As the founder/CEO or leader of a scaling organisation, one of the best things you can do for your business (and your life!), is to prioritise hiring the right people into the right roles. We all know the pain of a mis-hire. Not to mention the wasted expense in salary and recruitment costs, only to find out weeks or months into an appointment, the new leader or talent you spent months searching for, weeks pursuing and days interviewing, are not right for the role and/or the c

Smart plays to ignite your team, scale your business and finish the year stronger. Many start a race fast out of the gates. But as the saying goes "starting strong is great, but finishing strong is epic." As the winter thaws here in Australia, and the sun warms up our beautiful spring days, it's easy for that Coke Summer Feeling to enter our sub-conscious. Lulling our people into a sense that the year is almost over. The year is definitely far from over! With at least 12 to

It was thrilling to watch the Matildas play to win their FIFA World Cup game, crushing Canada 4-0. Leading up to the game all commentary was focused on the strategy, the star talent and the risks. However, on the night itself, the game was transformed as it came down to the focus, discipline and skilful performance of the entire team. Entrepreneurs and executive teams can learn a lot from this do or die game to have their own Matildas Moment with their team. Entrepreneurs and

It's time again to review you strategy. A day or two away from the business to work on the business. It can be highly productive, or it can be a big talkfest without clear or good decisions and commitment to action! To avoid this, I recommend everyone is well prepared ahead to get the best possible thinking, engagement and decisions on the day. Although it is hard to step away from the operations, the real villain is the absence of a strategy planning routine and effort in g

Just when we think we have it figured out - the world shifts again. Here's a way to stay on top of emerging opportunities and turn your scaling team into a learning machine. Once start ups begin to grown up and transition to scale, it's natural to get caught up in operational goals, allowing little time or energy to focus on much else. In today's rapidly changing world and on-trend customers, this can be a mistake. What matters for long-term sustainable growth is not just ope

Warren Buffet courtesy of CNBC Adam Jeffrey. High levels of human capital like human intelligence (HI) and learning agility of the founders and management has time again been linked to successful scale ups. So we should always be learning... To quote Charlie Munger, Warren Buffet's business partner; "I constantly see people rise in life who are not the smartest, sometimes not even the most diligent, but they are learning machines." Here is a starter list of top business scali

When is the right time to hire more staff ? Recent layoffs particularly in the tech sector have largely been a result of over hiring and expectations of ambitious growth. There's no running away unexpected events that come along once or twice a lifetime, however there are some things you can consider when deciding whether now is the right moment to hire or to stay lean. Hiring often feels chicken and egg - we need the talent and extra capacity to drive growth. At the same tim

Pre-mature scaling is a large cause of start-up failure and it's important to understand there is a transitionary stage before scaling to avoid failure or stagnation. It's no surprise that many ambitious entrepreneurs and CEOs with some early success in their ventures are jumping at the bit to start scaling. I certainly was with my own start up. Yet 'premature scaling' is cited as one of the biggest causes of failure in new ventures. With all the confusion around scaling and

Do you feel like you are in back to back meetings, yet somehow lack quick decision making and time to reflect on strategy? You may need to level up your meeting governance by putting into place a new meeting rhythm and agenda. Verne Harnish, author of Scaling Up and founder of the Young Entrepreneurs Organisation and Scaling Up Coaches has synthesised and analysed some of the world's leading companies and their meetings. Based on this, Scaling Up recommends a new meeting gove