Business owners tend to look shifty when leadership comes up in the conversation.  They don’t see themselves as leaders – even though they are. Leadership doesn’t mean they have to suddenly become Napoleon or Gandhi, but it might help them to understand what leadership looks like and do the things that leadership requires.  The quality of the leadership will to a large extent decide the scalability of a business. Google returns over 244 million pages when you search for “leadership books”.  Amazon returns over 60,000 titles.  The subject has been fascinating people for thousands of years.  We all know it when we see it, and recognise when it is absent, but a practical, implementable definition remains elusive. The development of leadership thinking and research over the last few decades can be summarised as: First, people started by examining leadership traits Leaders were born Certain traits recurred, like intelligence, empathy, confidence However, the traits u...

 Goering allegedly once said  “When I hear the word culture I reach for my revolver” . I’m a bit like that.  When business owners talk about culture, I know that I’m in for a platitude-strewn conversation.  I’d put a small bet on the words “customer-focused” appearing within the next few sentences. Too many business owners seem to see “culture” as something to be implemented, like a new accounts package.  They see it as a some kind of mantra, developed in a couple of faintly embarrassing employee workshops facilitated by some bloke in a suit, or perhaps beard, sandals and pullover, and trotted out whenever the need arises. So…tick…done the culture.  Got the pictures on the wall (cue stirring slogan and glossy image of man climbing mountain, or the Red Arrows).  What’s next on the list? In fact, culture is what it feels like to be an employee, and by extension, what it feels like to be a customer, of your organisation. What  do  you think it f...