Step Into Vision

In today’s small business age, we have to bring something to the table in order to cultivate success but most of all leave a footprint as clues to help others find and be their best. So in today’s article, I decided that I wanted to explore what a distinguished leader may look like and how to learn from their patterns. When searching for the word distinct in the dictionary, it read: “recognisably different in nature from something else of a similar type”. Does this definition resonate with you? I would really like to hear from in the comments if it does. At the start of our business journey, we fell…

Have you ever wondered what makes a great negotiator? Silence in a meeting can mean two things: either the meeting attendees don’t know what to say or everyone is purposely holding out from saying something. I’ve encountered both sides of the coin many times and even made the mistake of speaking first or too much in important meetings. Negotiations are my thing and when I learnt the power of waiting 5 seconds, it blew my mind. But my real lesson in negotiations came about during my early years in marriage and after our first two children were born. I suddenly became four people in one sitting — husband, dad to one, dad…

The thing that separates the talkers from the believers, is action. This bold statement is wrapped with issues about people who talk a good game but don’t actually start their business. Or people who stumble at the first hurdle of starting a business and never get back on the horse. Often we come across people who are passionate about starting a business or want to pursue their side hustle on a full-time basis. Having passion is great but having the right information and guidance can be the difference between success and failure. A few rounds with a good business coach will help any budding business owner see clearly through the…

What happens when leaders have drive and ambition? The first answer is a highly successful and creative business plan. We love working with all of our clients to help them navigate the direction for their dream. In this case, today, we were invited to be a guest at the launch of one of our client’s successful commercial kitchen business. City Kitchen Pod approached Vanessa to coach them in writing a business plan which was a great pleasure to be a part of and will explain why. For us, to see the happiness of our client’s hard work pay off and how it will secure a future for his family and…

During a pitch for a global organisation, I was asked how do I feel about managing difficult people and challenging situations. My genuine response was “I have four kids so nothing really surprises me when it comes to challenges and dealing with difficult people”. Pretty bold, but true. After 20ish years of working in a corporate environment, I realise that my views about work and business have drastically changed. My real work is tending, growing and looking after my family — my beautiful wife, loving kids and all the in-betweens. At this precise moment in time, nothing is more important. So when I turn up for a business opportunity I am genuinely…

Time really is precious. It’s one of the valuable commodities in our lives, next to our physical and mental health and the air we breathe. I call it a commodity because although we can not get any more of it, we can trade it. We are constantly bombarded with messages attempting to steal our time and that’s not cool. But unless we are consciously aware of this, we end up succumbing to the barrage of direct and indirect influences. You are reading one of those influences right now. So how can we take back control over our time? Vanessa and I have often challenged ourselves and each other to redress…

We started our business with a blank piece of paper and way too many ideas. Sitting together with our advisor working through the detail was a struggle because our differing ideas of strategy given, our exposure to different experiences. We learnt how to appreciate and find a balance in our views, which was crucial as we needed to align our priorities with our plan. Admittedly our plans veered off course, several times in fact, and the realities of growing a business and raising a young family hit us like a snowball to the face. I don’t remember this being covered in my business degree lectures! Basically, life happens, lessons are…

Education is the key. Education is the key. That was the line drilled into me from a young age and it was the same line I drilled into our firstborn daughter from the moment she could skip. My expectations were high so getting her and her younger sister into independent school made all the sense in the world. Vanessa and I agreed this was a step in the right direction. I had butterflies at the thought of her being an accountant or lawyer or banker and the competitive nature of the school helped fuel those beliefs. As I look back now, it was great for our girls to experience that…

Yesterday on my Instagram stories I asked my friends if they thought they managed time effectively and at least 66% said that if they are honest they don’t have enough time. So why is it that we don’t have enough time? Speaking with some of my clients, the blocks of our days are filled with family and work. So why is it still 66% of those around me still don’t think they have enough time? Devron and I looked at a number of exercises to help us decide what we needed to improve. We first structured the time that we spent into hours of the day. Devron spends 10.5 hours…