The New P & L - Principles and Leadership in Business

Welcome to our first The New P&L TO THE POINT FOR 2021!  The New P&L TO THE POINT is a weekly podcast series where, in around 10 minutes each Friday, we break down the key elements of our weekly The New P&L conversations with industry leaders and entrepreneurs.  We offer an opinion on the key points from the conversations and how our listeners may practically apply them in their businesses.  

Today, The New P&L TO THE POINT analyses this week's The New P&L conversation with Hannah Pudner, deputy CEO of international development agency, United Purpose. This episode looks at the power of partnership and purpose and how businesses can reframe the definition of partnership to strengthen the relationship between businesses and their customers. We consider the the importance of purpose in business as a positive binding force and a rallying point for the greater engagement of employees. We also ask what kind of world we want as business people and what we prepared to do to ensure we create a better society and environment for business; as well as considering the real power business leaders have to change the world around them.

If you enjoyed this episode, take a moment to listen to this week's full The New P&L interview with Hannah Pudner - episode 68. 

www.principlesandleadership.com

There is often a fundamental misconception about nature of the relationship between corporates and their partners in the international development and charity sectors. The misconception is based on the belief that it is largely one way – businesses offering money, resources and expertise and those in the international development and charity sectors simply being the recipients of these.

However, the reality is far more nuanced and reciprocal than that. These sectors have a huge amount to teach the corporate world about personal and community empowerment, aligning diverse groups of people around a common sense of purpose or cause, as well as how to effectively manage limited budgets to ensure there is a maximum return for both those you are investing in and those you have invested on behalf of. Over the next few years, as a result of the economic challenges placed on businesses by the pandemic, all of these fundamental characteristics will need to be embraced by businesses too if they are to weather the storm and engage and empower their employees in the process.

This week, we speak to deputy CEO of United Purpose, Hannah Pudner.  Based in Wales, UK, United Purpose is global leader in community-led development and grassroots innovation. For more than 40 years, it has worked with frontline activists, community organisations and individuals to help people across the globe gain agency over their own lives - so they can move ‘Beyond Aid’.

We explore with Hannah the subtleties of the modern relationship between corporates and the charity sector; what moving ‘beyond aid’ actually delivers; the need to understand that ‘not-for-profit’ does not mean ’not-for-loss’; and how the pandemic offers an opportunity to fundamentally and positively change the relationship between donor and recipient at all levels.

To learn more about what Hannah and her team at United Purpose do, please go to: www.united-purpose.org/

This week, The New P&L speaks to serial entrepreneur,  host of The 10 Minute Entrepreneur podcast, and best-selling author of 8 Unbreakable Rules for Business Startup Success, The Greatest Entrepreneur in the World, and World’s Greatest Business Plan, Sean Castrina.  Sean has launched a new business each year for the last 20 years, so in this episode we took the opportunity to discuss with Sean his thoughts on what successful entrepreneurship looks like. 

We discussed with Sean the common sets of characteristics successful entrepreneurs share; how to harness 'employee intrapreneurship' within a business; understanding risk as an entrepreneur; the fundamental differences between the dreaming up of a new idea; and the delivery of it and how companies can keep the passion and innovation going after the founder steps back or leaves. 

To secure a free copy of Sean's book - 8 Unbreakable Rules for Business Startup Success and learn more about what Sean does, please go to: www.seancastrina.com

The New P&L TO THE POINT is a new weekly podcast series where, in around 10 minutes each Friday, we break down the key elements of our The New P&L weekly conversations with industry leaders and entrepreneurs.  We offer an opinion on the key points from the conversations and how our listeners may practically apply them in their businesses.  As it's Christmas this week, we've published our weekly episode a little early! 

Today, The New P&L TO THE POINT analyses this week's The New P&L conversation with Jen Du Plessis, America’s Mortgage Mastery Mentor.  We look at the habitual nature of success and the systems needed to breathe successful thinking into our daily thought processes; the importance of defining and living your values in life and in business; driving decision-making based on facts; and the importance of recognising the difference between principles/strategy and tactics - the need to keep heading in the right direction in business but being flexible enough to change the road to get there when required.

www.principlesandleadership.com

This week, we speak with Jen Du Plessis.  Jen is known as America’s Mortgage Mastery Mentor – a title hard earned over a stellar 37-year career she was consistently listed in the top 1 percent high performer in the US mortgage industry. Jen is also host of two hugely successful podcasts, Mortgage Lending Mastery and Success to Significance – Life After Breaking through Glass Ceiling, and best-selling author of LAUNCH - How to Take Your Business to New Heights. A regular commentator on some of the US most recognised news channels, newspapers and industry journals, Jen is also internationally known as a charismatic keynote speaker.

Jen's back story is a fascinating one.  From very humble beginnings, Jen was adamant she would not let her past determine her future, rose to the very top of her field in a highly competitive and demanding industry, and then went on become a hugely successful speaker, author, and podcast host. Her passion, drive and determination are clear. What surprised us was that despite all this success, Jen's road has also been one of constantly fighting against imposter syndrome, self-doubt and the need to prove herself. A very inspirational 40 minutes of wisdom for entrepreneurs and business people.

To learn more about Jen, her methodology for business success and listen to her podcasts, please go to https://www.jenduplessis.com/

The path of entrepreneurship is rarely a smooth one.  The perceptions so commonly held about the excitement of the entrepreneurial life belie a more pragmatic reality for many - days and days of hard, hard work, hopefully punctuated by pockets of success.  As entrepreneurs, we need to ensure that in the drive to achieve, to win in business and become the successful entrepreneur - the narrative portrayed in the media and a multitude of business - we don't just define ourselves and critically, our self-worth, solely  by professional success. 

Why? Because on those days, weeks or months that we may not win, what does that narrow self-definition then deliver to us in return?  It paradoxically works against us, telling us we are worth less as individuals, because of a temporary professional bump or failure - the antithesis to what we need in our character to push on as entrepreneurs. 

This week, The New P&L speaks to former self-described female Jerry Maguire and hugely successful entrepreneur, Sue Izzo. Sue founded her own sports management agency at 25 and built it into one of the most successful boutique sports management agencies in the US, managing a host of global sports stars and world champions.  After the business was acquired, Sue went on to establish herself as a brand strategist and consultant, working with entrepreneurs and companies across the world to refine their brand and amplify their story. 

But, all that incredible success doesn't tell the full story.  So, we discuss with Sue the reality behind the challenges of building an entrepreneurial business; her highs and the lows; the risks of defining yourself just by your professional successes; how you balance determination, drive and the need to allow yourself to breathe in the process; and the importance of building relationships not just resources in business. 

To learn more about Sue, go to: www.sueizzo.com 

The New P&L TO THE POINT is a new weekly podcast series where, in around 10 minutes each Friday, we break down the key elements of our The New P&L weekly conversations with industry leaders and entrepreneurs.  We offer an opinion on the key points from the conversations and how our listeners may practically apply them in their businesses. 

Today, The New P&L TO THE POINT analyses this week's The New P&L conversation with innovation powerhouse, Tendayi Viki.  The New P&L TO THE POINT considers the definitions of innovation and how they affect the success of it within a business; why innovation should be focused on value creation not product development; the challenges when there is no bridge between the free thinking corporate innovation lab and the business that it is doing the free thinking on behalf of; and why leaders should consider their companies as a 'portfolio' and what that means for how they align innovation, intrapreneurship and collaboration across the business. 

www.principlesandleadership.com

A focused and passionate commitment to innovation has to be one of the prevailing themes that drives all businesses. If you fail to continually focus on genuine innovation  – in your creative thinking, in your people, your processes, your products; over time in the inevitable will come to pass – declining revenues, irrelevant products, disillusioned employees and leaders, frustrated shareholders.  It’s ironic then that something that is so critical to business is also so misinterpreted, misunderstood and so often misaligned with the businesses it is there to serve.

This week, The New P&L – Principles & Leadership in Business podcast series speaks to the innovation powerhouse that is Tendayi Viki. Author of ‘Pirates in the Navy’ and Associate Partner at Strategyzer, Tendayi has helped some of the biggest and most successful global brands to reinvigorate and realign the principles that define their corporate innovation. We discuss with Tendayi how to address the issue that many corporate innovation labs are not fit for purpose when it comes to the demands placed upon them; how you can determine a company’s true commitment to innovation by the reporting structure that exists between the Lab and the CEO; and how unspoken expectations and assumptions within senior management about both the role and the output of a corporate innovation lab can set it up for failure before it has even begun.

www.strategyzer.com 

The New P&L TO THE POINT is a new weekly podcast series where, in around 10 minutes each Friday, we break down the key elements of our The New P&L weekly conversations with industry leaders and entrepreneurs.  We offer an opinion on the key points from the conversations and how our listeners may practically apply them in their businesses. This week, The New P&L's host, Paul, and guest host of this week's The New P&L Culture, Creativity & Competitive Advantage roundtable, Leonie Annor-Owiredu, discuss some of the key points to come out what was an outstanding roundtable panel discussion. 

Leonie and Paul discuss how brands can use culture to bridge the gap between themselves and consumers to create a more holistic exchange; the reasons strategy today can not be a 'one size fits all' approach; the importance of 'signals' when thinking about culture, strategy and interactive collaboration; the challenges of the current agency model when it comes to fostering a more inclusive range of voices and views; and what the future looks like in a world where consumers play more of a leading role in a brand's product innovation. 

www.principlesandleadership.com