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Life Lessons #7: Improvisation vs Models in Professional Advisory Work
Trick question! Both approaches have their place and their legitimate uses. Combining them can deliver superior results for clients and advisers alike. It all comes down to CONTEXT. Considerations: Flexibility and Adaptability. Improvisation gives advisers “permission” to adapt quickly to unique and unpredictable circumstances – enabling them to think on their feet, solve problems creatively, […]
Read MoreLife Lesson #6: Be Comfortable in your own Skin
Observations To be comfortable in your own skin is to make peace with who and what you are, be it: successful or struggling, rich or poor, bright or not-so-much, beautiful or plain, weak or strong, short, bald, fat, or old. Basically, you feel OK about yourself and aren’t ashamed, nor feel any need to apologise […]
Read MoreGovernance for Small and Medium Businesses
(Talk given to CEO Institute Syndicate #1 on 18th July 2023) Good governance improves the likelihood of enjoying long-term success and sustainability in any business. Small and Medium Business – we’re talking to businesses with revenues between $10M and $250M and/or a permanent or casual workforce between 10 and 200 people. They’re privately owned, led, […]
Read MoreLife Lesson #5: Unlearning to Learn
Most professional advisors develop certain habits and ways of working, over time, that become inviolate components of professional practice as automatic processes in their service delivery. Standardised services become commoditised services. Commoditised services are easily duplicated, rapidly devalued, readily purloined, and ultimately replaced by clients always looking for quicker, cheaper, more accessible solutions. The practices […]
Read MoreLife Lesson #4: Hope is not a Strategy… but every Strategy needs Hope
Observations I often observe people seriously over-using the words: “hope” and “hopefully” when outlining their expectations and intentions. This immediately activates my BS radar and every additional utterance of either word make me feel increasingly uncomfortable. Why? Consequences If the individual is in a position of power and/or responsibility, expect trouble. They’re either: (a) creating […]
Read MoreSignificant Advice for Significant Clients
“There are certain things that are fundamental to human fulfillment. The essence of these needs is captured in the phrase;to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy.The need to live is our physical need for such things as food, clothing, shelter, economical well-being, health. The need to love is our social need to […]
Read MoreWhy Business Families, and Family Businesses, need Boards
Background Family Businesses are the engine room of the Australian economy. They employ over 50% of the Australian workforce and generate over 50% of GDP. Family Business is not small business, although many Family Businesses are small. They also comprise approximately 100 of the 500 largest companies in Australia. Many are large corporations. However, and […]
Read MoreLife Lesson #3: Rites of Passage and Growth Mindset
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin Rites are solemn or ceremonial activities. They can be publicly prescriptive, as in religious ceremonies, or privately improvised, in personal development activities. Rites of Passage originated as ancient, critical markers of […]
Read MoreLife Lesson #2: Emotional vs Rational Elements in Relationship Conflicts
Observations Several decades ago I began to focus the attentions of my commercial dispute resolution practice on family business conflicts. It soon became apparent that, to a far greater extent than with commercial disputes, I needed to really understand the characters, personalities, and back stories of the humans I was working with before I could […]
Read MoreLife Lesson #1: Leopards don’t change their spots
Observations Mediating family business tensions shows that understanding the characters, personalities, and life stories of relevant family members is at least as important as the technical skills and processes used to help resolve their conflict. Without an empathic understanding of what’s driving the humans, I can’t accurately detect, much less help them frame for use, […]
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