Many of us will have heard the quote attributed to Peter Drucker “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. Strategy outlines the plan of action, but it's the culture that defines how people behave within an organisation, how they interact with each other, and what they believe in. In addition, it is a focus on the execution of the plan where there is a shared commitment to achieving the company and/or teams goals. My most gifted and recommended books are by Patrick Lencioni w

One thing I often share with new leaders is to ensure they appreciate that they are a role model and to be prepared that they are being watched all of the time. I think it’s really important to be aware of this and ensure you are purposeful with what you do, what you say and also importantly your body language and how you act in good times and bad. Body language and non-verbal communication is vitally important for communicating character, credibility, and silently influenc

I remember reading about Daley Thompson, one of the most successful decathletes in history. He was known for his intense focus on his rivals and his determination to beat them at all costs. He would analyse their strengths and weaknesses, study their techniques and strategies, and even go to the extent of monitoring their training schedules and performance levels. He was particularly obsessed with his main competitor of the time, German Jürgen Hingsen where they traded worl

This week I had a week off and have been re-reading, The Trillion Dollar Coach by Alan Eagle, Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg. Bill Campbell was a US college Football Coach who then transitioned as a successful Executive before then being known as “Coach” acting as board director at Apple for 15 years and an advisor to Steve Jobs and many other Silicon Valley names including the Google Leadership team and Amazon who I mentioned a few weeks ago when I wrote about the impor

I was asked to join a panel at a conference recently with the discussion subject of humility in leadership. The Chair of the panel used a great phrase that I noted down – “Management is focusing on nuts and bolts but Leadership is focusing on hearts and minds.” I think this is so true! A few years ago I attended a workshop with a colleague ran by Marc Cox, the author of a book called The Business Case for Love. He argues that love, typically considered an emotion reserved

One of the things I most enjoy in my role at Mercia Ventures is sitting down with both team members and our portfolio entrepreneurs and helping chat through some of their challenges. One of my discussions earlier in the year was around the subject of sacrifice and that it is important to be prepared to make sacrifices in order to be successful. I think it is often the case in business like other walks of life, whereby people see the success but similar to an iceberg nobody ap

I was watching the build up to the Rugby World Cup Final a few weeks ago and they were profiling the South African captain Siya Kolisi who said “we are a purpose driven team not a trophy driven team”. As we now know, they then went onto to win another historic victory with what must be one of the best rivalries in sport with the New Zealand All Blacks. As well as a very enjoyable game of rugby Kolisi’s comments reminded me about two excellent books that I read regularly that

I wrote last time that I think we need to run our companies on a day to day basis as if we are ready to sell tomorrow, and shared that I think everything needs to be organised and ship shape which can then literally become the data room with little effort. The second reason I think we need to run the company as if we are ready to sell tomorrow is linked more to the risk mitigation based decisions that we make on a daily basis. Now I don’t mean risk per se as we need to be in

This week, I had a really enjoyable and wide ranging conversation with a founder and one of the things we discussed was the importance of humility as a leader. Whilst it is often easy to think that leadership qualities should all be about confidence, assertiveness, and charisma. An equally crucial but less frequently talked about trait is humility, which I think should form the cornerstone of effective leadership, fostering an environment of trust, collaboration, a genuine re

Whilst marginal gains seems to be the in vogue phrase made famous by Sir Dave Brailsford where he introduced the philosophy when leading British Cycling and Team Sky, I think it is based on a principle called Kaizen which has been behind numerous business successes. Kaizen, is a Japanese term meaning "change for better" or "continuous improvement," and is a philosophy that focuses on the incremental enhancement of processes in business and personal activities. First introdu

A conversation I often find myself having with CEO’s and board members of our portfolio companies is that loneliness is often an overlooked challenge for leaders. As a leader, it is natural to consume all of the stress related to focusing on your team, your customers and your shareholders. This inevitably brings stress and can sometimes lead to feelings of isolation and disconnection from others, which then can take a toll on your mental and emotional wellbeing. During my fi

I think size doesn’t matter but I do think perception of your size really matters! As an early stage company you most likely have a competitive advantage in the innovation of your product or service. But, to compete, you must punch above your weight in perception of size, and portray that you are bigger and more successful than you currently are. When a company has been around for 100+ years, it has a brand that is trusted and familiar. Consumers and business buyers alike of

Every leader needs to be a CRO Whatever your leadership position, I believe every leader needs to be a CRO. A Chief Revenue Officer I here you question? But no on this occasion I am meaning a Chief Reminding Officer. This phrase was coined by one of my favourite authors Pat Lencioni in his book “The Advantage”. So many people speak about the importance of communication as a critical part of leadership, but do not go further to explain what they mean. I think the critical

I have decided to start writing this newsletter to share my thoughts and experiences to those in my network who are either in or plan to be in a leadership position. I have a number of wide ranging thoughts to share but I thought I would start by writing about the importance of mentors both generally in life and in developing your career. My main mentor was a man called Clive Richards who was a very successful entrepreneur and investor. He sadly passed away a couple of yea

James Clear in his book “Atomic Habits” has a phrase I really like - “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” This week, our complete team at Mercia Ventures have had a very enjoyable two day off site meeting. As part of the agenda one of our team members shared their experience and lessons learnt from elite sport, where for over five years they were part of the very successful GB rowing squad. For those that don’t know, Great

It is estimated that the average adult makes about 35,000 remotely conscious decisions each day (apparently according to Cornell University researchers, we make 226.7 decisions each day on food alone!). Effective decision making is vital both to drive growth, and timely and decisive action can prevent minor issues from escalating into significant problems, preserving the organisation’s stability and reputation. In times of crisis or uncertainty, strong decision-making capabil

I was listening to a podcast today with ex professional cyclist George Hincapie who after retiring has now a number of business interests. He was asked if he still sets goals to which he answered not really. This worries me as every business should have at the very least a set of financial goals or a budget in order to effectively enable a businesses to allocate resources efficiently, control costs, and make informed decisions. Once set, some companies take a very static a

“Follow your passion and you will never work a day in your life” This is probably some of the most common and least helpful advice we hear. I heard writer and podcaster Scott Gallaway the other day say “The only people who say follow your passion are already rich” I spoke on a podcast last year aimed at school leaving age students and I challenged this common advice “follow your passion and never work a day in your life.” Instead, my career advice was to find something yo

I only really discovered podcasts during the Covid lockdowns but for me they now form a key part of any long car journey or long hike/run. It is incredible how an industry has developed for podcasters in such a short time with the recent trend moving to the presenters going on sell out live tours. One of my favourites is the High Performance Podcast. My son and I went to their live show last year and we had the chance to have a Q&A session with the presenters Jake Humphrey

As a venture capitalist our team review every day business plans that forecast sustained revenue growth and future profitability. The only way the company will win and achieve this whereby sales grow without a directly correlating growth in overhead and headcount is by leveraging Force Multipliers. A former Armed Forces Officer colleague of mine introduced me to how Force Multipliers are an important part of military strategy and he recommended I read “Understanding Force