches our resources still further resulting in frequent and lengthy bouts of difficulty in functioning well.

At the critical moment we are becoming stressed adrenaline is pumped in to enable us to fight or flight and our heart rate now changes. Although it's obvious that the rate increases it also moves out of a stable state in to chaos sending an electrical signal to the brain that has a radical and essential action on the frontal lobe.

The frontal lobe is the epicentre of our reasoning ability so instead of helping us to think straight it actually shuts it down – giving us a very quick D.I.Y. frontal lobotomy! We literally cannot think straight and no amount of talking to ourselves and further demanding that we 'calm down' so that we can think will help. All this does is send the heart rate further in to chaos and lengthen this out of control, impractical state of mind because it adds to the demands that are exceeding our current resources.

As Psychologists and stress practitioners we now know that the heart rather than the brain is actually the most essential organ during a busy stressful day. The most constructive way to put us back in to control and improve our ability to problem solve a situation therefore, is to slow our heart rate and return our frontal lobe to an effective state. We know that the way to do this is a very controlled form of rhythmical breathing. Although this sounds too good to be true it is a simple and very effective tool in our stress management kit bag. It is a quick fix for the problem but no less important for that because without knowing this we can effectively prolong our discomfort and that results in rapidly exhausting our adrenaline reserves and pumps a secondary stress hormone called Cortisol in to our bodies. This happens inside of 15 minutes from the exposure to the stressful event. The effect of Cortisol is to tense every muscle and organ ready for action so if we felt pressured before, we are now infinitely more likely to lose our temper, be decidedly grumpy and make errors that at best make us feel further annoyed and at worst may offend a key client or employee.

To understand stress is to understand effective performance. During my session where I teach the chemistry of stress I use a cardiac piece of equipment that registers your pulse and visually shows changes in heart rate depending on how rhythmical the breathing is. It is quite easy to teach someone to moderate their breathing pattern so that they learn to slow the electrical output of the heart and reach an optimum state. Cardiac coherence as this optimum state is called is where we are likely to perform at our best and yet senior Executives rarely reach this state in a day because they are too busy to breathe well!

I feel it is important to emphasise the value of monitoring how frequently Cortisol is pumped in to your body to help you handle situations in a day. Cortisol swells the muscles making them painful to the touch as if you've done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. This may sound a benefit but trying to sleep well with Cortisol in your body is asking for trouble as muscles that can't relax don't encourage restful sleep. Sleep is an extremely valuable stress management tool not just for the obvious reason that we recover and rest but because we manufacture a highly beneficial brain chemical called Serotonin at night. Serotonin regulates our mood, appetite and almost every other bodily function so it is essential to our well-being. Understanding how we make it, how much we need and how to preserve is a very beneficial process further enhancing our quick fix tool kit. Simple daily tasks such as going for a walk in the fresh air ease our muscles and stimulate a change in brain chemistry for the better. There is a lot we know now that can enhance our well-being and many of these tips are essential to our effective performance.

Apart from understanding how to manage our own stress it is useful to comprehend how our employees and loved ones cope with it too. The session covers how to recognise stress in others and the simple, constructive things we can make available to people both to benefit them and protect ourselves. It is a fact of life that people experience stress but it doesn't have to be at great cost to you or to your business.

To recap: adrenaline is a great boost to us; many of us thrive on it but it is easier to manage stress when we understand it and that puts us in control of situations, of ourselves and of our lives.

By Susan Firth
Business Psychologist

www.yourwhealth.com

Every day the news we hear suggests that the future for business is truly bleak. One thing is certain, if you do believe it, the future will be bleak.

There is an alternative. If you change your thoughts, you can change your beliefs to see that there are opportunities even in the bleakest times. You will discover what only the best leaders have discovered – that being positive opens you up to possibilities and can improve your outcomes.

Difficult times are when your leadership skill is truly tested and your ability to maintain a positive attitude and use all your creative and caring qualities can make a real difference.

If you take these 14 actions today and repeat them every day, you'll begin to see things differently.
I recommend it.

1. Only entertain positive thoughts
2. Maintain an attitude that exudes enthusiasm
3. Know your financial numbers and be realistic about cash
4. Do everything you know to bring cash in: clear old stock, collect debtors fast, reduce top salaries and bonuses if necessary
5. Start exporting - or increase your exports - as the exchange rate works in your favour
6. Creatively hold on to current customers by adding value to your product or service
7. Watch your competitors and when they fail, take or buy their business
8. Take the opportunity to improve your staff by ensuring they are all 10s
9. Set up internal teams to come up with exciting and creative new ideas
10. Wherever possible turn your fixed costs into variable costs - particularly salaries
11. Consider outsourcing as much of your expense budget as possible
12. Look at the possibility of licensing your product or service
13. Be very aware of your leadership style and ensure that it will deliver a positive and creative organisation
14. Join an external group that could bring some external wisdom to your challenges.

Do let me know how these ideas work for you when you put them into practice in your business. Share your thoughts publicly by clicking on "click here to leave your comment", below. Alternatively, email me at brian.chernett@chiefexecutive.com.

Article 13 are experts in business responsibility, typically in the areas of corporate social responsibility (CSR), sustainability and governance. Director Neela Bettridge with co-authors, Hélène Cooper and Milly Sinclair address the issue of 'Excelling in Changing Weather' and how companies can survive the storm and create opportunities for innovation.

It's stormy out there! A typhoon of global anxiety. The seemingly indestructible financial Systems are being swept away and banks are collapsing throughout the Western world. Everything is being buffeted by the flying rubble; public trust, share prices, housing market, Customer confidence; no one is unaffected.

What can companies do in the face of a storm?

Corporate Governance, at its heart, is about the health of the relationship between the company and the community it operates within, with a view of building trust. The current Crisis is about the collapse of trust. This is seen in the fury acted out by the US public, by Powerfully opposing a Bill that they perceived as a 'bailing out,' the, 'fat cats on the hill;' a system of corporate greed and incompetence.

This could be a stormy time for CSR teams. 'Will CSR survive the financial crisis?' is one of many questions asked in the world of CSR.' Non essentials are being slashed; therefore CSR teams that are not integrated within the business, profit and innovation of an organisation is inevitably under threat.

HOW TO SURVIVE IT

It is time for companies to build their organisation on rock rather than on sand.

It is time for CSR and Corporate Governance to take centre stage and become an integral and systemic part of business operations.

To rebuild depleted trust with their shareholders and the wider community, companies need to align Corporate Governance and CSR with their purpose, vision and strategy. The most innovative and inspiring organisations are going even further.

After much research and 10 years of experience in embedding innovation and CSR into organisations, Neela Bettridge, Hélène Cooper and Milly Sinclair have created a new and dynamic business model (http://www.article13.com/csr/services.asp) and 3 day Master Class that has been tailor made for now. They are also writing a book to support the model and its application.

The aim is to help companies to not only survive this storm, but use it to excel.

Contact :

Neela Bettridge
E: neelab@article13.com
T: 020 8840 4450

Read Article 13's research on the critical role coaching can play in the shift towards sustainable and profitable business >>

Good business leaders, like you, often feel very alone. Running a business is tough. Key decision making, company direction, clarity of strategy, personal development; it's a huge responsibility and it's entirely yours. Little wonder you're sometimes sleepless in the small hours or struggling to answer those really big questions.

Who can you turn to for totally impartial advice?

We'd like to share with you an example of the type speaker session you could experience every month as a member of The Academy for Chief Executives:

Members from experiential business learning group Academy Group 32 enjoyed a very timely and useful session on Stress Management with Sue Firth in November. In these times of great business uncertainty and insecurity (not say "fear") our organisations and the people within them are under elevated levels of stress: this was certainly true of the 11 Chief Executives in the room with Sue!

We learned 3 major signs to watch out for in ourselves and the people who work for us:

1. Sleeplessness, or an inability to switch-off (symptom of excess adrenaline in the body);
2. Digestion problems or loss of appetite (also a sign of excess adrenaline);
3. Stiff or painful neck/shoulders (indicating that our adrenaline reserves are used up and we are flooded with cortisol, which has a similar but even more aggressive effect upon our bodies/systems and causes the muscular pain).

These are the top 5 tips that I took away from Sue to deal with stress:

1. Build exercise into your routine (even light exercise helps use up the excess adrenaline). Works even better if taken outdoors during the daytime - see 4 below;
2. Build "me time" into the day (watching the news in the evening does not count!!);
3. Physical human contact is good: a massage is great for dealing with the cortisol;
4. Get plenty of sunlight (this builds up your serotonin which promotes feelings of happiness and positivity). If you spend much of time indoors, get a daylight lamp to give yourself a 15 minute blast each day;
5. Seek professional help if you are struggling to easily deal with the stress on your own.

To find out more about Sue Firth, visit her website at www.insight-psychology.co.uk

Peter Pritchett,
Chairman,
Academy Group 32

Good business leaders, like you, often feel very alone. Running a business is tough. Key decision making, company direction, clarity of strategy, personal development; it's a huge responsibility and it's entirely yours. Little wonder you're sometimes sleepless in the small hours or struggling to answer those really big questions.

Who can you turn to for totally impartial advice?

We'd like to share with you an example of the type speaker session you could experience every month as a member of The Academy for Chief Executives:

Jessica Richards (pictured, right) is the most frequently booked Academy speaker of all time according to the summaries we receive on a monthly basis. Listening to one of her very interactive workshops and participating in it, members of Surrey-based Academy Group 11 completely understood why this is the case.

Jessica is the epitome of professionalism and is completely painstaking in all of the detail that goes into her session on "Visions and Legacies - Beyond Goal-Setting". Her 30 minute session at the start to relax the members is hugely effective (in fact, a couple of members even nodded off!). Her methodology of taking the CEOs present down the timeline: five, ten, fifteen, twenty five and fifty years into the future is amazing. One of the members became quite emotional with this part of the workshop.

Huge importance is put on the value of intuition, i.e. "if it doesn't feel right, don't do it". Use the technique of looking back as a method for what you do in the future.

Jessica's method for relaxing is sensational and should be used by everyone. Walking the time line as a precursor to goal-setting is awesome. Map out a new pathway for yourself following on from what you dream about - turn this into a paradigm for the future.

In many cases, this confirmed the member's personal life plan and opened their eyes to the opportunity that lies ahead for them to use this same methodology with their employees. Have a bigger picture as a steady frame of reference, especially in uncertain times. Recognise employees who don't share your own values and prioritise your importance with working with those people.

"From the stand point of take-away value and as a precursor to goal-setting, this session is not only valuable, but in my opinion, essential before anyone sets out to create meaningful life goals. As always, this is a not-to-be-missed session."

Joe Adams,
Chairman,
Academy Group 11

Good business leaders, like you, often feel very alone.

Running a business is tough. Key decision making, company direction, clarity of strategy, personal development; it's a huge responsibility and it's entirely yours. Little wonder you're sometimes sleepless in the small hours or struggling to answer those really big questions.

Who can you turn to for totally impartial advice?

We'd like to share with you an example of the type speaker session you could experience every month as a member of The Academy for Chief Executives:

"Mind The Gap" is exactly what it says on the tin. Graeme Codrington's excellent session delivered to members of Academy Group 42 and LF9 recently was certainly thought provoking. It helped us to begin to identify exactly why Teenagers are indeed all Kevins! Graeme explained the different value sets that each generation have developed - often shaped by world events and changes during their childhood. He explained the preferred styles of communication for each generation and exactly why different generations can find it so hard to really co-exist in the same meeting, let alone the same office, or even within a family! Graeme highlights that Baby Boomers love to have meetings whilst Generation Xers prefer to text or email - no wonder we have communication breakdowns!

Graeme (pictured, right) also imparted real insight into the motivators for Generation X and how this generation are addicted to choice and to change - just so long as it is change that they are in control of. This generation love to keep their CVs warm, and he explained that we should aim to be a good-looking brand on their CV. They keep 'work' in a box and will not become workaholics!

Graeme's presentation really hit the spot for Academy for Chief Executives members. They identified some issues that they are currently facing involving a clash of ideas or difficulties of communication between two different generations within their workforce. The conversation ranged from tattoos to the new CEO of Microsoft to running better meetings. This richness and Graeme's video clips provided an amusing but also poignant presentation which was very thought provoking.

"Members would certainly invite him back for more."

Joanna Jesson,
Chairman,
Leaders Forum 9

"It has not only helped with business issues but also helped to explain some differences of opinion within our family lives too."

Phil Jesson,
Chairman,
Academy Group 42

When we get hit hard, it hurts. I wonder what the best way to deal with this pain is?

Some of us react angrily, with noisy indignation, all 'first position' talk and often blaming someone or something for this new reality. It could be the Government, the banks, the fat cats or it could even be our self that we blame.

At the other end of the spectrum, some of us just go quiet, we retreat into ourselves. The pain is just the same, but we internalise it. We even disguise it with our particular trade mark techniques: contrived joviality, refusal to discuss or acknowledge, mood swings and so on.

If this is a scale, I find myself somewhere in the middle, not externalising everything for everyone and anyone to see and hear. And I don't go quiet either.

Trouble is, that's no 'total solution' either, because however we choose to deal with something that affects everyone, like the global financial crisis, we also have to accommodate all those people who matter to us.

And they may do it differently.

I recently undertook a review of why people in my breakfast networking group are networking. The trigger was an underlying assumption from some people that all were there 'to get business' and that unless you were passing leads at every meeting, you weren't approaching networking in a businesslike way.

Like most people I know, I network to grow my business but that's not all there is to it. There are social and community reasons too and I was grateful to find that I was not alone in that belief. Other people around the table also found that Networking provided much more than direct business.

10 Personal Reasons for Networking

So, if networking is not about simply passing referrals, and I believe it is about much more, why network? I've put together an incomplete and personal list of 10 reasons.

To put your business 'out there'
Just by being in a meeting with others, you are reminded that the myth of building a better mousetrap and the world beating a path to you door is not just wrong, it is dangerously wrong. A business that is not shared, will never thrive.

To test out your marketing messages in a safe environment
Marketing messages are very subjective. You can develop a whole campaign and have it fall flat on its face very easily. Your network will care enough to tell you if you message need improving before you spend too much money on distributing it.

To find suppliers and services
We all need services. What could be better than to get to know the supplier before buying the service and to have feedback from other users as to the good and bad aspects of it?

To learn about other businesses and be able to advocate them
When you are in conversation with someone and a problem comes up, you may be in a position to help two people – the person you are speaking to and also the supplier of the product or service you can advocate to them. A third person always benefits from this – you. Your reputation grows – with both people – so long as you understand both the problem and solution well enough to match them.

To help others succeed
and, yes, to hope they help you, too. Network groups offer many opportunities to provide help and advice. But do give it without strings. Only genuine help works to your advantage.

To avoid the loneliness of the home business person
Most of my business happens on the phone and by e-mail. I need to meet other people face to face just to recall how that feels and to get some social interaction. As more businesses are run by individuals who work in isolation, this will be a greater need.

To build confidence in your presentation skills
Many networks offer you a slot to present who you are and what you do. Take the opportunity to learn in relative safety. For some people, even the 90 second introduction that most networks tend to offer can be a tough thing to do. The ability to present your business well is likely to be a core skill when you are working for yourself – so use the opportunity to refine it.

To have a local presence
The internet has killed distance for many and it is easy to do business anywhere in the world – except, sometimes, for your own local area. Getting known locally may have beneficial effects – not least a reduction in travelling costs.

To feel part of a community
and be able to take action, too. Community is not dead but it isn't a default either. A feeling of belonging and shared purpose is important for many of us. Recently, my breakfast group took part in a team-based charity event and we all learned much more about each other as a result.

Watching others develop and grow
One of the upsides of working in corporate life was the opportunity to watch someone join the company and begin to develop skills and expertise. The Network can provide a similar experience as people take their first steps in their own business.

Oh yes - and occasionally, I do get a direct business referral, as well!

How do you grow your business by Networking?

People get to know who you are and what you do
As they do that, they begin to trust you with their friends and customers and they advocate your services. You may not always know how a piece of business came your way but often it can be traced back to seeds sown in networking.

You learn how to be more effective in your messages
As a result, you can begin to win more business where before you simply would not have been considered. Likewise the next benefit -

You go for more ambitious work and get it
How good does it feel when that happens?

New Businesses are born
You find others around the table who complement what you do and a new business is born. It may be additional to what you do now or it may replace it completely. Business is always changing. Networks can be the catalyst for that change.

Your market isn't necessarily in the room

Much of business grows by relationships and, for most businesses, their market is not 'around the table' at a network meeting. Their route to market IS there, however. There are businesses that benefit from 'slip passing' and I don't suggest that referrals shouldn't be created and passed. For most, though, creating long-term relationships is a better plan, so having a social breakfast meeting doesn't mean that business isn't happening.

You just have to look below the surface to see it.

In current market conditions, businesses are facing new challenges. Actually, they are not that new. We have been in turbulent market conditions before, but for the CEO facing them, they are new and uncharted. What if there were people around you who had seen these challenges before and could help you face up to them? That would be a good thing but where can you find them?

Having a business mentor is a good thing. Mentoring allows an experienced person to support and pass skills on to a less experienced person. Most people in business need mentoring in some areas. You may be very experienced in some aspects of business but still need support in others. Being mentored can help you to produce a much better performance in areas where your experience or knowledge is relatively low.

What if you had many mentors, each offering different approaches and insights to your business issues and filling in the gaps in your knowledge? Such people could allow you to share the issues and challenges that are inappropriate for sharing with your team and give you a huge boost in confidence and performance.

Your skills, expertise and experience are also valuable and you could give back to the other as well. We all need help from time to time and we all like to help others, so why don't we all do this?

There can be barriers to doing it yourself. Finding the right people may be a challenge and organising them to be in one place together on a regular basis needs time you may not have. Getting the most out of the group needs expert facilitation and a commitment from everyone around the table to support and help each other. Finally, to be a trusted group, confidentiality has to be a given. Trust can be referred. So if the group trusts one of their members and you trust the group, you can begin by trusting that member. There is no need to build trust directly before beginning the sharing process. You will, of course, come to know and trust the other members over the course of time.

The concept of Trusted Advisory Teams that are organised for you, educating, supporting and growing your skills and where you can give back exists in a number of places. I'll declare my own interest. The Academy for Chief Executives offers that approach. It was something that I believed was needed and have put in place over many years. My belief has been substantially justified by the development of the concept. There are now many active groups in the UK, helping you step up to your challenges - and come through successfully.

In uncharted territory a map may be useful but a guide, who knows the territory well already, is actually far better.

By Brian Chernett
October 2008

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This article first appeared in Freshbusinessthinking.com's Virtual Director Newsletter.
Visit www.freshbusinessthinking.com to subscribe.

As you steer your ship into the biggest storm the business world has seen for many years, you need to consider who is making a positive contribution, whose contribution needs to be stronger - and who needs to 'walk the plank'.

In times like these, I return to Jim Collins and his classic book Good to Great. Collins says that you need to have the right people 'on the bus' (if you will excuse the change of mertaphor) and the wrong people need to leave the bus (or find their best seat) before you figure out where to drive it. As Collins also suggests, there are brutal facts to confront and they can make the difference between success and failure – especially now.

When finding the right people for your team, Collins suggests three practical disciplines -

• when in doubt, don't hire - keep looking
you should limit growth based on your ability to attract enough of the right people. It is not enough to offer better money. Money doesn't bring in better people but it does keep the right people in place.

• when you know you need to make a people change ,act immediately but make sure they aren't just in the wrong seat.

• put your best people on your biggest opportunities, not your biggest problems and if you sell off your problems (or drop that part of your business), don't lose your best people in the process.

To return to our ship metaphor, when you already have your people on board, they need to earn their passage. You need to assess who is effective and who isn't and determine if you can change their mindset and performance or if you need to move them on and cut your (and their) losses. It may be tough to remove people that you know well in tough times but it is your business - and your good people - that may be dragged down if you 'carry passengers' in the business.

In rough seas, the right people are your biggest asset and the wrong people can drag you down with all hands. Having the right people is more than just good practice – it is an essential survival technique.

By Brian Chernett
October 2008

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This article first appeared in Freshbusinessthinking.com's Virtual Director Newsletter.
Visit www.freshbusinessthinking.com to subscribe.

Good business leaders, like you, often feel very alone. Running a business is tough. Key decision making, company direction, clarity of strategy, personal development; it's a huge responsibility and it's entirely yours. Little wonder you're sometimes sleepless in the small hours or struggling to answer those really big questions.

Who can you turn to for totally impartial advice?

We'd like to share with you an example of the type speaker session you could experience every month as a member of The Academy for Chief Executives:

Academy Group 5, chief executive mentoring and experiential learning group (with members from the Coventry area) worked with Jeremy Thorn recently on how to 'negotiate better deals'. It was a very valuable and enjoyable session - the role-play was a particularly powerful source of learning: it really drove home the power/necessity of aiming high in negotiating - and of making the first bid whenever possible. (See Jeremy's website at www.jeremythorn.co.uk.)

The main points that we all took away to implement in our businesses were:

1. PREPARE before the negotiation (don't just go along to "see what they have to say".)
2. AIM HIGH - deals often end up near the mid-point between the opening positions, so a tough opening moves the mid-point your way.
3. "Never give Owt for Nowt": always trade concessions.

Peter Pritchett,
Chairman Academy Group 5

With so much traffic out there and so much noise, we all have to get our message heard, in one way or another.

So I am attending an executive group meeting at the Reform Club in Pall Mall and someone asks, "What do you do?" "I work at the interface of where people running organisations are now and where they would like to be in three years time." Oh, he says, and are you watching the football tonight?

At coffee the talk is about expertise and a female delegate turns to me and says "So what is yours?" "I am an expert in identifying and leveraging the unique tacit knowledge that lives in all Boardrooms" I reply. But she has seen someone, waved, apologised to me and moved across the room.

After lunch we broke into groups to share the results we leave with clients after an assignment. When asked I said "I help organisations to develop and sustain competitive advantage in a knowledge world." But the facilitator couldn't hear across the table and others were starting to talk amongst themselves.

It had been a long day and I was starting to think about the four hour train journey back to Hereford. There was only one toilet cubicle available for our party of a hundred up on the first floor and I had already been turned back for not wearing a jacket. I eventually find the door labelled 'lavatory' and try to open it, but a female voice calls out "There is a queue." I look round to find someone sitting on a sofa under a staircase. I sit down next to her. Seeing my name badge and the word 'speaker', she says, "And what do you speak about?"

I recognise this lady as the wife of the Chairman, but just as I am about to answer we hear the toilet flush and she gets up to take her turn. So I yell out, in exasperation, "MARRIAGE GUIDANCE FOR BUSINESS LOVERS!"

She stops, turns round, smiles at me and says "Really? Perhaps you can ring me tomorrow, please."

Good business leaders, like you, often feel very alone. Running a business is tough. Key decision making, company direction, clarity of strategy, personal development; it's a huge responsibility and it's entirely yours. Little wonder you're sometimes sleepless in the small hours or struggling to answer those really big questions.

Who can you turn to for totally impartial advice?

Our members know how you feel. They've faced these questions many times before and done something about it. They've joined The Academy for Chief Executives.

Just one element of membership is 'The Board You Could Never Afford®' – your opportunity to share pressing issues and challenges with a peer group of like-minded leaders every month.

Need to know more?

We'd like to share with you an example of the type of challenge you could share with your own exclusive 'Board' - at a recent meeting CEO members discussed the issue of reducing costs. In any organisation, but especially SME's where there is no central purchasing function, there comes a time when a thorough audit of costs needs to be done and then the task of applying common sense to reducing costs needs to be actioned.

A number of areas were highlighted where there is often overspend:

1. Mobile phone contracts often get out of synch so the overall company contract never has a definite cut off for re-negotiation. This can mean a sizeable cost reduction on charges (40% for one of the members).
2. Sanitary disposal does not need a daily collection yet companies often pay for it (60% reduction achievable through re-negotiation).
3. IT support is another area where costs can multiply without control.

This is just a snippet of the advice given by our members. For confidentiality reasons we cannot divulge all of the advice provided – however, we do hold open meetings where guests are able to attend and experience for themselves the real power of 'The Board You Could Never Afford®'.