On mastery

What skills will you master? Not just this month, or this year. But what skills will you master—over a lifetime?

“Mastery is the best goal.

Because the rich can’t buy it

The impatient can’t rush it

The privileged can’t inherit it

And nobody can steal it. “

— Derek Sivers

Avoiding ambiguity at Audi

I’ve always been a fan of Audi cars. In fact, I’ve had owned consecutive Audis: Audrey, Augustus and Maximus. But recent naming conventions have caused much angst in their line up. Fortunately, they have made a u-turn and reverted to common sense.

Two years after introducing a new naming strategy that saw even numbers applied to electric vehicles and odd numbers to fossil fuel cars, Audi had gone back on its decision. Thank the motoring Lord.

As a leader, you need to keep things simple. And avoid ambiguity at all costs. And as a global leader in the motoring industry, Audi has learned a valuable lesson.

Ambiguity creates confusion and leads to brand erosion. The most successful brands (and leaders) work tirelessly to keep things simple and avoid friction.

(For a satirical view click here).

Love and Leadership

How much do you love what you’re doing?

I’ve always believed that the most successful leaders love what they do. Like really love their work. In fact, there’s probably a direct correlation between successful leadership and love for your work.

Conversely, success won’t be achieved if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing. Perhaps this describes you or a member of your team?

Resigned to the fact

When do you accept a situation is poor and cannot be changed?

For many people this is a regular occurrence. Always accepting fate and ‘unable’ to do anything about it. For others, it’s a challenge. It’s worth a fight. Arguing the case, Being a pain in the backside.

As a leader, you need to pick your battles—and take people with you.

You need to know what is worth fighting for. Think values and beliefs, doing the right thing, or anything within your circle of influence. You need know what is not worth fighting for. When to accept a poor situation. And where focus your efforts.

I believe being resigned to the fact is a skill. And one that comes with experience. In time, you’ll learn that it can become a superpower.

What’s in a name

The concept of TWELVE SCHOLARS has been with me for 21 years. But until now, I’ve always failed to articulate the basic business idea—in simple words.

(Ok, so that’s a bit harsh—it’s a continuous process of evolution).

So what is the basic business proposition? And why should anyone choose Twelve Scholars?

Well, Twelve Scholars is all about step change improvement. Specifically, cohort-based leadership programmes that create step change improvement.

Yes, all our courses are designed for 12 participants.

This cohort-based approach enables our clients to go further, faster and achieve more. And the step change improvement relates to our proprietary EGSP® methodology.

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TLDR. Twelve Scholars specialises in cohort-based leadership programmes that create step change improvement.

Pinball management

How focused are you throughout the day?

Pinball management is associated with an unfocused style of leadership. You’ll have seen it. And perhaps (unwittingly) even subscribe to it.

A lack of focus takes you away from your goals. It makes things harder to achieve in the long run.

A lack of focus causes chaos and confusion. Not to mention conflict and caution.

It’s worth asking yourself is this how you want to spend your days?

Petulance and patience

Petulance is a quality not often admired in leaders.

It doesn’t get you far.

Patience is a different quality that is admired.

Yet too much can be unhealthy.

Petulance is a sign that you’re challenging the status quo.

Patience is an acknowledgment that things take time.

I believe petulance and patience are opposite ends of the spectrum.

Both are required if you’re wanting to create change.

Cats on ketamine

How often do you find yourself herding cats in a meeting?

What about if they’re unconscious, suffer from short-term memory loss or even worse—detached from the meeting itself? I was left in a similar situation recently. And it got me thinking.

In that moment, I needed a better way.

A better way for everyone to conduct themselves. A better definition of what was required.

But I hadn’t done the prep. I hadn’t laid the groundwork.

I hadn’t introduced what acceptable behaviour looked like. And more importantly—what unacceptable behaviour would look like.

Next time, I’ll use the EGSP® Leadership Model.

But next time, I’ll make sure it’s done before the meeting starts.

On chasing perfection

Many leaders will chase perfection, only to end up with poor. Why is that?

Whilst striving for perfection is an admirable quality. A relentless pursuit of perfection will often end in failure.

You run out of time. You run out of money. You p*ss people off along the way.

Poor is what we don’t want to happen. It’s unacceptable.

It’s much better to reframe our deliverables and ensure we deliver satisfactory first. We can then improve and deliver better iterations over time.

Let’s call it an agile approach to leadership.

Reframing failure

What does failure look like to you?

I heard a lovely quote today—from Adam Pearson, the actor and disability campaigner.

“Failure is not the opposite of success. Failure is part of the journey towards success.”

It’s easy to get disheartened by failure. Especially when you’re in a culture that tolerates failure or ridicules success.

However, as a leader, you need to embrace failure—and reframe it at every opportunity.

Leadership is a choice

We can all be leaders—if we choose.

To speak out. Or not.

To stand up. Or not.

To specialise. Or not.

I fervently believe that anyone can be a leader.

All it takes is a little courage.

Avoiding the illiterate class

In a competitive world, how do you get ahead—then stay ahead.

As writer and futurist, Alvin Toffler, said: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

It’s simply your ability to see something new or differently; to learn and unlearn; to react creatively in times of change.

And it’s a learned behaviour.

While some of us may be better at it than others, it’s a discipline. A skill we can cultivate over time. A way of life that starts simply by paying attention. 

DTTTTTYT

I’ve been searching for an articulate way to capture what we do.

Six years on—and I think we’re there.

“Discover trusted tools and techniques to transform your team.”

This is our guiding mission. And I believe it says quite nicely what we’re about.

• Discover—this plays to our policy of pollinating ideas. It also stokes a vision of constantly searching for new ideas, new ways to do things. Never complacent. Always learning.

• Trusted—this plays to our scholarly by nature philosophy. We only promote practical and proven paths.

• Tools and techniques—we prefer practical ideas over theoretical concepts. Period. We’ll then design them to be as easy to unpack as an Ikea bench.

• Transform your team—we’re obsessed about helping leaders create step change improvement. Encouraging growth is our mantra. Fundamentally, we want to help you succeed. If your team succeeds, then you’ll succeed. And if you succeed, then we’ll succeed.

And so, DTTTTYT is our first seven letter acronym.

What do you think?

What’s the most helpful question you can ask your team?

Managers often tell people what needs to happen. Do this. Do that. Do the other.

Leadership is different.

It’s about supporting your team. And taking them with you on a journey.

But how?

Experience leaders will always keep a few key phrases or questions up their sleeve. Proven in the field. They know exactly when to wield them.

Sometimes direct. Sometimes disarming. They will often make you stop and think.

Here’s one from the top draw of transformational leaders: “What do you think?”

It’s a simple question. And often overlooked. But next time you’re about to deploy an arsenal of instructions. Stop yourself. And instead, ask your team their thoughts.

You might be surprised by their answers.

Change one thing—change everything

How do you create a step change difference?

It starts with a simple decision.

When you make Excellence your mission—you start to change everything.

We believe Excellence is an approach to life—not just business. It’s a mindset about how you do things. Not playing small, but stepping up and leading by example.

What got you here, won’t get you there

As a new leader, it’s tempting to repeat what previously worked. However, sometimes you need to unlearn what you already know. Accept that you could be wrong. Be willing to change your mind. And adapt.

Small rules vs big ideas

Have you ever noticed how small rules can get in the way of doing meaningful work?

Small rules are about management and control. About following the rules. Yes—important. But don’t let them derail you from doing the right thing.

The subtle art of persuasion

How do you make your meetings more appealing?

It starts with breaking down barriers, candour, enjoyment, getting off on a positive tone, starting on time…. first come first served.

VFTM

How do you stay focused as a leader?

This may sound like a simple question. In reality it can be hard—and nuanced.

People and politics. Poor expectations. Mismanaged expectations. The scope creep monster. There’s many reasons when staying focused can a challenge. So what can you do?

I suggest you write down the letters, VFTM.

VFTM stands for the Vital Few vs Trivial Many. A useful prompt for keeping the main thing the main thing. An opportunity to reject the non-essential and focus on what really needs to happen.

EGSP® Compass in print

The Twelve Scholars Leadership Playbook is your essential guide to leadership.

Inside, you’ll discover everything you need to know—and everything you need to do.

You’ll also find a comprehensive guide to using the EGSP® Leadership Compass.