Leadership Archives

A Halloween Story About Black Swans

Happy Halloween! We will be enjoying a Halloween tradition in our house, with wine, snacks and finding the cheesiest and worst scary movies we...

A Cash Guide for a Good Night’s Sleep

“Cash… is like oxygen — you don’t notice it until it’s gone.” Warren Buffett Before I talk about the cash in your business, I want to first talk...

Your Business Can’t Scale While You Email

You may have heard me speaking of this before, but a few years ago, I hit a wall. It was summer of 2018. We had been in Portugal for two years, the...

Structure Without Suffocating Spirit

As I have watched Manchester United consistently drop in standards over the past decade, it has unfortunately also coincided with a period of almost...

Margins Shrinking? This Is Your Easiest Fix

Margins don’t often vanish overnight. Instead they are allowed to slowly shrink away, eaten up by rising salaries, creeping software costs, and the...

The Hidden Cost of Saying Yes

Uber was the ultimate growth story. In less than a decade, the company expanded into more than 80 countries, raised billions in funding, and became...

Always being right is so wrong

In the early '90s, George Michael filed a legal case against Sony, arguing his recording contract amounted to “professional slavery.” He claimed it...

When Disaster Strikes: 3 Steps to Recovery

We all hope it won’t happen, but in your business, disaster will hit eventually. The events of March 2020, Covid-19 and global lockdown are still...

Back to School on the Impossible

I subscribe to Hubspot’s daily Hustle newsletter. If you are not familiar with it, it’s a simple daily news format and a nice way to digest what is...

Cutting costs or cutting corners?

In my CFO advisory meetings, I am regularly asked if the business should be reviewing and reducing costs. I always answer this the same way: why?...

Is it guilt—or is it control?

A University of London / Foundology “Founder Resilience” Report (2024) found that 57% of founders reported feeling guilty when they took a break...

Back from the Break: What Did the Silence Teach You?

Last week I spoke about the Holiday Stress test and preparing for a holiday with inbox silence. I want you to read this follow up newsletter when...

Absence is the real test of leadership

Arsene Wenger’s Shadow When Arsène Wenger stepped down from Arsenal in 2018, after 22 years, the club struggled badly. Not just with performance,...

Something just doesn’t feel right

Over the last two newsletters I have discussed how businesses evolve through a common lifecycle, and how that lifecycle has plateaus and dips as...

The Reverse Planning Method: How To Achieve Your 10 Year Goals

Niall McGinnity, CEO @ Nuvem9 One of the biggest driving forces in our decision to move to Portugal and live beside the ocean is that the beach, sea...

The Next 100 Days: How to Lead Your Business Like a President

There was a lot of attention given to the 100th day of President Trump’s second term in office this year. In American politics, the first 100 days...

Three Most Important Questions

We’re back for the final instalment of Making the First Move. Missed ‘Making The First Move' so far? Here's how you can: Forget The Firefighting –...

How To (actually) Be Effective

I'm back for part 3 of 4 this week. If you’ve missed parts 1 & 2 of ‘Making The First Move’, you can find step 1 here - Forget Firefighting, and...

How to Reclaim Your Leadership When You Feel You’re Drifting

Have you ever felt like your business is running you, instead of the other way around? If you have, you're not alone. The good news is that when you...