Curious Leadership with Dominic Monkhouse

According to important voices in the economics sphere, inflation is back and here to stay. For companies, this “new normal” means that the world in which they do business has fundamentally changed. Their main priority now is to discover and apply new strategies that can ensure their survival. Hermann Simon is a renowned speaker, founder and honorary chairman of the world’s number-one pricing consultancy, Simon-Kucher & Partners.His impressive background and expertise in strategy and marketing recommend him as one of the world's most influential management thinkers and an invaluable source of knowledge on topics such as globalization, profit orientation, corporate strategy, world market leadership and pricing.Hermann is also an acclaimed author with multiple bestsellers like Confessions of the Pricing Man and Hidden Champions of the Twenty-First Century, published and translated into over 25 languages. Hermann joins me again in this new episode of The Melting Pot and shares some insights into his new book, Beating Inflation. This guide comes as a solution to the current economic inflation, exacerbated by the worldwide pandemic and the war between Ukraine and Russia. We debate on increased costs and pricing, how often should companies increase their prices so they don’t put too much strain on their clients and how to prepare their sales teams to combat inflation. Download and listen! This is a conversation you don’t want to miss! In today’s episode: Hermann’s new book, Beating Inflation: An Agile, Concrete and Effective Corporate GuideWhat is inflation and how to deal with itHow often should companies raise pricesIncreasing prices as a consultancy businessReducing cost by offshoringHow should leaders prepare their sales teams to tackle inflationManaging the leaky bucket Links: Website - Hermann SimonLinkedin- Hermann SimonTwitter-@HermannSimonFacebook- Hermann SimonYoutube-Hermann SimonHermann Simon- Book catalogueLinks to a list of articles and interviews with HermannHermann’s latest book-Beating Inflation- An Agile, Concrete and Effective Corporate Guide Book recommendations: Hermann Simon- Hidden Champions in the Chinese Century: Ascent and TransformationHermann Simon- True Profit!: No Company Ever Went Broke Turning a ProfitHermann Simon- Beating Inflation- An Agile, Concrete and Effective Corporate GuideWalt Bogdanich- When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting FirmHermann Simon- Many Worlds, One Life: A Remarkable Journey from Farmhouse to the Global StagePhilip Baechtold- My Great Right Enjoyed the show?Leave Us A Review

A company’s success is measured by the happiness of its employees, and that goes for any industry we can think of. This sounds like basic knowledge, but increasing happiness in the workplace is one of the most overlooked and at the same time essential changes a company can make in order to be more successful. Often times even simple acknowledgements like a handshake or a hello at the beginning of the day can really impact an employee’s level of engagement and create a positive workplace culture.Today, on The Melting Pot, we are joined by Tom Peters, a business management pioneer and co-author of “In Search Of Excellence”, the book that, to this day, is recognized as one of the most influential books about business practices. Through this work, Tom’s ultimate goal was to motivate business owners and entrepreneurs to focus more on their employees and the way their happiness directly affects productivity and to discover their products through the eyes of their customers.Twenty books and forty years later, Tom is still one of the leading management thinkers, preaching about the importance of human connection and creating business excellence through work culture.Listen and download this fascinating episode in which Tom shares the story behind his well-known bestseller, the legacy that leaders should really focus on leaving behind and his views on women as business leaders, remote leadership and building excellent culture in this “work from home” era. In today’s episode: 40 years of “In Search Of Excellence”- the book that changed the way the world does businessWhy businesses need more women leadersA leader's job is to grow peopleRemote leadership and building excellent culture and business in the “work from home” eraTom’s latest book, “The Compact Guide To Excellence” Links: Website - Tom Peters.comLinkedin- Tom PetersTwitter-@tom_petersYoutube- Tom PetersBlog- tompeters!Biography- Tom PetersPublications-Tom Peters- books and articlesTom’s latest book- Tom Peters' Compact Guide to Excellence  How Human Connection Can Lead A Business To Excellence With Tom Peters, Co-author Of “In Search Of Excellence” Tom Peters is a well-renowned business management pioneer and co-author of “In Search of Excellence”, the book that even 40 years after its publication is still considered to be the book that changed the way the world does business. But as he himself declares, this is just one of the numerous ventures in his life and career. Tom attended Cornell University where he received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and a master's degree and later on, earned an MBA and a PhD in Organizational Behaviourfrom the Stanford Graduate School of business. During the war in Vietnam, he served in the U.S. Navy, making two deployments as a Navy Seabee and also participated in an exchange program between the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy (UK) which led to him serving as a midshipman on the HMS Tiger (a battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy during the 1910s). While working forMcKinsey & Company, he was inspired to develop different practices for business management that support the idea that productivity can be achieved through people that work for the company, and that businesses should not focus only on financial data. “I've spent my life trying to tell leaders to stand in the door in the morning and smile and say, glad to see you (but) the notion that the outcome in your organisation would be more affected by saying “good morning” than it would be by a business plan that could only be understood by Nobel laureates in mathematics, it just doesn't feel right to the business person. My little one-liner, one pager is business is people serving people, serving people. Leaders serving frontline employees, serving customers. It's all about that simple chain. That's the beginning, the middle, and the end.” 40 years of “In search of excellence”- the book that changed the way the world does business Almost 40 years after its original publication, “In Search of Excellence” remains a widely read classic and an influential book for leaders and managers. When Tom Peters and Robert Waterman were asked to do research on “culture” (or, as Tom translates it, “the way we do things around here”), they had the opportunity to meet John Young, the President of Hewlett Packard, one of the young companies that at the time was literally transforming the world. There, he got introduced to MBWA (management by wandering around) a style of business that offers managers the opportunity to connect directly with employees and collect information, deal with suggestions or complaints, and generally keep track of the organisation and increase productivity. “That hour in Hewlett Packard, in retrospect obviously, I wouldn't have a sense of it at the time, changed my life more than anything. What I learned from MBWA is that leadership is an intimate act. It is about human interaction, whether it's the founder of the company, uh, or whomever and the 26-year-old engineer. Today, we call it culture, but it’s actually the humanity of the organization.” But, four decades later, Tom thinks that companies still have a hard time realising the importance of employees and how their happiness unequivocally affects productivity. “I find it as hard to sell today as it was years and years ago. People still wanna work on that hard stuff. They still wanna get the plan right. You know, my favourite quote of all is a general Omar Bradley quote: “Amateurs talk about strategy, professionals talk about logistics”. You can have the world's greatest strategy, but when you land on Omaha Beach on D-Day, unless the bullets are there to meet the guns, you know, all that other crap is immaterial.” A leader's legacy is to develop people Tom Peters remains to this day focused on putting people first and believes that training leaders to stay in intimate touch with the front-liners who do the real work is the best thing anyone can do for their company. “The role of a leader is to develop people. The leader is not supposed to be the best engineer. The leader is supposed to be the person who takes that group of 15 engineers and allows them to flourish and learn.”And most importantly, as Tom says, the true measure of a leader’s legacy is not the amount of money he collected in his career, but the number of people whose lives he managed to transform and improve while they were under his command. “I did a lot of running around and speaking and I used PowerPoint slides. And my favourite one of all the millions had a tombstone on it, and on the tombstone said “$26,423,892 and 8 cents. Joe's net worth at the close of the market on the day he died”. And my comment is nobody's ever had a tombstone with their net worth on it.” Why businesses need more women leaders The stereotype that the business world is a male-dominated industry still exists. Companies need to renounce these old gender bias practices and realise that the perspective a woman brings into a business can breed creativity and innovative ideas that can push that organisation forward. Everything, from the way they evolved over time to the basic human characteristics that they possess, makes women better candidates to create and develop communities. There are even numerous studies that claim women are significantly “better-measured leaders than men”, says Tom, and the reticence regarding women's leadership is just another consequence of the fact that “we're still living in a boys' world.” Remote leadership and building excellent culture and business in the “work from home” era Despite his former beliefs, after these two years of Covid restrictions, Tom  is now convinced that there is as much humanity and interaction in a remote environment as there is in a normal in-office attendance. “I still believe in the value of getting together, it’s not a matter of one or the other, but I really believe that you can have an intimate, caring, people-centric organization where 98% of what you do is done remotely.” It was also during that Covid period that Tom developed the “Covid 19 Seven Leadership Commandments” which summarised, reveal “the only thing that matters in the end”, which is “helping people grow, thrive and have better lives” because ultimately “the right thing to do is also the profitable thing to do”. “ The Compact Guide To Excellence” When asked about the book he prefers out of the 20 he’s written so far, Tom admits that the latest always becomes his favourite. But he feels that “The Compact Guide To Excellence”, co-written with Nancy Green, is really the first one of his books he’s fallen in love with. “I've been writing about and talking about design and the power of design for 25 years, but the power of this book is its look, feel, taste, touch, and smell as much as it is the words that are inside.” Book recommendations:Stephen Trzeciak, Anthony Mazzarelli- Compassionomics: The Revolutionary Scientific Evidence That Caring Makes a Difference Nicole Perlroth- This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends  Enjoyed the show?Leave Us A Review

When it comes to leadership, we normally think of one person that is in charge of holding the reins and steering the direction of a company. While it might seem counterintuitive to our traditional view regarding authority, oftentimes equally sharing power and influence can have more benefits than we can imagine.Robert Chapman, co-founder of Firebrand joins today’s episode of The Melting Pot and shares how Firebrand became an incontestable leader of the Accelerated Learning market, with 21 years of continued growth and performance even while going through three major recessions and a world pandemic.We talk about the unconventional way he and his business partner Stefano Capaldo shared the responsibilities of leading the company as co-CEOs, the sales and marketing strategies they’ve improved and adapted for Firebrand and how they transformed Verne Harnish’s book, “Scaling up” into the perfect blueprint for scaling their company. This is a fascinating episode packed full of insights, so make sure to download and listen. In today’s episode: 21 years of successful business in an unconventional co-leadershipDelivering high-quality training at twice the speed of traditional methodsLeading a business through four recessionsThe Firebrand version of scaling up and the one thing that ensured its successSales and Marketing strategies they learned at Onyx and implemented in FirebrandSelling to BPP 21 years of successful business in an unconventional co-leadership, with Robert Chapman, co-founder of Firebrand Firebrand Training was co-founded by Stefano Capaldo and Robert Chapman and for the last 21 years has been a leader in the Accelerated Learning market. Even though conventional wisdom says two heads are better than one, co-partnership in the business world is often looked at as the odd one out. So how did Robert and Stefano build a successful company under such unconventional leadership?Like all relationships, being co-leaders requires trust, constant communication and a very clear understanding of the role each CEO has.“I was in charge of business development, sales, marketing, go-to-market strategy, he was in charge of delivering, hence the cook it, catch it tactic. If I got the fish, I threw it over the fence and I just trusted Stefano to go and make sure a great meal conjures up.”Delivering high-quality training at twice the speed of traditional methods Since its inception in 2001, Firebrand has grown at an incredible rate, from a start-up to a £ 20 million business. A testament to the value they offer through their unique Accelerated Learning methodology is their applicants' high rate of success in getting their IT and project management certification.“That puts a huge amount of pressure on us,” says Robert. “We gotta do a great job. We can't hide if the instructor's done a poor job of delivering that knowledge.”Leading a business through four recessions In regards to their leadership strategy, they’ve certainly made the right decisions, because successfully navigating a company through 4 major recessions including a global pandemic is not something everyone can do.“We took some really difficult decisions. We did make some people redundant, we asked staff to take pay cuts. But by the end of 2020, we'd navigated those waters pretty well and in a really strong position financially and paid back all the staff that had pay cuts.”“I do genuinely get really emotional because so many people went the extra mile during those periods and they genuinely didn't complain.” The Firebrand version of scaling up and the one thing that ensured its success When Brett Raynes, CEO of Cloud Direct and Robert’s good friend told him to read “Scaling up” written by Verne Harnish he didn’t imagine that this recommendation would become the blueprint for scaling Firebrand. “I vividly remember him saying, I've just read this book called “Scaling up”. You should read it. I read it and then I said to Stef, you should read this because I think this is the answer to the problem we've got.”So they tried everything in that book, and whatever stuck became the Firebrand version of scaling up. And from that trial and error strategy, there was one thing that became the determinant factor for their success.“I'd say it's the meeting rhythm and getting the cadence of a business and forcing the business to meet,” says Robert. “ If you do just that one thing, I'd be amazed if your business doesn't fly.Sales and Marketing strategies Robert learned at Onyx and implemented in Firebrand There are three key factors that Robert claims to have worked for them and transformed Firebrand into an incontestable leader in the Market. “Define your product, have great people, have great processes.” If you manage to be disciplined and keep these three elements going and “build on brand memory in such a way that people recognize the thing, but don't get confused” then your path to success is almost guaranteed. Deciding to sell For Robert and Stefano, 2022 was the year of the great leap. After leading their business for two decades, it came time for them to sell. “We planned it for years. You know, we didn't sort of wake up last  November when BPP approached us and went, oh yeah, that's a great idea. We'll do that. We've been building up to it, again, off the back of scaling up. So it wasn't an overnight decision. (...) I’m 56 and when you think about it, you have to exit a business”, says Robert about Firebrand being recently acquired by BPP.But they never forgot to take into consideration their staff and the years they’ve dedicated to Firebrand. “I'm absolutely delighted that we've exited to BPP. It’s so much about it that’s right and the thing that’s most right it’s that it’s great for the staff of Fiber. That’s the thing I’m most proud of. So it wasn’t kind of, the money’s good but we don’t like the guy we’re selling to, which would have been a huge compromise.”  Links: Linkedin-Robert ChapmanWebsite- Firebrand TrainingLinkedin- Firebrand TrainingTwitter- @BeAFirebrand Book recommendations:Verne Harnish- Scaling upAndrew Griffiths- Someone Has To Be The Most Expensive, Why Not Make It You?Jim Collins- Turning The FlywheelGeoffrey Moore- Crossing The ChasmRichard Shotton- The Choice Factory: How 25 Behavioural Biases Influence the Products We Decide to BuyAndy Maslen- Write to Sell: The Ultimate Guide to Great CopywritingConversion Rate Experts- Making Websites Win: Apply the Customer-Centric Methodology That Has Doubled the Sales of Many Leading Websites Enjoyed the show?Leave Us A Review

There’s no secret that, in today’s business climate, innovation is the only way companies can maintain an advantage over their competitors. No matter the field or industry you position yourself in, if you manage to create extra value for your company and the customers your company serves, you are almost undoubtedly destined for success.But, in order to achieve this holy grail and transform your organization into an innovating engine, you first need to learn to listen to your customers and your employees and understand the role they play in helping you identify real problems and the right solutions for those problems.Today’s guest on “The Melting Pot” is Ben M. Bensaou, professor and former Dean of Executive Education at INSEAD and business innovation thought leader. In his book, “Built to Innovate- Essential Practices to Wire Innovation Into Your Company's DNA”, Ben shares the proven system for building relentless innovation and culture that he discovered while researching companies from all over the world. We talk about all of his findings and the skills he thinks are required to create that perfect innovating culture, so make sure to download and listen to this fascinating episode! In today’s episode: Solutions for businesses that struggle with innovationListen to your customer- they hold the key to discovering the weaknesses in your businessThree skills you need to develop in order to create the perfect exchange of information between you and your clients (or potential clients)The importance of middle managersHow to identify real problems that need solvingImprove your ability to spot and develop good ideas for your business Links: Website - Built to InnovateLinkedin- Ben M. BensaouTwitter- BenBensaouBlog- Built to Innovate by Ben M. BensaouBiography & Publications- Ben M. BensaouBen’s book- Built to Innovate- Essential Practices to Wire Innovation Into Your Company's DNA Follow Dominic: WebsiteLinkedinYoutubeBlog Mentions: We Solve- an inclusive community engagement platform for companies and organizations that Co-create sustainable and lasting solutions together. Kordsa- develops reinforcement technologies for the tires of automobiles, airplanes, motorcycles, agricultural and industrial vehicles. Fiskars- a Finnish group company; its products are related to the home, outdoor activities, interior decoration and table setting. Allianz Insurance- the largest general insurer in the UK, offering a range of personal and commercial insurance solutions for their customers. W.L Gore & Associates- an American multinational manufacturing company specializing in products derived from fluoropolymers; it is best known as the developer of waterproof, breathable Gore-Tex fabrics Book recommendations: Aidan McCullen- Undisruptable Sumantra Ghoshal-The Individualized Corporation

Like most good ideas, the idea for Hoxby, the purpose-led organisation that exists to create a happier, more fulfilled society through a world of work without bias, came to co-founders Alex Hirst and Lizzie Penny, in the pub. Fed up with, and burned out from the traditional way of working, they decided it simply wasn’t what they wanted. So they decided to take matters into their own hands. Fast forward a decade and Alex and Lizzie not only changed the way they work, but they’ve also changed the way their community works too. A community made up of more than 1,000 handpicked, talented and diverse freelancers who work remotely in 30 countries around the world. Alex and Lizzie have recently published a book, Workstyle, about how workstyle is better for wellbeing, improves productivity, and can reshape inclusion for the benefit of society. And in this episode of The Melting Pot, they share why they’re so passionate about autonomy at work, what Hoxby is, the conditions necessary to foster workstyle, and how to create connections remotely. Book recommendationsNatives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire - AkalaRebel Ideas: The Power of Diversity - Matthew SyedLessons in Chemistry - Bonnie GarmusHow The Future Works - Brian ElliottOn today’s podcast:What is Hoxby?Wellbeing, productivity & societyThe three conditions needed to foster workstyle How to implement Workstyle in your organisationHow to create connection remotelyLinks:Book - Workstyle RevolutionTwitter – @ah_hirst, @Lizzie_Penny, @WeAreHoxbyLinkedIn – Alex Hirst, Lizzie PennyWebsite – https://hoxby.com/, Workstyle Revolution

Have you ever felt that you’re in a job that doesn’t fit your genius, but you’re not sure how to find your real purpose? Then don’t miss Jay Radia on this episode of The Melting Pot. Having spent a few years in banking, working in a job that didn't bring him the joy he was after, Jay realised his unique expertise lay in coming up with ideas that need to be funded.Today, Jay is the founder of startup studio, Bliss Growth. And he has founded three tech startups - the first three got to £1 million in 12 months, and two of them got to £10 million in three years. While Jay has invested in 25 angel investments, coming up with the idea is his secret sauce. In this episode, Jay shares what the challenges of coming up with new ideas and funding rapid trajectory are, and what he's learned along the way, and how he got comfortable with not being the CEO anymore. This is a truly insightful episode from a passionate entrepreneur, download and listen.Book recommendationsEckhart Tolle - A New EarthUntethered Soul - Michael singerConscious Capitalism - John MackeyOn today’s podcast:Founding a corporate gifting companyFind your genius zoneHow the Startup Studio worksUnderstanding Screen LoopThe importance of listeningLinks:Podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/Happy_Millionaire_ListenWebsite: BlissgrowthLinkedIn: Jay RadiaTwitter: @jayradia_

Did you know that the 80:20 principle also works in reverse? Whilst 80% of your output will come from 20% of your people, the same is true of your problems. Meaning 80% of the errors will be caused by 20% of your people. But, says Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Organisational Psychologist, currently Chief Innovation Officer at ManpowerGroup, companies spend way more time on development than they do on talent acquisition. So, what can you do about that? Well, don’t miss Tomas on this episode of The Melting Pot explaining how technology is revolutionising the recruitment role, why assessing candidates is a costly mistake, the difference between genders in terms of curiosity, why the world is so full of rubbish leaders, and how we can bring about change in leadership. This is a fascinating episode, truly insightful. Download to listen. Book recommendationsLisa Barrett Feldman - Seven and a Half Lessons About the BrainCarmine Gallo - The Bezos Blueprint John Petrocelli - The Life-Changing Science of Detecting BullshitOxford Very Short IntroductionsBill Perkins - Die With ZeroOn today’s podcast:The problem with testing candidates It’s hard to know if you hired the right personWhy is the world full of rubbish male leaders?How to bring about change in leadershipThe definition of leadership competenceLinks:Website: Dr. Tomas Chamorro-PremuzicLinkedIn: Dr Tomas Chamorro-PremuzicTwitter: @drtcpBook: Why do so many incompetent men become leaders? Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

Are you looking for your next big adventure? How does rowing across the Atlantic sound? Think you’re not fit enough? Too old? Think again. Guy Rigby, chair of the Entrepreneurial Services Group at Smith & Williamson, and founder of advisory and mentoring business, The Entrepreneurs’ Adviser, holds the world record for the oldest, fastest man to row across the Atlantic (aged 68), and he’s looking for crews to do the same for 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027.   But before we get into that, in this episode of The Melting Pot, we find out why a man in his late 60s would want to row the Atlantic, and more importantly, how on earth did he pull it off?   Want to learn more? Of course you do! Download and listen today.On today’s podcast:UnLtd - the charityRowing across the Atlantic OceanThe daily rowing routine Training for the rowThe Talisker Whisky Atlantic ChallengeLinks:Website: Guy RigbyBooks: From Vision to ExitLinkedIn: Guy RigbyTwitter:  @guyrigbyCharity - UnLtd

How do you deal with uncertainty? Do you avoid it at all costs or do you embrace the unknown excitedly?To discuss the upside of uncertainty is husband and wife team, Nathan and Susannah Furr, authors of The Upside of Uncertainty. As the Professor of Strategy and Innovation at INSEAD, and with a PhD from Stanford, Nathan is an expert in innovation and technology strategy. Susannah is an entrepreneur, designer, artist, and contrarian who’s recently started a bio-intensive garden as part of a ‘hope accelerator’ in Normandy, France. On this episode of The Melting Pot, Nathan and Susannah share their experiences of tackling uncertainty, and discuss how you can improve and train your risk tolerance and seek the upside of uncertainty. And in doing so, how we can then impact organisations. Download and listen to learn more. On today’s podcast:The portal to possibility Uncertainty balancesHow do you teach uncertainty?Regret minimisation decision makingDriving innovation inside businesses Links:Books: The Upside of Uncertainty: A Guide to Finding Possibility in the UnknownTwitter:  @nathan_furrLinkedIn: Nathan FurrWebsite: The Upside of Uncertainty

Do you want to be a force for change in the world? Of course you do, but how to begin? That's actually the title of Michael Bungay Stanier’s latest book - How To Begin, a book written to help people be ambitious for themselves, for the world, to help them find their Worthy Goal, and start something thrilling, important, and daunting.Best known for writing The Coaching Habit, a best selling coaching book that’s sold over 1.2 million copies world wide, Michael is back on The Melting Pot once more to talk about how you can figure out what that thing is you want to do, and then how you stop procrastinating so you can go and have an impact. Having handed over the reins of Box of Crayons, a learning and development company, Michael has had to find his own worthy goal, and in this episode he shares how he stepped away from Box of Crayons, how to find your purpose, and the key elements of what makes a worthy goal. To hear all this and more, download and listen today.Book recommendations High Conflict - Amanda RipleySuper-Infinite - Katherine RundellOn today’s podcast:How to BeginStepping away from Box of CrayonsFinding your purposeThe key elements of a worthy goalThe Care MatrixLinks:Books - Top Books & Training for Coaches, Mentors, LeadersTwitter – mbs_worksLinkedIn – Michael Bungay StanierWebsite – Michael Bungay Stanier