Watch: two seats left… would you sit?
Whilst not wishing to be someone who has to read into everything to the nth degree, have a watch of this Carlsberg advert and take a moment to be a little bit curious about your own prejudices. Would you take the last two seats? A funny and thought provoking 2-minute…
How to: respond to requests for proposals – steps to win without pitching
At its core, pitching is parting with your thinking without compensation. Whatever your line of thought about pitches – and whether you engage with them or not – they are a standard part of agency life and you should have a process for dealing with them just like anything else…
‘Big’ Personalities – How to Manage a Top Performer Who Isn’t a Team Player
I read an article in Harvard Business Review recently which I thought was worth a share. As agency leaders and founders, we all want the best people. And despite the call for a ‘culture-fit first’ strategy, there are many times when a person’s talent must outweigh their potentially abrasive personality,…
Employee Ownership Trusts – what the M&A firms don’t want you to know
I recorded this video with the very brilliant and lovely Rob Metcalfe a few months ago, and it has stuck with me. Rob is Chairman of Richmond & Towers and is in the unique position of having completed not one but two Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) deals in the last year….
6 Strategies for Leading Through Uncertainty
It would be impossible (and frankly presumptuous) to try and summarise how everyone has felt over the last year, and so instead I reach for the very small but real knowledge I have gleaned from my agency leader clients, of whom all have had to navigate through change, uncertainty, and…
Everything you need to know about over-servicing clients
Take solace (if you can) that over-servicing is something pretty much every agency does. A dirty little secret if you will. Except, it’s not really a secret, more something that has become so commonplace that it often barely registers as a problem. But a problem it is. Recently, I was…
The Mercury is Rising. A summary of findings for agencies from the jfdi/Opinium New Business Barometer
[cherry_row] [cherry_col size_md=”12″] A tough year for new business, but far from impossible and the mercury is rising. The jfdi/Opinium New Business Barometer tells a story of agencies having to focus hard on upper funnel and being creative when spotting opportunities. But it also hints that new business teams who…
The league table always lies. Ask questions about your success, not just your failures.
A really interesting TEDx Talk from Rasmus Ankersen on the learnings businesses can take from the viewpoint of a professional gambler. His story starts by eloquently walking us through the rise and dramatic fall of Nokia, who went from 50% global market share to just 3% in less than five…
Deep Work is likely the most useful thing an agency leader will undertake
It’s likely you have heard the term ‘deep work’ bandied about the place of late. Positioned as an answer to perpetual distraction, multi-tasking and checking phones and emails every few minutes, deep work promises dividends in terms of productivity, employability and happiness. For agency founders and leaders, there is something…
5 things Norwich City can teach us about creating a great culture
Some time ago, I came across an article about a response a seven-year-old had received from Norwich City Football Club. The young fan had written a letter to apologise for not being able to attend her first match and to ask for a refund. A member of the Customer Service…