Vilfredo Pareto was an Italian economist who developed a very exciting and important theory …

… OK, so I lied about the word "exciting" but the theory is important and still resonates today (as you will see later).

First the history: Whilst working in the UK in 1897 Pareto identified that 80% of the wealth in England was in the hands of 20% of the people. In the fifties, Quality gurus like Juran and Deeming referred to the "Pareto Principle" as part of their work with American and Japanese companies. Although Pareto himself never referred to his "principle" the post-war economic miracle in both of these countries helped secure Pareto's place in history.

The Pareto Principle has since become one of our "laws of life" and there are many places where we can see evidence of it in our lives today:-

At work:

In society:

In life:

(although you should abandon any theories on telephone behaviour if you have a teenage daughter!)

In business, the Pareto Principle can often feel counter-intuitive as we like to think that "all customers are important" or "all employees have the same value" or "all new enquires should be treated in the same way." This is not necessarily the case.

"There is nothing so unequal as the equal treatment of unequal issues!"

We are living in challenging times and many of us are going to need help to survive and thrive. So what advice would Mr. Pareto give you if he was your business coach today? With his 80-20 thinking hat on, he would probably tell you to:-

1. Stay focused 20% of items on your things-to-list will make 80% of the difference in 2010. Identifying and staying focused on this low number of high-impact items is clearly going to have more value to your business than focusing on a high number of low-impact items. Strive for excellence in a few things rather than getting lost amongst the many things.
2. Track customer profitability. If 20% of your customers (group A) produce 80% of the profits and 80% of your customers (group B) produce 20% of your profits then group A are going to be 15-16 times more profitable than group B. Do you have processes in place to track and measure customer profitability? Don't mark-time with customers. Either manage them "up" or manage them "out."
3. Water the seeds, not the weeds! It is very easy in business to spend too much time, effort and money on poor performers. Although we sometimes feel we have a "duty" to these people remember that we also have a duty to our good performers who could become even better. So, in the words of an ex-boss of mine "Phil – you should be spending more time watering your seeds, not your weeds!"
4. Don't be a perfectionist. 80% of your work will neither be appreciated nor valued. When you have met and exceed the needs of your customer or your colleague, start doing something else. As General Patton once said "A good plan actioned today is better than a perfect plan actioned next week!"
5. Find out what customers really value. 20% of your customer offering will account for 80% of the value they receive. Do you have a process in place to proactively audit customer feedback to ensure that you, and your customer, are both on the same page of the "hymn sheet?" Do you carry out face to face audits with your top ten customers? Do you have the "intelligence" you need - it is impossible to make improvements within our businesses unless we know where we are starting from.
6. Win over the key 20% of people. If you are embarking on a culture-change programme in 2010, try and win over the 20% of people who have a dramatic influence on the remaining 80% of their peers. Some of the 20% may be militant or difficult "wild ducks who refuse to fly in formation" but if you can win them over you will achieve your cultural goals in lightning time. Sven Goran Erikson used this strategy during his time as England manager and often referred to his two key players (Michael Owen and David Beckham) as his "cultural architects."
7. Win the winnable. What is the value of the proposals, quotations and presentations building up in your business pipeline? Mr. Pareto would tell you that 20% of these proposals are going to be 80% winnable. So don't spread your resources across all prospects – identify the ones that are winnable and pile in your resources to bring them on board. To quote Napoleon "March dispersed but fight concentrated!"

The above article is just a sample of the type of practical, no nonsense session that speakers such as Phil deliver to the members of ACE. The whole community is dedicated to inspiring the leaders of businesses to change their thinking, challenge their views and help them with their decision making abilities. Leaders no longer need to feel isolated at the top. Academy Membership – find out more >>

Are you seeking to grow your business but are not sure how to go about it?

Do you need some help adapting your business offer to the current conditions in the market?

You could be eligible to receive free business support valued over £5,000.

Birmingham City Council and the Working Neighbourhoods Fund are offering free one-to-one business mentorship support to 90 small and medium sized businesses based in Birmingham.

Starting in March 2010, companies trading for six months or more will have the opportunity to work with Deloitte and the Academy for Chief Executives to build customised development plans and receive dedicated coaching and mentorship for up to 12 months. The programme is designed for entrepreneurs and management teams seeking to navigate their companies through the necessary – and often rewarding – challenges of growth.

If you are seeking to bring your company to the next level or need sustained guidance on particular business issues, you could stand to gain real benefits from participating in the Stimulating Demand High Growth Programme (SDHG).

As part of this free service you are invited to find out more by joining us at an introductory half day event on either 23 March 2010 or 22 April 2010 at the Deloitte office, 4 Brindleyplace, Birmingham B1 2HZ.

If you would like to attend either of these events or simply wish to find out more, please email birminghamSDHG@deloitte.co.uk or call 0121 695 5580.

The SDHG programme is free to all participants thanks to grant support from the Working Neighbourhoods Fund. The programme is delivered by Birmingham City Council and Deloitte with the Academy for Chief Executives.

Please refer this programme to other eligible Birmingham based businesses.

I'm not fond of the idea that a good leader needs to be cold or aloof from his or her people. In fact, I believe that the opposite is much better. A good leader should want everyone in their team to do well and encourage good performance. They recognise that when their people do well, so does their business.

I believe that there are a number of linked approaches that make for a good leader who is also a human being. I've chosen five here to talk about –

• understanding
• encouraging
• coaching
• mentoring
• developing

Understanding

Encouraging

Coaching

Mentoring

Developing

As the business grows, you will find that this approach requires time and effort to maintain. It will require you to become a leader of leaders and to delegate to others these approaches. Ensure the approach is embedded into the organisation at all levels and that you, as the leader of leaders, are seen to be supporting the approach and building into everything you do.

People respond better when they feel they are known and trusted. Make sure that they are and you will begin to see performance improvements in places and ways you could never have expected.

Brian Chernett is founder of The Academy for Chief Executives (ACE) - He has 43 years' experience as managing director of private and public companies, including subsidiaries of Booker Bros McConnell, the Landmark Group, and several other major companies. Find out more at our membership page.

Let me start with some ego. I was recently the sole 2009 inductee into the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS) Hall of Fame. Although I was made aware of my nomination ahead of time (it really is an honour to even be nominated), when they called my name at the President's Ball on closing night of Canada's national convention, I was seriously shocked. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't as shocked as I'd be if I made Canada's Olympic Hockey Team! Plus, I am a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) which puts me in pretty elite company in the speaking profession around the world and gave me my first "letters" behind my name. Being able to add the second set, "HoF", has predictably both humbled me and made me very proud. I have, it seems, done a few things right.

One of the smartest moves I made was who I chose to mentor me. The night I was called to the stage of the Calgary Westin to accept my award (I live in Calgary so what a bonus), I was overwhelmed by another emotion; four of my mentors were on the stage to welcome me as they were already in the Hall of Fame. But more important than choosing who I did was my personal promise to ask these people good questions, listen to their answers and then act on their advice.

There was one more revelation as the delegates humbled me with their lengthy standing ovation; what a profound decision it was to join my peer group of professional speakers in the first place. I was already pretty successful and I really didn't need new friends but that my career skyrocketed in the ten years since I paid my first membership dues is no surprise to me at all.

Clearly, this personal event put me in a pretty reflective mood and I got to thinking about the rather obvious question, "How did I get to this wonderful place in the human drama called life?" With that in my head and the ever-evolving subject of "Leadership", what new and enlightening discovery might I impart to shoot you on the fast track to success? Nothing! I have nothing...new.

Just imagine the list of books I have in my pile. I am not a voracious reader like my wife Darlene is but I do enjoy reading, especially when I am travelling, which I do a lot. I prefer mind-numbing novels by highly acclaimed authors like John Grisham and Tom Clancy but realize that if I take the time to read books about personal development, I can better serve my clients. Plus, Darlene is, amongst other descriptors, a Feng Shui master practitioner and is constantly studying what may be described as "new age" spirituality. Her list didn't match mine at first since I was focused more on traditional "business" minded approaches to leadership. One day, it dawned on me; I am not a business minded person!

When I started listening to Darlene's take on her reading, I was fascinated. Authors like Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Eckhart Tolle and the like spoke to me. One of my personal favourites is Canada's own Malcolm Gladwell. In his third book, Outliers, he discusses the idea that the most successful achievers like Bill Gates, Wayne Gretzky, etc., all have two things in common; they have practiced an activity at least 10,000 times and they grew up in a culture of support and belief.

All of these story-tellers resonated for me and gave me countless "ah-ha" moments but one that spoke to me over and over is that the most common denominator of truly effective leaders is who they surround themselves with and the profound impact of a positive, nurturing environment of development.

In Canada recently, I had members of the press contacting me about a somewhat controversial article in a national newspaper. It seems Canada's surviving "Thalidomide Babies" are asking for an official apology from our federal parliament for allowing the drug, infamous for treating morning sickness and deforming babies in the early 1960's, into the country. The British parliament recently apologized to its citizens, so what about Canada? You might be wondering why my opinion mattered. Well, I was one of Canada's first "thalidomiders" and I was born without arms. I probably should have mentioned that earlier but this article isn't just about me.

I surprised the press a bit in that I am one of a minority who isn't bitter about my life. I'm not trying to be insensitive, but I have a problem with people who dwell on past perceived injustice every day of their life. Yet, I agree with our group of Canada's thalidomide "victims" about one issue; if they can't look after themselves, the government has a moral responsibility for their welfare. I just don't get what saying "oops" officially would do.

But you see, I am called one of the lucky ones since I am completely independent, married, a dad and a very successful professional speaker. Well, I am lucky, that's for sure. I am lucky that three days after being born severely handicapped, I was given up for adoption. I am lucky that foster parents, Hilda & Jack Law took me home. I am lucky they were 55 and 53 years old and had an older person's perspective on life. I am lucky I was able to use my feet for hands to offset the theoretical crippling condition of my birth. And I was most lucky to be raised in a home whose fundamental belief was, "So you were born without arms, so what? What are you going to do about it?"

Is it just me or is all of this really simple and centers on one word; Attitude! That's definitely not "new" but how about if we take brilliant ideas that have always worked and couple them with our new understanding of human dynamics? We then have the potential to not only be recognized for our awesome leadership skills, but we ultimately have an impact on all those we love, work with and meet every single day. Who says we can't change the world? It truly is amazing how far we can go if we surround ourselves with excellence!

As part of the Academy Speaker Community, Alvin has helped to inspire a growing number of business leaders in the UK. "Alvin Law guarantees one thing. After hearing him, you will never see things the same way and you will never forget his incredible, true-life story" For more information visit Alvin's speaker page. Academy Membership – find out more >>

You never know when the stuff you use in your day job may be useful elsewhere.

I was in town collecting a meal on Saturday evening but they were running late.

There were two disruptive couples aged about thirty already waiting on the sofas. They were shouting, singing and one woman was climbing on top of, presumably her partner. The second female said she wanted me to sit next to her and she pulled me down to announce that they were all from Leicester. I said what a nice place it is and that I was working there next week. Her male partner asked what I did.

I replied that I speak on helping businesses so he advised that if I got a proper trade I wouldn't have to travel round "spouting bullshit". He started wagging his finger at me and invited me to say just one thing that would help his business.

So I asked his name and what he did. "Painter and decorator." His wife added that everyone is always very complimentary about his work. I congratulated Nick on this and by now the other couple had calmed down and were listening to the conversation. I asked if he had a card and the second lady said he wouldn't do anything like that. I asked about a website and the men laughed but one of the females said she had tried to do one for him.

I gave Nick my business card and said that he needed to be able to do the same in this world. They all went quiet and one woman asked "How do you get someone to have the confidence to believe in themselves?"

I said that this was a great question. But just then Sharif arrived with my food.

So I turned to Nick and reminded him that he had asked for one piece of advice. "I want you to listen to what your customers are saying to you, but above all I want you to listen to people that love you and start to take some of their advice."

I wished them luck and started home. After a few yards someone came running up behind me. It was Nick who put his arms round my shoulders, hugged me to him and said "Thank you."

Discipline is described in the Oxford Dictionary as ...

"Mental or moral training; orderly behaviour..."

In our early lives discipline is something that is done to us by parents, teachers and the like. As we grow both physically and emotionally we are able to think and act for ourselves although for the most part the rules are still set for us by our 'leaders.' However, when you think about it we are all leaders of some sort and so have some responsibility for some of the discipline that is handed out to others. Kids are leaders in the playground; they have their rules and are happy to dish out their own version of discipline when those rules are broken. Parents have a responsibility to lead their off spring by setting rules and boundaries and ensuring that those rules are adhered to. And in our work lives most of us have some sort of leadership role to play. Even I as a professional speaker with only myself on the payroll have a responsibility to lead by example. In the end though it doesn't matter who sets the rules, how they are enforced or whether we agree with them or not, as leaders we have a responsibility to set an example and at least be seen to be following them.

When it comes down to it the only discipline that we have absolute control over is self discipline. It doesn't matter who you are or what you do you still have your own understanding of what right and wrong is and this is where you should start when you set your own rules. Because to be absolutely frank with you if you can't lead yourself what are you doing even trying to lead others. So what are the rules that you have set yourself that you aspire to in order to remain true to what you believe is right and wrong? What I am really asking you here is what your personal values are? I don't mean what is your company mission statement; most people even if they knew what that was probably weren't involved in its creation. The same probably applies to the values of your organisation. What I am asking here is what your PERSONAL values are?

My truth is that a value is one of those impudent little things that pop up in your life when you are trying to decide between what you WANT to do and what you know that you SHOULD do. Allow me to give you a personal example. I have six major values that I aspire to live day in and day out one of which is Integrity. During the first quarter of 2009 I accepted an Invitation to speak in Manchester six months later in October for a fee that was exactly 25% of my 'full' fee. About six weeks prior to the engagement I was contacted by a Pharmaceutical company who I have worked extensively for in the past for my full fee. They asked me to speak at their National conference in London on the same date. You can see my dilemma here, accept the Pharma invitation that would pay me 75% more for two hours less work and give back word to the other client or remain true to my value of integrity and tell them that I was already booked. Of course I explored the possibility of doing both which would have been possible had they not both been morning events. But when it became obvious that doing both was not an option my decision was a no-brainer and I kept my agreement in Manchester. I saw this as a brilliant test of my commitment to my values, something that happens regularly when you know what your rules are.

The main challenge with adhering to personal values is that you are the only one who can truly hold you responsible for doing so and only you know if you really are true to them. There are no parents or teachers around to chastise or praise you. Likewise the government were not responsible for determining your personal values so there are no police to check on whether what you are thinking or doing is legal or not. And so we come full circle because if you are the only one who can determine your adherence to your values then the only discipline that we have absolute control over is self-discipline. Thank you and goodnight.

As part of the Academy Community, professional speakers, such as Clive, witness first hand the power of leaders learning with leaders. The Academy process, experiential business learning, provides a unique environment for CEOs and MDs to hear how other leaders are developing their businesses and themselves, and how they are motivating their own people. Academy Membership – find out more >>

If cash is burning a hole in your pocket and you can't find, or indeed have no inclination to place it in, a secure home then acquiring a business may be just what the doctor ordered.

Indeed, and this comes with a big 'assume', provided you have done your due diligence with as much vigour as in a more competitive environment there will undoubtedly be some bargains to be had for the shrewd, cash rich investor.

2009 saw 40,000 businesses go to the wall, with speculation that 2010 could see an even greater number fall. Those that survived, and continue to do so, are leaner and fitter. Although undoubtedly lots of worthy people lost their jobs, through no fault of their own, I suspect that a large number of executives had in fact just been treading water for some time.

Those that survived the corporate culling, although some may be a little battle scarred, are generally, as is the norm, the fittest and sharpest and ready to embrace the new decade.

However a word from the wise; for many such people, ownership is the name of the game. Being hired hands has exposed them to insecurities they had possibly not encountered before. As a result the management of a target business, always paramount in a successful acquisition, will be looking for a stake in the 'Newco'. The savvy acquirer should see this not as a hurdle to overcome but an opportunity to embrace.

However the problems for the foreseeable future are not so much about your new management but rather getting to a deal in the first place, particularly so for those acquirers looking to gear up the transaction on debt secured either against the target or its own assets.

Put simply; no matter what they say, the banking community is closed for new business and if they do open their doors even a sliver then the deals that are to be done will come laden with penal interest rates, punishing covenants and onerous personal guarantees.

Security, and lots (and lots, and lots) of it, is the name of the game and that assumes you can get your relationship manager to even take the possible deal to the bank credit committee in the first place.

Our company is running a conference at the Landmark Hotel, March 23rd, called Buying and Selling a Business, an entrepreneurs Guide. This event, aimed at owner managers, will contain specifics on business valuations, investments and tax advice along with expert legal opinion on protecting what you buy and keeping safe the proceeds from a sale.

We invited representatives of every major high street bank to present on their lending criteria as part of our panel of experts. Not one, not a single one was prepared to make a presentation, telling indeed. Well, we thought so!!

So, who will fund those highly geared deals if they are to fly? Why the vendor of course, for it is such a person who will take us through this economic crisis. The entrepreneurs who will take a risk or even a small gamble on a successful transaction and often without any sort of sound security, only trust and faith in their business and the acumen of those that acquired it.

Flawed? Possibly.

Essential? Definitely!

Jo Haigh
Head of Corporate Finance for MGR

www.mgr.co.uk
www.jo-haigh.com

At emotional intelligence at work, we believe that leadership is an attitude – not a job, not a set of behaviours, not stuff you can learn on a training course.

We're proud of the fact that nothing we say is original, and one of our starting points in discussing leadership is Serve to lead, which is the motto for the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. What this is saying is: "if you, Mr or Ms Trainee Officer, expect to lead that squad of trained soldiers, you had better be in service to them first".

This immediately raises issues for many British people who equate service with servitude and servility. You only have to go into most shops, or contact most call centres, to experience that first hand. You can cut the resentment the person is feeling that they have to do the job with a knife.

Yet being in service describes an approach, it isn't a value judgement, and it's an approach which turns out to be useful if you want to sell people something or lead them.

Is not Serve to lead an expression of that approach? It results in behaviours, such as "officers eat last", but the behaviours do not define leadership. They are what leaders do.

Serve to lead is a good motto. Arguably it is a little too concise, though, and instead we use the precept Make the other person more important than you. I love this as a definition of leadership because it seems so meek and mild, it couldn't possibly have any real effect. But try it. For 24 hours, make everyone you meet, not just the people in your business, but everyone (and not just the ones you select, but everyone), more important than you. You do this by using this precept to continually inform the question "what is the most useful thing I can do [or say] now which makes them more important than me?" and you then do, or say, that thing.

Whether or not leadership is an attitude is, at one level, not the point. The point is that you will find it useful and helpful if you do think of it in this way. Someone who wants to become a leader doesn't have to learn how to do all the things a leader does (which are arguably infinite in number). They need only learn a small number of ways of being which can them inform every situation in which they are called to act.

Even more important, by defining leadership as an attitude, we are empowering everyone to show leadership abilities. By this, I'm not saying everyone has to drive the bus. One person needs to be in charge, but being in charge isn't a leadership role – it's a management task. Sorry. (More accurately, it's a management task with a specific responsibility.)

We have twelve precepts of leadership, and another important one is Be the change you want to see in the world. This, of course, was said by Gandhi, and it encapsulates the idea of responsibility. If, as a leader, we see that something is needed in our business or on our team, and we do nothing to bring it about, surely we are failing our colleagues. By a leader "being the change", we interpret Gandhi's words both literally – if you want people to be peaceful and live together in harmony, then you have to do that first – and metaphorically as saying "bring about the change". If it is beyond your powers, empower others to do it.

Unless, as a leader, you embody the things you want other people to do/feel/believe, you haven't a hope in bringing about such changes in them.

Feel the fear and do it anyway. This is the title of a book by Susan Jeffers. For us it sums up the idea that leaders have to be willing not only to show their people the way, but also to go there themselves first. Although it conjures up images of leaders valiantly leading their people to the promised land, whatever the dangers, for us it has a much more important significance in the real world.

This recognises that people can be resistant to moving forward. Sometimes they don't want to be led. Simplistically, they don't want to be shifted from their comfort zone. More deeply, they are being asked to show up, take responsibility or go somewhere new, any and all of which can be frightening, just because they're unknown.

On the whole, if a business is stuck, the people in it are stuck and they are more or less showing up where the leader is stuck. This paper isn't long enough to explain why, so please go with this idea. If the business is to move forward, the leader has to deal with his/her stuff and this can be a fearful proposition. But unless the leader is willing to confront their issues, and resolve them, their business ain't going anywhere.

We believe it is a fundamental leadership quality to be willing to go for it. To deal with whatever is blocking progress and move the business forward.

And what happens when you've felt the fear and done it anyway? Jeffers explains that there is something else to feel the fear about and do that any way… And something else, and something else… Such is life. Such is being a leader.

©2010 Jeremy Marchant

www.emotionalintelligenceatwork.com

Beyond vision and performance to build truly great companies

Jim Collins in his ground breaking study, 'Good to Great', was determined to avoid the simplistic trap of attributing the success of 'Great' companies and organisations to the mythical qualities of leadership. The 'Good' was the enemy of the 'Great': the 'Great' companies outperformed their peers consistently by four or five times over a 15 year period.

However, as he and his team examined the data of the 11 'Good to Great' companies identified from the Fortune 500, the persistence presence of an extra-ordinary leader at the point of transition from 'Good to Great' became clear. But these extra-ordinary leaders did not match the normal expectations we might have of celebrity, charismatic, egocentric leaders presented as the measure of success in so much of the media today. These leaders exhibited a set of common characteristics that, for Jim Collins and his team, contained an intrinsic paradox that defied a single adjective and so they simply designated them as Level 5 Leaders.

For us, as leaders in the businesses we have responsibility for, we may believe that the world of the Fortune 500 company is so far distant that the findings on Level 5 leaders have no relevance to what we seek to achieve. But Jim Collins has extended his study to look at a variety of other organisations – a world class orchestra, a leading high school, a powerful church ministry – and he believes that the Level 5 leadership can bring transformation to any organisation. He also believes that Level 5 leadership is within the grasp of all of those who can move beyond the ambition for personal success, to focus on their ambition for the organisation they lead.

The paradox of Level 5 Leaders is summed up in this table from Jim Collins book 'Good to Great' subtitled "Why some companies make the leap…and others don't."

So how do I become a Level 5 leader?

So much of what Jim Collins expresses in this simple table is about character. But Jim's encouragement to us is that we can build that character by:

-> Being intentional about following the 'Good to Great' principles of

1. First Who…Then What
2. Confront the Brutal Facts
3. The Hedgehog Concept
4. The Culture of Discipline
5. Technology Accelerators

-> Continually checking those impulses that undermine the commitment of personal will and personal humility to bring Level 5 Leadership to focus of your ambition.

But the promise of the study is that adopting this approach will bring your organisation through a process of build-up to breakthrough in a self reinforcing flywheel effect.

For this year, start out to become a Level 5 leader by looking in the mirror for poor results and looking out of the window for the source of success. For as Napoleon said, "It is not good generals I need, not even great generals – but lucky generals".

© 2010 Charles McLachlan, The Academy for Chief Executives

There's an old saying – the road to hell is paved with good intentions. So if you don't want to lead your company to hell what do you need – bad intentions?

No, of course not. Bad intentions are the other side of the same coin as good ones. Both equally ineffective.

What you really need are - CLEAR intentions.

So what's the difference? Massive.

A good intention comes from a place of fear – I'm afraid I'm not good enough, how can I prove I'm OK?

A clear intention comes from a place of authentic confidence – I know I'm OK at heart, how can I express myself more fully and strengthen my weak areas?

Any personal or corporate mission statement that has built in even a scent of the 'need to be recognised' or the 'need to be seen as the best' is on the road to hell – it's doomed. These phrases look so good, get people all juiced up, but are never truly sustainable. The thing is, hell is not a destination – it's the journey. The inertia of a large organisation means that a culture of false confidence can drag on slowly decaying for decades before going toes up. The veneer of 'we're so good – honest!' masks the symptoms of terminal decline until the rotting foundations collapse and everyone is taken by surprise.

It's not fair. We had such good intentions and great expectations.
What went wrong?

The other giveaway of a good intention is that it is not grounded in truth. It is certain to based on 'superstition'. But I'm not superstitious, you say. Oh really?

Do you ever feel responsible for how someone feels or performs? Do you ever feel guilty or resentful? Do you ever think you don't deserve people's respect? Do you ever feel as if you can make someone do something? Do you ever feel afraid of losing control?

All these 'normal' human responses are based on erroneous beliefs about effects and their cause, in other words - superstition.

All these good intentions, perfect reasons and sound rationalisations are the currency of normal leadership. And the price of exchanging this currency is not only our current recession but the long-term global meltdown that seems to be hurtling towards us at warp speed.

So how do I transform good intentions into clear ones? Not through 'change' -but transformation.

Meaning? Transform the foundations of who you believe yourself and your organisation to be. Transform the ego's need for validation through projecting false images, to a deep inner knowing that this is unnecessary. Stop waiting for 'results and acknowledgment to make you feel good' – feel good regardless!

Think of yourself and your company as an apple. The outer skin is bright and attractive. It's how you want to be perceived. The middle layer is juicy and sweet. It's the part that gets devoured. The inner layer is tough and chewy. It gets thrown away. The thing is, the tough old core, the part we tend to ignore, is actually the most important – it's the part with the seeds and hence the potential for new life. The part we don't want to eat actually has the greatest value!

The core represents the true self. The true self of you as a leader and the true selves of those that follow you. The true self is truly confident. It knows it is unequivocally OK. It has nothing to prove – but masses to express. The skin and the flesh represent the false self. This always doubts it's OK and pretends it is because it's pretending it isn't. It's a totally convoluted strategy.

Authentic, effective leadership can ONLY come from the true self. It is impossible to define. Impossible to fool. Impossible to predict. Impossible to stop. Impossible to limit.

For many people, becoming an authentic, natural leader is scary as hell. It involves letting go the things in your life and belief system that have been your (false) security for a very long time. Our greatest fear is that those doubts about ourselves that we try to hide are really true.

Becoming an authentic, natural leader requires a risk. We must risk letting go of self-images, expectations and behaviours that are not working. This is why most leaders are not willing to become who they really are. This is why those that take this risk become successful way beyond their dreams.

Authentic, natural leaders have clear intentions that are grounded in a truth.

The result we are going for is not an opportunity to prove I'm the best, I already know I am the best I can be! The goal is an opportunity to risk, stretch, play, grow, expand, enjoy and learn through being thoroughly 'un-reasonable' and building effective, empowering relationships.

If this is not the starting point for your business strategy then maybe it's time to go within rather than go without.

As part of the Academy Community, professional speakers such as Paul provide excellent, practical and, in many cases, hard-hitting topics for Managing Directors and CEOs. They know that by inspiring the leader of a business to change his or her thinking and to help them motivate themselves and their people for the future, they will develop and grow their companies

'It's not funny and it's not clever' was a phrase often directed at me by my clearly aggrieved parents and teachers alike as I grew up.

Of course I wasn't selling, or at least not a product, though I was undoubtedly showing off. Which some, if done in an improper manner, may possible regard as a form of selling!

I enjoy selling, the thrill of the kill if you like . I can even admit to saying that each and every 'no' makes me more determined to get a 'yes'!

Sales skills as such are applauded in many industries and many countries, no more so than the US but there are some businesses where selling is seen as rather vulgar, to put it mildly, smacking, as it does, of 'trade'. Ok, that sounds somewhat Dickension but the professional sector still remains rather aloof from industry, in my experience, and for no good reason.

Never before has a buyer of 'whatever' had more choice and more sales messages from an ever increasing media angle.. Be it mobile phones / Iphones, Blackberries, web or TV, thousands of sales messages cross our paths every day.

Choice creates competition and competition requires management and differentiation to gain, or maintain position, be it price, service or even availability.

More than ever before then, being able to sell, be it overtly or covertly , must be embraced by all, even, dare I say it, those who assume business would always come through the doors.

Those who are afraid of the rejection which inevitably comes with some sales or are just not savvy enough have yet to see that if they don't sell their product and services there are 1001 other competitors more than ready to step into their shoes.

Can selling skills be taught, the answer, of course, is yes , most people can be taught anything.

I learnt the piano at 45! Ok, I will never be a concert pianist but I get by and can entertain family and friends. In other words, I don't have the gift that the truly accomplished pianists has but I can bang out a recognisable tune if I'm of the mind to!

Those business people in the know understand every single person in their business is a sales person, EVERYONE! So why don't you train then instead of blaming them.

Some will be better than others undoubtedly, but if you accept that is the natural way then you will win, and loose, some opportunities but by and large you should win more!

Jo Haigh
Head of Corporate Finance for MGR

www.mgr.co.uk
www.jo-haigh.com

It must be every business leader's worst nightmare. Your company name plastered all over the world's press in association with actions or company policy that has led to a major problem – possibly to injury or death.

In those circumstances do you

1. deny and fight the allegations, using every loophole you can find?
2. accept responsibility and do your best to react positively and quickly?
3. deny and fight until it is impossible to do so and then accept responsbility?

This is not a comprehensive set of options – there are others. Accept responsibility and limit the cost being one whilst going into liquidation has also been tried in the past.

The automotive giant, Toyota, have been facing up to just such a situation and, though some commentators feel they could have done it more quickly, they appear to be accepting responsibility in what could be a company threatening situation.

BBC News reported lastweek that Toyota President Akio Toyoda announced a recall of about 436,000 hybrid vehicles worldwide, including its latest Prius model, to fix brake problems. At a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday afternoon, he said, "we will do everything in our power to regain the confidence of our customers".

The company had already recalled eight million vehicles because of accelerator and floor mat problems, the BBC reported. "We have decided to recall as we regard safety for our customers as our foremost priority," the firm said.

You may have Liability Insurance but a poor or botched response to a situation can result in a severe or permanent loss of reputation. I believe that it isimportant to take responsibility in such a situation and take action to ensure that it is dealt with effectively. I believe that a staged response is needed.

First stage is to acknowledge that there is a problem but at this stage this does not necessarily mean accepting blame. Taking responsibility simply implies thatyou will take some action to deal with the issue that has been presented.

The next stage is an assessment of the problem, of the implications of the problem and the best options for resolving or working around it.

You can then plan the process of rectifying or applying a workaround. Recalling 8 million vehicles is an unusually large and expensive example of this stage in action. It may be that you can fix the problem the next time there is a service call – or it may just be that you need to make an apology. Your speed of reaction depends on the severity of the problem. Any undue delay could leave you open to accusations of 'dragging your feet' and, of course, if you choose to deny and subsequently have to accept responsibility, that will have an adverse effect on your reputation.

Once you have action underway, you can investigate further. Just what is the cause, was it avoidable and are there lessons to be learnt?

Finally, you can put in place revised processes, materials and/or policies thatwill ensure that the lessons learnt are built back into the business.

It may not have been your fault, but if you are responsible in the customer's eyes, it is often best to be seen to be on their side. If your investigation finds someone else to blame, make sure that they know where they fell short, recruit them into the response team and pursue recompense once the initial issue has been fixed.

I appreciate that it is not always possible to follow this approach and that, in some cases it will be necessary to take professional advice. Third parties such as liability insurers may have their own processes that require you to clear your actions with them first. However, where it is possible, I would suggest that putting yourself in the shoes of the customer will help you to understand the best approach to take.

To err is human. What separates the really good customer service providers is their response to error. We'll remember the good ones but, more importantly, we'll never forget bad service – and we'll tell our friends about it, too.

Brian Chernett is founder of The Academy for Chief Executives

'How do I love thee? Let me count the ways'
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Poet (1806 – 1861)

This made me think recently how very lucky I am. I have a beautiful home, 3, in fact, 4 gorgeous and talented children, a husband who adores me and a great job which I adore!

Like many other managers it's been a tough year though I do see the light at the end of the tunnel and now know it's not the powers that be with a torch bringing me yet more fruitless work!

Working in London and the North I still see a divide, sometimes of vortex proportions, both in terms of the economic recovery and the attitudes to that recovery.

The recession is officially over (for now) but this is merely, of course, a technical calculation. The 'real' economy is still in freefall with 2009 recording the highest number of business failures, circa some 40,000 plus, with a greater number still forecast for 2010.

The temptation must, of course, be to do one of two things; bury your heard in the sand or give in to it and take the consequences.

However, I choose a third way and that is to treat every negative as a way to move further towards a positive, use every knock back to make me more determined, and to turn every disappointment round into an opportunity.

As anyone who has ever done a SWAT analysis knows, every weakness can be a strength, every threat an opportunity, If you choose to see it as such.

I choose a positive attitude, why would you choose anything else! Certainly its not always easy and I am no 'Pollyanna' but a 'can do' attitude is so much more fun than a cant or, worse still, wont!

Jo Haigh
Head of Corporate Finance for MGR

www.mgr.co.uk
www.jo-haigh.com

As over 40,000 businesses have collapsed behind us in 2009 and more predicted for 2010 building a better business must be on a lot of entrepreneur's minds.

Having bought and sold over 300 businesses in the last 20 years I would like to think I have some insight into what critical success factors should be considered.

I am certain that a large part of business success is as a result of the drive, ambition and personality of the entrepreneur. Identifying the drivers and harnessing their power is, in my experience, the difference between those that topple over the edge into oblivion and those that succeed and flourish.

I also don't recently think that one driver has any more merit than another;

Different drivers appear to support different businesses both in terms of culture and longevity.

Those entrepreneurs and their businesses driven solely by money and financial reward will have a different look and feel to other companies where the key driver is social welfare or perhaps personal achievement of the principle. Neither is better or worse than the other, the key is that there is a driver.

Entrepreneurs may, of course, set and maintain their drivers but it's the staff that must implement them day on day, this is a critical success factor.

Therefore without the right people in the business, and that's generally across the board from management to shop floor, the businesses chances of success diminish. The key with staff and cultural acceptance in a successful business must be honesty. If your culture encourages flexible time keeping and casual attire so be it but if your requirements are of a more formal and structured nature don't recruit people who are uncomfortable in such an environment and make these parameters clear from the start.

I would say that, for many people and naturally those new to joining the workplace, integrity is the new social capital. (not least because financial capital is virtually non-existent!)

Clarity in these issues must be therefore fundamental in being successful.

Jo Haigh
Head of Corporate Finance for MGR

www.mgr.co.uk
www.jo-haigh.com

I used to race (poorly!) sailing dinghies and whenever I got into the position of being in the lead I discovered two important lessons:

1. Firstly you must set your sights on the very highest objective – in this case winning – and don't for one second have doubts that you can do it, and that you deserve to do it, and that you will never be satisfied with being second best.
2. Secondly if you spend your time looking at the guy who is second then the distance between you will become less and less.

It's the same in business.

If you operate in a market where there are one or two prominent players - perhaps many times larger than you are - it's very easy to get into the mindset that all you can do is chip away around the edges rather than take them on head-on. The natural assumption is that if you do take them on head-on either they will simply wipe you out with predatory pricing or the like or that you need massive amounts of finance to be effective to do so. It's then very easy to convince yourself that it's simply too risky and a lot safer to stay as you are.

Well it's not true! The secret is to not only be bold but also innovative and, as Michel Robert put it in his book "Strategy Pure & Simple", force the competitors to play in your sandbox rather than playing in theirs.

To illustrate the point let's have a look at a company that has grown from nothing to be a major player in an industry where there were massive, dominant successful competitors such that they now have those competitors seeking to play in "their sandbox".

I was privileged to share a speaking platform with Sunny Verghese, the very impressive CEO of Olam International and he told a fascinating story: The previous year Olam achieved an annual turnover of nearly £1bn and a market capitalisation of £700m. They had 5100 employees in 42 countries and are known as "the brand behind the brands". They operate an integrated supply chain for 14 products including sheanuts, robusta coffee beans, cocoa, sesame and cashew nuts, from 12,000 collection points in 40 origin countries delivering these to over 3,300 customers in 50 destination markets.

Olam is a world leader in many of these commodities with the overriding, and unique, philosophy of "farm gate to factory gate".

Without doubt Olam International is seen as a very impressive, highly successful company – a winner.

In 1983, however, Olam was seen very differently. It was an Indian based importer of cashew nuts with a turnover of £1.7m and a return on sales of 1.31%.

Sunny and his colleagues however had a very clear vision for the future potential of the business and one in which they passionately believed and they would never quit.

Traditionally the market for agricultural commodity products was governed by, in the supplier countries, local buying houses and in the industrial user countries the commodity futures markets. The result was generally poor returns for farmers and poor continuity of supply to users. Sunny and his colleagues' vision was to cut out both the local buying house and the futures markets and to provide guaranteed supplies to the factory gate of industrial users whilst at the supply end, dealing directly with farmers. In this way they believed they could ensure the quality and continuity of supply at acceptable prices for all.

This was a brave vision – one which, if successful, would turn on its head the traditional routes to market and be likely to upset well entrenched interests, including powerful people like third world governments and western City institutions!

This then was the proposition that Olam started putting to finance providers all over the world. As you'd imagine they suffered a lot of rejection until finally Temesek Holdings, the Singapore government investment vehicle, became interested and had the courage to invest in Olam's vision.

In the years that followed Olam has grown both sales and profits at a truly remarkable compound annual growth rate in excess of 50% and their market capitalisation has been transformed from around £120k to over £700m.

In February 2005 Olam floated on the Singapore stock exchange and the investors were able to realise an impressive return on their original investment. So what are the lessons we should learn from the story of Olam International?

For me the belief, passion and courage of Sunny Verghese and his colleagues shines through - their proposition was bold and transformational but carefully thought through and they never gave up in trying to convince finance providers that it was both viable and exciting. Eventually they found an investor who was also prepared to be bold and give them the support they needed. Both parties have now been well rewarded for the risks they took.

Winners never quit!

So what's this got to do with you?

Your markets are different aren't they? - Well I don't believe they are – the simple message I would give you is one that you've heard from me before:

You must be very good at what you do or, these days, you simply would not be in business.

If you are very good at what you do then get your shoulders back, believe in yourselves, work very hard on a compelling "new sandbox" strategy, - Be a winner! and remember Winners never quit!

© 2010 Roger Harrop Associates

As a leader, we are by nature consistently doing and driving forward. We make things happen. But great leaders distinguish themselves - yes, by driving towards a vision but also by identifying inconsistencies that need to be eliminated.

Let me put it another way. As we start the new year, we set our goals based on what we need to start doing. However, key decisions about what to stop doing can have a much greater impact on our performance.

One thing is for certain in 2010, the world is a completely different place to what it was when we moved into 2009. Change can be a business cliché, but never has it been more true, as we're living in unprecedented times. Now more than ever, it is crucial to look back at the processes that got us to where we are and ask the question: are they relevant to get us to where we need to be? Just because it was done one way before, doesn't mean that it should be done that way going forward. It's a new world with new priorities.

Key to challenging these processes is to ask simple questions. Steve Redgrave, one of the greatest ever Olympians, on his way to his 5th gold medal asked one question of every process, of every training insertion, of everything the team did – "Is what we're doing going to make the boat go faster?" It is a simple philosophy but sometimes it is hard to see the wood for the trees and key to making transformational leaps can be getting back to basics and making sure that we are working on the right things. As a leader, isn't it our job to simplify things for our people?

2010 is world cup year, so what are England going to have to stop doing to achieve their goals in South Africa? James Corden has some advice for David James on the subject.

On a more serious note, in his award winning book Good to Great, Jim Collins asks the question, "what is on your stop doing list?" This question comes out of a study of organizations that make a transformational shift in performance. Collins states that you would expect organization that make this leap in performance are the ones that make a list of things that have to start doing; but the exact opposite is true. Organisations that make this leap are the ones that make a list of things that have to stop doing.

So what is on your list of things to stop doing? And what are the simple questions that you and your people should ask?

• Will this help us to earn more money?
• Will this help us to engage our stakeholders?
• Will this help us to retain more clients?
• Will this increase our conversions?
• Will this motivate and inspire my people?
• Will this help us to achieve our goals?

The toughest part to this process of challenging everything comes from our own mindset. It is tough because processes have been put in place over time for a very good reason. They have become engrained in the way that we work, they become habit. But as this experiment shows, it takes a different way of thinking and a mindset that steps outside of its comfort zone to make this breakthrough. Four monkeys were put in a room.

In the centre was a pole with a bunch of bananas on top. One monkey climbed the pole but before reaching the bananas he was hit with a shower of water.

The monkey abandoned the bananas and retreated. Other monkeys also tried but each was showered.

They finally gave up on the bananas.

Then one of the first four was removed.

A new monkey was added and the newcomer went to climb the pole, but the other three stopped him from climbing.

The monkey got the message, don't climb the pole!

One by one, each of the originals was replaced and each new monkey learned not to climb the pole. No one understood why pole climbing was discouraged but they all respected the precedent.

Even when the shower was removed.

We don't know what we don't know. So what is your priority for 2010? What will you stop to get you there? It's hard enough to achieve world class performance without putting obstacles in the way of achieving your goals. Whatever your plans for 2010, remember Raise the Bar are part of your team.

As part of the Academy Speaker Community, Steve has helped to provide new thinking, fresh ideas and challenge to a growing number of business leaders in the UK