Organisations that focus on maximising profit often fall into the trap of short term success at the cost of long term value. A business can lift short-term profit through several ways that may actually damage to shareholder value such as:

• Increase pricing in the short term, boosting profits from existing customers less able/ not immediately willing to switch to purchasing a competitors product, but ultimately alienating and potentially loosing a percentage of the existing customer base.
• Reduce pricing in the short term (including discounting) in an effort to boost market share, but ultimately damaging the long term value of the brand.  Think Pizza Express…
• Decreasing capital expenditure (either on fit out or facility maintenance) boosting profitability but damaging long-term competitiveness in the market.
• Decreasing operating costs, to the extent product quality or service are compromised, but with little negative impact on sales in the immediate term.

By focusing on maximising shareholder value, an organization is forced to:

• Give priority to the medium and long term versus the short term
• Give priority to the establishment of a sustainable competitive position, rather then provisional profit
• Give priority to growing future cash flow.

"Your business is in trouble when your specialists are acting as generalists" #myopinion

When it comes to organizational structure, it is essential to define clear roles without overlapping responsibilities or skill sets. Who is in charge of Operations? Marketing? Finance?  Have somebody who is the final decision maker in each area (especially when starting up).

It doesn't work if you have two people who are fantastic chefs, and they argue all the time in the kitchen over the right recipe; while nobody is monitoring the cash flow. So the team needs to be balanced with clear roles for everyone. To restate this incredibly important detail, a person who's sourcing investment should not be getting that involved in the kitchen, and the people in the kitchen should not be getting too involved in the sourcing of investment.

In order to be a successful Leader you must learn to Flex Your Style #myopinion

What does it mean to flex ones style???

Your "Style" is synonymous with your "approach" in the way you interact with people.  It is the way you teach someone, the way you inspire someone or even the way you discipline someone.

Not everyone in the organization will be as: smart, talented, educated, experienced as you.  Not everyone in the organization will share your: background, sense of humour, personal values or taste in music.  If you only have one style of communication such as "Screaming and Yelling" or "Positive Reinforcement", you will inevitably alienate a percentage of the organization who do not respond to that style.

• To be successful you must develop multiple styles of communication to relate to people at all levels in the organization from a variety of different backgrounds.
• To be successful you must develop empathy, the ability to read your audience.
• To be successful you must develop flexibility with your approach in order to teach, inspire and discipline a broader scope of audience.

Society conditions us to be sheep. From the first day of school we are taught to sit quietly, raise our hands and wait to be called on. Leaders do not raise their hands and wait to be called on. Leaders say what needs to be said and do what needs to be done. Leaders do not seek permission, they give themselves permission to do what needs to be done. Your company does not need you to be a sheep, it needs you to be a leader.

Senior People walk into a Restaurant and Set the Tone #myopinion

You set the tone when you walk onto a shift. Be as consistent as a recipe's execution.

1 Kilo of Energy

1/2 Cup of Determination

1/4 Cup of Punctuality

2 Scoops of Sugar

Toss in a large mixing bowl and serve alongside Talent.