The CEO’s Heroes Journey (Part 2 of 5)
The move most CEOs make. There’s a fairly predictable pattern that follows the moment – the nagging disturbance – described in Part 1 that most CEOs (understandably) fall into. In the Hero’s Journey, the CEO senses that something isn’t quite right. Not broken, but not as clean or as energised as it once was. Instinctively, […]
The CEO’s Heroes Journey (Part 1 of 5)
When CEOs first reach out, I often sense a light disturbance in them. Some CEOs move past this moment quickly – especially the entrepreneurially-minded CEO who prefers to focus on shiny new objects in the future as a way of preserving themselves. This can work for a while – until the signal returns again … […]
A story of Upstream business miracles
I had dinner with a client (and now friend) last night. Let’s call him Adrian, for the sake of this missive, to protect confidentiality. The conversation was rich and alive, jumping around quite a bit before settling into a rhythm that included reflection, stories, personal sharing, laughs, and moments of clarity. I left the restaurant […]
Questions CEOs and founders should ask periodically
CEOs and founders tend to become focused on the immediate and most urgent requirements of running their business. The answers to these questions will keep them grounded in reality and ensure they have a broader view of the big picture. 1. What could be the hammer blow to your business? This encourages leaders to check […]
The trickle down of the CEO
The quality of what you put on top determines the quality of what comes below it. And you – the CEO – determine most of the Upstream components of a business. In ways you probably don’t realise, and in quantums that you probably underestimate. Here’s why: your Upstream influences are largely unseeable (i.e. they can’t […]
Avoiding the numbing decline of Entropy
A restaurant I used to go to in Cape Town was once a social hotspot. You could rock up there on any given night, and you’d be guaranteed to find it packed, and to find someone you knew amongst the throngs of people at the tables or around the bar. A few years later, things […]
The hidden system that drives Return on Equity
Have you ever considered that revenue can have a quality to it? It can: revenue is not neutral. There are good forms of revenue that move a business forward, and bad forms of revenue that slow a business down. I hadn’t thought of revenue this way before, but it gave me pause for thought […]
You’re standing at the edge of what your business can become
This statement is significant regardless of where your business currently stands. As a leader, you are in a position to unlock potential, from a place of current high performance and market leadership or to return to it if you’re off track. There is always more potential to explore in business, and even in the most […]
A business is too good at absorbing pain
Absorbing pain is noble. I learned that on the rugby fields of South Africa: sometimes you have to run to the next ruck feeling dizzle from making a tackle, or play through stingers to the shoulder, or carrying on playing with loose teeth (or no teeth in my case, as I lost my front four […]
‘Making the turn’ toward career nirvana
I met with a past client for a drink yesterday evening. It had been a few years since we last saw each other, and a lot of water had flown under the bridge: he had remarried, changed jobs and changed cities. When he walked into the restaurant, I could feel that something had changed in […]