The Grown-Up Business Blog

This is essay 6 in the 10 essay series. There is an uncomfortable truth about leadership that few people acknowledge. The more successful you become, the less likely people are to challenge you. It rarely happens overnight. There is no memo circulated around the organisation instructing colleagues to become more agreeable. No conscious decision is […]

This is essay number 5 in the series. Confidence is often treated as something a leader needs to develop. I’ve come to think about it differently. The most convincing leaders I know don’t begin with certainty—they begin by trying to understand what is actually happening. They ask better questions, test their assumptions and reduce the […]

At some point, most founders have to confront a difficult distinction: the business they created is no longer simply an extension of themselves. As it grows, other people depend upon it, decisions become more consequential and personal instinct can start to get in the way of good judgement. I've been thinking about what changes in […]

This is the third essay in a series of 10. Most leadership teams have no shortage of opinions. The harder question is whether those opinions are being tested. I've become increasingly interested in what happens when leaders deliberately separate what they believe from what they actually know—and particularly in the simple question, "What evidence would […]

This is essay 2 of 10 for written for business owners and leadership teams. Business leaders often describe their world as increasingly complex. Markets change faster than ever. Technology evolves relentlessly. Regulation grows more demanding. Customers expect more, competitors respond faster and every week appears to introduce another uncertainty demanding our immediate attention. Complexity has […]

This essay is the first in new series of 10 designed for owners and leadership teams. Perhaps chapter one of a new book.... Most businesses do not fail because of a single disastrous decision. They fail because of a thousand ordinary decisions. We have become fascinated by defining moments. Business books celebrate transformational leaders making […]

20 years ago, I thought businesses grew because they had a brilliant product. I was wrong. Businesses don't fail because founders work too little. They fail because they work on the wrong things. Since then, I've worked alongside hundreds of founders, leadership teams, and innovative SMEs, and I've learned something far more important. Businesses rarely […]

Thames Water will run out of money in 6 months. Denby had traded for 217 years and despite flagging this issue and the company went bust 6 weeks later. When will your business run out of money? This is a critical question for start ups developing a disruptive products and services. But as businesses start […]

One of the biggest gripes I consistently hear from businesses is “the banks just won't lend money any more, they are no help at all”! But they are very helpful when they have the facts. You spend hours, days perfecting a 9-slide pitch deck to attract money from equity investors, you have a sales plan […]