Business Mastermind Podcast

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People book by Stephen Covey

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Lessons in Leadership & Service from former Chief Superintendent of The Police & Now Immersion Coach & Leadership Expert Kul Mahay. Pt.1 May 19, 2019

Show notes

‘It's not about measuring ourselves with a linear timeframe of age it's the challenge of measuring ourselves against the impact we are having on the world, the way in which we are moving forward and the energy we bring'

Gavin is in conversation with Kul Mahay who is a specialist leadership coach. They explore the role of the leader and the social and emotional intelligence that can transform the ways in which we inspire, motivate and collaborate with others.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The greatest mistake we make as leaders is that we are driven by KPIs, performance and data.
When we bring social and emotional intelligence to our roles we are able to transform the ways in which we motivate, collaborate and interact with others.
Having been a senior leader for an extended period of time I understand and can empathise with leaders.

To be an effective leader you have to become an effective leader of yourself understanding your own emotional intelligence.
Once you master the art of inner leadership you master leadership.
There are  4 quadrants of emotional intelligence; self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management within these, there are a further 24 competencies.
Anyone can develop their emotional intelligence but you do have to be prepared to work on it.
It's only when we understand where we are now that we can identify the areas we need to improve on.

Completing an emotional intelligence assessment can give you a basis from which you can then move forward.
The culture of the organisation can be equated to the personality of the organisation.
What is the impact your company has on your customers, what do they say about you?
We want to be in a place where we are developing ‘raving fans' but to do this we need to have a full and proper relationship with everyone we come into contact with.
When you begin a business you are very task orientated, when you are a leader with a team of staff you need to be able to take a ‘helicopter' overview. This will enable you to see what is happening including the outward ripple effect.

The strategic view is very important and it requires discipline to ensure you regularly review and adjust your strategic plans for success.
The world is constantly changing, it is currently changing at a rate that is faster than we have ever known and it's your ability to adapt that is key in this world.

BEST MOMENTS

‘The truth is we are impacting on other people's lives all the time'

‘Leadership can be lonely and leaders have to make decisions'

‘ It takes work to keep it at exceptional'

‘If we have become complacent in our lives then in business you will be falling behind your competitors'

You can nurture your emotional intelligence'

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Chimp Paradox book by Prof. Steve Peters

Kul@kulmahay.com

Kul Mahay LinkedIn

Kul Mahay Twitter

Kul Mahay Instagram

ABOUT THE GUEST

Kul Mahay

Kul served for 32 years in the UK police service, of which two-thirds were spent at a leadership level.  In his life as a police leader, he has overseen complex and varied departments and commanded critical and major operational scenarios.  

Kul has worked with police forces, universities, fire services and the oil industry in the UK, UAE, Qatar, India and Ukraine to help develop empowered cultures.  His passion for leadership is evident in everything that he does. His personal coaching client base has spanned the globe.

Kul is also the author of the popular book, ‘Smash the Habit,' which draws on his experience of overcoming long-held habits. He believes that physical habits are just symptoms of mind habits.  He now coaches, speaks and trains on the art of leadership internationally.

ABOUT THE HOST

Gavin Preston

Gavin's energetic, insightful and yet down to earth and practical talks, workshops and coaching is in demand with high growth business between £250,000 and £30 million revenue and with multi-national organisations at all levels from Board to frontline Managers. He is an expert in Business Growth Strategies, Peak Performance Mindset, Persuasion & Engagement, Marketing, Productivity, Leadership Development, Team Development & Motivation, Leading Change, Stakeholder Management, Personal Effectiveness and Behavioural Change.

CONTACT METHOD

Screw it, Just Do it! podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lessons Learnt From Virgin Start Ups. What Works & What Doesnt in Terms of Starting up & Scaling Your Business May 19, 2019

Show notes

Are you an entrepreneur starting a new business?

In this episode of The Business Mastermind podcast Gavin is in conversation with Alex Chisnall creator of Top 3 business podcast ‘Screw it, Just Do it!' and Virgin Start-up Mentor.

Alex shares with Gavin the commonalities of start-ups who gain traction and success.  

He provides invaluable advice for anyone starting a new business on how to identify and effectively manage the challenges you will meet when you begin a new venture.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

What are the success traits of start-ups?

Focus is the key element shared by those businesses that are successful. They focus on one thing until they have got that right and then move on to the next thing.
People often move onto creating another revenue stream when they haven't got the first one functioning successfully.
Being able to recruit well and create the right team is vital. To achieve this, you need to understand what motivates people and know how to hold onto people of value.
The sweet spot is someone well educated, who is still open to new ideas but has some experience.
Being an entrepreneur is lonely so having a mentor is key. It's important to identify someone who is relevant and 3 or 4 years ahead of where you are currently.

You must seek to connect with others and grow your network,  LinkedIn can be a useful tool to connect with others.
You must persevere and be consistent in order to attract those people you aspire to be into your network.

In uncertain economic times, what should a start-up be doing?

Its key to look after your existing customers and find out what else they need and what their challenges are.
There may be other services or products that you can supply or connect them with.

It's important to regularly review all costs to ensure you are getting the best possible deals.
Growing your self-belief and confidence in what you are offering is crucial. Regularly revisiting your product or services and the key messages you are sharing with customers is vital to reinforce your confidence and to ensure what you are offering is fulfilling the needs and wants of your customers.

BEST MOMENTS

‘You have to be resilient to be an entrepreneur and know when to ask for help'

‘Timing can play a massive part in the success of a business'

‘It's just perseverance, reach for the stars'

‘You simply cannot say yes to everything'

‘I go to my mentor and am able to just do a complete brain dump'

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Alex Chisnall LinkedIn

Alex Chisnall Twitter

ABOUT THE HOST

Gavin Preston

Gavin's energetic, insightful and yet down to earth and practical talks, workshops and coaching is in demand with high growth business between £250,000 and £30 million revenue and with multi-national organisations at all levels from Board to frontline Managers. He is an expert in Business Growth Strategies, Peak Performance Mindset, Persuasion & Engagement, Marketing, Productivity, Leadership Development, Team Development & Motivation, Leading Change, Stakeholder Management, Personal Effectiveness and Behavioural Change.

CONTACT METHOD

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How Role Based KPIs & Robust Systems Can Drive Business Performance With Jamie Keeling May 19, 2019

Show notes

‘When you can develop an interdependent culture, you empower the people in your business to find solutions'

In this episode, Gavin is speaking to Jamie Keeling of ‘Optimise Me' Jamie explains the importance of role-based KPIs for a company and how they can bring a cohesive and interdependent culture in your business.

If you want to understand the power of systems, processes and KPIs in driving your business forward, creating a virtuous upward spiral instead of a downward fall then listen in now.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

What is business resilience?

Your perception of reality defines your reality it is about mindset. In our Universe, everything has a polarity. If there is a problem there is a solution if there is a challenge there is a route to overcome it.

Your sole job as a business owner is to find solutions to problems

How do systems support solutions?

The flow of data between the different aspects of business is the key to success when you have blockages in the flow of data the business begins to fail.
it is vital to have in place systems and infrastructure to find out what people need, create what they want and deliver it.
It is vital to have the right data, at the right time and in the right place. When you have a system you have accountability, responsibility and an interdependent culture.

How can role based KPIs transform a business?

The key is to assign KPIs to the role this enables the individual undertaking a particular role to know explicitly when they are achieving success.
The KPIs are both lead and lag indicators for a business.
The higher level KPIs will be based around growth, profitability and retention, other role-based KPIs will be very focused on individual activities.
The absence of structure and accountability results in everyone thinking it is someone else's responsibility to get something done.

Rather than moving forward everyone is fighting fires all the day, the business is always in a reactive state.
The KPIs allow you to highlight any part of the system that is not functioning properly.
When there are systems, processes and KPIs in place people feel cohesive, they feel they can rely on each other in an interdependent way.
Clearly defined responsibilities, accountability and KPIs enables people to have not only the mental capacity to successfully fulfil their own responsibilities but to also take on more working as part of a high performing team

BEST MOMENTS

‘Systems, processes and KPIs all drive culture within a business'

‘We are now hyperconnected  and everybody wants to feel that they have made a difference'

‘Everybody has their own interpretation of success in a situation and it is necessary to have systems in place to ensure consistency ‘

‘The KPIs allow you to highlight any part of the system that is not functioning properly'

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Optimise Me Now! podcast

Optimise Me! website

ABOUT THE GUEST

Jamie Keeling

With 13+ years of real-life business experience, Jamie is a business coach with a difference. Having spent 11 years working his way up through every department of his family's niche construction business and leading it through a phenomenal period of growth which took the business from a stagnant £2m to £6m in annual revenue in just 3 years, Jamie has gained unique insights into what does and doesn't work in the business. Jamie is passionate about performance in every way - from his unique approach to scaling businesses in the construction sector to winning a Tae Kwon Do World Championship title and climbing the biggest mountains in the UK, he knows what it takes to get results in every aspect of life. His current business focus is on assisting 6-figure construction businesses who are struggling with profitability, performance and failing systems, so they can increase their financial rewards, get the best from their teams, and develop fully systemised businesses that get consistently fantastic results and gives the owners more scale in business and more freedom in life.

ABOUT THE HOST

Gavin Preston

Gavin's energetic, insightful and yet down to earth and practical talks, workshops and coaching is in demand with high growth business between £250,000 and £30 million revenue and with multi-national organisations at all levels from Board to frontline Managers. He is an expert in Business Growth Strategies, Peak Performance Mindset, Persuasion & Engagement, Marketing, Productivity, Leadership Development, Team Development & Motivation, Leading Change, Stakeholder Management, Personal Effectiveness and Behavioural Change.

CONTACT METHOD

Built to Last book by Jim Collins

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Preparing Your Business For a Storm May 19, 2019

Show notes

The Impact of Political and Economic Uncertainty on Your Business

There are a number  of indicators that we are at the top of the economic cycle.

Many observers are expecting the economy of the UK to be flat over 2019 and others are expecting that beyond 2019 there will be a decline and slowing down of the economy.

As a result of the political situation business owners are holding back from investing as they wait to see what is going to happen.

In this episode, Gavin shares his expertise and provides pertinent and practical steps that you can take to build cash reserves forward and go lean with your business.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

With a world of uncertainty as business owners what we want is more certainty.

Building cash reserves is very important for any business.
Lots of business owners only manage their business by the amount of cash they currently  have.
They do not necessarily have robust cash flow forecasts about what the situation will be in 3, 6 12 months and beyond.
If you have a cash flow forecast you are projecting and planning your cash flow and are able to plan for additional funding at points when it may be required.
Having a scenario plan is key to understanding the possible impact different business opportunities will bring and the effect on your cash flow.

If there is an economic slow-down you want to ensure you can survive it and have enough cash flow.
Alongside building your cash reserves you can ‘go lean'
When a company is growing and scaling it can often be running with staff and resources that in the long term it will not require.
By going through the details of every area and aspect of your business you can identify changes that will help you to optimise the efficiency of the money you spend.
Ask yourself, do we really need it, if we no longer had this would it be detrimental to the business? Is there a cheaper alternative?

The aim of the exercise is to cut costs in order to survive.
If you cut back too far the business will not be able to survive so it's vital to keep your view on recovery.
There has to be an equal balance between cost efficiency and developing new sales and customers.
In times of uncertainty controlling the aspects of business that we can such as cash flow provide you with the most certainty and the best opportunity to be able to respond positively to a situation.

BEST MOMENTS

‘There are a number  of indicators that we are at the top of the economic cycle'

‘Cash is the life blood of a business'

‘It's like your own personal insurance'

‘Everybody is going to survive,  and it will be ok'

VALUABLE RESOURCES

ABOUT THE HOST

Gavin Preston

Gavin's energetic, insightful and yet down to earth and practical talks, workshops and coaching is in demand with high growth business between £250,000 and £30 million revenue and with multi-national organisations at all levels from Board to frontline Managers. He is an expert in Business Growth Strategies, Peak Performance Mindset, Persuasion & Engagement, Marketing, Productivity, Leadership Development, Team Development & Motivation, Leading Change, Stakeholder Management, Personal Effectiveness and Behavioural Change.

CONTACT METHOD

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How to grow Digital, Business & Personal Resilience; With Jason Dunlop May 19, 2019

Show notes

‘Successful organisations have a concept of lessons learnt, and learning from those

In this episode, Gavin is in conversation with Jason Dunlop, Director of Growth for Xcina Ltd and Lifeboat Operations Manager for RNLI at Penarth. He has also undertaken the role of Water Incident  Manager for the RNLI flood rescue team throughout the last 10 Years.

Jason has considerable expertise and experience in digital and personal resilience and the development of leaders to enable them to move through a change process and evaluate dynamically. He shares the key elements required to build resilience and provides an insightful view of evaluating dynamically and the positive difference it can make.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

We now live in a digitally reliant world. A world where everything around us, and everything we do is reliant on a digital environment - our phones, our homes, cars, the way we shop and spend is all driven by a digital medium.
To understand how we survive, how we maintain and grow in a digital world requires us to think about and plan through scenarios of set-up, scenarios of maintaining, through scenarios of growing and scenarios of responding, what we do when things don't go to plan.

Resilience is the ability of an organisation to respond effectively to challenges such as threat actors and growth or decline. A resilient individual is one who can look at a situation they are facing analyse it and then have the ability to think, focus, grow and move forward in a consistent way.
The training and development of your staff are what makes your business resilient. When the people process, and technology element form an effective partnership your business will be able to digitally grow and achieve.
We haven't yet understood how to process digital information. We can see emails, text messages, Facebook as potentially threatening and experience the heightened emotional and psychological responses associated with being under attack.
If you change your mindset and remove that risk from yourself, you can work in a different way.
In dynamic evaluation the objective is to move and gather information in order to make a decision, decide at what point to make the decision and then act on the decision.

Successful organisations have a concept of lessons learnt, and learning from those lessons, reviewing and asking what you would do differently is learning.
Evaluating dynamically before you act is relies on ongoing communication, gathering of information and constantly evaluating what is going on to enable you to move forward.
This model is one of shared responsibility everybody is seeking to identify the risks, and everyone is seeking opportunities to make a difference.
The ability of a leader to analyse what's going develops individual resilience as within the process of questioning and moving forward you are also evaluating yourself and your capability.
Having a positive outlook is the way forward and there is no such thing as a negative experience only situations from which we can learn, getting to a position where you think of everything as an opportunity will change everything.

BEST MOMENTS

‘There are opportunities in every situation the secret is going to find them'

‘Thinking and documenting  your possible threat landscape and having a plan to respond builds your level of resilience'

‘We don't make wrong decisions as humans We do things because we believe they are the best thing to do at the time'

‘You can think and run; you don't have to stand still'

‘The ability to buy time, gather information, make a plan and then execute it are vital elements'

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Xcina Ltd

Jason Dunlop LinkedIn

ABOUT THE HOST

Gavin Preston

Gavin's energetic, insightful and yet down to earth and practical talks, workshops and coaching is in demand with high growth business between £250,000 and £30 million revenue and with multi-national organisations at all levels from Board to frontline Managers. He is an expert in Business Growth Strategies, Peak Performance Mindset, Persuasion & Engagement, Marketing, Productivity, Leadership Development, Team Development & Motivation, Leading Change, Stakeholder Management, Personal Effectiveness and Behavioural Change.

CONTACT METHOD

My AFL Journey by Jay Munoz

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Helping Others Achieve Financial Freedom Through Property With Jay Munoz May 19, 2019

Show notes

‘If you start with a suitcase of dreams and you work hard, you can achieve them'

Jay from Assets for Life who are based in the South East and specialise in commercial conversions, land developments and refurbishment projects is in conversation with Gavin about his inspirational journey and passion to build homes.

Jay explains how the AFL journey planner can develop positive behaviours and habits on the journey to achieving your goals.  

Listen in now and start developing the techniques that can bring you success.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

It's important to understand both the ups and downs of property investment and ensure you are educated about the property market and have a mentor.

When you are an entrepreneur there is no ceiling to what you can achieve and being with people who share the same mindset is vital as they are the people who understand.
Being part of a community can help to accelerate your journey to success.
The AFL Journey is a 13-week planner which has been developed to enable individuals to plan successfully and achieve consistency in the journey towards their goals.
Beginning the journey with the creation of an epitaph will empower you to think about what you want your legacy to be and how you will achieve this.
Actively considering how you want to be remembered will enable you to set goals and plan for the journey to reach them.

Beginning and ending every day with thoughts of gratitude helps to motivate and inspire and through careful planning of your day you will be able to focus meeting your daily goals.
It is vital to plan your time throughout the day, so you are able to see how and what you are doing to achieve success.
Focusing on key tasks at the start of a day and consistently reviewing what you have learnt is vital to implementing the AFL journey planner successfully.
The planner will help you to develop the positive habits and techniques required to build and sustain your success.
Implementing the journey planner for 13 weeks will embed the successful habits and behaviours necessary for you to achieve success.

Even if you start with a suitcase of dreams, if you work hard you can achieve them.

BEST MOMENTS

‘We are helping people to achieve financial freedom'

‘The positive feedback about how we have changed people's lives is amazing'

‘It's a transformational journey'

‘They can change their lives for the better'

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Assets for Life Website

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective book by Stephen Covey

The One Thing book by Gary Keller

ABOUT THE GUEST

Jay Munoz

I was born in Colombia and in all honesty, had a privileged upbringing. My parents started their lives together with very little as teachers, but with sheer hard work and re-training they changed careers and my dad became a very successful doctor. As well, my Mother got into property development. And I'm sure it was growing up in this environment that has shaped my own work ethic, and my love for building.

I saw civil engineering as a way of improving lives; transport connections, power supplies and buildings all make a massive contribution, and I wanted to be able to improve people's modus vivendi.

After a few years in the construction industry, I left Colombia and decided to emigrate to the UK and start off by learning English.

In 2003, I started doing an MSc at Surrey University, and I was determined to achieve this qualification whilst supporting myself. I negotiated stage payments of the course fees, and I worked full-time doing unskilled jobs, such as cleaning toilets and pizza delivery to fund it all.

With perseverance and my new qualification, I set out to find myself a job. I was so conscious that UK nationals would be far higher up any pecking order, and then Europeans, leaving the “kid” from South America at the bottom of the pile. I knew I had to do something special, so I sent out 30,000 CVs! And it worked, the result was 5 job offers.

My career got me working on some great projects including:

-The London Underground,

-Construction of the Walbrook and other iconic structures in central London worth £1.5 billion

-EDF new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C, worth £20billion

I achieved Chartered Civil Engineering status and was highly ranked whilst working in the corporate environment and thought I was absolutely in the right place. This was until I read the book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. This set my head spinning, and I knew I had to have my own business.

And then I met Liam. This cheeky Essex lad came knocking on my door. I'm glad to be able to say he wasn't wearing a shell suit. There was something infectious about his energy and purpose. And as you might say, the rest is history...

I love Assets for Life. It ticks all my boxes- I can share and help other people, I can improve lives through building and development, and I have the wealth to have choice and freedom, which means I can give my best to my family too.

CONTACT METHOD

Instagram@jaymunozafl

https://m.facebook.com/Jay.Munoz.AFL/

ABOUT THE HOST

Gavin Preston

Gavin's energetic, insightful and yet down to earth and practical talks, workshops and coaching is in demand with high growth business between £250,000 and £30 million revenue and with multi-national organisations at all levels from Board to frontline Managers. He is an expert in Business Growth Strategies, Peak Performance Mindset, Persuasion & Engagement, Marketing, Productivity, Leadership Development, Team Development & Motivation, Leading Change, Stakeholder Management, Personal Effectiveness and Behavioural Change.

CONTACT METHOD