Curious Leadership with Dominic Monkhouse

Is your business founded on a clear purpose? Bobby Herrara, author of The Gift of Struggle, founded Populus Group in 2002, a company set up to help organisations manage their non-permanent employees. But what does purpose have to do with HR?Bobby is passionate about helping people understand and overcome their struggle. He’s a firm believer that by aligning yourself and your company around your purpose can have a profound impact on you, the people around you, and the people your organisation touches. What’s interesting about Bobby is that he’s so driven by his purpose, that even though he didn’t share his origin story with his employees for over 10 years, he was so inspirational the business still reached $100 million turnover in those first 10 years. However, after sharing his origin story, they added another $500 million in the next 10 years. That’s the power of purpose right there. So what is Bobby’s origin story? You’ll have to listen to find out. Don’t miss Bobby on this week’s episode also shares the three pillars he’s built his business on, and why his organisation will go out of their way to back the underdog and solve problems for people. On today’s podcast:Discovering his purpose Populus GroupThe bus encounter How to recruit great staffWorking GeniusLinks:Book - The Gift of Struggle: Life-Changing Lessons About Leading HardcoverTwitter – @BobbyHerreraPGLinkedIn – Bobby HerreraWebsite – Bobby Herrera, populusgroup.com/

If you’re the CEO and you think people should get to meetings on time, yet you don’t, that’s never going to create a culture of accountability.Luckily for you, on this week’s episode of The Melting Pot, we have the author of the book Creating a Culture of Accountability, business and leadership coach and speaker, Mark Green. “The reason I wrote the book is because I have yet to observe an organisation of any size and scope, anywhere on the planet in any industry, who one way or another didn't have a significant struggle with accountability.”If you’re thinking - well we don’t have an accountability problem, be truthful: do things always get accomplished by your team? Without drama? On a regular basis? Exactly. If you want to learn how to make people in your organisation more accountable, don’t miss Mark explain his definition of accountability. He also shares the exercise he gets his clients to undertake about how to identify what they’re accountable for. And he explains the three elements of accountability. On today’s podcast:Creating a culture of accountabilityDon’t equate accountable with contributionThree elements to accountabilityRole accountabilityProcess accountabilityLeading by exampleLinks:Book - Creating a Culture of AccountabilityTwitter – @MarkEGreenLinkedIn – Mark GreenWebsite –  Mark Green

Why do some organisations grow really quickly? How do they reach the scale that they do? If you’re looking for the secret sauce to make your company grow exponentially, then don’t miss Chris Yeh on this week’s episode of The Melting Pot. Chris is a venture capitalist with Blitzscaling Ventures, educator at the Blitzscaling Academy, and co-author with LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, of bestselling books Alliance and Blitzscaling (among others).In this latest episode, Chris explains why companies and employees lie to each other, why we all need to be having more grown up conversations, and why he wrote Blitzscaling. He also discusses the algorithm his VC firm has built to score companies as they come to market looking for money, and shares his thoughts on the most interesting businesses to come to market in recent years (and the ones to avoid). Download and listen today. On today’s podcast:The lies employees and companies tell each otherWhat Blitzscaling isSuccessful companies and ones to be wary ofWhat makes a business attractive to investorsThe meaning of life in 60 secondsLinks:Book (Blitzscaling): BlitzscalingPodcast: The Chris Yeh PodcastTwitter – @chrisyehLinkedIn – Chris YehWebsite – Chris Yeh

Is your organisation looking for a new growth strategy? Are you about to undergo a digital transformation? Perhaps you already have but you’re not sure what the next step for you is. In this episode of The Melting Pot, Paul Leinwand and Matt Mani, both of PwC and Strategy&, discuss the book they’ve written, Beyond Digital, the result of their research into companies that have successfully undergone a digital transformation. But just what is a digital transformation? What does one look like? What does it entail? And what did these companies have to do to achieve it? What changes did they have to make in their leadership team? In their business? How did they plan for and execute on their digital transformation plan? Don’t miss Paul and Matt share all of this and more, using examples from the Japanese construction firm Komatsu and Starbucks. This is a fantastic conversation, we’re sure you’ll enjoy it as much as we did.On today’s podcast:Beyond DigitalThe definition of a transformationLearning from companies that have digitally transformedThe social contract with your peopleLinks:Beyond Digital | Strategy& + PwChttps://store.hbr.org/product/beyond-digital-how-great-leaders-transform-their-organizations-and-shape-the-future/10527?sku=10527E-KND-ENGTwitter – @paulleinwand, @MMahadevLinkedIn – Paul Leinwand & Matt ManiWebsite – Beyond Digital | Strategy& + PwC

What do your customers say about you? What sort of customer experience do you deliver? Today’s guest, Jeff Toister, has quite literally written the book (well, four books) on service culture, and he’s here to discuss his latest book - The Service Culture Handbook. Jeff has trained over 1 million people in customer service. He has the number one training course on LinkedIn Learning, and he makes a living from being a public speaker and author on this very topic. So just how do you guarantee customer experience? What can you do to set your business apart from the competition? Don’t miss this fantastic conversation, and listen to the very end where Jeff shares a fantastic exercise for leaders to try - something they can do today to make a difference to the customer service in their organisation. On today’s podcast:Do employees need to love the products?What customer experience are you trying to create?What guarantee customer experience looks likeHow to make a difference tomorrowLinks:Book: The Service Culture Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Your Employees Obsessed with Customer ServiceTwitter – @toisterLinkedIn: Jeff ToisterWebsite: Toister Performance Solutions

Are you scaling up to exit your business or are you focused on scaling up to build a more sustainable business? Either way, don’t miss Stuart Ross, author of The Scale Up Leader on this week’s episode of The Melting Pot. Stuart is a business coach who started life as a buyer for Burton Arcadia group. From there he moved to Boots where he led a number of innovations such as launching their first website (and they were so cheap they wouldn’t pay for the .com, only the .co.uk, and then subsequently spent a small fortune a few years later acquiring the .com, but that’s another story.) He also launched the meal deal - something almost everyone on the highstreet has now, and he worked on the Boots Advantage Card.Stuart launched his consulting coaching business High Growth in 2012, and today he works with a range of clients across the UK and the US. He also features frequently in the news, talking about what it takes to build a scale up business. Scaling up is something he’s so passionate about, he’s written a book about it. Which is precisely what he discusses in this episode. So if you’re wanting to grow and scale up your business, download and listen today. On today’s podcast:High Growth & The Scale Up LeaderA company can’t outperform the leadershipDeveloping the right habitsWho do you want to be?Learn to let goLinks:Stuart Ross, High GrowthTwitter – @high_growthLinkedIn – Stuart RossWebsite – High Growth

How loyal are your customers and employees? How likely are they to refer your organisation to their colleagues and friends? This is the basis of the Net Promoter System, a way of measuring customer retention devised by Fred Reichheld in the 1990s. Because Fred realised that if you increase customer retention, your profits will grow. Fred assumed that having discovered this and told people about it that all businesses would instantly put customers first. That what he’d come up with was a one and done thing. He hadn’t realised how hard it would be to change mindset. So Fred invented the Net Promoter Score so that businesses could measure this thing that drives retention. And he found that it all boils down to one simple question - would you recommend X company to a friend or colleague?It’s that simple. Yet here we are, some 20+ years later still arguing about NPS. So Fred’s written another book called - Winning On Purpose, The Unbeatable Strategy Of Loving Customers (link below), and it’s a more accountancy based metric i.e. earned revenue or earned growth rate. This is a truly fantastic conversation with Fred, we enjoyed it immensely, we’re sure you will too. On today’s podcast:The Earned Growth RateNet Promoter System Likelihood to recommendBe humble to keep customersWhy referrals are earned growthLinks:Fred ReichheldArticle: The One Number You Need to GrowTwitter – @FredReichheldLinkedIn – Fred ReichheldWebsite: https://www.netpromotersystem.com/books/winning-on-purpose

If you’ve ever wondered how to be more purpose led in both business and your personal life, don’t miss this incredible episode of The Melting Pot with The Conduit co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Paul van Zyl. Paul isn’t just trying to build a purpose led business, he’s trying to change the world. Having grown up in apartheid South Africa, Paul trained as a human rights lawyer and went on to serve as the Executive Secretary of South Africa’s post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission. We talk about his entrepreneurial journey to date; an incredible adventure that has taken him on a purpose led voyage of discovery, which has ultimately led him to co-found The Conduit Club in London. The Conduit is not just another private member's club. The Conduit Club is a purpose led club where its members come together to change the world. Paul also shares how even in a hospitality business like The Conduit Club, purpose can lead to amazing staff connectivity, where his chefs don't just cook food, they're on a mission to help The Conduit in its mission to change the world. This is a great conversation with Paul. We really enjoyed it. We’re sure you will too.On today’s podcast:Learning from the Truth CommissionGathering changemakersWhy entrepreneurs need central insightThe value of proximity The Conduit restaurant and its purposeLinks:Twitter – @Paul_VanZylLinkedIn – Paul van ZylWebsite – The Conduit

If you’re an entrepreneur thinking of selling your business and want to maximize the return on your life’s work, or you’re going through the process of exiting currently, then don’t miss this latest episode of The Melting Pot with Arrowpoint Advisory MD, Daniel Domberger. Most of the work that Daniel and his team at Arrowpoint Advisory - a division of the investment bank, Rothschild and Co. Daniel and his colleagues typically help entrepreneurs, owners, managers, corporates and investors with M&A, more specifically buying and selling companies or raising investment for them.But what does that look like if you’re an entrepreneur? How do you set your business up to exit? How do you choose an advisor and what should you look for in an advisory firm? Should you do your own due diligence early? And what are some of the pitfalls along the way? To find out the answers to all these questions and more, download and listen now. On today’s podcast:Get in shape to sellWhen to bring an advisor inLeave M&A to the expertsWhat due diligence to doOne thing to do tomorrowLinks:Livingstone talk - Daniel Domberger, LivingstoneLinkedIn – Daniel DombergerWebsite – Daniel Domberger | Arrowpoint Advisory

Fintech company Artesian:DueDil  - a London/Reading based business helps B2B customers do better business faster with a focus on using data science and curated business information to help find the right customers, onboard them faster and keep them for a lifetime.BT uses it and sees a 48% ROI. You could too. In this latest episode of The Melting Pot, CEO and founder of recently merged Artesian:DueDil, Andrew Yates, talks about how you can take data from banking and financial services and put it to work for you.More specifically, he delves into what you can do if you’re not in that sector: how do you take the data and use it to define your target audience? How do you use data to make progress in your go-to market? How do you use data to successfully onboard clients, keep them, and then work out which of them have best upsell potential?This is a fascinating conversation about data, fast growing businesses and how to use data in your organisation, whether you’re a customer of Artesian:DueDil or not. On today’s podcast:Why the Artesian:DueDil mergerUsing data to find the right customerArtesian:DueDil ideal clientHow to make the most of the dataOnboarding customers and keeping them for lifeLinks:Twitter – @apgyatesLinkedIn – Andrew YatesWebsite – Artesian + DueDil merge