The new business metrics you need to pay attention to

The new business metrics you need to pay attention to

Rebecca Morley
Leadership

With recent announcements feeling a bit more positive and the first signs of spring emerging, I’m allowing some cautious optimism to creep in! But there’s still a great deal of uncertainty, and a lot of change still to come right?

If you’re feeling tired, or finding it difficult to get clarity at the end of this very tumultuous time, you’re not alone. Change makes us feel out of control, which in turn makes it very hard to think.

Not just that but significant turmoil or change can make it hard to make sense of your business based on the usual metrics or KPIs. Often the numbers simply don’t make sense when the contextual change is so enormous.

Breaking in the horse.... how to turn negative emotions into positive energy.

Breaking in the horse.... how to turn negative emotions into positive energy.

Rebecca Morley
Leadership

As we navigate these strange and often confusing times, the energy you bring to your business is more important than ever. In times of change and uncertainty your team will inevitably look to you for support and guidance. In my experience though they also look to you for cues and clues on how things really are and how things are going to be.


Put simply, if you aren’t walking the talk then your team will very quickly see through that. Managing your energy is everything.

Writing manifesto

Writing manifesto

Rebecca Morley

Sometimes an idea starts to nudge away at your thoughts. At first, it’s a whisper, quiet and polite. But when it’s persistent you begin to realise it might be something important. Soon that whisper starts to get louder. Eventually it becomes a shout. Impossible to ignore.

The only way to do anything about it, is to take action.

What's next for the office?

What's next for the office?

Rebecca Morley

Last week I saw a quote from the CEO of Unilever - '5 days in the office seems so old fashioned now’.

It stayed with me, as important ideas often do. I started thinking about how quickly that sense of obsolescence has manifested. But then I started thinking about all the conversations I’ve had over the years, with colleagues, with clients and with myself! And I thought - no - 5 days in the office doesn’t’ seem old fashioned NOW - it always has!

Ever since my days in middle management corporate roles I found that the 9 to 5 really didn’t suit me. I was more than willing to come in at 5 am some days, stay til 10 pm on others but what I wanted was a credit debit system.

3 ways to up your leadership game - today

3 ways to up your leadership game - today

Rebecca Morley

If you feel as though your leadership could do with a tune up after the uncertainty and turmoil of the last year you’re not alone. So many people I’ve spoken to recently feel as though they’ve been in survival mode for months.

With so little certainty over the future, looking longer term has felt impossible. But that feels so tiring and demotivating that many of you are looking for ways to get back on track.

I recent coaching sessions, I’ve found that the same things have come up again and again. Leaders want to feel as though they’re leading again. They want to feel as though the business is going somewhere and that they are in control.

Being able to do that actually tends to require very small shifts but the results are overwhelmingly positive when you make even small changes consistently.

Leadership is everything you do

Leadership is everything you do

Rebecca Morley

One of the key questions my clients bring to the table is ‘when do I find time to lead’? When, between the meetings, 1:1s, the busy work, the client facing bit, the keeping the whole thing afloat and aligned to a vision… when do you have time to lead. You’re so busy transacting, fire fighting, problem solving and dealing with the general day to day that ‘leadership’ falls to the bottom of the list.

The answer is always the same…

Leadership Is Everything You Do.

COVID-19 - Should I be spending money on coaching and development?

COVID-19 - Should I be spending money on coaching and development?

Rebecca Morley

If the last few months have taught me anything, it’s how much of a luxury some people still think coaching and development are.

That makes me sad. For me, it’s anything but. My own business has been impacted significantly by this crisis but I’ve doubled my own spend on coaching and supervision as I know it’s a necessity. I work with numerous businesses who feel the same - I know they’ll weather this storm.

Thinking about hiring a coach? Read this first...

Thinking about hiring a coach? Read this first...

Rebecca Morley

If you're thinking about hiring a coach but don't know where to start, then you're not alone. The coaching landscape is incredibly confusing and extremely competitive. I posted on Facebook this week to do a bit of research on how people choose coaches and it garnered nearly 40 comments, many of which had various different descriptions of what coaching even is. It also attracted several other coaches trying to sell their services!

One of the main issues is that coaching seems to be a bit of a buzz word at the moment. The problem with that is, when people realise that they can add credibility to their offering by adding a word like coach, it becomes misappropriated time and time again. When everyone’s a coach, no one is a coach. I imagine it won’t be long before McDonalds rename their servers food selection coaches. 

So if you think you might benefit from the help of a coach, but you don't know where to start, let me help you to cut through some of the crap!

Why resolutions take more than just resolve – how to make change stick

Why resolutions take more than just resolve – how to make change stick

Rebecca Morley

Most people have given up on theirs by the end of Jan and a measly 8% of people actually ever achieve them. 

 

I’ve never met anyone who made a resolution because they thought that the change they wanted to make was a bad idea. I think it’s safe to say we make resolutions because they are things we want to make happen. We make them for the right reasons, we start off with the best intentions but something happens to the vast majority of us along the way.

 

So what’s going on? Why is it so difficult to make change stick? As a behavioural change expert, I though I might step in with helpful tips to help you make sure this year is the year you really see things through.

Want to be more successful? Develop a persona.

Want to be more successful? Develop a persona.

Rebecca Morley

For me, creating a version of you as the ideal leader of your business is as important as being clear about your ideal client. And scarily, I see most of my clients put a lot more work into who their client needs to be than who they need to be. Often that’s because we assume we are ‘fixed’ as we are. 

Creating a persona that is all the things you need to be as a leader -  confident, self assured and decisive, even when you’re having a bad day – allows you to step out of yourself and still get the job done.

Why you should do a strategic business review... and how to do one.

Why you should do a strategic business review... and how to do one.

Rebecca Morley

Does this sound familiar to you? You are caught in the moment, you feel like you know what you need to do to run your business now but you also know that things will need to change in order for you to be able to grow in the way you want to.

Maybe you feel as though the creative magic and 'all hands on deck' mentality that got you here is losing it's charm as you start to bring more team members in? Perhaps you have a sense that you are probably not being as efficient as you could be.

I'm guessing you feel a certain loyalty towards the way of working that has got you to this point? I'd even go as far as to suggest that you might fear you'll lose something of what you really are if you dare to change a winning formula.

What I told you it was actually fairly easy to feel confident that you know exactly what to do to take your business to the next level? That you could be absolutely clear on where you want to take the business and why. Simply put, what if you felt like you had A PLAN?

Hate something? Change something... Can you influence the governmental policies that affect your business?

Hate something? Change something... Can you influence the governmental policies that affect your business?

Rebecca Morley

Making an impact on the world is largely to do with knowing where best to put your energy. So when I get the opportunity to do something that has a potential impact on not just my business but those of my clients and peers I grab it with both hands. Last week I was thrilled to be invited to an event run by The Entrepreneurs Network, a think tank set up to give entrepreneurs, small businesses and the self-employed a greater collective voice. It was called ‘A Parliament Fit for Entrepreneurs?’ and aimed to understand what the government needs to do to support entrepreneurs better.

 

I was excited to go, and at the time the discussion was absorbing and inspiring. The overwhelming message from the panel, made up of Baroness Susan Kramer, Andrew Dixon and Gilian Keegan MP was that the way to change government policy was to ‘get involved’. Lobby, speak to your MP, play your part in discussion groups and forums. ‘Great’ I thought, I’m here at this event, getting involved, changing things – that’s a start.

Be More Gazelle - How to grow your business at speed...

Be More Gazelle - How to grow your business at speed...

Rebecca Morley

A week today I attended an event called Be More Gazelle - How to grow your business at speed...

I’ll start with a confession… before this event I had no idea what a Gazelle was. Obviously I know it's a kind of deer like mammal but in business terms, not a clue! It turns out I probably should have done because it’s exactly the kind of companies I work with. According to The FT it's an extremely fast growing company (20% + YOY) that maintains consistent momentum. 

 

Are you a secret Gazelle? I can’t be the only person that doesn’t know what one is?!

 

The event was run by Upstream – a fab initiative that's aiming to redress the silicon roundabout East-West imbalance and make Hammersmith and Fulham the best place to do business in Europe. What an exciting vision! Are you in the West of London? Look it up and get involved. There were far too many business advisors there and not enough actual businesses and I'd love to feel as though I was part of a growing and thriving community of great businesses. 

The 5 things your business can't live without...

The 5 things your business can't live without...

Rebecca Morley

OK so this is the second time I’ve written about this but the more clients I work with and the more I learn, the more I think this message bears repeating. For all the advice there is out there about how to run a business, there are really only 5 very basic things that every business needs to do well. And yet, I find very few businesses that have all of these nailed.

I’ve worked in, and with, businesses of all sizes. From multi billion pound blue chips that exist in hundreds of countries to kitchen table enterprises that are just getting off the ground and literally everything in between. And only a handful have all 5 of these things down pat. They all do some of these things, and some of them do all of them to some extent but none do all of them, all of the time.

I thought when I started working with small businesses and start ups that they would be hugely different to the big corporates. And they are, massively different –

What's the one thing you must do NOW to hit your goals in 2018?

What's the one thing you must do NOW to hit your goals in 2018?

Rebecca Morley

How are you feeling today? Let me guess... It's the second week back after the New Year, the Christmas tree has come down and the routine you thought you craved post Christmas is starting to feel a bit, well, routine. Already. The resolutions or intentions you set are starting to feel a bit too hard.

I like to call this the 'doubt dip'. The initial wave of enthusiasm you surfed in on is starting to ebb away as the reality of your calendar and your inbox take over again. AND, you haven't yet got far enough into your plan to give you the momentum to keep going. Your energy levels start to dip and you begin to doubt whether you're ever going to get there. Another few half hearted attempts await you before you give up altogether along with everyone else on the 17th Jan. The same goes for business, getting it right in the first few weeks are key to feeling like you've had a fast start.

The four golden rules every small business owner needs to know...

The four golden rules every small business owner needs to know...

Rebecca Morley

Want to know how to be a better leader? Know this - leadership is everything you do.

At a recent panel discussion I went to, the question was asked - how do I find time to lead my team? When do I lead in between all of the other priorities I have? And the answer? Leadership is everything you do. Your team will look to you for cues and clues on exactly how you want your business to run. Every conversation you have with them or someone else, you are showing them how people have conversations in your business. Every decision you make, you are showing them how decisions are made and what the priorities are in your business. The way you deal with customers and suppliers is the way that customers and suppliers are dealt with in your business.

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