• SERVICES
  • ABOUT US
  • PROJECTS
  • PEOPLE
  • RESOURCES
  • CONTACT

Leadership

Leadership & Management

Guilt Free Travel

Andrew Penny, May 30 2023

At last, in the Northern Hemisphere at least, summer is here😊 . It’s time to get outside, enjoy the sun on your face, swim in a lake and, for many, plan a vacation. But each year there seems to be an increasing amount of guilt associated with holiday travel. Taking a cruise, traveling by air, or firing up the family wagon are all activities that...

Read More
Leadership & Management

ESG - Questions your Bank will Ask

Andrew Penny, May 2 2023

Last week I participated in the ACG  event – a forum for people who fund the ‘middle market’. Attendees are typically VCs, banks, investment agencies, family offices, private equity – in short anyone who has a few million to give, lend, or invest in mid-sized firms. One of the most interesting sessions was on ESG (environmental, social and...

Read More
Leadership & Management

To Promote or Hire - that is the question!

Graham Birkenhead, April 11 2023

There are good reasons why you should do both, and actually, for a fast-growing company, you should try to do both. There are advantages to each option, but there are also reasons why you should take care. Let’s go back to first principles and consider what we are really trying to achieve. In an earlier blog, I said that people are not your most...

Read More
Leadership & Management

Seven Generations

Andrew Penny, April 4 2023

In Ottawa, as a many other places in the world, public meetings are often prefaced with a short recognition that they taking place on native land. Sometimes these recognitions are quite cursory. At other times, they are quite long and well thought out. I’ll come back to this in a

Read More
Leadership & Management

Is it too late?

Andrew Penny, March 21 2023

Watch the rain:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex4jjxn75os The UN said today that “the chance of evading the most severe impacts of burning fossil fuels is almost out of reach, scientists warn, unless radical changes are made—and immediately.” Wow. What are you doing about it? The phrase Planet, People, Profit has never been more

Read More
Leadership & Management

Business owners, are you IN it? Or ON it?

Graham Birkenhead, March 14 2023

We are working with the owner of a $20M business that manufactures racking systems. Growth has been solid, and they have come out of the pandemic with a solid order book. Sounds good, but the problem is that they are having tremendous difficulty attracting staff, completing orders, and managing inventory in an overcrowded work-space. The owner is...

Read More
Leadership & Management

Ready for the 4-day Week?

Graham Birkenhead, February 28 2023

The UK has recently carried out a trial-based study into the practicalities and impacts of a 4-day week - and the results are just in. The idea of a 4-day week has been around for quite a long time - with much anecdotal evidence suggesting that there could be considerable benefit.   This latest trial involved over 70 companies of all sorts and...

Read More
Leadership & Management

How About Them There Apples

Graham Birkenhead, January 31 2023

Our client was experiencing significant turnover amongst the new hires they needed to expand their production. They told us, ‘No one wants to work anymore’. Digging deeper it became evident that a small number of senior employees had created an environment that worked well for them but made it difficult for any new-comers to fit in. And worse, it...

Read More
Leadership & Management

The Dreaded Plateau of Mediocrity

Andrew Penny, December 6 2022

I was chatting with Graham Findlay this morning (he owns 3G-Energy.com) who told me that he is learning to play the guitar. He explained that most learners hit what he called the “plateau of mediocrity”. It’s where you think you are pretty good, and you get feedback from your friends and colleagues who confirm, that you are pretty good. It feels...

Read More
Leadership & Management

Your People are NOT your most important asset

Graham Birkenhead, November 29 2022

"WHAT??”, you say.  “Are you serious???    Haven’t you heard the mantra that we all recite to ourselves, and each other, and liberally douse our corporate communications with????  
.. of course people are our most valuable asset!!!!" Sounds like you are a little surprised to hear me say that people are NOT your most important asset especially as...

Read More
Previous
Next