As a co-founder of Leaders on Demand we spend a lot of time working with founder led businesses. We're often asked how we've built Leaders on Demand - here's a couple of questions I ask mysef to support and guide my leadership and priorities - relevant for founders and executives.
- Creating space to reflect and reset is entirely on me
it's easy being on the treadmill, mindlessly moving towards the next deadline, client deliverable, end of term, EOFY. Pausing, creating time to reflect on lessons learnt is entirely up to me. I rarely learn and shift unless I do this. I have autonomy over my calendar (even amongst competing priorities of client, business, personal and family)
- What does success look like?
Building a business its easy to get caught in the trap of financial metrics only. Are we meeting targets for revenue growth, profit growth, how many leaders in the team to meet client demand?
But there's plenty of other metrics to consider.... How do I want to feel? Am I in alignment with my values? Am I doing work that matters and with people I enjoy working with? How much ease is there in the business/life? See next point..
- Am I leading sustainably?
I've ended up living decades in fast/high stress mode and not given my body time to reset. Decades of working in professional services, being known for being calm under pressure and parachuting into high stakes situations. I loved it but it broke my body a couple of times.
I'm learning that sustainable high performance requires significant periods of rest, recharge and reset for me. I cannot deliver the success I want if I run at an unsustainable pace. Sprints, fine, but recovery after! Plenty of research backs up the idea of the 'Corporate Athlete' and I can see the benefits of prioritising time for my health and wellbeing as foundation for leadership success. It's something I've found a sweet spot in working with c-suite leaders on as well and I love it.
- What systems can we create for more 'easy' mode rather than 'hard' mode?
Decision fatigue gets me over time. We've all been there. Over 7 years of building LOD, the more we invest in systems, the easier scaling the business has become. But, it takes an investment of time and money upfront to build the system.
So, the question when I'm repeating decisions/responses/calendars/processes, is always, how can I make this easier? Invariably, it's a system that needs establishing. I am always reminded by James Clear that systems beat habits so I've become better at working out where we need to invest.
For relationship management (client and team) that's meant significant investment into our CRM (Hubspot) and then integrating our tech stack with document management and Microsoft. Investment upfront but moves us more to 'easy' mode.
For managing my energy and performance that's meant structuring my week to reduce context switching and enable more time in flow. Mondays are prioritised for 'Run the Business' days. Tuesday - Thursday are client days. Friday are my 'combo' day - team meetings, planning, mop up and recharge. Of course there are times when I make exceptions but having the system in place reduces decision fatigue and shifts me more to 'easy' rather than 'hard' mode.
- Doing what you love is better with people you enjoy spending time with
If you've not heard me before, I'll say it again. Choosing my cofounders to build and work with has been as big a life decision as choosing who to marry.
Working alongside Stew and Hewish is an absolute privilege. They are smart, funny, strategic, values led and care deeply about what we're building at Leaders on Demand. There are of course moments where we press each other's buttons (healthy conflict is important!) but I am reminded constantly of the joy it is to work alongside humans that I happily spend my free time with. I realise how unusual this is in the business world.
Likewise, the incredible team we've built at Leaders on Demand. Our application process is considered, intensive and sometimes slow. We want to get to know the executives joining our team. How they lead, what their sweet spot is, how they like to operate. I am so proud of the leaders who've chosen to join us and share their execution capacity with our clients. Their generosity, drive to make an impact and how they lead reminds me that we're on the right path.
Finally, we wouldn't have a business without the clients who've called (and continue to do so on repeat). These are the CEOs, the board directors, the shareholders who are focussed on delivering impact, building capability and delivering on their ambitions. I love spending my time with these leaders who are willing to do things differently and think about execution firepower as dynamic rather than constrained by the existing team.
So, what's next? I remember a conversation with Hewish many years ago where we ended up white-boarding this this Venn diagram... it's stood the test of time over the past 7 years of business building and is a good guide for me over the next. What does this shift for you as a leader?
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