By now, the effect of a complicated sequence of millions of individual events on an international scale (neatly labeled ‘the credit crunch’ to fuel the delusion that it is the result of just one thing) is beginning to reach most of us in some way or another…

I have been an entrepreneur for many years and traded through downturn and recession – but this feels different.

My friend Paul Simpson (a fascinating character who features heavily in my next book) says, “A crisis does not exist in the events themselves, a crisis is created by the reaction to the events…
My experience (for what it’s worth – and take it with ‘a pinch of salt’ because the past tells us little about the future) is that – in adverse market conditions little can be gained from ‘playing it safe’. Do what other people are NOT doing.

If you are feeling the pinch financially you will need to be creative in finding a way to do it on a limited budget (anyone can throw money around and buy creativity – having worked in the creative industry for a decade, I would suggest that true creativity is generating ideas that have value within the commercial parameters of time or money).

Need some inspiration? Give us a call - we can coach you into your most creative mindset and challenge the boundaries of your thinking…

With the Olympics just gone and the start of the new football season I have lately seen a lot of new sporting heroes entering the main stage. In listening to interviews it often becomes obvious that to get to where they are now they have sacrificed many years of their lives. It’s all worth it to them in the end I guess but what if there was a different way of reaching the top in a professional sporting environment?

Arton Baleci is taking a different path - have a look at his project on his website The Beautiful Aim to find out how he does it!

So Mike Ashley has finally shown his cards in the ongoing soap opera at Newcastle United after the departure of Kevin Keegan last week. It’s funny how some of the things we teach about communication are applicable in any context - even premier league football clubs…

I came across a great quote the other day that we now use a lot in our sessions - it goes something like this;

As humans, we tend to judge ourselves by our intentions and other people by their actions

The trouble is our intentions are so obvious to ourselves that we rarely communicate them.

A 1600 word retrospective statement of his intentions seems a little late for Mike Ashley at Newcastle. Shame since his intentions were and are so positive for the club. I wonder how the fans would have reacted throughout his ownership off the club if he had taken time to make them clear earlier…..?