This book is dedicated to all my...
Transcript of This book is dedicated to all my...
First Published 2020 by Darren Lewitt
This Edition Published 2020 by Darren Lewitt
ISBN: 9781655628436
Text Copyrights © Darren Lewitt 2020
Image Copyrights © Darren Lewitt 2020
Moral rights asserted.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise) without prior written
permission of the publisher.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
Written in Norwich, Norfolk, England.
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This book is dedicated to all my former
colleagues
Without their support, none of my success would have been
possible. They helped me transform a tiny company in the heart
of East Anglia into a global giant that would not only dominate its
field, but would later be listed on the stock market with an
incredible turnover approaching £1 billion a year.
A special mention to all the people in this book who inspired me;
especially Sir Roger Bannister, who died during my writing of this
book, Jim Lewitt - my father and ultimate hero, Pamella Lewitt -
my mum, who was my rock, driving force and taught me so much,
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and Ed Moses - who as a young child, kept me on the edge of my
seat for almost 10 years; to all the other people who I refer to in
this book, and last but not least to my wife Ann, without whom,
none of this would have been possible. Thank you.
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Foreword
Do you have a dream? Let me inspire you
My name is Darren Lewitt and I wrote this book for you, to help
prove that anything is possible if you work hard enough, care
enough and are determined enough. This is my story…
As a normal lad from the streets of Leicester, like many, I dreamt
of one day becoming the next footballing sensation. But like so
many young lads I had to accept that my initial dream wasn’t to be
and refocus on some realistic goals. Instead, aged 18, I decided to
join the Royal Air Force where I learned self-discipline and team
ethics. For 7 years, I worked as a technician on surface-to-air
missile systems and early-warning radar before leaving to embark
on what became a 25-year journey when I joined a small company
called Midwich in a sleepy Norfolk town. I started at the bottom
and faced innumerable challenges, all the time trying to saturate
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myself with knowledge of the business. Who would have thought
that a few years later I would find myself ‘morphing’ this tiny IT
company into the world’s largest audio visual distributor.
If I Can Do It - You Can Too
Through a collection of anecdotal musings, I decided to create
this book. I believe you will benefit from some of my
observations as a successful businessman. I’m sure you will enjoy
them and they will spark something in you. Think of this book as
your ‘business bible’ when you embark on your own journey.
The Beginning at Midwich
Having spent a good many years treading water, without having a
clear strategy or much imagination, there came a time when I was
tasked with developing the business. As it turned out, my team
and I would mastermind an evolution that would see the company
become a global group of companies, changing the face of audio
visual distribution forever and, seeing off a good many rivals along
the way. A colleague, and once former competitor, best described
his own move to Midwich as joining “the Machine”.
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Moving Forward
I recently sold my share of Midwich because I felt that my legacy
was secure and it was time to pass the baton on to my colleagues,
allowing them to step up and complete the job I had
masterminded. In their capable hands, the company continues to
flourish. The decision allowed me to do what I always wanted to
do, spend a lot of my time giving back to society and inspiring
young people by sharing my hard-earned wisdom and a vast array
of business experiences.
I now mentor a wide range of people through the charity
‘Volunteering Matters’ and their ‘Grandmentors’ program. Acting
as a role model and drawing on my experience I play a significant
and transformative role in the life of young, vulnerable care
leavers.
One of my mentees called Cole wouldn’t even go into the YMCA
canteen alone and struggled to communicate with people.
Working one step at a time we set ourselves goals and most
importantly Cole wanted to change his life. Two and a half years
on, he now has a council HR apprenticeship, new accommodation
and a positive mental attitude. It hasn’t been easy but we are now
enjoying the results. Recently we both picked up an award at the
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“Mentor of the Year Awards”, appeared on Sky News and the
BBC’s The One Show, and Cole has just been nominated for the
“Suffolk Young Person of the Year Award”.
In conjunction with the Careers and Enterprise Company and
New Anglia LEP, I work with pupils at Ormiston Academy. And
in association with “All Together”, I mentor students with
complex learning needs at Thomas Wolsey School.
I also give up my time to help a significant number of male and
female business leaders.
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Table of Contents
Section One - Starting From Scratch
Chapter 1 - The Distance Between Your Dreams and Success is
‘The Extra Mile’
Chapter 2 - Is There a Fine Art to Selling?
Chapter 3 - The Corridors of Success
Chapter 4 - Creativity - Your ‘25th Hour’
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Section Two - Motivation and Inspiration
Chapter 5 - The Harder I Practice, the Luckier I Get
Chapter 6 - Time and Tide Wait for No Man
Chapter 7 - Balancing the Half-full or Half-empty Glass
Chapter 8 - Your Most Important Word
Chapter 9 - That Friday Feeling
Chapter 10 - Aspire to Inspire Before You Expire
Section Three - Resilience and Positivity
Chapter 11 - Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
Chapter 12 - Bouncing Back
Chapter 13 - If You Ain’t Ever Been Down
Section Four - Moving Up the Ladder
Chapter 14 - The Answer is Yes. Now What’s the Question?
Chapter 15 - How Do You Start Out as a Manager?
Chapter 16 - How to turn ‘RAGE’ into ‘COURAGE’?
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Section Five - You’ve Made It! Now What?
Chapter 17 - Recognise Your Superstars
Chapter 18 - Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word
Chapter 19 - Social Media or Social Menace
Chapter 20 - Don’t Become a Business Dinosaur
Chapter 21 - Taking Your Brand to a Different Level
Section Six - Don’t Get Complacent
Chapter 22 - Make Time for Reflection
Chapter 23 - Expect the Unexpected
Chapter 24 - Has Anyone Seen My Lunch?
Chapter 25 - Festive Cheer or Simply Bah Humbug?
Chapter 26 - A Degree in Common Sense
Chapter 27 - Keeping an Open Mind
Chapter 28 - The Pressure Cooker
Epilogue
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Section One
Starting from Scratch
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Chapter 1
The Distance Between Your Dreams and
Success is ‘The Extra Mile’
Before the 6th May 1954, the idea of running a 4-minute mile was
dismissed as inconceivable, impossible, out of the question.
However Sir Roger Bannister did something quite remarkable that
day.
In less than 4 minutes, he made people believe that goals
considered to be unattainable could now be within their reach.
What’s nearly as incredible is that his inspirational record time
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lasted only 46 days.
And 60 years on, it has since been lowered by 17 seconds. Both a
17-year-old and a 40-year-old have also accomplished the feat
along with thousands of others thanks to Sir Roger and pure
human belief. In addition, Kenyan runner Daniel Komen, literally
went ‘the extra mile’ in 1997 when he completed 2 miles in under
8 minutes for the very first time. I’m now left wondering when the
first woman will achieve the 4-minute mile. And why not because;
‘Anything is Possible.’
Throughout life and in any business career, adopting a positive
mental attitude is what separates the winners from the also-rans.
So, what are you waiting for? Get out there, focus on your goals
and make it happen. At a young age, my mother taught me to say
the alphabet backwards, which of course ends in DCBA. This has
always stuck in my mind and to me, those four characters spell out
the title of my book...
● Dream
● Create
● Believe
● Achieve
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As long as you excel at what you do and put yourself in the right
place at the right time, there is no reason why you can’t achieve
your dreams. Just keep going, no matter what, and maintain your
self-belief.
During your career you will have times when you think that your
goals or your dreams are not realistic or in fact achievable. With
the right attitude, you will not only climb to the mountain top
you’ll have the chance to see the infinity of possibilities that lies
beyond it.
I set myself a target when I left school to retire by the age of 50
and although I do a bit of coaching now I effectively achieved that
goal when I sold my share in my company on my 48th birthday.
So, if just an average lad from the streets of Leicester can do it
then you can too.
Those ‘Oops’ Moments
Everyone has them. Throughout my career, I have suffered my
fair share of embarrassing incidents, including the one that began
on my very first day as a salesman. Having successfully closed my
first sale on my opening call, I was naturally buzzing with
excitement and pretty full of myself. However, just like a balloon
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that someone stabbed with a pin, I was about to completely
deflate and learn my first lesson in business.
Attention to Detail
Back in the early 1990s, cars didn’t have central locking systems.
So, after noticing that I had locked the keys inside my car, I
suddenly twigged that things weren’t lining up to be the perfect
start to my sales career. After weighing up the options, I decided
that the only thing to do to retrieve my keys was to smash the
back window, like a common thief. The wet afternoon didn’t help
to lift my gloomy mood either. Now running behind schedule, in a
windy and unsecure car, it prevented me from making all the calls
I had planned, so I let a lot of people down that day, and that
didn’t feel good.
Turn a Negative into a Positive
Letting down my future customers was a tough lesson, but I was
adamant that I would draw something good from this unfortunate
experience and never forget how it made me feel at the time. Six
months later, while ‘dining out’ on this comedy of errors with
some customers, it turned out that I was having the last laugh as
my sales region had become the most profitable for the company.
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The Chicken or the Egg, What Comes First?
The answer is actually irrelevant because hard work comes before
them both. Having said that, just how do you get a job in sales
with no experience when you can’t get experience without having
a job in sales.
‘That catch 22 situation!’
To be successful you do need commitment and determination. If
you want to be the best and you want to beat the rest then
dedication’s what you need.
Sometimes a manager has to take a calculated chance on people,
and in my own case, a very special man called Robin Howell
believed in me enough to give me a chance. And so, coming from
a military background with no sales experience I was presented
with my first opportunity. All I had in my armory was quantity
and dedication.
Working late nights, stuffing handwritten mail-shots and licking
hundreds of postage stamps taught me that;
‘Quantity is sometimes better than quality.’
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“I spent about four and a half years in field sales before
moving into the office. In that time, I turned my area into the
most profitable within the company, winning my first
salesman of the year award and securing my company’s first
ever £1 million contract along the way. It was certainly a
platform that positioned me for moving up into a business
management role, ready for the next exciting challenge
ahead.” DL
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Chapter 2
Is there a Fine Art to Selling?
Well, that is the six-million-dollar question! OK. Here’s the drill…
You pick up your phone, make an appointment, get in your car,
present your pitch, promise to deliver, ship out the goods, hit your
target, and you count your bonus.
Selling - It’s as Easy as That, or Is It?
Throughout my career I’ve learned many great lessons, and I’d
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like to share a few that just might improve your thinking.
Although sales-based, these are easily transferable to other areas
of business.
I have met countless salespeople, including the good, the bad and
the downright ugly; but the one common denominator among all
the successful ones is that they were all ‘personable’.
Those who are the most memorable are not necessarily the most
successful. Packing in as many clichés and acronyms as possible
into a sentence isn’t selling. I still raise a smile at the thought of
some of them today.
One guy used to shout out “Don’t forget your ABCs!” at the
end of each sales meeting (that’s ‘Always Be Closing’ for people
not from a sales background) or, put more simply, make sure you
get the order from the customer.
Here are some pointers that, I hope, will guide and inspire you to
make your mark if sales is your chosen route. Once again, many of
these relate to any role within your business.
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● Respect - Earn respect from your colleagues, customers,
suppliers and indeed, your competitors. Respect isn’t
something you can just buy in a shop.
● Effort - If you put in the hours, you’ll win more battles
than you lose. The harder you practice the luckier you
will get.
● Preparation - Here’s a personal favourite of mine. If you
Fail to Prepare, then you are Preparing to Fail.
It’s amazing how many people arrive into work each morning and
just go for it, like a bull in the china shop. How can you be
productive and at your best if you don’t prepare for your day
ahead. Make sure you know which customers have viewed your
website and make sure you analyse your daily sales history reports.
Knowledge of who has bought what and when is key but, even
more importantly, find out who isn’t buying from you anymore so
you can establish why and do something about it.
Know Your Target Audience
You have got to challenge yourself every day by asking the right
questions. “Who, What, When, How and Why am I calling my
customer base?” “Who did this job before me and how can I
become more successful at it?”
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Start by learning from other people’s mistakes. If you are new to
your role ask yourself “why did the last person leave this role?”
You need to know because you have a point to prove, and fast. I
once discovered that my marketing department, which was
targeting 2000 sales contacts only had 400 set up to receive
updates.
A lack of care, organisation, attention and laziness in sales and
marketing have no place in business. The number one priority for
any salesperson is to make an up-to-date customer database an
immediate priority.
Once you have your customer list, ask yourself six simple
questions.
● Who am I going to contact?
● How am I going to communicate with them?
● What is it that they do?
● What is the history between our two companies?
● What am I going to talk about?
● And what do I ultimately want to achieve?
If you don’t know the answers to your own questions, then you
are always going to generate limited results. Get to know the
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buying patterns of your customers and the best times of the day to
call them. Find out when they place their orders and who places
them. Who is your main competition? Find out why they like to
use them and how you can win more business. It’s really not
rocket science. Someone once said to me “I don’t like calling
customers because they will think I am desperate.” Proof, if you
ever needed it, that there will always be people who succeed and
people who fail in business.
● Presentation - You never get a second chance to make a
first impression. Make it count by ensuring you have the
right image, dress well, present appropriate materials and
come across as both a likeable and professional person.
People will always buy from positive people.
● Teamwork - Extend your network by using the team
around you. Engaging with your suppliers, your
colleagues and your customers. Think of them as an
extension to your own sales force or mini business.
● Don’t take your eye off the ball for a minute - If
you’re not contacting your customers, then a competitor
probably is. If you’re not asking for the order, then your
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competitor probably is. As you build your client base, ask
your clients to recommend you to their colleagues. Never
underestimate the power of your customers and suppliers
and work closely with them both. This is real networking
and it really works. It’s so important that you become;
The conductor of your own orchestra.
● Product knowledge - This is a key fundamental of
selling. It’s imperative that you know all the key features
and benefits of the product and company you are
representing. Research and compile a cheat sheet. Never
waffle, lie, or make promises you can’t deliver on. You
will quickly be found out and made to look like a
complete fool. It can take a very long time to win back a
customer who has lost faith in you.
● Closing the deal - If you know exactly what your
customer needs then you have the best chance of
securing the deal.
Don’t forget your shopping list.
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‘Don’t ever be afraid to ask questions - Congratulations
you’ve closed the sale.’
“Your colleagues are there to support you, but they will only
send you away if you don’t ask your customers for all the
information needed for a specific project. Get everything on
your shopping list right from the start and make yourself look
professional. Asking the right questions the first time around
is professional and essential.” DL
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Chapter 3
The Corridors of Success
I’d like you to imagine yourself walking down a corridor for the
first time and all you see is an infinite number of doors with
hundreds of people knocking on them.
There are people talking, having conversations and even shouting.
Whilst some people are working their way up the corridor others
seem disillusioned and are running back towards you.
Congratulations you have arrived in your corridor of dreams; a
place where your success or failure will be determined over the
next few years; a place where you will gain experience, and a place
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where you will learn lessons and become a stronger and more
confident person, a place where you will become a leader of
people, and a place where you will ultimately succeed.
From the moment I started my career, I visualised business as a
series of parallel corridors connected by an infinite number of
doors and every time you step through a door you gain access to a
better and more prosperous corridor, thus helping you climb up
your pyramid of success.
The only challenge you have is to continually work out how to get
through the right door into the next corridor and ultimately the
more successful you are at this, the more corridors you will
inevitably walk down during your career.
So Which Corridor are you in Right Now?
If you are just starting out in business, you will be walking down
your first corridor but if you have more experience then you may
well have passed through some of your doors and corridors
already.
Whatever corridor you are in right now you would have at some
point started in the first one, so let’s talk about your first corridor.
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As you travel down this never-ending passage, knocking on every
door, the devil’s advocate inside of you will try and convince you
that none of the doors will ever open for you. “Surely they will”,
you think because you’re a likeable person right? Wrong! Just
being another nice person in this corridor won’t guarantee you
anything.
So Why do I Need to get Through These
Doors?
These doors represent opportunities, lessons, successes and
promotions and you’ll soon learn in business that the more effort
you put in, the more reward you’ll ultimately get out. The further
you travel down each corridor the more you’ll realise that looking
after yourself is of huge importance, especially when there are lots
of other likeable people around you. Sure, there are times when
teamwork is essential but only you can control your destiny. You
need to learn to find and shape your own identity and personality,
the one that sets you apart from most of the others in the corridor
and you need to be confident enough to both market yourself and
back yourself for the exciting challenges that lie ahead.
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So How do I get Through These Doors?
Look around you and you will see other people moaning, giving in
and telling you to turn back; “none of these doors will ever open,
they’re locked, give it up”; take this on board because this is your
very first lesson in business. These are typical negative people that
you will encounter in life who just can’t be bothered to go the
extra mile and will always have an excuse or a reason why they
can’t do something. I call them ‘the contenters’ - People lacking
desire and happy with their lot. Some might even call them the
quitters but you’re not a quitter, you’re a winner, a future
champion; just remember this:
‘Winners never quit and quitters never win.’
The more negativity you hear from others, the more inspiration
you will gain and although at times this might be mentally
challenging, it’s actually the time for you to excel, to start
knocking harder and walking faster, continuing to think and learn
all the time. Your efforts will soon be rewarded, your first door
will open, and you’ll immediately jump through it. At this point it’s
time to let others know that you have arrived. This is your
moment.
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You’ve now arrived in the ‘LEARNING’ corridor where you will
gain product knowledge or specific role experience. You will also
start making mistakes but ultimately you will become a more
rounded, reliable and mature person. The further you travel along
this corridor the more valuable skills you will learn.
When you find your way through the next door, you’ll find
yourself in a slightly smaller corridor full of winners and positive
people. This is the corridor of ‘OPPORTUNITY’ where you are
let off the leash to show off all your skills and talent, where the
people who have put their faith in you have given you a chance to
shine. But there is still a lot of competition around so keep
knocking hard on those doors.
Once you’ve gained some experience and started to stand out
from your colleagues, you’ll find the next door opening for you.
This is an even smaller corridor called the corridor of
‘RESPONSIBILITY’ and this time there aren’t as many people
about nor as many doors to knock on. For the first time, you’ll
realise that all your hard work has paid off. Congratulations you’ve
advanced ahead of your colleagues, but don’t celebrate too soon,
because this is just the beginning. The lessons learned through
ignoring the doubters and focusing on your own goals will no
doubt have put you in a strong position moving forward.
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With fewer doors available in this new corridor, you will realise
that you need to become more creative and more imaginative. It’s
time to discover the ‘25th Hour’ in the day and time now to focus
on;
‘Quality rather than quantity.’
You’ve come to the point in your journey when it’s about making
decisions and looking out for others, as you are now a Team
Leader or a Junior Manager. The most important thing now is that
you stay visible right in the middle of the corridor and support
your team. Plan your route forward, and make sure you knock
with confidence on each door moving forward. You now also
have the opportunity to open a few doors and see who is
knocking to try and get into your corridor with you.
The secret of my success was to always think of the corridor
concept and believe that with the right determination and
persistence doors would always open for me.
Why not challenge yourself, depending on your own stage of life
and development, and decide which doors and corridors you
ultimately aim to conquer.
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Sometimes a door will be shut firmly in your face, but you must
not let that set you back. I have always believed that if someone
says ‘NO’ it simply means;
‘Next Opportunity’.
Stay positive and believe that things happen for a reason and
you’ll do just fine. Finally, the most important piece of advice to
remember is;
‘If you knock on 1000 doors and none of them open then
knock on 1000 more.’
“I entered many corridors during my period in sales
culminating in my role as Head of UK Field Sales with a
team of people to manage. Stepping through into another
corridor the management decided that my skills would be
better utilised working at Head Office to lead the evolution of
our business by formulating a strategy for change. However, I
didn’t become a director on my first try. I was actually
overlooked and, whilst many people could have taken this as
a negative, I just put my head down, cracked on and believed
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that my time would come. Always believe in yourself. When
it was my time, I grabbed the opportunity and the rest would
end up being my Midwich legacy.” DL
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Chapter 4
Creativity - Your ‘25th Hour’
To be successful in business we all have to keep evolving to stay
ahead of our competition. Harnessing, developing and
implementing ideas ultimately sees our business prosper, both in
terms of new clients and ultimately more profit. It’s time now for
you to open your mind, forget about 24/7 and focus on your
‘25th Hour’ of the day.
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So What is This ‘25th Hour’ and Where has
This Come From?
I was talking to a movie director recently in the Blue Mountains,
north of Sydney, Australia and he told me he was working on a
film about the power of the subconscious mind whilst you are
asleep but he was yet to find a title for the film. Without thinking,
and much to his surprise and indeed my own, I came out with the
concept of the ‘25th Hour’. He told me he was blown away with
my train of thought and even asked me if he could use the ‘25th
Hour’ as his film title. I light-heartedly told him “of course you
should but make sure I get a walk on role”.
So Again What is Our ‘25th Hour?’
Let’s start by saying that most creative and imaginative people find
it hard to switch the creative sides of their brains off and when we
hit our pillows at night that really isn’t the end of the day for us.
No, far from it. We all have a creative side and for a few minutes
when we are all at rest or indeed when we wake up in the night,
we have those ‘eureka’ moments which I’m hoping many of you
can and will over time relate to.
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However, the key to this ‘25th Hour’ or the ‘Creative Hour’ as I
also like to call it, is to write everything down as soon as we think
of it. Have a pen and paper at your bedside and just scribble away.
Most of our great thoughts and ideas come when we are settling
down trying to sleep.
There are two reasons why we write it down, firstly to remember
it the next morning and secondly, as soon as we’ve written it
down our brains can process it which enables our thought
patterns to move on further to the next stage of our creative
development.
This is totally my concept and I have never heard of this before
but this process led me to many great ideas that I implemented
both as a business manager and a director of my company,
Midwich. These ideas ultimately played a significant part in
enabling the company to grow and change direction from that £10
million IT company into the billion-pound audio visual giant it is
becoming today. There will always be a few ideas that get away
from you before you grasp the concept of writing them down but;
‘Why not give it a go, and congratulations because you now
work 25/7.’
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Section Two
Motivation and Inspiration
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Chapter 5
The Harder I Practice, the Luckier I Get
If you are going to Dream, Dream BIG and if you are going to
Dream BIG, Dream BIGGER.
From the beginning, I found myself searching for change, for a
way to create a business evolution, to find the next opportunity,
the latest technology, again that ‘eureka’ moment. So, just what is
the magic formula to becoming the next channel explorer? Or is it
really more about being in the right place at the right time?
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At an early stage in my business management career I was handed
a simple brief: “Darren, go and evolve our business”.
No matter what your directive is, you need to be able to analyse
the task given to you and work with the tools at your disposal and
learn to adopt a confident mental attitude believing that;
‘Anything is Possible.’
It never rang true to me that simply striving to become the best
means you will be the most successful. Instead, I have always
thought that, as long as I am the luckiest, I don’t have to be the
best.
I vividly remember a story that the South African golfer Gary Player
once told. He was practicing in a bunker down in Texas and this
good old boy with a big hat stopped to watch. The first shot he
saw Gary hit went straight into the hole. The American clapped
and cheered and said, “you’ve got yourself 50 dollars if you knock
the next one in”.
He holed the next one of course and the American shouted, “100
bucks if you can do that again”. Well you guessed it, straight out
of the sand and into the hole for three in a row. As he peeled off
the bills he said, “boy, I’ve never met anyone so lucky in my life”,
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and Gary simply replied, “funny but the harder I practice the
luckier I get”.
So just how do you ensure that you grab your fair share of luck?
Right Place, Right Time?
I suppose you do have to be lucky to find a new technology in a
shopping mall in Florida or walk out of a supplier meeting with a
technology agreement you never actually went in for; but always
remember if you don’t work hard to give yourself the opportunity
to be at the right place at the right time then how will you ever
land that piece of luck? To have any chance of finding long-term
success, you need to be able to combine any luck you get with
your own visions of the bigger picture.
Being creative with vision and drive, identifying, creating and
instilling your ideologies before delivering a strategy is so
important. It has a lot to do with training your mind to stay open
and dedicated.
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That ‘25th Hour’ Again
Be prepared to take chances and you need to be surrounded by
positive people. Keep reminding yourself that:
‘You can do it and anything is possible.’
Foresight is a word that can stop you from progressing or
achieving all that you want in life. It will deceive you into
accepting that what your eyes see is the total reality. It is easier to
accept that what is in your line of vision is everything you have.
I’m here to tell you that this simply isn’t true! We are here for a
reason…and that includes achieving whatever you want.
Remember that, if someone else has achieved it, then it’s possible
for you to achieve it and even improve it. Open your mind and let
your inner belief, imagination and determination assist you in
mapping out a better future for yourself. It’s these types of
creative people who become the industry ‘farmers’, who steer the
sheep down a specific path, setting the benchmarks and
parameters along the way. As farmers we all need to find the time
to drive one of these tractors to our personal destinations of
choice.
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A very negative person once suggested to me that I must be
extremely disappointed that I missed out on a major opportunity.
My response was simple but canny. I just said, “Not at all”,
because I knew it would provide me with more time to remain
positive, work harder, get luckier and make sure I landed the next
five major opportunities. No matter how good you are, you can’t
win them all. Just make sure you win more than your competition.
The most successful people in the world today have one thing in
common;
‘They are not necessarily the best at what they do but they
will be the luckiest.’
So, does luck really play a part? Of course; but the more you put
into life, and the harder you work your mind, the luckier you will
become, and the more opportunities will certainly come your way.
“I arrived back in the UK from that Florida shopping mall
and persuaded Casio to allow us to sell their digital cameras
which eventually turned into a £15 million a year imaging
business for the company. The knock-on effect from that
fortuitous moment in Florida was that we soon took on
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Sanyo cameras which included leaving the room with a
contract to sell Sanyo projectors. This was to become the
catalyst for creating that global audio visual giant. Wow how
lucky was I? What’s also interesting is that my old company
have now landed the major opportunity I missed out on a few
years back proving that persistence really does pay off. When
I was asked to evolve the company I had no idea how to do
that but my advice to you is this. Whatever challenge you are
given in life, accept it and then work out how to achieve it.
Good luck.” DL
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Chapter 6
Time and Tide Wait for No Man
There are moments in life when someone famous inspires you so
much that the memory never leaves you. These special people are
natural born winners with a gift that impacts the world. They
somehow find the strength and determination to create and repeat
their winning formula and stay ahead of the game. This memory
from my childhood involves one of the greatest and most
inspirational sportsmen of all time. Four decades on, it is still as
clear as ever.
Imagine the scene. It is the late 1970s, and I’m an excitable
teenager sitting in front of a black and white television eagerly
anticipating my weekly instalment of athletics. Yet again, one man
tops the bill. A black American athlete is, unknowingly, inspiring
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children all over the world as he effortlessly glides around the
track for an inspirational minute, continuing his unbeaten run. He
is, quite simply, invincible.
It’s hard to comprehend being the best at what you do for such a
long time, but just try to imagine topping your chosen profession
for 9 years, 9 months and 9 days. That’s how long Edwin Moses
remained unbeaten at the 400 metre hurdles. Spanning 122 races
his repetitive winning habit saw him walk away with two Olympic
Gold medals plus two World Championships, setting new world
records along the way. He was, no doubt, equivalent to a
modern-day Usain Bolt or Tiger Woods. For inspiration alone, he
would be up there in my top ten legends of all time along with
Martin Luther King Jr, Muhammad Ali and Nelson Mandela.
Despite only ever having seen Ed Moses on TV, I did have the
privilege a few years ago of meeting him in a baggage area at
Heathrow airport. It was one of the most amazing days of my life,
when a colleague and I spotted him. The feeling of adrenaline
when we turned to each other and mimed those three words
simultaneously was incredible:
“It’s Ed Moses!”
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It came as no surprise that he was a complete gentleman and only
too pleased to talk. He had left athletics to become an engineer
because the money wasn’t around in his track days, but he seemed
to be delighted that we recognised him and that he had inspired
us.
I believe that meeting Ed Moses was fate, and it closed a
life-changing chapter for me, one that provided me with
inspiration and belief throughout my entire career.
‘Repetition is your habit for success.’
“Sometimes in business you will feel that you are taking one
step forward and two steps back or that the finishing line is
constantly being pushed back. My advice is to always remain
focused on your objectives but be prepared to adapt, to refocus
on your goals. Then continually repeat what you do best and
success is bound to come your way. Lost time is never found
again. Time is your greatest ally in business yet, instead of
embracing it, people seem to make weak excuses for the poor
management of it. From the moment we won our first audio
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visual award Ed's inspiration enabled me to stay on top of
my profession for another 10 years 10 months and 10 days
before I decided to pass the baton on.” DL
Isn’t it Time You Reviewed Your ‘Time
Management’ Schedule?
How many excuses do we hear every day that have to do with
time?
● “I’ve hardly had time to think or catch my breath.”
● “Where did the time go?”
● “I’ve run out of time.”
● “It’s a race against time.”
● “But I haven’t had time to do it.”
In my experience, you need to commit to change and get the task
at hand done and out of the way as quickly as possible, because
one thing is for sure in business.
‘The early bird really does catch the worm.’
Make sure you manage your time positively, plan specific
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activities, be productive and, most importantly, enjoy the journey.
The last thing you want is for ‘time to pass you by’.
Stick to your ‘time management’ plan all the way through a
process and don’t be drawn towards the end. Whilst others are
‘racing against time’, your powers of concentration, planning,
preparation and dedication will ensure that you never ‘run out of
time’!
If a specific task doesn’t go to plan don’t beat yourself up about it.
There is always ‘next time’ and with that another chance.
When you look at how best to manage your time, you need to
think about how you, personally, like to work. Do you work better
at a given point in the day or do you prefer to work alone or as a
team? Be honest with yourself about how you like to work and
once you become consciously aware, you’ll be able to tailor your
day to what suits you best.
Got that sorted? Now, Here are the Next Steps
1. Setting your goals - The most fundamental skill to
effectively managing your time is driven by goal setting. Every
action that you undertake should be aimed at bringing you
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closer to achieving your goals.
2. Prioritising - Most items on your to-do list will not be a
priority so changing your focus to completing the most
valuable work first with the time and resources available to
you is essential. Prioritisation is key, deciding when and where
you do each task will ensure that your time management
rapidly improves.
3. Focus and motivation - Regardless of what you are trying to
do there will always be something else competing for your
attention. It’s not easy but try shutting out all of the
distractions and focus on the task in hand.
4. Systems - Having accurate processes in place will allow you
to manage information and make key decisions, effectively.
Having access to the right information is crucial.
5. Decision making and planning - Once you’ve prioritised
tasks and established which ones are the most important and
what resources are needed, ask yourself; “Which tasks do I
need to delegate and how will my schedule be affected by the
reliance on others?” “Will the inclusion of others cause delays
and put pressure on deadlines?”.
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Remember that building positive relationships with your orchestra
members is key and working effectively as a team is the quickest
way to succeed in a task. Always have a plan B though, just in case
you need to review, identify and implement it.
Sometimes in business you will feel that you are taking one step
forward and two steps back or that the finishing line is constantly
being pushed back. My advice is to always remain focused on your
objectives but be prepared to adapt and refocus on your goals,
continually repeat what you do best so success has a greater
chance of coming your way.
Remember that ‘lost time is never found again’. Time is our
greatest ally in business yet, instead of embracing it, people seem
to make weak excuses for the poor management of it. From the
moment we won our first audio visual award back in 2003, the
inspiration drawn from Ed Moses’ enabled me to stay on top of
my profession for another 10 years, 10 months and 10 days before
I decided to pass the baton on. And if you think you’ve read these
words before think hard about what I said above;
‘Repetition is your habit for success.’
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Chapter 7
Balancing the Half-full or Half-empty Glass
I’ve been fortunate enough to work with, against and alongside a
lot of amazing and very different people throughout my career.
But early on in my journey, it became apparent that there wasn’t
any concrete right or wrong way to run a business.
The right way is surely always the most successful way, isn’t it?
There have been many debates over the years as to whether the
motivational ‘CARROT’ or the pressurised ‘STICK’ is ultimately
the best approach.
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Well on trial today, for me, is most definitely the stick. Whilst I’m
pretty sure there are a few people left out there who can plead a
case for the defence, my headmaster was definitely the last person
I saw who successfully used a stick when flexing his cane on a
number of naughty schoolboys backsides in the 1970’s. The stick
approach however to both life and business now seems pretty
prehistoric. Imagine you were an abused dog, you certainly
wouldn’t be holding out your paw, asking to be beaten some
more, now would you?
On the one hand, you have this gloomy,
stick-come-glass-half-empty approach that pressurises you
to perform and often threatens your job and livelihood, where
everything is always so serious, versus my own positive solution -
the healthy incentive, that delicious carrot.
My friendly and likeable approach that incentivises and rewards
the individual, as well as the team, uses the mentality that the glass
is always half-full, where things are on the way up and anything is
achievable and if we come across a problem we will work together
to find a solution.
Now let’s look at the different types of people in business and
why managers end up using the stick or carrot approach. I’ve
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always believed that there are six different types of people in
business; the Extrovert, the balanced Introvert, the Socially
Awkward, the Jobs-Worth, the Relational and the Dominant.
Some people are eccentric, some are as quiet as a mouse, some
just get on and do it, some create attention, some are power crazy
and some just have a good old fashioned goodie two shoes
approach. Whichever they are you need to realise that you do need
all these types of people for a successful balanced business. Try
not to judge people, just accept them for what they are and
maximise their potential by harnessing their skill sets. My advice to
you is find your own personality as quickly as possible and stick to
it.
● The Extrovert - Someone who sees a pretty full glass
and who, by nature, is confident, has the swag, is usually a
salesman or creative business head with the skills of an
actor and who can easily change from a subdued to
excitable tone at the click of a button. Their positive
energy is pretty infectious.
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● The Balanced Introvert - Very much an individual
who’s extremely organised but generally lacks that
motivational touch, who normally resides in a quiet
financial area and has a distinct eye for a long number.
They are often very uninspiring to an audience and talk in
a low, unexcitable tone (a bit like a football player). They
don’t mean to be negative, but they can’t relate to people
that easily.
● The Socially Awkward - That probably isn’t politically
correct, however, this individual normally hides in their
little corner or under the desk and who, to the outside
world, contributes little but does the job. I imagine this
type presenting any first date with a carriage clock on
departure. They will definitely drink alone out of a half
empty glass and quote acronyms from a personal business
dictionary.
● The Jobs-Worth or Goodie-Two-Shoes - The 9-to-5s,
they wouldn’t lead by example and have a tendency to be
more technical or just lack confidence. Many probably
can’t wait to get home each night to watch yet another
repeat episode of Star Trek or Neighbours. On a positive
note, I know they’ll gladly fix my home computer at night
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or look after my pets for cash!
● The Relational - These people are core to your business
and will get the job done day in and day out. They build
relationships with clients, suppliers and their colleagues.
They are great to be around and will get the job done.
They are easy to manage as they don’t normally have
ambitions to move on. However, as managers they do
tend to be ‘yes’ men and women which you need to keep
an eye on.
● The Dominant - Beware as this person generally tends
to be power hungry and will end up shouting you down,
making you feel so small and making you question your
own inhibitions. They don’t tend to be in their role long
because their methods are soon found out. They have a
fantastic side to them but they will switch with the wind
like a Jekyll and Hyde type and normally use a stick.
Tongue-in-cheek stereotyping aside, I will reiterate that you do
need all types of people to run a successful business which is why
my personal experiences have been so interesting. I’ve always
loved to people-watch and, whilst I know which type I would
prefer to be down the pub with, a balanced management crew is
55
essential in any business to represent stability, planning, forward
thinking and profitable growth. The glass half-full types for me
seem to be the most creative with motivational minds and the
only ones to successfully lead a sales team. Their excitable
approach does, on occasion, need to be harnessed so that it is only
unleashed when the time is right.
Conversely, I have never seen the benefit of the glass half-empty
or the stick approach to business. It feels so wrong and negative
to me, and I have witnessed it causing demotivation and negative
performance. The glass half-full or carrot approach, on the other
hand, has positivity written all over it - and with positivity comes
productivity.
Balance With Everything is King
‘Inside-support’ is one of the most underused phrases in business.
It is the responsibility of the manager to get this right and support
their team.
Business has a far greater chance of success if the glass is half-full
during the tough times, with a pretty full pint during the better
times. And finally, if I ever see a half empty glass down the pub, I
certainly won’t be getting the next round in!
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“I once worked with someone who did everything because
either it was in a book that they had read, or he did it at his
previous company. He lasted less than two years and faded
into the long grass. In short, if you are nice to people who
work both for you and with you, then the odds are that your
productivity will be sky high. The worst phrase of all time has
to be ‘Treat them mean and keep them keen’.” DL
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Chapter 8
Your Most Important Word
Without this one word, we cannot discover who we are or be
satisfied. Without this word, we have neither a real existence nor
any ability to develop and grow.
This word provides us with our freedom, shows off our character
and distinction, and gives us our personality. Once you’ve
mastered this word, you will be rewarded over and over. Your
imagination and creativity will blossom. You will discover your
worth and your real existence.
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This word will provide you with patience, it will determine your
spirit and even your sense of humour and allow you to stay in
control of your business dreams. It will stimulate your emotions,
even when you feel unable to control them. It will provide you
with impartiality, coordination, equilibrium and tolerance, but
most of all…freedom.
‘Have you guessed the word yet?’
Stay focused on it throughout your career and, if you haven’t
already done so, discover this word as soon as possible.
Your own DNA has created it. Your Disposition, your Nature
and your Attributes. It should be the most important word you
have in your business vocabulary. It is of course your;
‘Identity’.
There’s one question that I’ve always asked myself throughout my
business career and that’s, “Am I in the foreground or am I simply
‘background noise’?” We make life changing decisions every day
with regard to those with whom we surround ourselves; our
choice of friends, acquaintances, business colleagues and, these
days, even our families.
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The one thing that is inevitable, both inside and outside of work,
is that we will come up against negative people. These are the
people who you need to distance yourself from and keep firmly in
the background. You know; the people who don’t hear you:
● The Pessimistic.
● The Resistive.
● The Contravening.
● The Dissenting.
And even the plain old Boring.
The people who simply want to destroy your; ‘Identity’.
You’re probably shaking your head right now because you know a
few people who tick all those boxes. In our private lives they are
often the parasites or the social media trolls. In business, they tend
to be disruptive and annoying. My name for these people is;
‘The Negatinos’.
Labelled purely for their negative behaviour, I position them in
my life as simply ‘background noise’. You must know the types:
The ones that put you down, who laugh at your goals, who
60
attempt to steal and lock away your own ambitions and never give
them back.
If you have people like this around you either right now or in the
future, then you need a simple plan of action;
‘Identify them; wean them out; jettison them; cast them
overboard and out of your surroundings.’
This will allow you to take back full control of your ship. Then
you need to rebuild with a positive crew:
‘People who enjoy your company; people who respect you;
people who listen and encourage you.’
These people will stay constant and assist you as you manufacture
your own building blocks of success, ultimately allowing you to
sail off into the sunset and fulfil your dreams.
Being in the foreground of any business will reward your integrity,
passion and self-confidence.
Surround yourself with ‘positive people’ who will be an
inspiration, who don’t just want to talk about themselves, who
show a creative and motivational understanding and take a
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significant interest in you. Just make sure you reciprocate.
The moral of this story is that, in business, you can either be:
● Recognised or remain unnoticed.
● A reality or a perception.
● A contributor or part of the silent and often disruptive
crowd.
● A market maker or a market taker.
● In the foreground or simply part of the ‘background
noise’.
It’s not hard to be successful and achieve your goals but only you
can make it happen. I find it is far easier to stay positive and use
selective hearing, surrounding yourself with positive people, thus
letting any ‘negatinos’ remain as pure ‘background noise’.
“People respect you more when you are yourself, come up with
fresh ideas and especially when you stick to your guns.
There’s no point in just being part of the crowd; make
yourself known. There is no better time to start building your
own legacy. Try and understand quickly that you have ‘the
voice’ that can make the difference and, when called upon,
62
make sure ‘the noise’ you project is clear and concise. You’ll
feel a sense of accomplishment and soon realise that there’s
never any point in sitting in silence or living in fear. You can
and will make the difference because you are a winner.” DL
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Chapter 9
That Friday Feeling
Being different is one of the most important attributes you can
have; but being different on a Friday, when others are likely
hitting the brake pedal, is so much more impressive.
I receive a weekly email from Niki the estate agent; but she’s not
just any old estate agent. Niki stands out from the crowd by doing
something very simple and also very clever, she instantly grabs my
attention and makes me smile because she is so different. She
makes a superb first impression because Niki uses her initiative
and is always creative and imaginative.
64
On a Friday, I always read the details of the houses she sends me,
(even if I’m not remotely interested in buying a house in that area)
because I always want to see what new twist she has thought up.
She is invariably thought-provoking and topical, but most of all,
she makes me curious.
This is how she started her Valentine’s Day email:
“Good afternoon. Well, it’s a grey day here in the West Country,
but I hear the weather is getting better for the weekend just in
time for Valentine’s Day, so:
Roses are red, Violets are blue,
At Maples we love our houses and hope you do too.”
Whilst others will be thinking ahead to what’s about to happen at
the weekend, you need to remember, there is still a lot of business
out there to close; so, the next time you write an email to your
clients (especially if it’s Friday), try to be more creative, thought
provoking and personal and make sure you;
‘Stand out from the crowd.’
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“I once met a guy called Tony who worked for a computer
retailer in Leicester. I still remember his name and what he
looks like all these years later for one particular reason, he
went to work every day wearing a different colour bow tie.
The first time I met him I thought, “Wow this is strange and
maybe you do look a bit weird, Tony”. Actually though, he
was nothing short of genius - a way to stand out in a crowded
industry. All his customers loved him, remembered him and
he was a star performer in his business.” DL
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Chapter 10
Aspire to Inspire Before You Expire
When we become inspired, we experience, imagine and become
creative, ideas surface and we become open to new possibilities.
We aspire to achieve new goals and as a result, we reshape, change
and transform moving towards a new conscious state. But do you
ever stop to analyse who is aspiring us to make our inspirational
changes?
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Could it be;
● A family member whose encouragement and loving
words inspire you?
● Or your boss who offers continuing motivational
support?
● Perhaps, it’s a customer who admires you and shows
gratitude?
● Or a supplier, who values your assured and genuine
relationship?
There is no doubting the positive contribution and motivation
that can be gained from all of these parties but the one person I
haven’t mentioned yet, who is far more important and inspires
you around the clock is of course ‘yourself’.
‘You’ are the only person that generates the most important
quality; your ‘self-belief’.
‘You’ are the only person that has passion, drive and the soul to
‘succeed’.
‘You’ are the only person with the ability, style and wisdom
needed to ‘flourish’.
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‘You’ are the only person with the courage, vision and attitude to
achieve your ‘goals’.
To be inspired by others is great but to inspire yourself is
incredible. Use your inner strength every day, remain positive and
tell yourself that ‘you have it all’ and ensure that you:
‘Aspire to inspire before you expire.’
“I have found inspiration from many people and for various
reasons some of the people are still with us and sadly some
have passed. Their individual stories inspired me to strive and
make a difference. I'm a strong believer that there will be a
number of people in your life that end up being key to your
decision-making choices and the paths you'll ultimately end
up taking. Listening to other inspirational people is
sometimes all you need to lift yourself. So, what are you
waiting for? Go out there and make it happen.” DL
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Section Three
Resilience and Positivity
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Chapter 11
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
Having a great sense of humour plays a significant part in the art
of leadership, allowing people to approach and complete tasks
more productively. When people are happy they are positive;
when they’re positive they are smiling; when they are smiling they
have a spring in their step; and when they have a spring in their
step, they will also have a sense of humour which leads to them
completing their objectives more efficiently and more effectively.
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Therefore, it’s time to appeal to all the boring bosses out there to
shape up, grow a sense of humour and dramatically change the
atmosphere within their business. To me, humour, positivity and
professionalism go hand in hand. I’d bet my entire career on it!
‘You can lead a donkey to water, but it’s still an ass.’
Many introverted leaders don’t encourage the use of humour in
the workplace or know how to use it in their own leadership style
or more importantly to their own benefit. The desire may be
there, but the challenge is introducing it into their busy working
lives. Whilst typically the extrovert leaders will have it in
abundance. You cannot underestimate the power of humour and
injecting more into the workplace will transform any dull and
underperforming climate into a prosperous and positive
environment.
Humour galvanises, excites and helps you hold onto your
employees, it attracts customers and suppliers and earns you
respect. It helps to build relationships, and it closes deals.
‘People buy from positive people, not robots.’
I have encouraged the use of humour in all my teams and built
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numerous multi-million-pound relationships on the back of it. If
you are that glass half-empty sort of person, it’s time to turn your
negative vibes into positive communication.
Reinvent your style and make sure you always wear a smile and
keep a gag or two in your pocket. Workplaces that encourage
people to be themselves tend to be less hierarchical and more
innovative.
Well-placed, clever humour will enhance a career. I have seen it
time and time again, so my advice is to get out there and laugh
your way to the top. Do, however, always keep it professional and
don’t cross the line because;
‘The higher a monkey climbs the tree, the more of his butt
you will see!’
You don’t have to be one of the lads to enjoy humour with your
colleagues and your staff. Laughter generates a happy ship and
that leads to oceans being crossed and lands being conquered.
“I’ll never forget my first ever presentation in the Hilton hotel
in Watford on a blisteringly hot day and we were all set to
show off one of the world’s brightest projectors, along with a 73
new range of digital cameras. Back in 1995 things were done
on a budget, we managed to set up 3 or 4 trestle tables in a
hot and stuffy room before laying the products on top of neatly
ironed white tablecloths. That was about it in terms of
presentation! As we nervously waited for the first customers,
up came a new challenge. I reached down to push some empty
boxes under one of the tables and heard an unpleasant
ripping sound. Unfortunately, it was the rear of my trousers
and I mean they were ripped!
I asked my colleague Lee to take a quick picture and show
me, the tear was probably 5 or 6 inches long no wonder he
was on the floor in stitches. (The heady enjoyment of too
many takeaways is probably what led to my downfall). In the
event, I now had to think on my feet, the only solution I could
come up with was to put on my suit jacket and keep my back
to the presentation screen at all times.
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I had to put up with a lot of strange looks and grins from
Lee the whole time, and I did wonder if people thought I was
mad for wearing a jacket on such a hot day. Sweating
profusely, I made it through the day and despite the stress it
caused me I managed to see the funny side, telling the story to
my customers and colleagues for years to come. So remember -
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life!” DL
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Chapter 12
Bouncing Back
Have you ever misplaced your mojo?
Have you ever got into work in the morning and wondered what
on earth am I going to do today?
Maybe complacency is setting in or you have an outside
76
distraction that’s impacting on your work?
Maybe you’re simply being badly managed or you are disillusioned
in your role?
Or maybe it’s complacency setting in when you least expect it?
Maybe it’s frustration with your colleagues and the team you work
in?
Whatever is on your mind, and I’m sure that there are an alphabet
of excuses, at times like this you need to put a call into your inner
self, question your ambition and scrutinise the ideology that has
taken you to your current position in life which is now a seemingly
grey place..
It’s time for a reality check...
It’s time to tackle;
‘The business illness.’
It’s capable of paralysing you, a stealth bug that sneaks up on you
when your guard is down. You wake up one day and there it is:
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Pinning you tightly to your inhibitions, taking away your get up
and go, challenging your own business DNA.
It’s trying to destroy the highly committed and ever adventurous
reflection you see daily in your bathroom mirror.
But never fear, Robin. Batman is here to tell you that there is no
need to panic. Just like a blood thieving tick, it’s just one of those
nasty parasites that bites the best of us when we least expect it.
Any feeling of self-doubt could just mean that it’s time for a
promotion or a change. Maybe, you’ve hit the buffers or you feel
disillusioned that you’re just not progressing fast enough or even
at all. Whatever the cause, the most important thing is being able
to;
‘Diagnose it, find a solution and take action now to put it
right.’
For a rapid recovery, you need ‘Bouncebackability’.
Human nature provides us with a self-assessment management
system that includes its own self-guiding module, thus enabling us
to identify any alien threat and target its destruction. You just need
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to learn how to use it and if you catch it quickly no one else will
ever have to know the turmoil that’s been going on inside you.
You are not alone, everyone at various times in life, becomes a bit
stale and demotivated. Whatever it is that’s making you feel down
and defeated, the solution is not to panic. You’re experiencing a
normal human reaction that can be conquered by taking a step
back, inhaling a deep breath, refocusing and recharging those
batteries.
This happened to me too over the years; but I never lost sight of
my dream, the ultimate ‘prize’, and that helped me through. The
quicker you ‘bounce back’ and move on the better life will be.
You’ll be surprised by how easy it is to train your mind, to open it
up to your priorities, to relive your visions and so, achieve your
goals. It’s mind over matter. Give it a go, pick yourself up and
give yourself a good pep talk. It’s time to get up, man up, and dust
away all those cobwebs.
I like to compare these downtimes to a sat nav system. There are
points in our lives when we all need to enter new coordinates,
program in new destinations, make a re-alignment and give
ourselves a reality check.
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Just recently I met a nice guy called Ben who is an English golfer
from NW England. Ben had gone to college in the US and ended
up playing golf against Bubba Watson as an amateur (for non-golf
fans, Bubba burst onto the scene by winning the Masters, the
biggest US golfing event, twice in 3 years). The significance here
for Ben though is that, when at college he consistently beat
Bubba.
Unfortunately, whilst Bubba was rising to world fame Ben lost his
mojo and his love for the game. He found it difficult to ‘bounce
back’ and handle the pressure. Today, however, he is playing again
and has just secured his professional tour card.
As we stood talking on the tee Ben’s friend Steve chipped in, (not
literally, of course!), to tell me what it was that helped Ben in his
quest to ‘bounce back’. Representing his local club at an away
fixture in Liverpool, he was drawn against their top player who
had just missed out on winning the British amateur championship.
This attracted a big home crowd, adding more pressure. Ben’s
self-belief was further eroded as his opponent was actually playing
very well. And so began his big test, Ben wrestled with his nerves
until, by using his inner conviction, new focus and all his skills, he
beat his opponent on the last hole.
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There was a lot of whispering coming down the 18th hole, and
people were apparently asking “Who is this Ben guy?” Steve told
me that someone even rang up the R&A (Royal & Ancient), the
home of golf, to try and find out who Ben was as he shouldn’t be
beating our top player.
How good could Ben have been had he continued his progression
from college and, especially, had he managed to ‘bounce back’ just
a little faster? Things don’t always go to plan in life, sometimes,
we just have to accept who and what we are and make the
necessary changes; to focus, once more, on our goals even if there
is a brand-new set of objectives.
“There is a fundamental truth that declares we are all
destined to be good at something. You can never lose the gift
you’ve been given because your mojo will always be there. If
you believe in a purpose, even if the level changes, just like
Ben you will get your just rewards in the end. We can’t all be
Richard Branson but I believe we can all be extremely
successful at what we do.” DL
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Chapter 13
If You Ain’t Ever Been Down, How You Gonna
Get On Up?
Life is all about surfing the highs and riding out the lows, but can
you really ever prepare yourself for a fall? How would you handle
it if you did fall and what would you do?
I was fortunate enough to grow up surrounded by both highs and
lows and when I say fortunate, I mean I can now look back and
draw a number of positives from what were some very challenging
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times.
Living through turbulent times at such a young age provided me
with perspective, which helped me mature faster and allowed me
to conquer any fears that stood in my way. I was taught a number
valuable lessons which I would never forget. My father used to
listen to a song written nearly 80 years ago and performed by the
late greats, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. The lyrics still ring
true today.
“So take a deep breath, pick yourself up, dust yourself off
and start all over again.”
As a schoolboy, the meaning of this song was to play a poignant
part in my life because one day, out of the blue, I received a
message that changed all my perceptions about everything. “Please
go home because your father (yes, the great man and my hero) has
been hit by a car.”
This happened in the City centre right in front of my mother, and
my entire world stopped for those few shattering moments.
We didn’t have mobile phones back then so you can imagine the
emotions running through me as I waited for news.
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Despite surviving, they never diagnosed his broken neck for six
months, and yet remarkably my father took a deep breath, picked
himself up, dusted himself off and started his life all over again.
Learning how to live with his new limitations, he worked very
hard until he was 67 and, like the soul singer James Brown once
said:
“If you ain’t ever been ‘down’, how you gonna get on up?”
In the 1970s, this country was overwhelmed by ‘down’ times.
There were strikes, blackouts, three-day-weeks where electricity
would as it suggests only be supplied to your house for 3 days in
any given week; but nothing seemed to phase my parents’
generation. People of that era were hard-core and knew how to
cope. I vividly remember watching a BBC comedy series called
“The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin” where one of the main
characters was CJ, Regi’s boss, who would start every sentence
with the words;
“I didn’t get where I am today without…”
Well CJ, if you were here today, I would be saying that, I certainly
didn’t get to where I am now without…continually striving to
improve myself, no matter what situation I was in.
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Having experienced the 1970s, I used to tell myself that, if it all
goes wrong, I shouldn’t panic because everything happens for a
reason. Most of us will always get another chance in life, no matter
what the circumstances, plus there will invariably be someone in a
worse position than me.
If you ever find you’re feeling down or confused, without getting
emotional, take stock of your situation, stay positive and then
apply yourself to your next challenge in life because you will
bounce back and, once again, start achieving your goals. I never
reached the lows in business that affect many but I did hit, what
was for me a big time low a few years back, which almost caused
me to leave the company I was building. What got me through
was, doubtless, drawn from the words of inspiration that I
obtained from many famous people over the years, plus those of
my father and one or two colleagues.
“In the course of my 30-year journey there were a few
occasions that I believed threatened the Company’s future and
my own. They will always stand out as personal and all-time
challenging moments.
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Halfway through however it seriously felt that I had reached
the end of my tether. After experiencing what I believed to be
bad man-management, I made the decision to set up my own
business and was ready to jump ship. For 13 years I had
lived and breathed the Company, but morale was getting
really low and I needed a change.
Fortunately, before I could make my move there was a
changing of the guard and along with that change came my
chance - A fellow director still believed in me and my
opportunity came; it was my time to really shine. To become a
director and an owner of the business myself and, finally help
lead and shape the company into a direction that I
passionately believed in. Though everything had turned on a
dime, I never forgot the past. Instead, I turned the negative
memories into positives and dragged myself up from the
depths. I dusted myself off, took the opportunity and with the
biggest smile ever’, I went out and achieved my dreams.” DL
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Section Four
Moving Up the Ladder
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Chapter 14
The Answer is Yes. Now What’s the Question?
Have a look around you…over there…can you see them?
Their smiling faces, without a care in the world. They’re happy
because their Senior Manager has given them their own little team.
They’re living in a bubble and take every instruction literally. They
crave attention and want to be everyone’s friend. They are masters
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at confusion, never question and dress to impress. You can almost
predict their next rash, unnecessary change.
They’re crushingly indecisive and make so many obvious mistakes.
You gasp as they constantly reverse their own irrational decisions.
You will often see them stressing out and running around the
office like headless chickens.
Their demotivated team is a reflection of their own state of mind.
And the word confidential is not in their vocabulary.
Just who are these puffed-up and loud self-proclaimed paragons?
Look closely around the office, you must have noticed what is
happening, it’s just a shame that your Senior Manager hasn’t.
Meet the Young Team Leader
Have you noticed that your team members have started arriving
later and leaving earlier each day? You can’t fail to spot the phone
activity falling, the team has started to miss its targets for the first
time, there never seems to be a full team on parade and too many
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are having time off. People are applying for other roles and a
number are starting to leave the company.
These tell-tale signs are so obvious to the troops on the shop
floor, yet Management seems slow to see it, react to it and make
any changes. The gossip has now reached both the canteen and
the street.
If you haven’t already guessed, I’m talking about the ‘YES’ troop,
those Junior Managers who have been elevated without the
necessary experience, who have been thrust into a leadership
position and just left to fend for themselves. You must have seen
them, they are the ones holding a baby or wearing rose tinted
sunglasses on their LinkedIn profiles and just can’t seem to say
anything to their boss other than ‘YES’.
● “You are right!”
● “I’ll do that!”
● “I couldn’t agree with you more!”
● “Bang on boss!”
● “Consider it done!”
‘YES, YES, YES, YES, YES is not always good.’
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Any Senior Manager worth their salt wouldn’t have allowed this
situation to occur in the first place, but if it did, the issues would
be recognised early on before they became a train wreck, and
changes would have been made accordingly. It’s worth asking
yourself;
“If this happened on your watch would you have spotted
these problems, and at what stage?”
Senior Managers who promote Juniors to Team Leadership roles
have a responsibility to guide and educate the ‘newbies’ on how to
manage, motivate, stay level-headed and most importantly, how to
offer encouragement. Without these qualities, I’m afraid some
embarrassing times lie ahead.
‘My advice for any newly promoted manager is to keep it
simple.’
● Take a step back and become a great listener.
● Be prepared to offer constructive criticism.
● Create your own identity by making your decisions feel
more popular.
● Don’t make changes for the sake of it. Less is more.
● Understand that your team is your first and, sometimes,
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your only priority.
● Don’t make things personal, and don’t make idle threats.
● Remember that a happy team is a productive team.
● Don’t run before you can walk.
A wise young manager listens, digests and stays focused and alert.
There will always be someone ready to knock you off your
pedestal. Believe in yourself, your drive and ambition because
those are the qualities that will ensure you grow properly into your
role and know how to stand up for yourself and your team.
‘Anyone who wants to lead the orchestra must turn their
back on the crowd.’
It’s so easy to believe that saying ‘YES’ will elevate your standing
and earn you considerable respect. Experience has shown me that
people with intuition and imagination will gain recognition a lot
faster than paper pushing ‘YES’ men and women who can be
found lurking somewhere in the corner of any office.
It’s not hard to say ‘NO’, there are plenty of times in everyday life
where challenging or saying ‘NO’ is more than appropriate.
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● “Can I borrow your car because mine has a few dents in
it?” - ‘NO’.
● “Can you lend me some money because I’m almost
bankrupt?” - ‘NO’.
● “Can you chip in some money as it’s a special occasion
for someone you don’t know?” - ‘NO’.
You are acting responsibly by thinking about any and all questions
before responding. An automatic ‘YES’ may be easy because it
requires no thought, but it has the potential to be far more
dangerous than a well-thought out ‘NO’.
Your manager and your team will respect you much more if you
are challenging and creative and offer your own constructive
solutions.
● “I think you need to consider this…for the following
reason…”
● “I can’t see that working because…”
● “Great idea but this way is more productive because…”
● “Sorry, I don’t think that will work because…”
● “There is a problem with that because…”
● “I don’t think that will be productive for my team
because …”
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‘Remember, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO is not always bad.’
For Senior Managers, my advice is;
Think twice before promoting inexperienced ‘YES’ men and
women into your ranks, and make sure they are mature enough
for the role ahead. Obviously, I’m not suggesting that all newly
promoted Junior Managers are headstrong, naive and on a power
trip, far from it, but I have witnessed this on so many occasions.
Right from the start, you need to make it your own responsibility
to support, coach and direct those coming up; and if it doesn’t
work out, then take ownership sooner rather than later. When you
realise you’ve made a mistake, recognise it quickly and admit (if
only to yourself) that you were wrong, because making tough
decisions is what makes great managers.
There’s a delicate balance here, your Junior Manager can still be
rehabilitated and be given a fresh chance at a later date if it turns
out the promotion has been a bit premature; but leave it too late
and they will lose confidence. More importantly, you will lose a
potential leader forever.
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So, to summarise;
If you are a new manager, be yourself and learn how to say ‘NO’
if you want to accelerate your career.
And if you are a Senior Manager then you should already know
that it’s your responsibility to mentor your juniors and help them
become the leaders of the future.
“If you are a Senior Manager I can’t stress how important it
is in business to surround yourself with good enthusiastic
Junior Managers who have the respect of their teams. The last
thing a business needs is demotivated staff.” DL
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Chapter 15
How Do You Start Out as a Manager?
When you get promoted for the first time, it’s a fair bet that you’ll
be excited about the opportunities ahead. I suspect that you’ll also
be a bit apprehensive, you need to remember that your time has
come, and everyone feels that you are ready for the added
responsibility.
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Whilst graduating into management is a huge achievement, it’s
also the start of many new challenges. Here are six tips to help you
get off on the right foot.
1. Know your Stuff
Make it your personal mission to become a ‘tree of knowledge’ as
this will be the key to your success as a new manager. Seek out the
management tools at your disposal. Know what resources are
available to you. What training does your company offer?
Understand your Company’s policies and procedures. Get to
know your team and remember everyone’s names. After all, you
are now responsible for managing and developing them.
Look at their past performance and carry out reviews. Identify
their strengths and any areas for improvement. The more you
know about the individuals in your team, the better your team
performance will be.
The sooner you get this right, then the quicker you can lay down
your building blocks for success.
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2. Find a Mentor
If you’re going to be in charge of a new team, you’ll have to come
up with solutions to issues that you won’t find in any textbook.
An experienced manager, who has already dealt with most
situations, can provide valuable and confidential advice to handle
whatever matters arise. If this describes your boss, that’s great;
but, if they’re not approachable or you think it might make you
look weak given your ‘newbie’ status, seek out someone else to
advise you, either from within your company or an experienced
mentor from outside the company.
3. Remember your Role
It is likely that you were promoted because you’ve been
performing well at your job; but you need to remember that
you’re not carrying out that role anymore. Your previous position
called for you to accomplish tasks. Now it’s all about assisting
others to accomplish the tasks that you set them, to help them to
learn and become as successful as you. It’s important for you to
remember that your performance reflects on the performance of
the team and, in the final analysis, you will ultimately be judged on
their performance. Without proper direction, they are unlikely to
perform to the best of their abilities. Keep any thoughts of failure
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well out of your mind, as this isn’t an option. Be mindful of your
role and when you succeed, share that success with your team. Big
doses of encouragement and praise will spur them on to continue
to be successful for you. They’ll have your back because they
know that you will always have theirs. It’s all about gaining respect
and keeping up the momentum.
4. Know your Team
It’s tempting for new managers to make their marks and show
their authority as early as possible, but as mentioned in the last
chapter, this is where a lot of mistakes are made. A new manager
needs to understand everything about the Company and their
team, whilst fully committing to the desirable objectives before
even considering making any changes to existing procedures. The
priority is to listen to your team and set up both individual
meetings and team meetings with them.
Ask them if they fully understand their roles in the team. What is
it they like about their jobs? What are their biggest challenges?
Discuss any ideas they have for improvement of the team. Are
there any procedures they have to adhere to that they might not
like?
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Just by listening and inviting their input on a confidential basis,
your team members will appreciate that you care about their
views. Build on these relationships and always keep
communication open, letting them know that you’re always there
to listen and you are not afraid of change as long as it’s for the
right reason. Adopt an open-door policy, or schedule regular
sessions with them - even each day, if you feel it’s needed.
Make sure your team knows when and how they can reach out to
you. If you are now managing former peers, you must address the
shift by letting them know that you value their friendship and
experience, but you need to be seen to be fair and consistent with
all members of the team.
The dynamics of your relationship will need to change. It’s not an
easy conversation to have but it’s crucial for team success.
5. Don’t Cross the Line
Now that you’re a manager, you can no longer complain about
Management or the decisions they take. As a role model to your
team, as well as to the rest of the Company you need to be at your
best both inside and outside of the office.
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Keep all personal views to yourself, especially on social media and
always represent your team at your best.
If you’re engaging in outside activities with your team, for
example, at events or office parties - don’t cross the line, don’t
have too much to drink and make a fool of yourself. Having said
all this, I would encourage you to generate your own managerial
style. No company worth its salt would ever want to create robots.
I prefer to adopt a hands-on, reassuring and motivational
approach and, as I’ve already mentioned there’s also nothing
wrong with showing you have a sense of humour.
Just make sure you don’t cross the line, never lose sight of the end
goal. A great atmosphere and great teamwork will give you the
best chance of success.
6. Manage your Orchestra
Being a manager isn’t just about looking after your team.
You need to make certain that your own manager is consistently
appraised of the progress of your team and understands whether
or not you are being given the right tools for achieving success.
Regular one-to-one meetings to keep everyone in the loop, discuss
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any issues and organisational goals that will keep the team on the
right track.
Make sure that your customers are happy, especially the major
accounts. This means keeping in contact and having regular
meetings. You need to be confident that your team is engaging
properly with your suppliers’ representatives and that you are
receiving your fair share of attention. It’s never a bad idea to try
and form new relationships with more senior people within the
supply chain. Keeping your suppliers in check and having the
up-to-date knowledge about what they are up to is just smart
business. Keep an eye on your competitors too, I like the line
from the Godfather II movie about keeping your friends close but
your enemies even closer. It works for me.
Being a manager means an ongoing learning curve. It’s never
going to be easy, but if you follow these tips you’ll be up to the
challenge and off to a great start.
“New managers need to take any new challenge in their
stride. Remember that you are there because you deserve to be.
You managed to open that door into your new corridor of
responsibility. You were prepared to stand up and be counted,
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to put the hard work in, and it was you who outperformed
your colleagues. Try not to get stressed, and just take
whatever is thrown at you with good grace. You’ll work it out
and become a better manager for it, and one day a great
leader of people. Taking on challenges and making mistakes
is all part of the learning process.” DL
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Chapter 16
How to Turn ‘RAGE’ into ‘COURAGE’?
We’ve all seen it in the office and should know by now how the
script goes.
Someone completely loses the plot.
The slanging match begins causing disruption and hitting your
productivity.
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Frustration and anxiety creep in.
The result?
The team becomes de-stablised, now the problem is transferred to
you. Just how should you, a young and newly promoted manager,
handle it? I’ve seen differing approaches over the years.
“In my office…Now!” The dressing down process starts and the
laughter starts to echo around the building.
“You again” - “But it wasn’t my fault”, as the office floor
arguments get underway, and the decibel count increases before
poor little Freddy and Clare get their comeuppance.
Bang, as the big stick hits the desk, and someone is hauled into
the big chief’s office. This may be great theatre, but your common
sense should tell us how to better handle this situation.
● Act quickly.
● Defuse, don’t ignite the situation.
● Take it off the shop floor but be professional. Treat it the
way you would want to be treated yourself.
● Bring the atmosphere back to normal as soon as possible.
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● If necessary, talk to your allies and find out what lit the
fuse and who actually ignited the situation.
● Tackle those involved one-on-one, but in a neutral
environment. A cup of coffee can be worth its weight in
gold.
What is the Best Way to Deal with Hot-Headed
Employees?
● Harness their built up and stored energy.
● Identify their issues and talk to them about applying
themselves positively.
● Move away from the ‘blame game’.
● Motivate, inspire, support and remind them just how
good they can be.
● Set new challenges by using this incident as a turning
point and a learning curve.
● Set new guidelines so, in future, they come and talk with
you before any conflict arises. Move them away from any
disruptive employees.
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‘That’s how I believe you turn someone’s ‘RAGE’ into
‘COURAGE’ in just ONE word. The word is of course called
‘EnCOURAGEment.’
“At times in business passion can be misunderstood, and
there is not always a definitive line between passion, office
banter and rage. If you suspect that an incident is on the verge
of eruption, defuse the situation before the bomb explodes.
You’ll end up with a clearer atmosphere that will deliver
productive results.” DL
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Section Five
You’ve Made It! Now What?
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Chapter 17
Recognise Your Superstars
After watching a big football match between Barcelona and
Bayern Munich, it came to my mind that the first 90 minutes of
any football match are the most important. For 60 minutes, I had
witnessed what I thought was going to be one of the best
defensive, away performances I’d ever seen in football. Bayern
Munich had played magnificently, but then it all got a bit ‘Messi’.
Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man
Lionel Messi’s two goals for Barcelona in 3 minutes reminded me
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of how important your superstars are in business and how they
can be the difference between you hitting your targets and falling
just short. They certainly can help you portray that winning
mentality.
“Goals are only important if they win games.” - Lionel Messi
(Barcelona FC)
Whilst I’ve never had a problem with people turning to their
superstars when times are tough, it’s even more important to
recognise them when their outstanding performance continually
helps you stay ahead of the pack.
Recognising success is incredibly important and the best way to
retain good people.
‘Team ethics count because there’s no ‘I’ in ‘TEAM’.
Individual praise at the right time is even more important than
team praise. Your team will all have their own aspirations and
hopes, goals they want to attain, egos that will need stroking,
expectations that good things are about to happen and emotions
that can change at short notice.
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It’s down to you to manage your team and your superstars if they
are going to effectively deliver the ‘groceries on your shopping
list’. Always remember the last thing you need is any ‘own’ goals.
In my own case, every time I landed a new technology or a
manufacturer contract for the Company, there was always
someone who said, ‘Well done’. To be honest, those two small
words are sometimes all that is needed.
“There were many times in my career when I was fortunate
enough to shine but, I have to say, praising others within my
team gave me more satisfaction than actually receiving praise
myself. Any great leader will ‘have the back’ of their team,
especially when things are not going so well. Receiving awards
might seem like the pinnacle but battling back to success from
a daunting and challenging position will always be much
sweeter. So, praise your superstars and remember there’s no
limit to how many you can have in your team.” DL
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Chapter 18
Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word
We’ve all done it - raised our voices, been dismissive, got
over-excited, showed too much passion and forgotten to bite our
tongues. Often, we don’t even realise we are doing it because it’s
our own passion bursting through. We just haven’t learnt to
control or channel it in the right direction.
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It’s part of human nature and our evolution process to becoming
a great person and a great manager.
Maturing, Evolving, Developing
So just how should we deal with excitable situations?
Your experience and skill set lets you;
● See any collateral damage that you may cause.
● Reflect quickly on what has just occurred.
● Make the tough decisions to put things right.
● Start the healing process.
The toughest part for many managers is simply to accept that we
occasionally get things wrong with regards to our team. The next
time you get excitable, make sure you are prepared. Bite your
tongue and rein yourself in before you hurt someone’s feelings so
that;
● Your team remains motivated.
● Respect for you continues to grow.
● The business will outperform its targets.
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● Everyone will reap the rewards.
And if you find you haven’t managed to control your emotions on
this occasion, then remember to be big enough to realise it and
apologise quickly because;
‘Sorry really doesn’t have to be the hardest word.’
“I remember Hannah, a young spotty teenaged girl with
braces coming into my office to get some marketing advice. I
think she was pretty overwhelmed by everything at that time,
and the passion I showed may well have come across as
criticism. Before long I had her back into my office to tell her
I was sorry. There was a lesson in there for both of us and,
from that day on, I made it my responsibility to do my best to
mentor her. Today, she has matured into a fantastic and
beautiful young business director. I was delighted to have
assisted in her career development. I can look back with
satisfaction that I helped mentor someone and, along the way.
learned an important lesson myself.” DL
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Chapter 19
Social Media or Social Menace
Communication, self-promotion and great marketing are vital for
any business looking to grow and prosper. There is a place for
social media and, used correctly it can be the perfect platform and
springboard for a business, but there’s also a downside.
Has the emergence of social media actually become a menace
within your business?
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● When was the last time you got up in the morning and
had a shower without looking at your phone?
● When was the last time you picked up your phone at
work just to see if there were any new messages or ‘likes’
that weren’t there five minutes earlier?
● When was the last time your phone bleeped, and you
couldn’t help taking a sneak peek whilst you were meant
to be doing something else?
● When was the last time you looked at, or replied to a
message when you were in a meeting or driving your car?
● When was the last time you went out for dinner with a
friend and both of you sat there staring at your phones?
There is no arguing that technology has enhanced our lives. I can
remember joining my company in 1991 and the only form of
communication was;
● A telephone on a cord.
● A telephone in a box.
● A fax machine.
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● The postman.
● Or - wait for it! - face-to-face communication.
In less than 30 years, we have accepted and adopted handheld
mobiles, the text message, email, Facebook, Messenger, Twitter,
Instagram, Hangouts, Google Plus, YouTube and LinkedIn and
by the time of this writing, there are probably thousands more.
When we first made the decision that our staff could have their
phones on at work, our only worry was that they would send out a
sneaky text message now and again or place a call to mum or to
the bank manager. As technology has expanded and matured, it’s
now all about checking for re-tweets, likes, new followers,
comments, Snapchats and WhatsApp messages.
We accept that the internet can enhance our businesses, the
question is surely this; “Are we in danger of becoming obsessive
robots and social media outcasts?”
I’ve given a lot of thought to possible solutions for the
ever-changing productivity problems businesses face. Maybe one
day, the mobile operators will be forced to succumb to pressure
by installing a business mode on the phone next to the flight
mode. This would allow people to accept only work-related calls
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during business hours and surely increase productivity.
This solution, however, brings up problems of its own because
more and more people will likely stop communicating with
customers via email and start using App based communication
systems. Car modes are already appearing which hopefully will
eventually make it impossible to use the phone Apps whilst
driving.
It’s not helpful that many of us take our leisure time social media
addiction with us into work. It won’t let you put your phone
down. It’s stopping you from focusing on the job in hand, yet we
all keep doing it. Even Facebook have admitted it’s an addiction.
Think Like a Manager
Just imagine how much time and productivity would be lost every
day if everyone in the Company spent just 5 minutes on the phone
every half an hour. You do the sums!
So, ask yourself, has technology abuse already planted itself inside
your head or inside your business? If it hasn’t yet, is it about to
take a stranglehold?’
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Why not set yourself and your team some challenges to make you
start talking to friends and colleagues face-to-face. Set up an office
challenge, whereby a fine is dished out to anyone using a mobile
phone for anything other than business calls, with the money
raised going for a team night out.
The next time you unlock your car, why not lock your phone in
the boot or glove box. You can still use it for hands-free calls; but
if nothing else it will remove any temptation to pick it up and will
make you a safer driver.
The next time you are in a restaurant with friends, get everyone to
put their phones in an empty wine bucket in the middle of the
table. The first one who goes into withdrawal and reaches for a
phone is responsible for the bill. Obviously, you should make an
exception so that, if it rings, it should be answered because we
know emergencies can happen.
Encourage your team to be vigilant during the day to identify
addicts and then have them spread the message before the
wonderful world of social media becomes an ugly social menace
that gets its tentacles coiled around us all.
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‘For many of us this dream won’t be possible, but just
imagine if you could pull just some of these ideas off?’
“I must admit that, despite my own sound advice, there are
times that I am chained to my phone. For me, as for so
many, it has taken over from the computer as my device of
choice for day-to-day communication. In the long term, a step
backward has to happen to enable productivity to leap
forward once again.” DL
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Chapter 20
Don’t Become a Business Dinosaur
My wife once asked me if dinosaurs really existed or were merely
just characters in Disney movies. I couldn’t help but wonder if my
wife had really meant what she said, or had the wine simply gone
down a little too fast that evening! However, it got me thinking
about how quickly your business could become prehistoric if you
didn’t continue to evolve it.
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Looking back over the past few years, I have seen many
companies go in reverse or vanish overnight because they refused
to update their outdated methodology. My greatest goal in my
career was to ensure that my company chose;
‘Evolution over extinction.’
Evolution is not rocket science, but it is the key to both longevity
and a successful future.
In my business, evolution meant identifying tomorrow’s suppliers,
technologies and all the channels before my competitors.
If you can ensure that your imagination and creativity provides
you with the foresight to create that investable and believable
business plan then you’ll be well on your way to success.
A consistent error larger companies make is to assume that an
established market represents a golden ticket, and all they have to
do is turn up and steal the low-hanging fruit in the orchard, when
their smaller, but more focused competition have already spent
time and money ploughing, sowing, growing and harvesting that
channel.
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They also seem to overlook the fact that decent suppliers will
always support their proactive, incumbent and historical partners.
If you want to keep putting sticking plasters all over your business,
then go ahead and adopt a reactive market-taking strategy; but if
you want to evolve your business and secure it for the future, then
start strategising now. You not only need to work out how to get
into the race you need to cement and grow your place in the field
by staying ahead of the competition. Look at ways to offer new
channel incremental opportunities. Always stick to what you know
by evolving at your own pace, both organically and through
acquisition, now that’s a good strategy.
If someone were to ask for my advice I would offer the following
food for thought.
1. Don’t forget your ‘bread and butter’. Your current business is
important.
2. Make sure you identify, and then target, your future
investments in under-developed areas. This will provide you
with sustainable longevity and profitable growth success.
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3. ‘Persistence is King.’ But don’t be afraid to abandon an idea
or development area if you feel it has dragged on too long.
Admitting a mistake is far better than continually investing in a
dead-end idea. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. There’s a
reason this old chestnut is still around. It works! In fact, I’ve seen
these strategies work time after time. More importantly, they will
ensure that you don’t become extinct any time soon.
“When we first started selling projectors, a colleague of mine
didn’t sell any at first; but, the second time around, due to my
persistence and self-belief, one sale a month soon turned into
one a day which eventually turned into 100,000 a year -
proof that evolution and adaptability can be extremely
successful.” DL
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Chapter 21
Taking a Brand to Another Level
The best way to make your brand stronger is to make sure that
everyone who works for your company is mindful of the
importance of their actions. A strong brand can be built up using
simple business basics.
Here’s a revolutionary thought. You don’t have to just stick with
one brand name! Why not get a few people around a table and
throw some ideas at each other? Make sure you all know why your
brand or sub-brand, is special or unique - your important ‘USP’
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(Unique Selling Point). Try to come up with names that are
catchy, meaningful and memorable. Think, what steps do I believe
will maximise and indeed add value and substance to the Brand?
● A picture paints a thousand words so make sure your
marketing is consistent with the images and the messages
that your company wants to convey.
● Making a great first impression on the phone, sending
your first email or when meeting someone face-to-face,
consistency of your brand and company message is
crucial and for me no one has come up with better advice
than this.
● A great rehearsed pitch that’s looking well-groomed can
seriously make all the difference to how your company is
perceived and delivering your message on top is the icing
on the cake.
● Don’t buy into the corporate mindset that
everything must be under ‘one umbrella’. If you have a
brand name that works, don’t change it, evolve it.
When we bought companies in France and Germany, we
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didn’t change their names to Midwich as no-one had
heard of our company in Europe. Instead, we evolved
their own brand under the one group umbrella.
● Establish credibility by ensuring that your website,
marketing and social media presence is professional, free
of any grammatical errors and remove any controversial
subject matter.
● Make a contribution to your industry and try and
become a known face - This will give huge credibility to
your branding and can move it forward at speed.
‘On occasion, there may be good reasons to rebrand.’
Here are two historical examples of success:
● Philip Morris to Altria. Their reasoning for this
rebranding in 2003 was to ensure that consumers knew
that it was “more than a tobacco company.” Looking
logically at that move however, it is a clear PR move to
distance itself from the hazardous product for which it
had become known - cigarettes. A great example of
thinking well ahead of time.
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● Apple Computers to Apple. “We’re going to make
some history here today” former CEO Steve Jobs said in
a speech in 2007. With that, he not only announced the
first iPhone, but he also said that the Company was
dropping the ‘Computer’ from its name. The iPhone
would go on to become the company’s most lucrative
product. Apple could foresee that its product portfolio
would expand and, therefore, a name change would more
accurately reflect the widening reach. And look what
happened, they soon became the world’s most valuable
company.
Of course, there are also those companies who have
rebranded to their company’s detriment:
● Cardiff City Football Club. In 2012, the Club’s owner
had a great idea to change the first team kit from blue to
red, along with replacing the blue bird on the logo with a
red dragon. There was uproar from fans and in January
2015, after enormous pressure, the kit was put back to
blue at a substantial cost to the owners.
● Royal Mail to Consignia. In January 2001, the UK’s
biggest mail carrier announced a new company name and
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brand. Although the name fitted the description of the
company perfectly, customers didn’t like it. Just over one
year later, the company reverted to Royal Mail. The
Consignia name cost £1.5 million to launch and
according to reports it cost the company another £1
million to rebrand themselves once again, as Royal Mail.
This is a great example of not doing your market research
first.
We should all be proud of the brand name that we represent but
imagine, if we could create a truly memorable slogan, how much
more powerful our Brand could be. Granted, it’s quite difficult to
come up with just the right slogan, and some are more successful
than others, but getting it right would immediately take us up a
few levels in terms of recognition.
Here’s a little test for you. See how many of the existing slogans
below you can relate to an actual brand?
● ‘I’m loving it’
● ‘It’s in the game’
● ‘The real thing’
● ‘Finger licking good’
● ‘Just do it’
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● ‘Connecting people’
● 'Have it your way’
● ‘Where dreams come true’
● ‘Let your fingers do the walking’
● ‘Challenge everything’
● ‘Power, beauty and soul’
● ‘American by birth, rebel by choice’
If you got most of them right, they are clearly serving their
purpose. Fast food chains have powerful slogans, without
necessarily having the best product, so maybe we all need to keep
asking ourselves;
“Can we create a slogan that’s as memorable or even better
than: The brand name? The product we supply? The service
we offer?”
Food for Thought?
Another school of thinking says that focusing on growing your
brand and having a great product offering creates longevity and is
simpler and more cost-effective than spending lots of time and
money creating a gimmicky slogan. Providing you lead from the
front with Passion, Professionalism and Quality you won’t go
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far wrong.
“For many years, I was tasked to evolve and revolutionise
our business. I needed to identify new channels, new
technologies and new countries that we felt we could move into
successfully. Sometimes, the best option was to acquire an
existing company in a particular field or territory. By
formulating a strategy both in the UK and overseas it gave us
immediate business growth with the ability to evolve and
mould other companies, allowing us over time to instill rather
than force our own company ethics into their business.
So how many of the marketing slogans did you get? Here are
the answers in case you were interested starting with ‘I’m
loving it’ - McDonalds, ‘It’s in the game - EA Sports, ‘The
real thing’ - Coca Cola, ‘Finger licking good’ - KFC, ‘Just
do it’ - Nike, ‘Connecting people’ - Nokia, ‘Have it your
way’ - Burger King, ‘Where dreams come true’ - Disney, ‘Let
your fingers do the walking’ - Yellow Pages, ‘Challenge
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everything’ - EA Games, ‘Power, beauty and soul’ - Aston
Martin, ‘American by birth, rebel by choice’ - Harley
Davidson.” DL
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Section Six
Don’t Get Complacent
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Chapter 22
Make Time for Reflection
There have been many times in both my business and personal life
when I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry; but whatever my
circumstances, I always made sure that I found time to step back,
reflect and take a reality check.
A few years back I visited my father who suffers from
Parkinson’s, he is my hero and my inspiration. He has always been
funny with one-liners and has always had an infectious wit, even
now.
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On this particular visit he asked me, “Darren, do you still have
my suitcase?” “Yes of course”, I replied, before asking him why
he wanted it. “In case I feel the urge to go on holiday”, replied
my father.
Parkinson’s is an unkind condition because it confuses the mind
and makes you believe that you are somewhere else until you can
be persuaded otherwise. Sadly, my mother and I had to explain to
my father that he was no longer fit to travel and so wouldn’t ever
need a suitcase again.
After a pause for reflection, and a quick reality check, he seemed
to accept what we had told him before the conversation moved
on.
This episode took me right back to some business experiences and
reminded me how often I used to step back and reflect on my
journey.
It reinforced my belief that you should shoot for your goals right
now because, in the blink of an eye, real opportunities can vanish.
It also served to reinforce my belief that everyone in business
needs to make time to re-think and re-assess goals, to make sure
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you are working to improve your self-esteem and, also, to boost
your confidence.
Things don’t always go to plan, but we can still learn and make
adjustments to get us over the next hurdle and keep us on the
right track.
No one can be successful all the time but, if we are courageous
enough to start a journey, we can be courageous enough to
succeed.
Sir Richard Branson is a perfect example. I’m sure he had to take a
few steps back over the course of his career as not all of his ideas
(e.g. Virgin Cola, Virgin Student, Virgin Brides, Virgin Vie, and
Virgin Cars) were as successful as he had envisaged.
We all hit stumbling blocks, just as we all make mistakes.
Sometimes we underestimate our competition and take the market
for granted and sometimes we are just way ahead of our time with
a smashing new idea.
Taking time out to step back and reflect is always the best
regenerator and will go a long way toward cementing your success.
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Going back to my father, it was now time to leave. My visit
seemed to have gone well, and it looked like he had taken on
board my pearls of wisdom; yet before I could get out the door,
and with impeccable timing, he managed one last one-liner:
“Darren, don’t forget my suitcase!”
“Some people like the idea of looking outside the box for
fresh ideas. I happen to believe that most of the answers are
actually inside the box or, in other words, inside your own
business and you just can’t see the wood for the trees.
Stepping back, or bringing in a third party, will give you the
valuable time you need and the ability to analyse your
business which will enable you to move it up to the next level.
Don’t ever be afraid of making mistakes or feel that being
disappointed is a bad thing. Life is actually all about making
mistakes because our ability to learn from them makes us
stronger and better prepared for the road ahead and the
challenges that will come our way.” DL
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Chapter 23
Expect the Unexpected
Picture the scene - It’s been a long day at work, but you’re finally
in the car and on your way home only to find that you’re stuck in
road works. In your rear-view mirror, you see a solitary white van
heading down the outside lane, blatantly leaving it until the last
few seconds to push in well up the queue. Your adrenaline starts
pumping but, in a flash, you find yourself almost celebrating as the
large vehicle in front of you suddenly pulls out into the outside
lane. You know its intentions. It has just one purpose in mind - to
slow down that white van.
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If you’re a driver, you will recognise this situation and you’ll
already know that the large vehicle will just keep up with your
pace before popping back in front of you as the contraflow starts,
preventing the white van from advancing any further.
Ask yourself;
“What are your initial thoughts right now?”
A. “Well done buddy. That’ll teach him to wait like the rest
of us.” Or;
B. “Come on, it’s an alternate contraflow so just chill out
because he isn’t harming anyone.”
In business, when situations arise that are similar to this,
frustration and anger are understandable reactions. Frustration
and passion can often lead to excitement and sometimes
confrontation. When we see something happening it’s right that
we offer an opinion and stand up for ourselves, just try not to
prejudge a situation before you have all the facts.
So, returning to the driving analogy…just before you get to the
roadworks, it is clear that you will have to be the one to let that
white van in right in front of you.
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“Oh, go on then”, you grudgingly mutter to yourself as the driver
thanks you in his mirror for your kind gesture.
But it’s right in that split second that you completely deflate
because you have just discovered something about the white van
that the large vehicle up ahead still has no idea about.
It completely knocks you for six as you start reading the writing
on the back of the van.
‘Emergency - Human organ for transplant! Hospital patient
waiting.’
In business and indeed your life outside of work you should
always be prepared for the unexpected. The curve ball, that one
thing that will test your resolve. Make sure you are ready to adapt
to any situation. Don’t jump to conclusions without knowing the
facts. I like to compare this parable to that of any great listener in
business, allowing yourself that extra time needed to ensure that
you make solid and correct business decisions.
‘Only a fool tests the depth of a river with both feet.’
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“In the course of traversing my long and winding road to
success, I faced a lot of surprises and challenges from
competitors, suppliers, customers and colleagues. Imagine
being told you’re not wanted anymore, that you no longer have
a franchise to sell. Imagine finding out that your competitor
has shut its doors or being told that a competitor now has
access to your largest franchise. Whatever the circumstances,
you’ll be met by challenges in business, but you must take
them in your stride, find a solution, hit them head on and
conquer them all.” DL
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Chapter 24
Has Anyone Seen My Lunch?
We’ve all seen the dreaded spam email topics coming through so
do any of these resonate with you?
● Who has taken my lunch from the canteen?
● Can anyone give me a lift home tonight?
● I’m cleaning the restroom fridge so please clear it?
● Does anyone want to buy a watch?
● Has anyone got a charger for my mobile phone?
● I’ve got two concert tickets if you are interested?
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I recently read that 88% of all emails are actually spam; so why do
we need our staff to start adding to the mess with the dreaded ‘all
staff’ emails?
So, what can you do?
One company, the Halton Housing Trust, had a fundamental
rethink of how it worked and decided to remove all internal
emails, taking back control from some of the systems and cultures
we have all allowed to develop over the years since email has
become an integral part of our working lives.
So why are they doing this and what are their key reasons for their
decision?
Independent research has highlighted that the average employee
spends 40% of the working week dealing with internal emails,
which add no value to the business.
Imagine that in real terms: In an average week, you and your
colleagues only start work from Wednesday. How much work do
you think would get done?
Analysis found worrying levels of email traffic. Of 95,000 emails
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sent, 75,000 were internal and only 20,000 external.
Interesting stuff; but, just how could your business operate
without those internal emails? If you were around before the
advent of email you will, doubtless, remember that we all used to
cope very well indeed.
The smart question here has to be;
“Has email artificially created growth as well as the dreaded spam
for our businesses?”
While even the least tech savvy people take measures to combat
external spam, some people believe that we should reject all
messages that even might possibly be spam. I appreciate that this
would also probably stop staff from receiving some legitimate
emails along the way and is a fairly draconian solution.
If your beliefs do not stretch quite that far, you should make it
your sacred duty to educate your staff. Explain to them that,
before sending communications out to multiple people, they
should first run it past a colleague or line-manager to see if it
couldn’t be communicated in a different way.
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Another solution would be for HR, or a nominated person, to
send out just one or two ‘all staff’ Twitter style emails at the same
time each day. As they will be expected, everyone will read them.
Each message should be limited to a set number of characters.
This will cut out a lot of unwanted emails and make your business
run a lot more efficiently.
In 2004, Bill Gates apparently said “SPAM will be a thing of
the past in two years.”
Proof that even the best minds get things wrong. But even if
someone does manage to find a way of filtering out spam in the
next few years, the internal challenges will always remain.
Unless someone in your business takes the initiative and does
something about spam, be prepared for many more of these one
liners.
‘All Staff’ - “Has anyone got a tin opener for my Spam?”
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Chapter 25
Festive Cheer or Simply Bah Humbug? -
Ho! Ho! Ho!
Against all the odds, you’ve had an exceptional business year.
You’ve just broken up for Christmas and you’re on a real high. It
feels great to be appreciated. Then Santa’s evil twin brings a letter
to your home marked ‘Confidential’. Uh-oh! This gets the
adrenaline pumping yet when you open it, the bombshell drops.
Oh yes, it’s time to prepare yourself for yet another miserable
holiday period, feeling confused and undervalued. And, as usual,
it’s too late to go to your boss for some reassurance.
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So what’s in this letter, or maybe not in this letter, that’s got you
so worked up and annoyed?
A pay rise of course that’s lower than what you expected.
Quite frankly it’s nothing short of a ‘schoolboy error’, that’s so
simple to avoid; yet many bosses fall foul of it every year and are
completely blinkered, not even seeing what a negative impact their
annual letter is having on their own staff.
Your people are your greatest asset, yet after all your hard work in
motivating them throughout the year, why would you want to let
them down and demotivate them at the most important time of
the year?
This is the time when they should be recharging their batteries
because they need to come back in the new year fresh, smiling and
fighting fit.
What’s also blindingly annoying and obvious is that you haven’t
listened to last year’s festive feedback and are about to ruin your
staff’s Christmas and New Year once again.
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Never take your eye off the ball and overlook one of the basics in
business;
‘Continued motivation’.
The negative impact of this ‘salary and terms letter’ just before
Christmas should not be underestimated. There’s a famous
Christmas Vacation movie where Chevy Chase’s character Clerk
Grizwold has a friend who kidnaps his boss over just such a letter.
Our own human psyche might not tell us to go quite that far, but
our minds are often trained to view all letters as negative
communications even if on some level, they’re what we expected
to see.
Being told something face-to-face feels more positive and gives
you the chance to understand decisions. It allows you to at least
question and discuss why the decisions were made. So why do so
many bosses simply hand this demotivational responsibility over
to HR?
‘It’s not personal. It’s not clever. It’s counterproductive.’
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You need your staff to come back in the New Year excited, hitting
the ground running and raring to go. But if you thought things
couldn’t get any worse, many bosses then go on to make their
second ‘schoolboy error’. Your staff may have tried to put that
bad Christmas experience behind them, and they are now looking
to you for a lift. But what do many managers do?
Strike Two
New targets! It’s no surprise that your planning and target setting
for the next 12 months is overrunning, but why penalise and
demotivate your staff for it? Would it not have a more positive
and motivational impact if you gave your staff their January targets
before the Christmas break? At least they would know where they
stand, have a few weeks to digest it and could start planning.
But no. Instead of providing staff with an early budget based on
the previous January’s performance, many managers decide to
significantly delay issuing them, preferring the ‘double whammy’
approach.
Imagine it’s now mid-January, and you’re still on a downer
because of that Christmas letter. Despite this, you’ve done really
well at the start of January. Then, Boom! Your targets and
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objectives arrive followed by the realisation that they have been
significantly increased with unobtainable stretch targets, and this
has all been done without any discussion or buy-in from any of
the team.
‘Let me reiterate (More loudly this time so I might be
heard!)’
‘IT’S NOT PROFESSIONAL. IT’S NOT CLEVER. IT’S
COUNTERPRODUCTIVE.’
If you’re planning to become a boss in the future, please take heed
of this advice; and, if you’re already one of these bosses, it’s time
to open the brain valves because your staff can’t function well if
you are not all on board the same ship. Always remember the ship
will sink without all the officers and hands working together to
keep her afloat.
“It really isn’t hard to motivate staff; it just takes a little
more effort and forward planning at the end of the year. I
cannot reiterate how important it is to start the year well and,
if everyone is on board and happy, then at least you’ve given
yourself the best chance to achieve your annual goals.” DL
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Chapter 26
A Degree in Common Sense
I never managed to obtain a degree in:
● Imagination
● Responsibility
● Teamwork
● Creativity
● Self-control
● Sense of judgement
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● Determination
● Self-discipline
● Skilful planning
● Good personality or humility
I had to learn how to harness them all, but what I did leave school
with was common sense - the uncommon degree called wisdom.
Someone once said to me “If I have 20 apples in my left pocket
and 20 apples in my right pocket what do I have?” Most people
would probably have replied “40 apples” but, surely, the better
answer is “bloody big or ripped pockets”.
I’ll bet you’ve heard some pretty insane one-liners in your time.
Here are some beauties that just might also make you think.
“Is olive oil made from olives?”
You can have the best education in the world but, if you are the
world’s worst problem solver then, Houston, we have a problem!
“What time do the cats’ eyes light up?”
I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked with a lot of young
people but the earlier people realise that it’s better to have
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common sense without education, than education without
common sense, the better our businesses will be.
More young people will understand that they can be proud of
what they are achieving using their common sense.
“The Muppets haven’t aged at all have they?”
Having common sense shouldn’t be a punishment, but it can feel
like it at times when you have to deal with people who simply
don’t have any. Maybe we all have to accept that common sense
isn’t as common as it used to be and just get on with it.
“Does looking at a picture of the sun hurt your eyes?”
We all have a collective responsibility in business to identify,
educate and nurture our young staff and give them a chance to,
hopefully, learn some common sense. If you want your business
to prosper then, please, roll your sleeves up and have your answer
ready for the next time someone asks;
“Is there any possible way of making 2+2=5?”
Thankfully, we’ve all got a lot of great managers out there taking
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mentoring seriously, spotting potential and bringing along the
good ones. The dream has to be that one day, and maybe one day
soon, we’ll have a conveyor belt of young people with common
sense.
“We might not be qualified schoolteachers, but we all have a
responsibility to be the ‘teachers of all things’ within our
businesses. There are a lot of creative brains out there who are
waiting to make a massive difference to our businesses. Our
task is to find them, shape them and bring common sense to
the forefront of everyone’s thinking. It’s a challenge, but it’s
one at which you will succeed if you adopt the right positive
mental attitude.” DL
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Chapter 27
Keeping an Open Mind
The Celestine Prophecy is a book by James Redfield that discusses
various psychological and spiritual ideas rooted in multiple ancient
Eastern traditions and New Age spirituality. I’d just finished
reading it and what became clear to me was that coincidences in
life were more common than one thinks and, actually, more of an
everyday occurrence. It’s my belief that, if you are open-minded
enough you will begin spotting these coincidences for yourself.
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‘Have you ever sung a song to yourself and then heard it on
the radio a few minutes later?’
‘Have you ever thought about someone, and then they just
happened to call you?’
Some might say “their ears must have been burning” but I believe
there is a lot more to it than that.
I had just climbed aboard the early train to London with three of
my colleagues one bright and sunny midweek afternoon. A
supplier had invited us to a football match at Stamford Bridge to
watch Chelsea play in the League Cup.
En-route, we found lots to talk about including our business and
social networks. We discussed how we could sell lots of Pioneer
products and we worked on our latest business plan. Once
finished the topic of conversation then switched to the latest BBC
Top Gear episode, which saw the presenters take three supercars
around France before ending up in Paris. It featured the latest
Ferrari, which was so new that none of us had ever seen one in
the flesh - but it did look stunning on the screen. We unanimously
agreed, however, that the grey colour used on the show didn’t
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have the same ‘wow factor’ and what was needed was that Italian
Racing Red look.
Upon arrival at Liverpool Street station, we headed for the long
taxi queue. There was no panic though as we had lots of time and
there seemed to be plenty of taxis, but we were happy to wait.
All the taxis had advertising on the side, we passed the time by
reading the ads as the queue gradually diminished. This is where
the first coincidence occurred. We couldn’t quite believe it as we
spotted a Pioneer-branded Taxi in the distance. I was immediately
convinced that this was a coincidence, and fate had us all climbing
into that specific taxi.
After a 30-minute ride across London just as we were entering
into Chelsea, you won’t believe me now, but the same new Ferrari
pulled out in front of our taxi and we began to follow it, our jaws
wide open. Not only were we gob smacked but, you guessed it,
the car was painted in Ferrari Rosso Red.
Making our way to the hospitality suite, we were greeted by two
old Chelsea legends of the game - Peter Osgood, probably
Chelsea’s best ever striker and Chopper Harris, a great defender of
his time. I was very lucky and managed to have a decent
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conversation with Peter, he was such a nice man and he actually
showed a lot of interest in me.
Peter asked me if I was a Chelsea fan but I quickly made it clear
that I was born and bred in Leicester, at which point he began to
tell me a story about how his best mate for many years was a
Leicester player and still working there like him as an ambassador
all these years later, and how he’d lost touch with him.
Peter called him the Birch; a Leicester City legend called Alan
Birchenall. I think I amazed Peter by telling him that, not only did
my brother know him, he also had his contact numbers. Peter left
me his card and before the end of the match, I had messaged him
with all the details.
A few days later, I received a message from Peter informing me
that, not only had he been in touch with ‘Birchy’, he was going to
meet him at the Southampton game that weekend. Peter also said
that if there was anything that he could do for me to reciprocate
to just let him know. Wow, what a guy I thought as he didn’t have
to do that. I’d be lying though if I didn’t think ‘Cup Final tickets’
to myself.
Just a few short weeks later this story took an extremely sad turn.
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The news came through that Peter had suffered a heart attack at
his uncle’s funeral and had died. I couldn’t quite believe it as he
was only 59.
With all this happening I felt drawn into watching the next
Chelsea game as they were playing at home that weekend. I’ve
never seen anything like it, with so many high profile people
paying their respects on the pitch. Peter had scored over 100 goals
for Chelsea and was worshipped, not just by the Chelsea fans but
by everyone in football.
The real emotion came though as the minute of respect played
out. The cameras panned down the line of famous people and,
when they reached the last person in the line, who should that be?
None other than his best mate, Alan ‘The Birch’ Birchenall.
I couldn’t help but feel that, if it hadn’t have been for our chance
meeting and all the other coincidences that day, those two best
mates wouldn’t have met again before Peter passed away.
“In business you must never underestimate the power of the
mind. Whether merely a coincidence or an idea for the next
best thing, having a great team around you with the ability to
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be imaginative, presents you with the best opportunity to
think of ways to evolve your business. Remember this ‘No
Man is an Island’ so don’t think you have to do things alone,
keep looking at the horizon and that will help bring you the
success you need.” DL
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Chapter 28
The Pressure Cooker
Treat today as if it’s your final day. Every morning when you wake
up, make time to look into the mirror because looking back at you
will be the most important asset of your life. Don’t ever be afraid
to ask that asset to change because change is good.
As Michael Jackson once said, “If you want to make your world a
better place, then take a good look at yourself and make the
change.”
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You are that asset, and in your long business journey you will find
that only you can;
● Offer yourself true guidance.
● Drag yourself back up when times are tough.
● Come up with creative solutions when challenges are set.
● Keep yourself grounded when the pressure is turned up.
● Inspire yourself to Dream, Create, Believe, and Achieve
your goals.
● Persuade yourself to change.
Throughout your life’s journey, you will be set challenges, have
your expectations raised and feel untold pressure. At some point,
you will look back and wonder how on earth you ever managed to
achieve what you did. In my final words to you, I wanted to talk
about pressure and how best to approach it. I believe that pressure
comes in three variants: negative, positive and temporary. Let’s
take a look into each one.
Negative Pressure
Imagine a shadow following you everywhere you go, like the
darkness from a spotlight permanently standing 2 metres behind
you. It only has one objective, and that’s to creep up on you when
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you least expect it, grabbing you from behind and choking the life
out of you. This is definitely the type of pressure you need to keep
at bay. But how do you do it?
By becoming the conductor of your own orchestra and staying in
charge of your own destiny.
Imagine what each section could represent. The woodwind,
percussion, brass, strings etc. are all important, but try to visualise
them as all representing different groups in your life right now -
your family and friends, your work colleagues, your boss, your
customers and suppliers. Then think of ways, every day, that you
can delegate tasks to them to reduce your workload and help you
to become more efficient in the way you work. These people will
protect you, stopping the dark shadow from ever getting near you.
Positive Pressure
Now picture the self-same shadow, 2 metres behind you again,
only this time when it catches up with you it pushes you forward,
motivating you and challenging you to expand your limits. Have
you ever heard people say that they thrive on pressure and get a
major buzz from it?
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Welcome to positive pressure, the sort of pressure we all want to
encourage because it will help us to achieve our goals. This
pressure defines our road ahead and the path that we are destined
to take. Keep an eye out for it as it’s what we all need to boost us
to greatness. A sportsman might feel pressure before the start of
their event but harnessed the right way it can make anyone
perform to the best of their ability.
Temporary Pressure
This is the shadow that stands alongside us, but we decide when it
makes an appearance.
Imagine having to travel 60 minutes to a meeting and giving
yourself just 60 minutes to make it. For the next hour, you will be
wondering whether or not you will make it to the start of that
meeting.
Imagine the temporary pressure if you don’t plan for that meeting
and just turn up ill prepared.
Imagine the temporary pressure if you’ve gone out and partied too
hard and for too long the night before a really important
presentation you have to deliver.
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Imagine yourself smoking or indulging in any other similarly
frowned upon ‘vices’. Definitely a cause for temporary pressure.
The thing about temporary pressure, however, is that we all have
the power to change it and eradicate it if we have the will to do so.
So good luck everyone.
“Pressure is as much about planning and preparation as
anything else so, if you can take any inspiration from my
book, then I hope you will decide to keep your shadow way
behind you when you don’t need it and close behind when you
need that little push forward. What’s important is to keep a
good work life balance in everything you do to keep that
negative pressure away.” DL
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Epilogue
Throughout these pages, I have shared with you, through a
collection of anecdotal musings, my observations as a successful
businessman. But my closing thoughts for you are meant to sum
up what you have read and registered.
Always be prepared to:
● Go the extra mile. Listen, learn and digest, and make sure
you continually question yourself.
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● Never give up on your dreams and start knocking on
doors.
● If you can’t be the best, then be the luckiest.
● Create your own identity.
● Take ‘NO’ as meaning ‘Next Opportunity’.
● Encourage others as you expect to be encouraged.
● Bite your lip and admit when you are wrong.
● Improve time management to maximise productivity.
● Harness your enthusiasm but never stop the creative
ideas.
● Become a great listener.
● Work as a team player but don’t forget who is number
one.
● Cut out bad habits.
● Deal with pressure immediately through delegation and
good planning.
● Take a step back and don’t be afraid of making changes
to your plan.
● Step ahead of anyone you envisage as your competition.
● Eradicate negative people from your life.
And, finally, I’d like to leave you with my favourite saying because
it contains a truth that supersedes anything in life or in business:
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Fail to Prepare - Prepare to Fail
Remember that, no matter what is thrown at you, only you have
the power to change your own destiny, never beat yourself up and
always keep the faith, your time will come, even if the first
opportunity doesn’t include you. Imagine yourself walking a
tightrope, never look down because failure isn’t an option, keep
looking at the horizon so you can see and reach your next
destination.
Good luck, and if you need any further advice or support you can
always contact me on LinkedIn (Darren Lewitt), Twitter
(DarrenMentor), Instagram (darrenlewitt_mentor), or check out
my website www.darrenlewitt.com.
“Be the luckiest, not the best.”
“Just remember anything is possible and if I
can succeed, anyone can...
...Dream. Create. Believe. Achieve.”
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