Climb In Consulting

Today’s guest is Dr Natalia Wiechowski. Natalia is an award-winning Personal Branding Strategist and international Keynote Speaker who radically changed her life and career after a self-imposed sabbatical to follow her passion: Helping people to shine.  Since taking her sabbatical and moving in to the world of Personal Branding Natalia has grown her online community to over 146,000 followers, worked with global blue-chip clients including, SAP and Bosch and been invited to speak at conferences all over the world. Natalia is an expert in B2B Personal Branding and Marketing with over 46,000 LinkedIn followers! Her posts are regularly liked and commented on by 1,000s of people with one post last year receiving over 62,000 likes and 4,000 comments. If you’re looking to cut through all of the noise out there on social media and take your personal brand to the next level then you’re going to love this interview. We cover some really interesting topics in our conversation including: Natalia’s self-imposed Sabbatical, what led her to take it and her advice to others feeling unfulfilled by their current life and career. How Natalia found her passion and how she turned it from an idea in to her full-time career. What Personal Branding is and why it’s so important to your career success. How to build a deep relationship with your current and prospective clients through compelling content that solves their problems. The common mistakes that companies and individuals make when it comes to Personal Branding and social media and how to avoid them. And much much more! You can find out more about Natalia on her LinkedIn page – https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliawiechowski/en And her website - http://www.thinknatalia.com/ If you’d like to emulate Natalia’s success and want to sign up for her new online Personal Branding course you can check it out here - https://thinknatalia.coachy.net/lp/master-your-personal-brand-on-linkedin-and-offline/ Specific Things We Discuss in the show: Robin Sharma and the 5am club - https://www.robinsharma.com/article/be-wise-early-rise Lewis Howes -  https://lewishowes.com/ Gimbal hand held phone stabiliser for shooting videos - http://amzn.eu/8Mdhwyv  The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss - http://amzn.eu/cZS8Mt5  Anything You Want by Derek Sivers - http://amzn.eu/6Nn2PDT  48 Laws of Powers by Robert Greene - http://amzn.eu/0D6ssqw  The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma - http://amzn.eu/dIsE9or  Ego Is The Enemy by Ryan Holiday - http://amzn.eu/7Rsfn7c  The Untethered Soul by Michael A Singer - http://amzn.eu/60xjxcR Natalia’s viral post with over 60,000 likes! - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6209953414982565888 Natalia’s Book Recommendations LinkedIn Article - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-mind-expanding-books-you-have-read-summer-wiechowski/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_post_details%3Bk3vi3LmQTo%2BgaD95p9x%2FkA%3D%3D

Since starting the podcast I've interviewed a whole host of phenomenal leaders from the Consulting industry who've shared some of their best advice across a range of areas critical to climbing in Consulting. One question I ask almost all of my guests is their advice for those people looking to build a career in the industry. A number of you have told me how useful you've found the answers to this specific question so I wanted to put all of the answer together so that you have a compilation of career advice from the best in the business. As a recap, or for those of you who may not have listened to any of my other interviews before, the question that these guests are answering asks for one piece of advice for three different people: The first is someone who's just starting their career in Consulting - anywhere from 0 to 2 years in. The second is for someone 'in the middle' of their Consulting career - 4 - 6 years in to Consulting. The third is for someone who's approaching Partner or considering going out on their own to create their own business. There are so many great pieces of advice in this episode and some really interesting common themes and principles that have helped my guests get to the top. As Tony Robbins says "success leaves clues". Here's you're chance to find them. Guests in this episode: To save you having to hear my voice over and over I don't introduce each individual guest during this episode. If you found a certain piece of advice really useful and want to hear who said it then have a look at the list and timestamps below! 00:02:38 - Simon Dennis - Founding Partner - Gate One 00:07:25 - Stephen Newton - Founding Partner - Elixirr 00:11:57 - Suki Thompson - Founder and CEO - The OysterCatchers 00:13:46 - Olly Purnell and Sharon Rice-Oxley - Founding Partners - Q5 00:18:27 - Dom Moorhouse - Founder of Moorhouse Consulting 00:20:17 - Mohamed Mansour - Founding Partner - Baringa Partners 00:22:07 - Joanna Hall - Independent Non-Executive Director 00:30:28 - Simon Walker and Tim Smeaton - Founders - Kubrick 00:33:24 - Minesh Jobanputra - Founding Partner - Deltra Group 00:34:51 - Adrian Bettridge - Managing Partner - Baringa Partners 00:37:50 - Bronek Masojada - CEO - Hiscox

Bronek Masojada is Chief Executive of Hiscox. Hiscox is a leading global insurance firm with over 2,700 people across 32 offices in 14 different countries. Following 4 years working for McKinsey & Co Bronek was offered the opportunity to become Managing Director of Hiscox at just 31 (something we go in to detail on in today’s show) and under his leadership the firm has grown from one office of 200 people to the global firm it is today. Whether your goal is to climb to the top of your consulting firm or take the step out in to industry there's so much you can take away from Bronek’s insights and advice. Bronek was kind enough to give me a huge amount of time out of his busy schedule to share his knowledge, learnings and advice with you and I know you’re going to get so much from what he has to say. We cover a whole range of topics in this conversation including: The surprising story of how Bronek found himself being offered the role of Managing Director at such a young age. The challenges he faced moving from Consulting in to this role and how he overcame them How he has taken Hiscox to where it is today and his advice on scaling a business How Bronek achieves a good work life balance as the CEO of a global, publicly traded, company – He leaves work earlier than most consultants would ever dream of! Bronek’s advice for Consultants looking to win work from CEOs like him And much much more! You can find out more about Bronek on is linked in page - https://www.linkedin.com/mynetwork/heathrow-redirect/?isSendInvite=true And on the Hiscox website - https://www.hiscoxgroup.com/about-hiscox/management Specific Things We Discuss in the show: Mckinsey & Company – https://www.mckinsey.com/ Robert Hiscox - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hiscox Lloyd’s of London - https://www.lloyds.com/ Good To Great by Jim Collins - http://amzn.eu/5BOqd4v How The Might Fall by Jim Collins - http://amzn.eu/bk3R7PF Tom Peters - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Peters#Works Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography by Walter Isaacson - http://amzn.eu/fOJV9PV Steve Jobs the movie - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2080374/

Today’s guests are Tim Smeaton and Simon Walker, Co-Founders of Kubrick Group. Having built and the IPOd the global recruitment firm Hydrogen Group Simon and Tim decided they wanted to build another business and saw a huge gap in the Data Science space which led them to start Kubrick. In just 18 months they’ve grown Kubrick from an idea to over 100 consultants with more consulting ‘cohorts’ (something we discuss in today’s episode) already scheduled to start their intense 16 week training before going out to work with industry leading blue chip clients. It’s worth saying that neither Tim or Simon come from a data background and their story is a great case study for how making the right decisions early on can enable your firm to become a leader in your chosen industry. Not only is their growth story hugely impressive but they’ve achieved it while pioneering a very different consulting model to the pyramid model prevalent in most Management Consulting businesses. Something we cover in detail in today’s episode. In this interview we discuss a whole range of topics including: What led Tim and Simon to create a data science consultancy and how they tested the market before investing a huge amount of their own money in launching Kubrick. How they’ve managed to grow the business so rapidly in the highly competitive consulting market. How they were able to create a consulting firm in an industry that they knew very little about and the steps they took to build industry leading expertise at Kubrick. Their approach to business planning and their monthly planning process that ensures the firm continues to grow rapidly. Their unique consulting business model and the benefits and challenges they’ve found as a result of it. Their advice to those looking to set up their own business in consulting or outside of it. And much much more! If you want to find out more about Kubrick Group or reach out to Simon or Tim you can do so on the links, emails and phone numbers below: Kubrick Group: http://kubrickgroup.com/ Tim Smeaton: Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-smeaton-424929/ Email: timsmeaton@kubrickgroup.com Phone: +44 203 8664621 Simon Walker: Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-walker-8763b9/ Email: simonwalker@kubrickgroup.com Phone: +44 203 8664622

Following the success of his last interview Dom Moorhouse is back on the podcast for Round 2! For those of you who may have missed the first episode Dom Moorhouse is a business advisor, angel investor and serial entrepreneur. In 2004 Dom founded Moorhouse Consulting which he grew from nothing to a business that he sold for c.20,000,000 less than 5 years later. You can listen to Dom’s first interview here - If you’ve listened to his first interview you’ll know he credits much of his success with being exposed to and then developing high performing teams. In our first interview we covered a huge amount of ground but we didn’t get a chance to cover this specific topic so I invited Dom back on to talk about why High Performing Teams are so important and how you can develop one in your business, practice area or project team In today’s episode we go in to detail on why high performing teams are critical to your success. We discuss the academic research that Dom conducted that proves this out as well as how you can develop your own high performing team utilising Dom’s Team to Tribe Model. Following this we pick up on some of the questions that you sent in for Dom to answer including Dom’s advice to his 30 year old self, which may not be quite what you expected and what Dom’s morning routine looks like among other great questions You can find out more about Dom on his Linked In page – www.linkedin.com/in/dom-moorhouse-2abb6a/ and his personal website www.DomMoorhouse.com Specific things we discuss in the show: Method Grid – www.methodgrid.com Dom’s research in to High Performing Teams (if you want the original, academic focused paper please reach out to Dom directly) – https://methodgrid.com/blog/what-motivates-employees/ 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni - http://amzn.eu/cdyZSVL Authentic Leadership by Robert Terry - http://amzn.eu/gbfs4hQ Courage and Other Broadcasts by William Slim - http://amzn.eu/4Xfo091 McKinsey T Shaped Consultant - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-shaped_skills Dom’s Morning Routines blog - https://methodgrid.com/blog/09-seven-wakeful-practices-of-dangerous-entrepreneurs/ Day One App - http://dayoneapp.com/

Today's episode is a solo episode on a skill that many of my guests have highlighted as critical to their success - networking. networking, whether you like it or not is a critical skill in a relationship focused business like Consulting. While I think the old adage of 'it's not what you know, it's who you know' is only partly true. I firmly believe that knowledge and capability alone will never get you to the top in any career, hobby or activity you want to pursue. With that in mind I thought I'd share my tips to help those of you who hate networking and those of you who know they need to do it but just aren't sure how! In today's episode I share: Why networking is so critical to career success and why you will never reach the top (or wherever you want to get to) without it. How to get over your fear of networking and 'not knowing what to say'. The networking tips that helped me build a senior network while I was in Consulting and continue to help me grow my network today. The counter-intuitive approach to maximising the value from your network - trust me, it won't be what you're expecting I really hope you enjoy this episode. If you have any questions or comments just drop me an email - Nick@climbinconsulting.com

Joanna Hall is a hugely experienced senior leader who has transitioned her career from a successful Executive, rapidly scaling Consulting practices, to a Non-Exec Director, advising boards on how they can do the same. Prior to moving to a portfolio career, Joanna built and grew a number of successful software businesses and Consulting practices at places like CSC, EValue and North Highland. During her last executive role at North Highland, she oversaw the growth of their Financial Services Practice. Growing revenue five fold and increasing profit margin by over 40% within 2 years! In addition to her Non-Exec roles Joanna is very active within the wider Financial Services industry, in forums and on the judging panels for awards across a range of areas including Digital, Getting a Business to Market, Fintech Innovation, Thought Leadership and Women in Investment. Joanna was introduced to me by James Mitra from JBM Consulting as someone who I must get on the podcast and she certainly didn’t disappoint! In this interview we discuss a whole range of topics including: The key fundamentals and obstacles to consider when developing your own Consulting business/practice area The importance of getting close to your customer when developing your Consulting proposition and getting it to market Networking and what you need to consider when you join a new Consulting firm Joanna’s decision to move in to a portfolio career and how she made this transition And much much more! You can find out more about Joanna on her linked in - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahall1/ Or drop her an email - joannarhall@hotmail.com Specific things we discuss in the show: NEDonBoard - https://www.nedonboard.com/ North Highlands - http://www.northhighland.com

Today’s podcast is the first multi-guest episode for Climb in Consulting as I interview two of the co-founders of Q5 to find out all about their journey – from their decision to launch a consultancy in the middle of the recession to how they grew it to become the award winning, global firm it is today. Having decided he wanted to scratch his own entrepreneurial itch Olly Purnell reached out to Sharon Rice-Oxley and over the course of 2008 they built ‘the band’ that would become the founding team of Q5. As well as aiming to create a consultancy that delivers high quality Organisational Design work for their clients they set out to build a firm that was genuinely different for those they had worked in previously. This is something they’ve successfully achieved and are renowned for both their unique culture (being named top 20 Times Best Small Companies To Work For 2018) as well as their efforts in maintaining a diverse and vibrant work force (over 40% of their senior leadership are female). Olly and Sharon were fantastic guests and it was great to be able to get both of their perspectives on the Q5 journey and their advice to those looking to climb in the industry as well as those thinking of starting their own firms. In this interview we discuss a whole range of topics including: Why Olly and Sharon decided to set up a consulting business and the steps they went through to establish the right founding team for Q5 Business planning and what steps they took to set Q5 up for success Their tough first year in business and how they overcame it Olly and Sharon’s advice to those thinking of starting their own business, in consulting or otherwise The unique approach Q5 took to developing their culture and how they’ve maintained it as they’ve grown How Q5 ensures collaboration amongst the partnership and avoids the common political pitfalls in consultancy firms using their ‘rough justice’ approach to profit sharing How Q5 have developed such a diverse team and the importance of understanding work in the context of peoples’ wider lives And much much more! You can find out more about Olly, Sharon and Q5 at the links below: Olly’s Linked In - https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-purnell-6525ab9/ Sharon’s Linked In - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-rice-oxley-fcipd-144b282/ Q5 - http://www.q5partners.com/ Specific things we discuss in the show: Underneath the Lemon Tree: A Memoir of Depression and Recovery by Mark Rice-Oxley - http://amzn.eu/fzo9xZv Switch: how to change things when change is hard by Chip and Dan Heath - http://amzn.eu/09NDkDW How to be Chief Execitive of your own life by Mike Wilson – To purchase a copy please contact Nicola.davies@sjp.co.uk (£10 from each purchase will go to the SJP Foundation) The Founder - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4276820/ The Crazy Gang by Dave Bassett and Wally Downes - http://amzn.eu/dceWhOZ

Suki Thompson is co-founder of Oystercatchers and exec board member of their parent company Centaur Media PLC. In addition Suki is a trustee for Touraid and Macmillan Cancer Support as well as a Non-Executive Director for Gately PLC. Unlike many of my guests, Suki doesn’t come from a Management Consulting background but a Marketing background. Following a successful corporate career she decided to go out on her own founding Marketing firm, Haystack Group, and her own gin business, Bunker Gin, before launching Oystercatchers and ultimately selling the business to Centaur. Oystercatchers is an industry pioneer. It was created to help clients ‘accelerate marketing performance’ by providing consultancy support to their Marketing functions - to enable brands and businesses to build growth with a competitive edge in a rapidly changing industry landscape. This unique approach and the purpose behind it is something we discuss in detail in today’s episode. Suki is as open as she is impressive and we go deep into her story and some of the challenges she faced along the way including: Suki's approach to goal setting and how she sets and achieves her goals Founding Oystercatchers and how Suki met her Business Partner, Peter Cowie Suki's battle with Cancer in the early days of Oystercatchers and how she made it through with both her health and business intact How Suki and Peter decided to sell the business and why they chose Centaur Media The challenges women face in the professional world and how to overcome them How to achieve a successful work and personal life by blending the two together Suki’s advice to those thinking of starting their own business And much much more! You can find out more about Suki and Oystercatchers on her Linked In page – https://www.linkedin.com/in/suki-thompson-07615b6/ or reach out to her by email at sukithompson@theoystercatchers.com Specific Things We Discuss in the show: Mindfulness: A practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world by Mark Williams Danny Penman - http://amzn.eu/59JpVwp The 5 Second Rule: The surprisingly simple way to live, love and speak with courage by Mel Robbins - http://amzn.eu/8Qe49o1 The Secret by Rhonda Byrne - http://amzn.eu/8TqT2dN The OysterCatchers Club - http://theoystercatchers.com/category/oystercatchers-club/ Mark Ritson’s mini MBA - https://mba.marketingweek.com/ Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway: how to turn your fear and indecision into confidence and action by Susan Jeffers - http://amzn.eu/7j6ApZJ Hayman’s Gin - www.haymansgin.com Audible - www.audible.co.uk Suki’s Holiday Reading list – Comments are her own: The Thing Around Your Neck – By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (a collection of short stories from one of my absolute favourite authors) - http://amzn.eu/gCegS3E The Tattooist of Auschwitz – by Heather Morris – I love history and this is a simple, thought provoking and emotional story about a different aspect of the Holocaust - http://amzn.eu/5Q4lT7G Mythos – Stephen Fry – Stephen was one of our guest speakers at our Festival of Marketing last year and we talked about this book, I just needed time to read it - http://amzn.eu/4f6gMo1 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – by Gail Honeyman – my airport purchase, delighted I made a good choice. this lovely story gives an insight into a very different perspective on the world - http://amzn.eu/cAdqix4

Mohamed Mansour is one of the founding Partners – and former Managing Partner – of Baringa Partners. If you have listened to episode 4 (http://bit.ly/CICep4) you’ll know that Mohamed held this role before passing the mantel over to Adrian Bettridge having decided the time was right to move back to his homeland of Canada. Mohamed was also my boss for the first part of my time at Baringa and it was great to have the chance to sit down with him to find out about the early days of Baringa (most of which I didn’t know) and ask Mohamed some questions that I’d always wanted to know the answers to! Mohamed has a really unique story; having started in Canada and moved across to the US to join the start up Consultancy, The Structure Group, he was offered the opportunity to help launch the firm’s European arm and found himself alongside his co-founders, running a Consulting firm in a country he didn’t know in his mid 20s. This subsequently grew in to Baringa Partners and as they say, the rest is history. We cover a whole range of topics in this episode including: How Mohamed found himself running a Consulting firm at such a young age and what key skills he had to develop as part of this. Mohamed’s advice on how to become a good Leader. The key foundations that Mohamed and the founding team put in place to create the unique culture that Baringa was, and still is, renowned for. The importance of lateral thinking in Consulting and how you can develop this critical skill. How to respond to feedback and know what you should take on board and what you should ignore. How Mohamed is so good with names (something he was renowned for at Baringa) And much much more! You can find out more about Mohamed on his Linked In page – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohamed-mansour-362b422/ or drop him an email at Amps.mansour@gmail.com Specific things we discuss in the show: Anderson Consulting – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Andersen#Andersen_Consulting_and_Accenture The Structure Group - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-structure-group Colour personality types Mohamed mentions - http://www.fullcircletd.co.uk/insight-discovery/insights-discovery-colour-energies/ Riipen - https://riipen.io/ John Timpson - https://www.timpson.co.uk/about/meet-the-timpsons Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America: America's Second Civil War and the Divisive Legacy of Richard Nixon by Rick Perlstein - http://amzn.eu/cmNPiW6 India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy by Ramachandra Guha - http://amzn.eu/asFNO7d