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I confess I find my own practical experience matches most of the social science research on why people come to work – as described in Daniel Pink’s Book Drive. Daniel’s book spotlights the big three as mastery, autonomy, purpose. I’ve added another seven that work across the demographic spectrum. Read More

Way back in 1987 when I leapt from Thomson the publishing giant after a fantastic 5 year spell, to join Barrie Pearson, a one man band, M&A guru I always believed the small guy could win. Today the evidence is overwhelming that if you own a small company you can take on the market leader and win. Read More

t is never easy raising money. There are clearly more options today than ever before but it’s still very tough. Are there tried and trusted techniques to turn investors on? Well over the years we’ve raised a lot of money and made many mistakes on the way. Here are 15 big mistakes most teams make. Read More

Sales professionals are always under pressure to build their pipeline and then crush it! But what’s working to really progress leads all the way to the bank? How do you progress deals in today’s uncertain environment. This post describes what’s working in the teams I’m driving. Read More

Ram Charan wrote the best selling book Know-How – 8 Skills that separate people who perform from those that don’t. I see entrepreneurs struggling with know-how every day. You know what you know. So I’ve assembled 20 laconic tips acquired during my 30 years in business. I hope they help you. Read More

I was chatting to a good friend the other day who leads one of the leading Sandler Sales Training Practices in the US. His key takeaway from the last 5 years – sales professionals have lost the art of prospecting! This post suggests 15 tips that will change that. Read More

We’ve all been touched by incentives at one time or another. Sales commissions, fixed bonuses, a prize, an earn-out deal when you sold your business. You might have received a bonus as part of a team achievement. So why don't they work? Read More

Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement yesterday. At the same time the WSJ published a great article – When the CEO Burns Out. Reading about Sir Alex’s retirement and the WSJ article reminded me of the pressure and expectations placed on today’s leaders. And the pressure mounts. Read More

I attended a very interesting discussion group last week on Storytelling organized by the American Marketing Association. This blog post summarizes the takeaways worth considering. Read More

If you decide that 2013 is the year to sell out there is a key process you need to pass - the Due Diligence Test. To beat the odds of 1 in 6000 (27.3m US businesses, only around 6000 will exit this year for $10m or more) you will need to pass through this rigorous process.Many fail this test. My re Read More