Congratulations to each and every one of you.
The comments I’m about to make are informed by growing up in a small business family, where I was an unwilling volunteer during school holidays at my father’s factory. It was during those years that I saw the full impact that a small business has on a family.
During my career, I had a small business that I started on the side and ultimately was able to divest. Now, running a global business, I have to tell you that all the leadership principles I learnt in small business are exactly what I employ in running a larger business.
I have a number of reflections to share that may be of some assistance as you run your own successful businesses.
Firstly, you must find time to pause and look at your business from a holistic perspective. The nature of a small business is to jump in, make decisions quickly, with no time to think. However, finding that time to think broadly, allows you to reassess processes, objectives and strategy.
A mentor can be helpful with this. An objective point of view, someone who is going to test and challenge your strategy or ideas, is an effective way of helping you to develop your business without overlooking anything because you’re so close to it.
Second, ensure you’re instilling the most effective culture. To be honest, I used to undervalue culture, but it is so important to get it right. Values matter. And as the leader, you can’t do everything yourself, so it’s important to have a culture in place that the people working with you believe in and appreciate, which will give you the confidence to delegate more effectively and give you more time to think about the bigger picture.
In small business, it can often feel like you’re playing catch-up. This makes not only the skills mix you employ very important, but also your personality mix. Your team’s behaviour and personality is reflective of you and your business. It’s up to you to create the frame and expectation for people to work within. And more and more you should think about the skills you require to reach your objectives. Often these are skills or specialties that you don’t personally possess, meaning you’re looking for skills that complement your own.
Thirdly, a focus on widening the audience of interest in your business is very worthwhile for maintaining business relevance. This has been a significant brand objective for CPA Australia in order to help us build awareness and engagement with our organisation. We had to think deep and hard about our product and services, a career in accounting, and identify what it is about accounting that would interest people. Fundamentally, it came down to how a foundation in accounting can help build you into an aspirational leader. This has been a core message for audiences inside and outside the accounting profession.
For us, online engagement has been a key initiative, as it enables us to have wide-ranging yet personalised interactions with people. And it’s not about the hard-sell about our service – it’s about making ourselves accessible and developing lasting relationships. People value and expect that from brands today.
When you are really focused on your product or service, and you’re short on time, more and more you become insulated and you’re working within, whereas, you’ve got to find ways to make your organisation more community understood and valued.
The fourth is being disruptive, a word that appeared a lot in my school reports. It’s incredible how it has become a buzzword in business. When I refer to it, I’m not talking about technology, in spite of the fact that technology is an important part of it, I’m talking about being willing to hire people that have a disruptive aspect to them, that are going to be curious about potential ways to grow your business and gain an edge over competitors. Empowering this attitude in people is essential.
For CPA Australia, disruption is followed by integration. Our television series, The Naked CEO book, these initiatives are all about offering a variety of ways for people to engage with our brand. The TV series is one way, the book is another, and so too is our career mentoring website thenakedceo.com.
We’re providing various avenues for people to engage or find something in our brand that might be of use or interest to them. All of these initiatives feed into our strategy to broaden the audience of interest in our brand and be recognised as a respected voice in the leadership space.
I will always remember the late Bryce Courtenay saying to me in an interview that he’s never seen more qualified dumb people in the world. While this was jarring to hear, it’s a real reminder that in business and in life, we need to keep our messages and content simple. Increasingly, individuals are bombarded with information and their concentration spans have waned. You must factor these realities into how you communicate.
Finally, you’ll notice the one thing that I haven’t mentioned yet is finance. Of course, financial management is central to every business, but your success rests on first getting the strategy right, building a positive culture and creating sustainable relationships with customers.
From a cash flow perspective, it’s really important to understand that good management rests on the relationships you build with suppliers and customers. Negotiating preferable arrangements are always more successful when relationships have been built respectfully. In short term circumstances, never forget that credit cards properly managed are a very useful tool as you are able to access finance at zero interest.
I admire what all of you do. It’s one thing to be entrepreneurial in a role where someone is paying you a salary; it’s another thing to be entrepreneurial when you’re paying your own salary. Your self-belief is fantastic. Never underestimate culture, the significance of your business in the community, and the tangential benefits that brings.
