ScaleX™ Insider Podcast

In today's episode, I'm delighted to introduce Ryan Gottfredson PhD who is the cutting-edge mindset author of 'Success Mindsets: The key to unlocking greater success in your life, work and leadership'. Ryan is also a researcher and consultant and helps improve organisations, leaders, teams, and employees by improving their mindsets.

He also works with organisations to develop their leaders and improve their culture in what he calls collective mindsets. He has worked with some of the top leadership teams across the globe at CVS Health, Deutsche Telekom and dozens of other organisations. As a respected authority on leadership management and organisational behaviour, Ryan has published over 15 articles across a variety of journals and his research has been cited over 2000 times since 2014.

Ryan is currently a leadership and management professor at the College of Business and Economics at California State University, Fullerton. He holds a Ph.D. in Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources from Indiana University and a B.A. from Brigham Young University.

Key points we discuss:

• The importance of psyche and an understanding of your mindset when leading a scaling business
• What it means to have a growth-oriented mindset and we explore what Ryan terms mindset 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 and how we can elevate ourselves to a 3.0 mindset
• How to create a stronger and more positive culture by developing leaders in a culture of collaboration.
• The focus on vertical development to encourage transformational changes and what we mean by vertical development
• The importance of being agile and future ready and how we sometimes risk more by not doing something and holding on to what we already know can prevent us from scaling.

Key Takeaway

"There are two different forms of development. Horizontal Development which is when we add knowledge, skills, and capabilities to a leader. The second, Vertical Development is where we elevate a person's ability to make meaning of their world in cognitively and emotionally sophisticated ways."

Contact Ryan

Website: https://ryangottfredson.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryangottfredson/

Useful Resources

The Mindset Test: https://ryangottfredson.com/personal-mindset-assessment

Purchase the Book, 'Success Mindsets: The key to unlocking greater success in your life, work and leadership'.

• https://amzn.to/3A81wXB - Amazon.co.uk
• https://amzn.to/3nxEgxf - Amazon.com

Recommended Reading

• Mindset, Changing the Way You think to Fulfil Your Potential by Carol Dweck
• Think Again by Adam Grant
• Principles by Ray Dalio
• Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins
• Leadership and Self Deception by The Arbinger Institute
• Bonds That Make Us Free by C. Terry Warner (which Ryan highly recommends)

About the Host Director and Founder of Simple Scaling, Brendan brings 25 years' experience of scaling businesses. Previously, Brendan spent 16 years as a global business leader with CDE, 12 of those as Group MD, steering the company through the global financial crisis to considerable strategic growth success with offices now in 6 continents employing almost 700 people across the world (from 15) and 25X revenue growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-mcgurgan-11854a13/

https://simplescaling.com/meet-the-team

In today's episode, I'm delighted to introduce Myriam Sidibe. Myriam is one of the world's leading experts of brands that drive health outcomes through mass behavioural change. During her 15-year career at Unilever Myriam spearheaded a movement - To change the hand washing behaviour of one billion people globally, which she achieved in 2019.

Myriam passionately believes that more of the private sector should consider mission-led marketing, especially during the pandemic, when many people are looking to business for real leadership. Incredibly, she also conceived and helped establish the multi award-winning UN recognised Global Hand Washing Day which is now celebrated annually in over 100 countries. Her 2014 Ted talk, 'The Simple Power of Hand Washing' has been viewed more than one million times.

Originally from Mali, Myriam lives in Kenya and is currently on sabbatical from Unilever to Harvard Kennedy School where she is the Senior Fellow at the Mossavar Rahmani Centre. Myriam is a Board Member of WaterAid and the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust, was a Commissioner for the Lancet on the Future of Health in Africa and an Honorary Assistant Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

She is the author of Harvard Business Review – 'Marketing Meets Mission' as well as the book 'Brand on a Mission – How to Achieve Social Impact and Business Growth through Purpose'. Myriam was unsurprisingly recently honoured as one of the 100 most influential Africans of 2021.

Key points we discuss:

• The importance of purpose and vision and being a brand on a mission
• How Myriam went from being hired as a partnership manager to achieving her vision of reaching one billion people to wash their hands - changing behaviour positively for good
• How finding the right business model can be critical to scaling your business
• How purpose can be profitable and the importance and need for having a real purpose
• Why marketing is the most important function of a company
• What it takes to drive business growth and create real change in the world

Key Takeaway

"Profit can be purposeful, and purpose needs to be profitable."

Contact Myriam

Website: https://myriamsidibe.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/myriam-sidib%C3%A9-she-her-2516254/?originalSubdomain=ke

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myriamonamission/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Myriam_Sidibe

The Purpose Tree

The Baobab tree with its five deep roots brings the purpose to life with benefits to the business, society and the environment. It is based on five key principles including behaviour change, partnerships, brand advocacy, measurement and winning corporate support. To find out more, about The Purpose Tree, read the Harvard Business Review Article in Useful Resources.

Useful Resources

Harvard Business Review: Marketing Meets Mission https://hbr.org/2020/05/marketing-meets-mission

Buy the book

'Brand on a Mission – How to Achieve Social Impact and Business Growth through Purpose'.

Amazon.com: https://amzn.to/3f71UMk

Amazon.co.uk: https://amzn.to/332DJvV

Routledge Taylor & Francis https://bit.ly/3teYi36

About the Host Director and Founder of Simple Scaling, Brendan brings 25 years' experience of scaling businesses. Previously, Brendan spent 16 years as a global business leader with CDE, 12 of those as Group MD, steering the company through the global financial crisis to considerable strategic growth success with offices now in 6 continents employing almost 700 people across the world (from 15) and 25X revenue growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-mcgurgan-11854a13/

https://simplescaling.com/meet-the-team

In today's episode I'm delighted to introduce Sam Watson Jones.

Sam is the Co-Founder and President of Small Robot Company, an innovative business which is reimagining farming to make food production sustainable. Using robotics and artificial intelligence, they have created an entirely new model for ecologically harmonious, efficient, and profitable farming, Per Plant farming. Small Robot company was highly commended in the Heroes of Net Zero competition at the COP26 Summit and has a mission to transform farming, make it more sustainable and are committed to net zero emissions.

I'm really excited to share this conversation with you as going green and sustainable is not only beneficial for businesses across the world; it also maximises the benefits from an environmental focus in the long-term.

Key points we discuss:

• How someone from a fourth-generation family-owned farming business is pioneering technology to improve modern farming towards averting a potential global crisis.
• How Sam overcame a lack of investor appetite to scale a business that has achieved £4m investment through the crowdfunding platform, CrowdCube.
• How new opportunities to scale can be found by changing industry paradigms.
• The core principles behind innovative change.
• How time away from the business can lead to more productive workdays.

Key Takeaway

"We should be using technology to transform the way we take decisions and transform the way we take action so that in the farming industry we stop doing things inaccurately and improve how we interact with the environment."

Contact Sam

Website: https://www.smallrobotcompany.com/

Same Watson Jones LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-watson-jones-93725860/?originalSubdomain=uk

Small Robot Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/small-robot-company-limited/

Twitter: @smallrobotco

Crowdcube: https://www.crowdcube.com/

About the Host Director and Founder of Simple Scaling, Brendan brings 25 years' experience of scaling businesses. Previously, Brendan spent 16 years as a global business leader with CDE, 12 of those as Group MD, steering the company through the global financial crisis to considerable strategic growth success with offices now in 6 continents employing almost 700 people across the world (from 15) and 25X revenue growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-mcgurgan-11854a13/

https://simplescaling.com/meet-the-team

In today's episode I am delighted to introduce Lee Brower.

Lee is the Founder of Empowered Wealth, LLC, and the creator of The Business Family Coach®, a revolutionary program for entrepreneurs and business leaders. Using a proprietary coaching model, The Business Family Coach® applies the Empowered Wealth System™ in both businesses and families. The result is not only success and prosperity but sustainable prosperity™.

His breakthrough concepts on empowering wealth are influencing leadership across private homes and small businesses to public corporations and large educational institutions.

He co-authored Wealth Enhancement & Preservation and in his latest book, The Brower Quadrant, he shares the specifics of applying the Empowered Wealth principles.

I'm really excited to share this conversation with you because Lee is a visionary in thought and action and a true "change agent". He is dedicated to revolutionising how family-owned businesses create and nourish their wealth — at home, at work and beyond.

Key points we discuss:

• How extending your reach with purpose and running a company with gratitude attracts more of the people and the business (work) you want.
• The importance of being in motion, having a determined focus and an open mind can lead to bigger and better opportunities.
• What we mean by a positive growth culture and how scaling businesses with a strong culture are the businesses that make better decisions.
• How principles are "values in action" with lots of great examples from Lee.

Key Takeaway

"The difference between values and principles is that principles are values in action."

Contact Lee

https://leebrower.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-brower-0365374/

About the Host Director and Founder of Simple Scaling, Brendan brings 25 years' experience of scaling businesses. Previously, Brendan spent 16 years as a global business leader with CDE, 12 of those as Group MD, steering the company through the global financial crisis to considerable strategic growth success with offices now in 6 continents employing almost 700 people across the world (from 15) and 25X revenue growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-mcgurgan-11854a13/

https://simplescaling.com/meet-the-team

In today's episode I'm speaking with Patrick McKeown.

Patrick is a world-renowned author and breathing practitioner.

In a career spanning 20 years and having trained 1000's of people around the world Patrick has become a best-selling author and expert on the topic of optimal breathing for improved health, well-being and performance.

Among his many books, two have consistently remained in the top ten best sellers on Amazon.com: 'Close Your Mouth' and 'Asthma Free Naturally'.

One of his more recent books 'The Oxygen Advantage®' is based on 4 years of scientific research and tailors breathing exercises for anyone seeking to improve their performance inside and out of the office. We also delve into his most recent book Atomic Focus, a wonderfully well written and accessible book for anyone curious about breathing practices for performance.

Following last week's episode with Dr Alan Watkins where we touched on the importance of rhythmic breathing, I'm really excited to share this conversation with you because today we go much deeper on the topic and Patrick's message is simple: how you breathe will affect your overall performance.

Key points we discuss:

• Patrick's own discovery of finding purpose that suited his character and abilities
• How your ability to concentrate and focus as well as your everyday energy is directly related to how well you sleep and breathe
• The effects of breathing patterns on heart rate variability and decision-making
• How if we can control our breathing, we can control our mind and comfortably deal with stress
• How we can sabotage ourselves with our own thoughts
• Tips on every day breathing covering the various types including 'invincible breathing'

Key Takeaway

"You don't have control of your mind if you don't have control of your breathing".

Useful Links

How breathing can help you make better decisions: Two studies on the effects of breathing patterns on heart rate variability and decision-making in business cases

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30826382/

Contact Patrick

https://oxygenadvantage.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mckeownpatrick/?originalSubdomain=ie

About the Host Director and Founder of Simple Scaling, Brendan brings 25 years' experience of scaling businesses. Previously, Brendan spent 16 years as a global business leader with CDE, 12 of those as Group MD, steering the company through the global financial crisis to considerable strategic growth success with offices now in 6 continents employing almost 700 people across the world (from 15) and 25X revenue growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-mcgurgan-11854a13/

https://simplescaling.com/meet-the-team

In today's episode I am delighted to introduce Dr. Alan Watkins.

Alan is the CEO & Co-Founder of Complete Coherence. His ambition is to accelerate the development of leaders globally and reduce human suffering. He believes that every single person can become a better, more complete, and effective human being.

He is a global thought leader on human performance, complexity and well-being and draws on his background as a physician and neuroscientist.

I'm really excited to share this conversation with you because Alan has created the formula to align our bodies and our minds so that we can do well in our careers, relationships and just about everything else. Today we discuss:

• The important differences between ambition, strategy, and purpose
• How human performance is not a mystery when we look at how we behave from a biological, emotional, and feeling driven point-of-view
• What creates consistent performance
• The 3 Chasms of Scaling
• The three big 'Es' to boost energy
• The 4 levels that we can't see that we are driven by
• How the ability to adapt to change can offer you a competitive advantage in a world that is getting faster.

Key Takeaway

"The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you discover why you were born".

Useful Links

• Heart Rate Variability – Complete Coherence, Coherent Heart Trainer - Download the app on Apple and other platforms
• Website: https://complete-coherence.com/
• Complete Coherence LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/complete-coherence/
• Alan Watkins LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dralanwatkins/

About the Host Director and Founder of Simple Scaling, Brendan brings 25 years' experience of scaling businesses. Previously, Brendan spent 16 years as a global business leader with CDE, 12 of those as Group MD, steering the company through the global financial crisis to considerable strategic growth success with offices now in 6 continents employing almost 700 people across the world (from 15) and 25X revenue growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-mcgurgan-11854a13/

https://simplescaling.com/meet-the-team

In today's episode I am delighted to introduce Sherry Coutu CBE.

Sherry is the founder of the UK ScaleUp Institute, which was incidentally a major inspiration for the creation of Simple Scaling. She is a serial entrepreneur and an Angel Investor in more than 70 companies. Sherry is highly accomplished and is currently a non-executive Director of Pearson plc, London Stock Exchange plc, DCMS, Workfinder, and Raspberry Pi.

Since founding, scaling, floating and exiting interactive investor (a company now estimated to be worth almost £1.5bn), Sherry has accumulated decades of experience chairing FTSE companies, acting as Senior Independent Director, Chairing Remunerations Committees, Nominations Committees and serving on Audit Committees.

Philanthropically, she supports Founders4Schools, Digital Boost, and Cancer Research UK. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to entrepreneurship in the New Year's Honours List 2013 and she was commissioned by the UK Government in 2014 to author the Scaleup Report on UK Economic Growth.

Although, not one for the spotlight she has quietly built a reputation as an instrumental figure in the UK's thriving tech scene over the last two decades.

I'm really excited to share this conversation with you because Sherry has made extensive connections between people and technology helping millions of people's lives become easier.

Today we discuss:

• How talent is the lifeblood of any organisation and is one of the keys to scaling a business
• Sherry's knack of spotting a problem and then putting a team together to create a solution
• Removing systematic barriers to scaling in communities
• Why it is important to build peer groups when scaling a business – no one has all the answers
• Why you need to think about what customers need, where there are gaps in the market and what doesn't exist but should exist.

Key Takeaway

"The businesses that scale the most are those that are a talent magnet."

Contact Sherry

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coutu/

About the Host Director and Founder of Simple Scaling, Brendan brings 25 years' experience of scaling businesses. Previously, Brendan spent 16 years as a global business leader with CDE, 12 of those as Group MD, steering the company through the global financial crisis to considerable strategic growth success with offices now in 6 continents employing almost 700 people across the world (from 15) and 25X revenue growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-mcgurgan-11854a13/

https://simplescaling.com/meet-the-team

In today's episode I'm delighted to introduce John Spence.

John is recognised as one of the top business and leadership development experts in the world alongside the likes of Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Jeff Bezos. At 26 years old, John was appointed as CEO of an international Rockefeller foundation, overseeing projects across 20 countries. He is the author of four books.

I'm really excited to share this conversation with you because John has built his entire career on "Making the Very Complex… Awesomely Simple".

Today we discuss:

• John's secret to excelling in college after a bad start - offering 3 tips to help anyone get the most out of an educational experience
• How at the age of 26 he found himself in an important leadership position with Rockefeller
• Whether leaders are born or taught and the importance of emotional intelligence
• The importance of leaving a legacy
• The significance of adaptability
• The formula for business excellence
• How culture eats strategy for breakfast and culture is cash
• 4 Ps of expert performance and the 6 things 'A - Players' look for when considering being a part of your team and business.

Key Takeaway

"You must have a vivid, compelling and well communicated vision and strategy for growth. The vision is the thing that keeps everyone aligned and excited and helps them understand the role they play in the organisation.

The Purpose of an organisation is equally important. It plays to the noble purpose that you serve.

People will get out of bed and go to work for a pay check but they will jump out of bed and do world class work for a purpose."

Contact John

https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbspence/

About the Host Director and Founder of Simple Scaling, Brendan brings 25 years' experience of scaling businesses. Previously, Brendan spent 16 years as a global business leader with CDE Global. He spent 12 of those as Group MD and navigated 911, the dot com collapse and the global financial crisis steering the company to considerable strategic growth success with offices now in 6 continents employing almost 700 people across the world (from 15) and to 25X revenue growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-mcgurgan-11854a13/

https://simplescaling.com/meet-the-team

In today's episode I'm delighted to introduce Claire Colvin. Claire has worked as a partner to business leaders and entrepreneurs of high growth businesses helping them to scale through their people. As the former Talent Director on the Board of a rapidly growing global organisation, Claire built the optimum people centred structures and systems to enable the company to significantly scale across 6 continents. Prior to that, she spent almost 15 years with an award winning, technology SME, which operated in a highly competitive environment.

Finding great talent is the #1 reason why businesses are unable to scale. In 2019, Claire became my business partner and we set out on a journey of discovery to extensively research exemplars of scaling to identifying the key attributes that made them successful.

In today's episode, Claire and Brendan talk about:

• Their favourite moments from Season Two
• The importance of slowing down to go faster
• The importance of setting a vision
• How paying your communication debts can make you feel better
• Why we need to take the complex out of lean
• Everything we do as leaders should be to enable those around us to be successful
• We are not always appointing the right people into leadership roles and when we do we're not developing them to be able to communicate with influence
• The three underlying values instilled into a RAF Fight pilot are humility, approachability and credibility
• Companies who had a purpose aligned to the UN SDGs did 11% better in terms of their profitability than those without

Timeless takeaways

• Tom Kolditz - It's not all about you.
• Amy Rowlinson - Are we living or are we existing?
• Maura Nevel Thomas – Make a choice or live a life of distraction.

Key Takeaway

If you're constantly affirming to yourself that you're not good at something, then ultimately that will trigger certain thought patterns, which will determine how you act and the results that you get. That inner work, understanding that your subconscious is actually the operating system or paradigm or collection of thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs is actually our programming.

Contact Claire

https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-colvin-586a162b/

About the Host

Director and Founder of Simple Scaling, Brendan brings 25 years' experience of scaling businesses. Previously, Brendan spent 16 years as a global business leader with CDE, 12 of those as Group MD, steering the company through the global financial crisis to considerable strategic growth success with offices now in 6 continents employing almost 700 people across the world (from 15) and 25X revenue growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-mcgurgan-11854a13/

https://simplescaling.com/

In today's episode I'm delighted to introduce Marga Hoek, a member of Thinkers50. Marga is that rare combination: a true visionary on sustainable business and capital and a successful, innovative business leader who understands and applies the commercial realities of business. Marga is also the award-winning author of the Trillion Dollar Shift which is the first ever business book on the opportunities that the UN's Sustainable Development Goals open to business and capital. It features over 50 inspiring case studies, across every sector from agriculture to energy to ICT and advanced technologies.

As the most appreciated speaker on sustainable business and capital, she is considered one of the most influential thought leaders leading the way in the transition towards a sustainable world. Marga was the CEO of three businesses and board member of many international companies.

In today's episode, Marga talks about:

• How sustainable business is good business
• How tech can help businesses meet sustainability goals
• How tech can be good for the planet
• Businesses don't have to make a choice between profit and sustainability
• The breakthrough in setting the UN's Sustainable Development Goals
• How SMEs can leverage the Sustainable Development Goals to scale with purpose
• Why businesses cannot survive in a collapsing world
• How the COVID crisis brought a lot more awareness about sustainability
• How business leaders can create a more sustainable business and the benefits
• Why your clients, your customers and your employees expect you to be sustainable
• Why the majority of millennials want to work for a purpose driven company
• How an organisation can become sustainable
• Why companies with a purpose attract better talent, clients and more profit
• Why the Sustainable Development Goals provide a framework for companies who may struggle with the whole concept of purpose.
• The five qualities of an SDG leader
• The importance of bold objectives
• How gender equality equals growth
• Advanced technologies and what to do with them

Key Takeaway

If you are an SME and want to become sustainable, choose one or two things to begin with. You can't do everything. Focus on the things that will make a difference for your clients, tie into your markets and help you to grow as a business.

Contact Marga

https://www.linkedin.com/in/margahoek/

Orsted Energy

The World's most sustainable energy company, and a global leader in the transition to green energy https://orsted.co.uk/

About the Host

Director and Founder of Simple Scaling, Brendan brings 25 years' experience of scaling businesses. Previously, Brendan spent 16 years as a global business leader with CDE, 12 of those as Group MD, steering the company through the global financial crisis to considerable strategic growth success with offices now in 6 continents employing almost 700 people across the world (from 15) and 25X revenue growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-mcgurgan-11854a13/

https://simplescaling.com/meet-the-team