Climb In Consulting

Today’s guests are Karina Brown and Jim Stichbury.s Co founders of GroHappy.

GroHappy is a B2B software business that helps companies to give their employees the career development that they crave.

GroHappy's tools and technologies help employees to get clear on their career aspirations, have better conversations about it and discover recommended steps (from podcasts, to courses, to events) to move towards their goals.

I was introduced to Karina in the very early days of GroHappy and I have had the privilege of watching as Karina and Jim take GroHappy from an idea that they worked on in evenings and weekends to a successful, investor backed, tech start up with a growing professional services client base.

I had a great time speaking with Karina and Jim and we cover some really interesting topics in this conversation including:

How Karina and Jim came up with the idea of GroHappy and how they managed the earlier phase of the business to turn it from a side project in to their full time focus.

Karina and Jim’s top tips for prioritisation and productivity when growing a start up.

The importance of advisors when growing an early stage start up and how Karina and Jim identified their gaps and then found advisors to fill them.

The lessons from their recent funding round and their advice for those looking to do the same.

Any much much more!

If you are planning on starting your own business, you have an idea that you’d like to give a go but aren’t sure how to do it or you want to learn how to apply successful start-up principles in your own Consulting career then this episode is a must listen!

You can find out more about Karina and Jim on their LinkedIn

Karina – https://www.linkedin.com/in/karinabrown01

Jim – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesstichbury

If you want to find out more about GroHappy you can check out their website -  http://www.grohappy.co.uk

Specific things we discuss in the show:

Zero to one by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters - http://amzn.eu/d/4aIRRuT

Harry Gaskell - https://www.linkedin.com/in/harry-gaskell-ab94271/?originalSubdomain=uk  

London and partners growth programme - https://business.london/business-growth-programme  

The Design Sprint by Google - http://www.gv.com/sprint/  

The Agile Manifesto - http://agilemanifesto.org/  

Deep Work by Cal Newport - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0349411905/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_O0JUBbCPADQ23  

The Alliance by Reid Hoffman - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1625275773/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_E1JUBb8938SZ6  

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0571339794/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_J3JUBbFFGRDQ2  

Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1784703931/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_-3JUBb3VKXC34   

Exponential Organisations by Salim Ismail et al - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1626814236/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_C4JUBb48HC81D   

Reinventing Organisations by Frederic Laloux - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/2960133501/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_m5JUBb86N2TZ4   

The Lean Start Up by Eric Ries - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0670921602/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_65JUBbT0ND3J1

Today’s episode was prompted by my recent interview with Andrew Denton from Alfa Systems where we discuss the importance of Mentoring.

Mentorship, advice and guidance from senior colleagues and other successful people has been a huge part of my career development and this podcast wouldn’t exist without it.

I’m a big believer in the power of mentorship and as Tony Robbins says “If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you'll achieve the same results.”

Identifying, reaching out to and learning from Mentors is something that I’ve received lots of questions about so I wanted to do a short episode to share my advice for those of you looking to find and learn from mentors, both inside and outside of your firm.

I hope you find this episode useful. If there’s any other topics that you’d like me to do an episode on just drop me an email [email protected]

Today’s guest is Andrew Denton. Andrew is Chief Executive Officer of Alfa Systems, the leading international asset finance and leasing software company. Having joined the company in 1995 he successfully worked his way up, becoming a member of the Board in 2003 as Sales and Marketing Director. He was made Chief Operating Officer in 2010 and became CEO in September 2016.

In addition to his role at Alfa He is also Director and joint founder of the Leasing Foundation, an organisation that supports the leasing and asset finance industry through charitable activities, research and development.

Andrew was recommended to me by two close friends of mine as someone I must get on the podcast and he certainly didn’t disappoint. The advice and insights he shares throughout this interview are fantastic and I had a great time interviewing him.

We cover so much ground in this conversation including:

Andrew’s path to CEO and his advice to those looking to do the same.

The importance of developing sales skills regardless of your role if you’re looking to climb in your company.

What he learnt from Alfa’s IPO and his advice to others who may be considering doing the same.

The importance of finding and building relationships with Mentors to help you accelerate your career.

As my first guest from a listed software and services business it was great to get his unique perspective on the market and advice for others looking to emulate his and Alfa’s success.

You can find out more about Andrew and connect with him through his LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewwdenton/

You can find out more about Alfa Systems at https://www.alfasystems.com  

Specific Things We Discuss:

The blokes guide to pregnancy by Jon Smith  - http://amzn.eu/d/9OF2V2d

The sixty minute father by Rob Parsons - http://amzn.eu/d/girxojz

The Jersey: The All Blacks: The Secrets Behind the World's Most Successful Team by Peter Bills - http://amzn.eu/d/iFCvidm

The Real McCaw: Richie McCaw: The Autobiography by Richie McCaw - http://amzn.eu/d/gBs2iG3

Numis - https://www.numiscorp.com/x/default.html

Barclays - https://www.investmentbank.barclays.com/

Tulchan - http://www.tulchangroup.com/

Whitecase - https://www.whitecase.com/

Alfa’s Non Executive Directors  - https://investors.alfasystems.com/media/board-of-directors

Tim Cook - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Cook

Bill Mcdermott - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_McDermott

Nile Rodgers - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_Rodgers

Madonna - https://www.madonna.com/

Bill Gates - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates

The Gates Foundation - https://www.gatesfoundation.org/

TED interview with Elon Musk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQtMqdYgFH0

Flipboard - https://flipboard.com/

You can find out more about Andrew on his Linkedin page - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewwdenton/

You can find out more about Alfa at https://www.alfasystems.com/eu/

Today’s guest is Tony Restell. Tony is co-founder of Top-Consultant, the industry’s leading career website, and founder of Social-Hire, a social media marketing agency that counts many consulting firms amongst its client base and helps Partners in those firms to generate client leads for their practices.

If you work in the UK Consulting industry then you will know Top-Consultant. It is a site that everyone I know in the industry uses, me included. In my case, Top-Consultant has led me to apply for roles that have turned in to friendships with some of the people who have appeared on this podcast.

 In a world where businesses are being disrupted and challenged almost every day I’ve always admired how Top-Consultant has been able to keep such a dominant market position for so long and Tony was kind enough to share his secrets for this in today’s interview.

We cover so much ground in this conversation including:

How Top-Consultant started and the unusual tactics Tony used to grow the business in its early days.

 How Top-Consultant grew over the years and how Tony and his co-founder were able to stay receptive to changing industry demands to keep their offering front and centre in the market.

 Tony’s advice for other entrepreneurs or those thinking of launching their own business, in tech, consulting or any other field.

And the importance of understanding and leveraging social media like LinkedIn when it comes to building your career or your business.

Tony shares so much great advice in this episode and it was fantastic to speak with someone whose business has been such an important part of the Consulting Industry for so long.

If you’re considering launching your own business or want to understand how you can grow your current business then this episode is a must listen.

You can find out more about Tony on his Linkedin page - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyrestell/

You can find out more about Top-Consultant at http://www.top-consultant.com   

You can find out more about Social Hire at https://www.social-hire.com/

 Specific things we discuss in this show:

 Roland Berger - https://www.rolandberger.com   

Top-Consultant ‘Art of Selling’ training course - http://events.top-consultant.com/uk/careerconference/423/The-Art-Of-Selling-Consulting-Services/

 The 4 hour work week by Tim Ferriss – http://amzn.eu/d/5QUWzpd  

 Dot Com Secrets by Russell Brunson - http://amzn.eu/d/ilGFqsU

Today’s guest is Jo Miles. Jo is an Executive Coach and the founder of Master Your Transition, her Coaching and Consulting business.

Drawing upon two decades of Management Consulting and Coaching expertise, Jo empowers and supports individuals, teams and organisations to explore challenges, gain insight and take practical steps to achieve and sustain change.

Jo is a Coach and trusted advisor to senior Partners at some of the worlds biggest consulting firms and has worked with clients at the likes of Strategy &, Baringa Partners and North Highland to name but a few.

We cover some really interesting topics in today’s interview including:

How Jo became a Coach

What Coaching is, who should consider it and why it’s important for your career.

The common challenges Jo finds clients struggle with and her advice on how to deal with them

How you can tell a good Coach from a bad one and the questions you should ask when assessing whether a Coach is right for you.

The importance of using Coaching as a positive tool for improvement and not a negative tool to deal with poor performance

And much much more!

Jo was a great guest and gave some fantastic insights in to an area of the industry that many people have heard about but very few have experienced.

If you’re looking to take your career to the next level and want to understand more about how Coaching can help you do this then this interview is a must listen!

You can find out more about Master Your Transition at http://www.masteryourtransition.co.uk/ 

You can find out more about Jo on Linked In at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanna-miles-0283461/ 

Specific things we discuss in this show:

Selecting your Coach – following our interview Jo wanted to add a key point on how to select your coach related to understanding their CPD. Enter Jo: “Please note that CPD can mean attending conferences, training courses, academic lectures and supervision.  Supervision is an important aspect of CPD, as it shows Coaches are consciously seeking to develop themselves and their practice through working with a supervisor”

Tatiana bachkirova - https://www.brookes.ac.uk/business/about/staff/myprofile/?wid=bus-academic-list&op=full&uid=p0035809

7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey - http://amzn.eu/d/62NyrJC

The Chimp Paradox by Stephen Peters - http://amzn.eu/d/3aF7ggs

Triggers by Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter - http://amzn.eu/d/3c1Obmh  

Intelligence In The Flesh by Guy Claxton - http://amzn.eu/d/8V5Mv2Z

Act Like A Leader, Think Like A Leader by Herminia Ibarra - http://amzn.eu/d/8j85oGk  

Presence by Amy Cuddy - http://amzn.eu/d/9M6cIKx   

Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk on Power Poses - https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are?language=en  

Mastery by Robert Greene - http://amzn.eu/d/7yuT5uP

Today’s Guest is Matt Rogan, Matt is chairman and co-founder of Two Circles. Exclusively working with sports rights-holders, Two Circles is part strategy consultancy, part digital agency, and part data and analytics house.

Since co-founding the business in 2011, Two Circles has grown rapidly to a team of 150 people across the UK, North America and Europe.

Following the sale of the majority stake in the business to WPP in 2015, Matt took up the role as Chairman. Supporting and challenging the Two Circles management team to deliver bigger and better results across all areas of the business.

In addition to his role at Two Circles Matt is a published author and has been featured in the likes of the Harvard Business Review and the Journal of Sports Management.

We go in to detail on a whole range of topics in this interview including:

What led Matt and his co-founders to start Two Circles and the structures they put in place to set it up for success.

Leading a ‘millennial’ team and the lessons for anyone looking to grow a young, dynamic organisation.

The importance of process and systems in building a business, even at the start up phase, and how this helped Matt and the team grow rapidly avoiding many of the issues that new businesses face.

How Matt and his co-founders achieved work life balance while leading a rapidly growing business.

What to do if you’re a graduate looking to follow a career in sport.

And much much more!

I really enjoyed this conversation with Matt and took so much away from what he had to say. If you’re looking for clear, practical advice on how to grow your own consulting business or practice area then you’re going to love this interview.

You can find out more about Two Circles at – http://insidetwocircles.com/

You can find out more about Matt on Linked In – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattrogan/

And Twitter – https://twitter.com/mattrogansport?lang=en

Or drop him an email at [email protected]

Specific Things We Discuss In the Show:

Lane 4 - https://www.lane4performance.com/

Adrian moorhouse - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Moorhouse

Dom moorhouse - http://dommoorhouse.com/

Greg Searle - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Searle

Mastering Soft Skills by Julian Vyner - http://amzn.eu/d/fsSA1L0

Players by Matthew Futterman - http://amzn.eu/d/fDflklv

Managing the professional services firm by David Maister - http://amzn.eu/d/jc9ee62

This episode was the result of a number of conversations I've had recently with people considering leaving their Consulting firm or the industry in general.

While everyone's situation and reasons for wanting a change is unique I believe that there are some common threads that could help anyone considering a career change, be it within Consulting or outside of it.

In this episode I share the advice I've given during these conversations including:

The questions to ask yourself if you're thinking of leaving your Consulting firm

The 'well trodden paths' that people take after consulting and the good and bad of each

The one thing you should do regardless of what you're thinking of doing next

If you're thinking of where to take your career next, I hope this helps.

Of all of the skills that my guests have said are critical to success in Consulting sales, and being able to sell, is one that comes up time and time again.

Both Stephen Newton and Tim Smeaton highlighted it as one of the key skills you should learn early in your career to help accelerate your success. David Lancefield highlighted it as one of the key skills you need to make Partner in his firm and one of the common things that is missing from those who fail to make it to the top.

With all of these successful leaders talking about how critical sales is I've had a number of you ask me how you can apply this advice if you're at the junior end of your firm and don't have the experience or level in your Consultancy to be able to walk in to a CEO's office and pitch business to them.

This episode is to answer exactly that question. My advice on sales for junior Consultants. How you can help your firm with business development and be seen as someone with an aptitude for sales regardless of how senior or experienced you are.

I hope you find this useful. If you have any feedback or would like me to do similar episodes on other topics just drop me an email - [email protected]

Today’s guest is David Lancefield. David is a Partner in Strategy&, PwC. David is a TEDx speaker and has been featured In the Harvard Business Review, Huffington Post, Financial Times and numerous other publications. He is also the host of his own podcast ‘transformation talks’ which I’d highly recommend checking it out

David’s approach and outlook are hugely refreshing and something that anyone with aspirations of make Partner should take note of. If you want to get a flavour for this you can check him out on twitter @Dlancefield and see the thought provoking posts he puts out on a daily basis.

David has a huge amount of experience and shares so many great insights in this conversation including:

The importance of being yourself at work and what this means both for project managers and project team members.

How to find your sweet spot and let others know what you’re good at.

The importance of feedback both up and down a Consulting firm’s hierarchy and the mistakes people make in giving and receiving feedback that hold them back.

How to make Partner in a big 4 firm and the common mistakes that those who fail to get there make.

The importance of developing and managing your personal brand as a Consultant both within and outside your firm.

And much, much more!

Having listened to the first episode of David’s Transformation Talks I thought this would be a good interview and I have to say it exceeded all of my expectations! In-depth and actionable advice from a senior leader in one of the world’s biggest Consulting firms. I hope you enjoy it.

You can find out more about  David on his Linked In Page https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidclancefield/   

And on Twitter - https://twitter.com/Dlancefield?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor  

Specific Things We Discuss in the show:

Dan Cable - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-cable-a0b581a0

Transformation Talks by PwC - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/transformation-talks/id1400295044?mt=2  

PwC’s apprenticeship scheme - https://www.pwc.co.uk/careers/school-jobs/jobs.html  

David’s TED talk “How business can tap into all of our special needs“ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezXZ4z9QqiI

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - http://amzn.eu/enn0cvN

How will you measure your life? by Clay Christiensen, Karen Dillon and James Allworth - http://amzn.eu/3zScfNe  

Alive at Work by Dan Cable - http://amzn.eu/04NezdI

Today’s guest is Jeff Wellstead. Jeff is CEO of Big Bear Partners and Chief Strategy Officer at GtmHub. Jeff is an expert in helping rapidly growing or hyper growth start ups manage their people challenges effectively.

Before moving in to Consulting Jeff was the VP of Global HR at Message Labs and Global Director of HR at SpinVox.  In both roles Jeff was responsible for helping these rapidly growing starts up overcome the people challenges as they grew and continue their hyper growth trajectories. In the case of SpinVox Jeff oversaw the 9 fold expansion of the team from just 50 people to over 450 in under 2 years!

As a consultant Jeff works with organisations to create the environment to allow their people to thrive and succeed at work while supporting the founding teams in overcoming the  strategic challenges that they face as hyper growth start ups.

We cover some really interesting topics in this conversation including:

How Jeff and the team grew SpinVox so quickly and the challenges they faced along the way

The people and cultural challenges that hyper growth start ups face as they scale and the  warning signs you need to watch out for if you’re growing a business

The importance of understanding where you are in your growth journey and ensuring you build the necessary structures to maintain your unique culture as your firm grows

The importance of employee experience In todays world  and what you should be thinking about if you’re looking to recruit and retain the top talent in the industry

And much much more!

You can find out more about Jeff on her LinkedIn page – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jrwellstead/

You can email Jeff at [email protected]

Specific Things We Discuss in The Show:

Dunbars number - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number  

Message lab - https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/messagelabs  

SpinVox - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpinVox    

Employees First, Customers Second by Vineet Nayar - http://amzn.eu/edvxufq

Exponential Organisations by Salim Ismail, Michael Malone and Yuri van Geest - http://amzn.eu/henljqZ