Curious Leadership with Dominic Monkhouse
Monkhouse & Company
Wide awake at 3am, wondering how your business turned from a 15-person rocket into an 80-person rollercoaster? Hit play. This show is for founder CEOs who want practical wins, not platitudes.
Every fortnight, Dominic Monkhouse - who scaled two UK tech firms to £30m+ in five years (twice) - grills people who’ve actually done it: operators, battle-scarred founders, and experts who cut through noise. You’ll learn techniques that stop fires, speed up decisions, and give you time back.
What you’ll get: field-tested methods that will all contribute to one of three vital goals – freeing up your time, building a leadership team that can lead without you, and installing systems that you can be sure will work. No recycled LinkedIn fluff. No crappy ‘inspiration’. Just clear actions you can run this week.
Why listen now? Because growth shouldn’t mean chaos. Twelve of Dom’s clients have exited. His 2-Day-a-Week CEO Blueprint shows leaders how to make sure they spend their time doing things that ONLY they can do - not covering tasks that could be done by others. He coaches scale-ups, writes books people actually read, and asks the questions you wish investors would.
If you’re stuck between “we’re onto something” and “this might kill me,” this is your edge: honest stories, hard numbers, and repeatable systems to build a business you’re proud of - without losing yourself along the way.
New episodes weekly. Grab a notebook. And hit follow so the next time you’re staring at the ceiling at stupid o’clock, you’ve got a plan - and a playbook - waiting in your ears.
Every fortnight, Dominic Monkhouse - who scaled two UK tech firms to £30m+ in five years (twice) - grills people who’ve actually done it: operators, battle-scarred founders, and experts who cut through noise. You’ll learn techniques that stop fires, speed up decisions, and give you time back.
What you’ll get: field-tested methods that will all contribute to one of three vital goals – freeing up your time, building a leadership team that can lead without you, and installing systems that you can be sure will work. No recycled LinkedIn fluff. No crappy ‘inspiration’. Just clear actions you can run this week.
Why listen now? Because growth shouldn’t mean chaos. Twelve of Dom’s clients have exited. His 2-Day-a-Week CEO Blueprint shows leaders how to make sure they spend their time doing things that ONLY they can do - not covering tasks that could be done by others. He coaches scale-ups, writes books people actually read, and asks the questions you wish investors would.
If you’re stuck between “we’re onto something” and “this might kill me,” this is your edge: honest stories, hard numbers, and repeatable systems to build a business you’re proud of - without losing yourself along the way.
New episodes weekly. Grab a notebook. And hit follow so the next time you’re staring at the ceiling at stupid o’clock, you’ve got a plan - and a playbook - waiting in your ears.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 28, 2022 • 1h
E201 | How to Change Brains, Minds and Culture with David McRaney
How can you change someone’s mind? Don’t miss David McRaney, a science journalist fascinated with brains, minds, and culture, explain all in this podcast. In this episode, David, author of three books, discusses his latest book ‘How Minds Change’. He lifts the lid on how people who believe in flat Earth come to believe in flat Earth; how people who are anti vaxxers come to have that as their belief system; as well as explain the Dunning Kruger effect. Why are these insights relevant to the modern workplace? Because the results of these studies have far reaching implications, including how you hold your management team meetings, your all hands meeting, how you hire, how you might want to hire to avoid bias, as well as overcome the heuristics that are in place that make you make snap decisions on people. This is a fantastic episode, we’re sure you’ll enjoy it as much as we did.On today’s podcast:How to change mindsThe people swap experimentDifference in gender confidenceThe Dunning Kruger effectThe Halo effect at workUnderstanding pluralistic ignoranceLinks:www.youarenotsosmart.comTwitter – @davidmcraneyLinkedIn – David McRaneyWebsite – David McRaney
Jun 21, 2022 • 46min
E200 | The Impact of Hybrid Work on Employees and Employers with Peter Cappelli
What does the future of your office look like? Are all of your employees back to work yet? Or do you have a hybrid approach to working? That’s the question today’s guest, Peter Cappelli, Professor of Management at Wharton School, and director of Wharton's Centre for Human Resources, has been researching. Why do we go to offices and what don’t we like about them? In the wake of the pandemic, our thoughts around offices have changed dramatically, with more employees than ever before keen to adopt a hybrid approach to work. But having zero offices and fully remote staff simply doesn’t benefit employers (or employees), yet according to the Financial Times, the UK is one of the last countries where offices have returned to ‘normal’, so what gives?In this latest episode of The Melting Pot, Peter shares his thoughts on AI, the decline in employee training, and why it’s so hard to hire in the current market. On today’s podcast:Will college pay off?The hiring conundrumTraining in the workplaceThe remote working conundrumThe future of the officeLinks:Book - The Future of the OfficeTwitter – @Linked_nameLinkedIn – Peter CappelliWebsite – Peter CappelliFT article - UK ahead of European peers on shift to working from home | Financial Times
Jun 14, 2022 • 50min
E199 | How to Create Value Based Strategy with Felix Oberholzer-Gee
Are you struggling to create a simple strategy for your business? Then don’t miss Felix Oberholzer-Gee, faculty member at Harvard Business School in the Strategy Unit, and author of the recent book on strategy: Better, Simpler Strategy, on this week’s episode of The Melting Pot. In Felix’s new book, he shows readers how to create value based strategy with their service or product. Not in the sense of making customers or employees happy, but in so much as - creating a product or service that delivers so much value, people are willing to pay more for it.The simple truth of the matter, says Felix, is that business and financial success boils down to imagination. Finding new ways to serve your customers or employees better will always yield better business results. But it’s amazing how many businesses have forgotten this simple strategy in their quest to be successful. So, if you’re overthinking your business strategy, or you think you have no place to think strategically, think again. To find out more, download and listen to this latest episode. Book recommendationsYoungme Moon - Different Madeleine Thien - Do Not Say We Have NothingOn today’s podcast:Strategy is all about value creationApplying strategy to staff retentionYou can be high quality and low costThe discovery of complementsLinks:Book - Better, Simpler Strategy: A Value-Based Guide to Exceptional PerformanceTwitter – @fogathbsLinkedIn – Felix Oberholzer-GeeWebsite – Felix Oberholzer-Gee
Jun 7, 2022 • 56min
E198 | The Jobs Only the CEO Should Do, with Anthony Rose
If your business is struggling to innovate, or is in fact resisting innovation all together, then don’t miss Anthony Rose, founder and CEO of SeedLegals on this week’s episode of The Melting Pot. Who better to learn from about how to incorporate, raise funds and grow your business, than the founder of the startup that one in six of all early-stage startups in the UK are using in their funding rounds. Widely known as “The man behind BBC iPlayer”, Anthony ran the iPlayer and other BBC services from 2007 to 2010, taking the iPlayer from pre-launch to a major success story. In this episode, Anthony talks about the jobs that only the CEO should do, including the CEO’s role in innovation, building company culture, getting to product market fit, and why, when you’ve got product market fit, the most important job of a CEO is to then manage culture. This is a truly insightful episode and a must listen for all leaders of startups looking to grow and build their companies. Book recommendations:The Mom Test - Rob FitzpatrickHistory of Western Philosophy - Bertrand RussellOn today’s podcast:Making lawyers redundantThe CEO’s role in innovationHow to innovateWhy CEOs are responsible for cultureLinks:Twitter – @anthonyroseLinkedIn – Anthony RoseWebsite – SeedLegals
May 31, 2022 • 50min
E197 | Why Redesigning your Business Structure will Help you Scale with Lex Sisney
Are you a mid to late ‘nail it’ stage business, trying to scale your company? Then you don’t want to miss Lex Sisney, business coach and author of Organizational Physics, on this week’s episode of The Melting Pot. Organizational Physics might be an odd title for a book, but it’s memorable, and it explains the repeatable systems that all organisations have difficulties with. But more importantly, it teaches readers how to overcome their issues by redesigning their organisation’s structure. Rather than thinking in terms of hierarchy, or thinking about your business’ org chart, Lex advises clients to think about things that need to be done in the short term and things that need to be done in the long term. Because there are things that have to be effective, and things that have to be efficient to scale a business. So, if you’re looking for guidance about how to scale your business, or you need a new way to look at your organisational design, then this is a conversation you’ll want to listen to. Book recommendationsMarty Cagan - Inspired Marty Cagan - EmpoweredThe Arbinger Institute - The Outward MindsetShirzad Chamine - Positive IntelligenceOn today’s podcast:Why businesses need organisational physicsUnderstanding corporate life cyclesThe importance of structure in a business How to use org structures Links:Book: Organizational Physics - Lex SisneyWebsite: https://www.OrganizationalPhysics.comLinkedIn: Lex SisneyTwitter: lexsisney
May 24, 2022 • 50min
E196 | How to Scale your Business with booking.com Founder, Jeff Hoffman
If you’re looking for advice on how to grow and scale your startup or business, then don’t miss Jeff Hoffman, founder of booking.com, award-winning global entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, bestselling author, and Hollywood film producer on this week’s episode of The Melting Pot. Jeff has been an entrepreneurial CEO from the second day he joined university. He got kicked out of Yale University because he couldn’t pay the tuition fees and started a business on his second day of school to pay for his college education. You might have heard of his little venture… booking.com (priceline.com in the US). Jeff has recently put pen to paper and written down the seven principles for growing a business in his book, SCALE: Seven Proven Principles to Grow Your Business and Get Your Life Back. In this episode of The Melting Pot, Jeff talks about the importance of mindset, why CEOs need to get out of the way, and what the role of a CEO really is. So grab a pen and paper now, this is a truly insightful podcast, you’ll want to take notes. On today’s podcast:The importance of mindsetWhy CEOs need to get out of the wayHow to recruit great peopleThe CEO’s jobLearn why your customers buy from youLinks:Book: Jeff Hoffman - SCALE: Seven Proven Principles to Grow Your Business and Get Your Life BackTwitter – SpeakerJeffLinkedIn: Jeff HoffmanWebsite: Jeff Hoffman, Global Entrepreneurship Network, TV show - Click-to-Invest series | Going Public®Book recommendations:Paulo Coelho - The AlchemistMitch Albom - Five People You Meet In Heaven
May 17, 2022 • 34min
E195 | The Importance of Business Continuity with Smartsourcing CEO & founder, Mike Selfe
Think your organisation is too small to outsource processes? Think again, says CEO and founder of Smartsourcing, Mike Selfe. If you feel like your team’s time could be better spent elsewhere then don’t miss Mike explaining how Smartsourcing supports small businesses. Founded in 2015, Smartsourcing, a purpose led, business process outsourcing (BPO) organisation based out of Cebu, Philippines, has been growing 100% year on year, with 350 staff now on their books. In this insightful episode, Mike discusses how they handle the challenge that significant growth brings, how they tackle recruitment challenges, and what it takes and what it looks like to be awarded Great Place to Work certification.Finally, he reveals how Smartsourcing has managed business continuity following a natural disaster - just 24 hours after Cebu was devastated by the Typhoon Odette, MIke and a skeleton team were back ‘at work’ the next day. So, if you’re looking for a way to maximise your team’s productivity and efficiency, listen today to find out more about how business process outsourcing (BPO) could help your small businesses. On today’s podcast:Changing lives for good through BPOHandling the recruitment challengeWeathering the stormThe importance of business continuityNo business is too small to outsource Links:LinkedIn – Mike SelfeWebsite – smartsourcing.coCharity - Habitat for Humanity
May 10, 2022 • 37min
E194 | The Evolution of the Professional Services Sector with Ray D’Cruz
If you’re in the legal, accounting or professional services sector and you’re looking to harness the intelligence and creativity of your partners and employees through performance management, don’t miss Ray D’Cruz, CEO of Performance Leader, a consulting and software for professional services firms, on The Melting Pot. In this episode, Ray shares why firms should consider moving away from the annual performance review for partners and employees, to a more 360 review, incorporating client feedback and behavioural and project based feedback.He discusses why prioritising leadership is vital in remote or hybrid organisations, why purpose is more important than ever before, and how nudge tools can benefit everyone. So, if you’re wondering how to leverage performance and feedback software in your professional services firm, download and listen today.On today’s podcast:The problem with a traditional performance review The benefit of continual performance managementUsing nudge tech for hybrid working The growing interest in purposeLinks:Pre-order book - Ray D’cruz - The Partner Remuneration HandbookPerformance Leaders podcastTwitter – @PerformanceLDRLinkedIn – Ray D'CruzWebsite – Performance Leader
May 3, 2022 • 51min
E193 | What it Takes to Build an Organisation’s Culture with James L Heskett
Do your employees love your business? asks James L Heskett, UPS Foundation Professor Emeritus at Harvard Business School and author of Win from Within. Because if your employees don’t love your company, your customers won’t love it either. In Win from Within, James argues about the importance of building organisational culture for competitive advantage. Having spent 30 years on this journey, his latest book is about busting myths and shattering beliefs around what it takes to build an organisation's culture. Why is your company culture so important? Because, argues James, if you need to attract customers, then you need to have great employees. And to attract great employees, you need to have a great environment that encourages them to come join you and to stay the course. In fact, the most amazingly successful businesses, says James, are those who have at their heart the trifecta of employee engagement, customer engagement, and sales, growth and profit levels for the investor. Does yours? To find out more, download and listen to this episode today. On today’s podcast:The obsession with cultureWin from WithinThe four steps to hire great employeesIt doesn’t take long to change cultureThe problem with the hybrid work modelLinks:Article - Does Remote Work Mix with Organisational Culture?Book - Win from Within: Build Organisational Culture for Competitive AdvantageWebsite – James L. Heskett
11 snips
Apr 26, 2022 • 53min
E192 | How to Try a New Way of Thinking with Roger Martin
If you’ve found that the way your organisation does things isn’t working for you any more, rather than flogging a dead horse, why not try a new way of thinking?In this episode of The Melting Pot, Roger L Martin, author, advisor, speaker, and one of the world’s top business thinkers, shares how he turned Canadian Tennis around, as well how he took the Rotman School of Management and transformed it into Canada’s #1 business school, on a limited budget. Now when company leaders come to him for help, his response is to first break the spell of their current way of thinking. But how can you transform your way of thinking? Download and listen to this insightful episode to find out more. On today’s podcast:Business writing in the academic worldElevating the Canadian Tennis FederationA New Way to ThinkWhy strategy and execution are the same thingWhy he doesn’t believe in OKRs Links:Book: A New Way to Think: Your Guide to Superior Management EffectivenessTwitter: @RogerLMartinLinkedIn: Roger L MartinWebsite: Roger Martin
