Bob
On
Business
Operational
Business Leaders
achieving
even more success
with
even less stress
Hi I'm Bob
I've spent (too) many years leading businesses, working with business leaders and speaking about business. That's enough about me. If you want to know more about me and what I do today, visit www.BobBradley.co.uk.
This site is intended to help you* save time (* Details of who this site is for are at the bottom of the page)
By helping you take shortcuts and avoid dead-ends
By learning from my many mistakes ... and my occasional success
This site contains some of my articles, posts and videos on
Leadership Strategy and Growth
Please browse, enjoy and most importantly use. I hope they will enable you to be an even better leader.
You survive in business by doing things right. Doing them better than others.
As long as there is a some demand for what you do of course! But your growth will be limited if you're competing by being better than everyone else in a stable market.
If that is your approach to business focus your reading on the thoughts, tips and tools about leading strategy and direction towards the top of the list below to make sure you are also in the right place at the right time.
You grow a business by doing the right things. Being in the right market at the right time.
But chances are you won't survive forever. Eventually someone else will spot the opportunity you've grabbed and do what you're doing better than you.
If that is your approach to business focus your reading on the thoughts, tips and tools about managing people and processes towards the bottom of the list below to make sure you are also doing things right.
The best businesses of course do the right things AND they do them right.
Success formula
Do the right things
and
Do things right
This site is especially for you ... IF
IF you are an operational business leader running a business:
Beyond startup
where your greatest challenge is to get a team of people working together to achieve an ambitious vision
Below corporate
where you are the practical leader responsible for deciding the detail of how to achieve results by coordinating marketing and sales, operations and supply, product development, finance, HR and IT.
You lead a business / business unit
through a management team, typically with a total of 10 - 500 staff
The buck stops with you
for delivering revenues, profit and growth against budget within loan covenants
by growing revenues, making profits, managing cash
for developing people and products.
IF as a person:
You got promoted to the top job because you were good at (or built the business by being good at) something else
but are are at heart an engineer, a salesperson, an accountant, a marketeer. And that’s what you know really well. But now you are now accountable for all manner of things that you’ve never managed before.
You are smart
You have been around a while so can make a reasonable go of it but there are times when you have to busk it.
You find it a bit stressful doing so sometimes.
Especially when things don’t go the way you want, or more likely people don’t do what you want how you want it to be done.
You hide your insecurities well
You know you need as a leader to appear confident, competent and motivated, but you are not always as confident as you appear.
... you are NOT like me ... as I was 35 years ago
… and like many of the successful operational business leaders I’ve met and worked with over the last 35 years. Most of whom don’t have an MBA. And in many cases never went to University. Indeed many of whom rebelled and left school at 16.
(My view today is that many of the best entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs primarily because they are unemployable rebels.)
I can still remember the first time I realised had a lot to learn from people NOT like me
I was a member of a business leader peer group. And I remember this guy (he was) opening and closing a business and writing off about £10k in about 6 weeks. I’d previously asked him about the business plan and the market. He had neither. What an idiot I had thought … at first!
And then I looked out of the window at his Aston Martin parked alongside my smart Merc. And for some reason it occurred to me - hold on - he owns his car - mine is owned by my employer. In fact he owns his business with a few £M and takes home a pretty nice dividend. My decent salary, bonus and options don’t match that. So who is the idiot? Me, the salaried MBA graduate, or the street smart entrepreneur?
In the end we became good friends. I know I learnt a lot from him about driving revenues and cash. I hope and believe he learnt a lot from me about the value of a clear strategic direction, proper planning and consistent execution, especially as you scale up - which most don’t achieve!
This site is especially for you ... IF you are thinking about ...
Leadership
We have lots of ideas but its a challenge to get things done
We are struggling to recruit, engage and retain staff
We need to change the culture, behaviours and maybe some people
Strategy and Growth
We have a great business and I want to realise its potential
We have a vision for the business but need to update our strategy and plan
We have a great product/service that we are struggling to sell
We are losing too much business to competitors
Our margins are under pressure
Themselves
I have too much to do and not enough time
Everyone keeps coming to me to sort every little detail
I am working too many hours and that is impacting on my personal life
I am getting tired, would like to retire or at least exit but can't
I need an external sounding board, someone impartial to help
This site is especially for you ... IF
... you are like me ... as I was 35 years ago
When I’d completed an MBA and had just become an operational business leader.
When I thought I knew all about business and leadership but in reality didn’t.
I now know that I knew too much theory and made it all too complicated. I have now learnt to keep it simple with some tips, thoughts and tools that help the leader, and their team, to understand the best strategies and execute them effectively
... you are like me ... as I was 35 years ago
When I’d completed an MBA and had just become an operational business leader.
When I thought I knew all about business and leadership but in reality didn’t.
I now know that I knew too much theory and made it all too complicated. I have now learnt to keep it simple with some tips, thoughts and tools that help the leader, and their team, to understand the best strategies and execute them effectively
This site is especially for you ... IF your challenges include ...
Growth plans
(Avoid the plateau)
(Avoid the plateau)
Considering goals or strategy
Looking to exit
Concerned about succession
Looking to grow quickly
Plateauing or not growing fast enough
Funding
(Managing cash)
(Managing cash)
Realising that external funding is needed
Unsure how to approach financers
Having cash flow difficulties
Growing too quickly. Need to manage cash
Won a big contract which needs funding
Ownership
(Succession and exit)
(Succession and exit)
Questions about acquisition
Has been approached to sell the business
Thinking about retirement or exit
Involved in a shareholder dispute
Parting company with a co-shareholder
Strategy
(Products & Markets)
(Products & Markets)
Sales have started to decline
Product range becoming outdated
Facing an aggressive new competitor
New competitor is disrupting the industry
Marketing is not getting results
People, Leadership
(and Management)
(and Management)
Staff are not committed or empowered
Handling a difficult or sensitive staff issue
Needing to build a management team
Lost a key member of staff
Having difficulty with recruiting
Worried about the culture
Operations
(Supply chain & Customers)
(Supply chain & Customers)
Supply chain problems and let-downs
Important upcoming pitch or presentation
Losing customers and losing pitches
Difficult negotiations
Major project(s) gone or going wrong