Business Problems Solved Podcast

This week, Lee talks to Paralympic athlete, coach and podcast host, James Owen Roberts, about what it really takes to become a champion, both in business and in life.  KEY TAKEAWAYS We must always follow our hearts and our instincts, even when others try to steer us down a path we are not comfortable with. Your destiny is your own. All we can do is give others the tools that will lead them to success. The will to win has to come from inside. We must decide if the competition is between us and others, or against ourselves. Matching the achievements of others can help us to go further, but exceeding our own expectations is what is truly important. Real power comes through bringing people from a discontented state to success. We must endeavour to bring positive impact to the world when e can. BEST MOMENTS 'You said I can't - ultimately I'm going to show you that I can' 'I've always been very competitive - sometimes too much so' 'It's been a battle, not knowing where I fit in' 'You have to look at the bigger picture'  VALUABLE RESOURCES Business Problems Solved Podcast       James Owen Roberts Twitter - https://twitter.com/jamesoroberts11 James Owen Roberts LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesoroberts11/?originalSubdomain=uk James Owen Roberts Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jamesoroberts11/?hl=en ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

This week, Lee talks to Ron Pereira, the man behind the Gemba Academy, who help people to grow per­son­al­ly and pro­fes­sion­al­ly by building an orga­ni­sa­tion­al cul­ture of con­tin­u­ous improve­ment.  KEY TAKEAWAYS Solutions are driven by the desire to implement and invoke real change. Gemba was born out of a need to make solutions better. We do not make organisations better by simply training our people. We make it better by going out into the organisation and invoking change. We can make a huge difference to other people, and help them to realise their potential, by simply employing kindness in the way we interact. Anybody can make an impact upon anyone else at any time. Therefore, we must consider carefully, each interaction we have. BEST MOMENTS 'I want to help them invoke change' 'You're going to be able to go now and real value' 'We're accelerating the change process' 'You can make a huge difference by the way you behave'  VALUABLE RESOURCES Business Problems Solved Podcast       Gemba Academy - https://blog.gembaacademy.com/author/rpereira/ Ron Pereira LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/leansixsigmaacademy/ ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

How many communities are you a part of? And are you an active member of those communities? As business leaders and change agents, we should seek to create more communities and collaboration between others. But how do we go about doing this? In this week's episode, Lee talks to Julie Creffield, a community engagement expert, who's here to tell you how to get started, and why it matters so much.  KEY TAKEAWAYS Many talk about tribe building, but what they really mean is building a customer base. Tribe building is not about growing a base that you can sell to - it's about creating interaction and belonging. Building a community is about making people feel as though they belong to you. It is about creating shared objectives. Finding your people is about how you activate them. It is the process of inviting everyone, but sparking a community among those who matter by careful targeting through effective messaging. Be clear about your mission. Explain why you're doing the things you do, and why it's important. You can't make everyone take action, but by communicating the bigger picture, you'll reach those who need you. BEST MOMENTS 'When people feel that they belong to you and your brand your community, they're much more likely to buy' 'How do we become the things we are most proud of in real life?' 'They bought into the ideology of what I was trying to do' 'It's about giving people permission to understand why you're in business in the first place'  VALUABLE RESOURCES Business Problems Solved Podcast       Julie Creffield Twitter - https://twitter.com/JulieCreffield Julie Creffield - https://juliecreffield.com ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

Lee talks to Andrew Miller, founder of Business Enjoyment, about the fascinating subject of the very real enjoyment we get from being in business, and we can make sure that our workplaces provide that sense of excitement.  KEY TAKEAWAYS Money is almost never the main driving factor behind personal endeavour. Happiness is a far more common driving force behind people's intent to do well. Every single day should be spent in taking your business forward in some way, and also understanding how this forward motion is making an impact. Intentions and values are separate things. We must recognise the difference the values we aspire to achieving, and the values we actually see around us. As business owners, our DNA is at the heart of every venture. As this scales and grows, we hope to assemble teams who share these values. It is the companies who retain these values that create workplaces people aspire to joining. BEST MOMENTS 'It's really important to enjoy what you do' 'Success is not the same as enjoyment' 'At the heart I am one thing' 'I create a distinction between enjoyment and happiness'  VALUABLE RESOURCES Business Problems Solved Podcast       Andrew Miller LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewrmiller/?originalSubdomain=uk Business Enjoyment - https://www.businessenjoyment.com ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

What are you doing? Or more specifically, what are you doing, about what you are doing? In this week's show, Lee talks to the founder of Diary Detox, Paul Holbrook, about the ways in which we can become more aware about the activities you engage in, in order to improve.  KEY TAKEAWAYS The quality of answers you get from someone entirely depends on the quality of the questions being asked. Valuable questions lead to invaluable answers. Many people spend their time doing things that aren't required of them - tasks they take on due to frustration at its not being performed well. We all have job and tasks in our role descriptions, but what many of us lack are truly focussed targets - things that we must achieve and deliver. Detoxing the diary is not a set of instructions designed to tell you how to live and how to perform. It is a carefully constructed map of everything we already do so as to aid us in making smarter, time-based decisions. BEST MOMENTS 'In my world, the C word is "coach"' ''Stop looking out of the window and start looking in the mirror' 'This is about giving you a fundamental awareness' 'We know that not all plans go the way we expect them to'  VALUABLE RESOURCES Business Problems Solved Podcast       Diary Detox - https://diarydetox.com Paul Holbrook LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulmichaelholbrook/?originalSubdomain=uk What Are You Doing by Paul Holbrook (Amazon) ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

After being inspired recently by watching the film, 'Making Shankly', Lee has recognised some of the valuable, transferrable lessons that we can take to other areas of our lives. In this week's show, Lee tells you all about them, and how best to apply them.  KEY TAKEAWAYS As a working community, the village of Glenbuck believed in working hard. If people didn't then they didn't prosper. Community provides direction. Teamwork was incredibly important across the entire community of Glenbuck. People pulled together to achieve a common aim. Desire spurred many on to do better. Putting this alongside community and teamwork led to the foundation of a famously successful culture. BEST MOMENTS 'We've got to light fires within people' 'We have to think about desire, teamwork and community' 'What you are trying to achieve is actually achievable'  VALUABLE RESOURCES Business Problems Solved Podcast      ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

It's a new year, and time to look ahead! With this in mind, Lee is here to talk about the four biggest challenges facing businesses in 2021, and how best to make sure you're prepared to face them.  KEY TAKEAWAYS Hindsight is all very well, but it doesn't help in the present. Focus on the vision, the reason that drove us to begin in the first place, and make this the driving force behind your year ahead. Customers' needs change. Always be ready to pivot when required, and learn to evolve with your customer base. Look at what they need and supply it. Embrace the new working environment. The world has changed. Change with it. Embrace connection, conversation, collaboration and celebrate your wins. Work to reduce your cost and yet still delight your customers over the next year. This is the biggest challenge we face in 2021. BEST MOMENTS 'For some the last twelve months has been about stability and survival. For others it's been about growth and demand' 'Have sight of that vision and direction and remember the reason why you do what you do!' 'Never has there been a greater need to really understand your customers' 'Where are you heading to, and is it being communicated effectively to your team?'  VALUABLE RESOURCES Business Problems Solved Podcast      ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

Nothing comes without hard work. Those who reach the pinnacle of success have put in the time in order to get there. In this week's show, the first of the new year, Lee's here to talk about why putting in the hard work is worth it, and to reassure you that there's really no such thing as an overnight success.  KEY TAKEAWAYS No one has a foolproof formula for instant success. Everyone has to work hard at something in order to find success. Never believe that people get there without effort. When entering the world of business, especially in a leadership role, instant success is almost expected, but this is unreasonable. Sports professionals are required to train and develop in order to become the best in their field. This is the way we should view those in business. It takes time to develop greatness. BEST MOMENTS 'It's consistency. It's continuing to go and continuing to try!' 'Trying, getting better and learning is the way that we want to move forward, culturally'  VALUABLE RESOURCES Business Problems Solved Podcast      ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

Lee talks to Ayesha Murray, host and creator of The Parent Equation Podcast, as well as a coach for working parents who joins the conversation to discuss the ways in which the world of work changes when children arrive in our lives, and the best way of striking that work/life balance.  KEY TAKEAWAYS It is often difficult to view our own careers and achievements with the necessary perspective required, in order to properly steer us towards where we need to be. The main challenge facing working parents is to find the correct balance and headspace between work and home. We all want to do the best in both fields, and we can as long as we recognise that each has its place. Perfect balance for one might no necessarily work for someone else. Each person bring their own challenges. Sometimes the challenge is recognising that it isn't even time to ourselves that we require, but something far different. A coach in these circumstance is useful in creating a safe space, and who will identify limiting beliefs, and then break them down. The most important element is that it is action-driven. They must provide practical ways to move forward. BEST MOMENTS 'It took someone else to highlight my potential' 'That is a hell of a lot for a mind to balance' 'Balance is completely different for every single person' 'It's about challenging myself to do something new'  VALUABLE RESOURCES Business Problems Solved Podcast      The Parent Equation Podcast - https://www.ayeshamurray.com/podcast.html Ayesha Murray - https://www.ayeshamurray.com/my-story.html ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

Many people are advocates of starting with "Why?", but in this episode of Business Problems Solved, Lee offers another layer to this fundamental question that might just change your thinking...  KEY TAKEAWAYS In order to best motivate someone you must feel something. You cannot discount the power of emotion. it is the difference between good and great. Are you chasing a goal that is pleasurable? If not, then is there enough of a reason for us to chase that goal at all? It's important that our motivation is strong enough, and affects us on an emotional level. BEST MOMENTS 'People give the answer that they believe is the right one to give' 'What is the pleasure you're trying to achieve, or the pain you're trying to overcome'  VALUABLE RESOURCES Business Problems Solved Podcast     ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/