PJ Tips for leaders to improve business, change, performance, culture, teams and commercial success

In this, the 15th Episode of PJ Tips Leading Business Change, we are joined by special guest Ralf Specht discussing 'Why Business Must Have Soul'

The purpose of these podcasts is to inform and inspire listeners through practical insights from exceptional leaders. So it is with great pleasure that in this podcast we meet and hear from Ralf Specht, who, together with a couple of colleagues, founded the global Customer Experience Agency SPARK 44 ten years ago. Spark 44 went from start up - with no Head Office - to 4 global offices in year one, to 19 offices in 18 countries within ten years. 

There is much to be learned from Ralf, working in what was in essence a 'virtual' start up, where zoom was normal as the teams connected, communicated and operated globally. Spark was set up with one P&L, to avoid competition for revenue, and to give customers the best experience the business could offer and 'make amazing things happen'.

Ralf shares how they moved from an idea to a business plan, to running a business in a few months and with four global offices in just months. The start up was a Joint Venture with Jaguar Land Rover, and was the first JV of its kind in the industry.

In the podcast Ralf talks about the purpose and culture of Spark 44, how they set about creating a culture - from start up - where people could have challenging and creative conversations safely, make amazing things happen whilst working remotely in many aspects. In addition, Ralf gives practical insights into leading across many countries and cultures. 

Through out his many years managing and leading businesses Ralf has unearthed the purpose and power of deep seated Purpose, which, when lived in a very practical way, he calls Soul. His view is that businesses must have Soul, and he is on a mission to make Soulless companies a thing of the past. 

Its very well worth listening to Ralf talk about the how he defines Purpose and Soul, and differentiates between the two. 

It’s no secret that a shared purpose is crucial for the success and longevity of an organisation and in fact, purpose-driven companies grow three times faster than their competitors, and they enjoy higher rates of customer and employee satisfaction. Yet when it comes to envisioning and creating a Corporate Soul, far too many companies are left in the dark.

Ralf has created the SOUL SYSTEM which is about very clearly having shared purpose and understanding, and helps you move from the dark to the light. He further shares data as to the value of being a Soul-full company and some practical tips in how to find and develop Soul in the business. 

If you are interested in how and why purpose can elevate your people and business, this podcast is well worth a listen. There really is no room for soul less companies, and the future businesses must find their purpose and soul if they are to compete on a higher level in the 'new world' 

This PJ Tips podcast on Leading Business Change is hosted by PJ Stevens and features Ralf Specht founder of Spark 44, if you would like to find out more about PJ or Ralf, or share your needs and thinking about leasing business change, purpose or culture please get in touch. 

[email protected] 

#pjtips #leadingbusinesschange #culture #purpose #change #soul #corporatesoul #businessambition #remoteworking #futureproof #leadership 

In this episode of PJ Tips podcast series Leading Business Change, guest Matthew Parker CEO of Babble talks openly about his leadership experiences and tips for Buy and Build growth strategy. He is man a mission to raise a lot of charity cash through cycling….

There are many articles from leading consultancies and advisory forms that 70% of M&A fail – or fail to meet expectations. I asked Matthew his thoughts on this, what he thinks the challenges are to delivering M&A more efficiently and effectively, and specifically how he leads through this change to de-risk the journey and improve performance. 

Within the podcast, he answers questions and and discusses topics about leadership, business, change and M&A including:

Is he an entrepreneur? What is his role, and perhaps more importantly, how do CEO's like Matt and companies like Babble who come in and buy enterprise businesses and OMBs, engage with the owner who may be an entrepreneur. Having listened to this podcast, I wonder what you think Matthews key role and responsibilities are? 

He talks about the similarities and differences between PE Private Equity and VC Venture Capital and what might suit you. He also talks about when is it right to seek such investment, and some of the impacts ( highs and lows) of being acquired?

I found it fascinating hearing about the importance that Matt places on relationships in the acquisition process. His investment in this is notable. As he says, why would you go through an acquisition and buy a business and not invest in getting to know people, communicating, listening and building relationships and trust. 

Could you imagine buying a business and then those people or employees who work in the business decide they don't to work for a new owner? 

I asked Matthew about leadership and how to win hearts and minds of the people and leaders in the company you acquire, and how to integrate regarding culture, for example. If you are interested in practical insights and tips on engaging and integrating people, this podcast is for you. 

De-risking any change, project or M&A is a leadership responsibility, yet I believe not enough understanding around this and not enough attention is paid to it. Listen to Matthews thoughts on this and what he does to reduce potential risks and improve performance.  

Really hope you enjoy this podcast and that there are useful and practical tips to help you lead business change. 

This podcast is hosted by me, PJ Stevens with guest Matthew Parker, CEO of babble, talking ‘leading business change', if you want to find out more about Babble you can visit babble.cloud  and if you want to message me then use pj @ pjstevens.co.uk

In this episode of my podcasts on Leading business Change, my guest Daksh Gupta - the automotive authority who leads Marshall Motor Group - talks about his Leadership Principles.

There is a lot of talk about the theory of leadership principles and you can read dozens of articles by experts purporting to know what these principles should be. In this podcast on leading business change, Daksh will share how he lives leadership principles in a very practical way. If you want to hear insightful, informative and practical leadership principles, this is the podcast for you. 

From a business perspective, Daksh talks about Marshall Motor Group's phenomenal financial figures this year, and how this performance relates to the wider market. He explains how they have looked after their staff, backdated pay and repaid government furlough loans, and still posted incredible profit numbers.

Importantly Daksh shares insights into his personal motivational drives, deep seated beliefs and leadership principles. These principles help him navigate the day to day business and enable him to manage relationships with investors and stakeholders. Can you imagine telling investors you believe its more important to repay loans and back date staff pay before thinking about any directors bonuses or shareholder payments? 

Daksh has some very strong views on behaving and leading in a way that creates a culture where staff feel respected, valued and can be at their best. He talks openly about keeping staff safe in Covid crisis and indeed he made the decision to close showrooms before the government announcement in March 2020.

Finally, we talk EV electric vehicles, and my guests shares his views on leading the change to drive EVs and why he now drives an electric vehicle. Can you guess what car he drives?  

#LeadingBusinessChange #LeadershipPrinciples #Culture #OutPerformance #Stakeholders #Leadership #Purpose #PJTips #Podcast #electricvehicles #CEO #Board

What is Mental Toughness and why does it matter in our lives? 

In the podcast in the PJ Tips series on Leading Business Change, Penny Mallory, former Rally Champion with Ford, TV Presenter and professional Speaker talks about Mental Toughness. Did you know there is a very clear definition of mental toughness and that you can measure it? 

My question to Penny was if you are not mentally strong, does that mean we are mentally weak? This is not the case and Penny explains why, and importantly how to develop our metal strength and well being. 

What are the four components of mental toughness that you can measure, you'll have to listen to find out. In isolation the four components are doubtless very useful, but in combination, you can feel the power from them as Penny discusses them in some detail. 

My assumption is we don't need more theories of leadership, and that people want insights and actions to develop practical leadership. In this podcast, Penny talks about the very practical leadership elements of mental toughness, from the individual level of living and developing mental well being and toughness - and shares her intensely personal story -  through to the value and importance of mental toughness in teams and organisations. 

One of the toughest team environments is probably being in a Rally Pit Crew, changing tyres, servicing and repairing cars in the middle of the night on a Rally Stage, often in rain and snow, out in the open in freezing conditions. Penny offers first hand insight into Driving Rally Cars flat out through the forest and working in a Championship Winning Rally Team at Ford. Has Penny got the credibility and authority to talk about Mental Toughness, you bet your **** she does! 

I admire Penny on many levels, but why I like her so much is she has the wonderful ability to 'cut the crap'. 

In a world where people are under more pressure to manage change and deliver projects, off the back of a very turbulent time for many, I believe Penny's insights into Mental Toughness and how to help yourself be more resilient and able to manage and lead change is even more valuable to individuals, families, communities and businesses. Remember, its people who drive a business forwards or slow it down, therefore investing in people, well being, toughness and leadership makes great business sense. 

I have a few friends struggling with life at the moment, and several couples have split up, and the pressures of Covid are in some way to blame for this. Businesses I work with have people struggling with the notion of coming to the office, travelling, meeting in groups and so on. There is much Dis-Ease in the world. Doctors can help of course, but ultimately I believe our well being is our responsibility, we must help ourselves and help eachother. Penny's four key areas of mental health and toughness are a good starting point for conversations, or you can seek professional support based on the four elements. 

Penny can help you measure and develop Mental Toughness at the individual and team levels, helping you create a better place to work, happier and healthier environment where people have a better chance of flourishing. 

Those of you who know me or have listened to my podcasts will know I often bang on about Purpose and Culture being central to success. Culture is the environment we live and operate in. Creating and developing a Culture we want and need, by design, is favourable for us. 

The Vision and Purpose of Leadership is a hot topic discussed here with Daniel Fitzhenry, businessman and Leader of Southampton City Council. 

In the PJ Tips Leading Business Change series, this podcast looks at the vision and purpose of leadership required to influence and lead others when you have have little or no direct control or authority over them. 

Some business managers may use command and control to 'lead' - or tell - people what to do, which may work in certain circumstances for a limited period. But how do you lead a City, how do you influence and unite people to join a journey together, willingly, playing their part in transforming a City and unearthing and developing its potential for everyone's benefit? 

Leading, or leadership, takes many forms in different contexts, leading people by necessity in crisis or disaster such as a sinking ship scenario or war time is different to leading people on a journey of choice over a long period. Both have a vision and purpose. We look at the latter in this podcast.  

Daniel talks about his views on creating an environment of inclusion and purpose where people want to contribute and collaborate. Remember that people are not forced to do what he wants, they are not forced to follow, so what behaviours does Daniel think is required to lead in a way that people see their purpose and vision come to life as part of the common mission, vision and purpose? 

Why does the City of Southampton have so much potential, and how can we tap into that for all our sakes? Daniel has some very clear views and feels a great sense of responsibility to include the people of Southampton on this journey. 

Interested in football? 

#influencingskills

#football

#europeanfootball

#womensfootball

#cityofculture

#leadershipskills

#leadingbusinesschange

#pjtips

#southamptoncitycouncil

#southampton

#sport

#culture

#maritime

#cruiseindustry 

Listen to Phil Popham on Driving Business Change, episode 10 of my PJ Tips Podcasts on Leading business Change. 

Phil shares insights and information from his senior roles at Jaguar Land rover, his (turnaround) Transformation at Sunseeker as CEO, and more recently leading a bunch of changes at Lotus. Having worked at three Premium British Brands through a raft of changes, acquisitions and investment and owners, Phil is uniquely placed to talk transformation. 

Phil gives tools and techniques to data driven decision making, better decision making processes, improving pride and engagement and of course driving business change, effectively. There are few people more experienced in successful transformations, than my guest on this podcast. 

So if you want to get first hand insights in very practical leadership tips on leading business change, then give tgis podcast your full attention. It was described by one leader who had a preview as a masterclass in transformation. Perhaps thats what we should have called it.....  a masterclass. 

#masterclass #leadingbusinesschange #transformation #drivingbusinesschange #CEO #BoardMember #BritishBusiness #premiumbrands #LandRover #Lotus #Sunseeker #Jaguar #JLR #LotusCars #businessimprovement #engagement 

In this PJ Tips Podcast on Leading business Change with Luke Evans Vice President General Manager, The Estée Lauder Companies, we talk about Luke's Leadership journey, and more recently his thoughts on ripping up the rule book to grow the business through covid, take on other brands, attract and develop new people , and figure out how to interpret the mission in a digital world. 

Given that the beauty industry is very much a personal experience, from trying to buying, listen to how Luke's teams were able to transform the business and grow it, remotely. 

Luke shares some tough insights and challenges, his view of inspirational and practical leadership, and why sometimes you need to rip up the rule book, listen and take massive action. 

Luke's energy is high, his drive clear and if you cut him in half he'd read 'Go for it'. 

For a fascinating insight into leading people and business through change, check out the podcast. 

#leadingbusinesschange #transformation #change #leadership #beauty #beautyindistry #business #digital #peoplefirst #performance #businessambition 

In this PJ Tips podcast Great British Athlete, Olympian and World Championship Gold medallist Roger Black shares his insights into the importance of having a clear shared vision, golden team work and planning to win.

If you want to develop teams, team work and performance behind an agreed compelling vision, check out this podcast. 

Partner of the BackleyBlack business with Steve Backley, and owner of Roger Black Fitness - which he took be control of in lockdown - shows the determination and drive of this man. Like a stick of rock, Roger has performance written through out him. Roger Black is a lovely guy, but make no mistake, there's an edge, a golden edge. He is a superb conference speaker, businessman and entrepreneur, and he shares his winning ways in sport and business, in a way that makes the knowledge accessible to listeners.

Hear him talk about the importance of self awareness as a leader, and the difference between leading self and others. 

The highlight in the podcast for me, was hearing the in-depth story of how Roger and team mates Kriss Akabusi, John Regis and Derek Redmond won Gold in the Mens 4x400 Relay at the 1991 World Championships. Roger gives precise details of their winning strategy including what they did - and didn't do - as a team in order to work together to win. I urge you to listen carefully, because sometimes it's what you don't do that leads to victory. The leadership awareness of these athletes is really quite staggering. Roger explains very clearly how were they able to work together as a team (of individual performers) where many other teams have been unable to do so.

I got off the podcast buzzing with energy, hope you do to. More importantly, we both hope that the insights and information shared in some way inspires performance. 

Roger's top tips to leading business change include:

Ensure a clear shared vision

Planning to deliver the winning strategy 

Needs based leadership 

Talk about what needs talking about 

Commit

Leadership awareness 

#leadingbusinesschange #olympics #worldchampions #goldmedal #teamwork #performance #performanceimprovement #planning #winning #pjtips #rogerblack #britishathletics #leadership 

This episode focuses on B Corp, the true value of business, with guests Raoul Perfitt and Tim Wookey sharing details, insights and purpose of their business and B Corp journey. 

Both guests got the B Corp certification at similar times, though both are at very different times in their business life cycle. Tim, entrepreneur and founder of amamus coffee is at the early stages of building a brand, on purpose. Whilst Raoul, MD of Herb UK - organic hair care and colouring products - has been in business 30 years, and is setting up the business for his management team to take the lead.  

Tim and Raoul discuss what B Corp is, the value of B Corp, how being B Corp is part of their mission, vision and purpose, and they think about businesses doing good in the local community and broader global network. Tim talks about his purpose to improve the coffee eco system and well being of those involved in the coffee growing, production, distribution and drinking network. Tim loves coffee and is purposeful through and through. 

Raoul has been doing business on purpose for many years, and so becoming B Corp certified, was in essence an easy journey. He talks about having to check his processes and systems to get B Corp, but their behaviours, beliefs and purpose meant it was a very clear and natural fit. 

So, is being B Corp good for business or just a green washing exercise? Tim and Raoul answer this very clearly. 

Both guests heartily belief that businesses must do good for the sake of people and planet, and can make very good profit in pursuit of that purpose. 

Is B Corp for everyone? Hear what Tim has to say. 

Thank you to my Podcast guests, talking B Corp, as part of the PJ Tips Leading Business Change series:

Tim Wookey, owner of amamus coffee, is proudly B Corp certified, and creates joyful coffee experiences in your workplace, your home and as a gift. 

Raoul Perfitt, Managing Director at Herb UK Ltd, the natural hair colour experts

#Values #business #purpose #change #doinggood #peopleplantetprofit #BCorp #leadingbusinesschange #profit #onpurpose #purposeledbusiness 

PJ Tips Podcast Leading Business Change with Entrepreneur, Businessman and Formula E Team Principal Mark Preston on winning on and off the track and translating those lessons into leading business change.  

The race to win on the track and in business is a podcast with Mark Preston who leads a bunch of start ups in tech, autonomous vehicles, sustainable fuel, first and last mile delivery vehicles. Mark expertly translates theories and models from academia and business, into very simple practical leadership insights that we both hope will inspire listeners. 

Mark is Team Principal of DS Techeetah, the most winning team in Formula E, having both the Team World Championship twice and the Individual Driver Championship 3 times. Mark talks about his career moving through TWR Racing with Tom Walkinshaw and Ron Dennis at McLaren, to starting a Formula One F1 Team in 100 days! 

Listen to Mark talking about his Purpose and the Purpose of Motorsport, and the future of Motorsport, Technology and Mobility. 

Finally, Mark shares his Top Tips for Leading Business Change.....   

What do I value and respect about Mark Preston - apart from the fact he wins! - its the way he gathers information and makes sense of it. Is he the greatest out of the box thinker in motorsport? 

#leadingbusinesschange  #formulae #motorsport  #racing #purpose #purposeledbusiness #dstecheetah #entrepreneur #change #leadership #winning #ontrack #winningways #culture #worldchampions #teamwork #technology #mobility #F1 #Formula1