Clear ‘Blue Sky’ Thinking
What would you do differently today, if you could start over?
This question really got me thinking. And exercise and fresh air always does the trick. Especially, when clear blue skies above. What’s the conclusion? I’ve decided to park our four leadership courses up, for now—and just focus on one.
(I know, FOUR, what was I thinking!)
Going forwards, The Essential Scholar will be the only Leadership Development Programme that we offer. It will include the online course, the offline playbook and the wooden block (aka leadership compass).
All other coaching and support services will be available to buy—separately, but not within the price of The Essential Scholar. This helps to keep the headline price lower, and enables people to ‘upgrade’ their development if they require—call it customised coaching and support. An a la carte menu for leadership.
This clarity of thinking will really help shape our marketing message and explain how best we serve our customers. As always, clarity is king.
A 5-Stage Process
A big step forward in the life of Twelve Scholars this week. Inspired by EOS, we’ve improved our thinking to enhance the course structure—and customer experience.
EOS stands for Entrepreneurial Operating System. It’s a methodology discussed in the Traction series of books by Gino Wickman.
Wickman recommends every business should have a ‘Proven Process’. A simple diagram that explains how they deliver value to their customer. It presents a clear picture of what the customer will experience when they work with you. Until now, this has been in my head and never truly written out.
And so here’s our five-step process for leadership development.
Onboarding
EGSP® resources
EGSP® principles
Business as usual
Personal project.
We will no doubt tweak the titles to better describe the process. But for now, and for the first time, there’s a proven path that we can properly explain.
Baby steps. Giant leaps.
Prioritising your priorities
“Don’t let today’s URGENT take priority over yesterday’s IMPORTANT.”
How often do you completely lose track of actions—from the previous day? You either ran out of time, got distracted or completely forgot.
Well, this prompt is a variation on the urgent/important model.
It’s worth keeping at the front of mind each morning.
Keep it close. Write it down.
Educate others to complete their work—before moving on.
You may have to lower your expectations. But at least you shipped. And that has to be the priority.
Inspiring Greatness in Other People
I stumbled upon this message and drawing today. It’s taken from a blog post written by Hugh Macleod (Gapingvoid) posted in April 2018.
(Note to reader—I’ll regularly redraw or rewrite inspiring blog posts and quotes in my bullet journal. This is just one example.)
The message is simple—the best leaders align people to the right mindset and inspire greatness in others. Rather than telling people what to do (keepers of the old guard), they’ll work hard to create a culture that becomes a real competitive advantage.
Packaging expectations
What happens when you fail to meet expectations?
Call it attention to detail. Call it an obsessive behaviour. But when a tube is sold as 330mm in length, I don’t want 334mm.
It causes our Leadership Compass to rattle—and that would be poor.
It upsets me. Especially when we’ve spent so much time (and money) developing ‘the perfect product fit’.
We spent weeks (truth be told—months) developing a packaging insert with our supplier.
The insert was designed specifically to slip inside a standard A3 poster tube—330mm long x 76mm diameter. I lost count of the number of prototypes.
I was excited when a new delivery arrived today. But then deeply disappointed when every tube measured 4mm longer than expected. Gutted.
Return to sender.
Book of the month
If only those responsible for HS2 had read this brilliant book.
(Or at least the opening few pages—there’s an unforgettable story of incompetence and poor leadership.)
In 2008, work started on the California High-Speed Rail. It was scheduled to go from downtown Los Angeles to downtown San Francisco. It was to cost $33 billion and be ready by 2020.
But 14 years later, much about the project remains uncertain. Plans were changed repeatedly. Cost estimates soared. The current estimate is £100 billion.
In 2019, it was announced that only part of the route would get built: the 171-mile section between Merced and Bakersfield—two small towns in California’s Central Valley.
Sound familiar?
How Big Things Get Done, by Bent Flyvberjerg and Dan Gardner is a remarkable book. And highly recommended.
Full of vivid examples, ranging from the building of the Sydney Opera House to the teamwork behind Pixar blockbusters, this book reveals how to get any ambitious project done—on time, and on budget.
Goals Shape the Present
What’s the purpose of a goal?
I’ve just reread Hell Yeah or No by Derek Sivers, for the third time—this year.
(Highly recommended).
One of the best bits of advice is to judge a goal by how well it changes your actions in the present moment.
A bad goal makes you say, “I want to do that someday.” A great goal makes you take action immediately.
A bad goal is foggy, vague and distant. A great goal is so clear, specific, and close you can almost touch it.
A bad goal makes you say, “I’m not sure how to start.” With a great goal, you know exactly what needs to be done next.
A bad goal makes you say, “That’d be nice.” A great goal makes you say, “Oh my god! Yes! That would be amazing! I can’t wait!”
A bad goal makes you say, “I’ll do it as soon as I do this other stuff.” A great goal is so interesting and important that you can’t be distracted.
Unless it changes your actions, right now, it’s not a great goal. Instead, find another variation that excites you.
Clearer communication is a Superpower
What’s podcasts have you listened to recently? And what did you learn?
Recently, I’ve become hooked on Working It by the Financial Times. It’s a brilliant podcast (and newsletter) that talks about trends in workplaces worldwide. Highly recommended.
In the latest episode, Isabel Berwick speaks to BBC News analysis editor Ros Atkins, best known for his viral explainer videos, about how we can learn to get to the point.
Together, they discuss how clear communication can be the difference between getting what you want at work, and missing out. But some of us are better at it than others.
I was hooked.
So much so, I ordered Ros Atkins’ latest book, The Art of Explanation for next day delivery.
Book number = 1,236
Add to Playlist
What’s on your playlist?
In another moment of clarity, we’ve decided to rename PERIODICALS to PLAYLISTS. We think this better describes our content and is more on brand.
Just like our YouTube channel, the playlist is an area for all our video content—and podcasts too. As a reminder, you’ll discover the following:
Tuesday Tutorial — bite-sized lessons in personal and professional development.
Thick Red Line — a weekly podcast that deals with poor performance.
Bob’s Book Club — a monthly must at our leadership library.
Featured Scholar — a podcast that complements our graduate programme.
Sunday Scholar — our weekly newsletter—reimagined as a podcast.
We’re really happy how this is shaping up. Inspire, be inspired!
On a good day
On a good day, everything goes to plan.
You may overcome hurdles and have difficult conversations.
But you push yourself, teach yourself, reward yourself.
And you get to go again—tomorrow!
A moment of clarity
In order to prevent overwhelm, you need to keep things simple. Simple to explain—and simple to understand. And so, we’ve been trying to simplify our ‘periodicals’ page. Fewer words—more visual links.
Autumn Days
Autumn is the time for harvest.
A time to acknowledge growth.
A time for maturity.
An opportunity to reset the clock.
To start again.
A new curriculum—for the year ahead.
Autumn is the time to get things done.
A time to focus—on what you really want.
A time to look ahead.
Set budgets.
Set a deadline.
Sharpen your tools.
Autumn is the time to make your mark.
A time to stand up.
Speak up.
Stay the course.
Be bold.
Be the change you wish to see.
Autumn is the time for leadership.
Leading you.
Leading teams.
Leading with humility.
Leading with purpose.
Leading with Excellence.
Bullet Number 61
Every two months I have a tradition. It’s the same ritual I’ve be practicing for 10 years. And it starts by cracking open the spine of a new bullet journal.
It’s the same style—every time. A Moleskine 5mm squared hardback book.
My notes have developed over the years. More detailed, nuanced. Whilst remaining bigger picture wherever possible.
For me, the benefits are clear. It’s the ability to think in ink. Download my thoughts. And clear the head.
Yes, I’m a big believer in taking digital notes—especially for projects and long-term business aims.
But you can’t beat the immediacy, tactility and sense of satisfaction you get from opening that bullet journal.
It’s also a sense of hope.
A sense of hope that every journal will help you achieve your goals.
Onwards. Volume 61 awaits.
The Cost of Inaction
You can learn so much from outside your normal domain.
Every Friday, I look forward to the fabulous 'Meaningful Digest'. It's a weekly email newsletter written by Pete Matthew. It focuses on financial planning and wealth management. A bite-sized supplement to Pete's amazing podcast and YouTube channel.
I've learned so much over the years. And this week's 'Meaningful Digest' really resonated with me. It was about taking action—or not.
"Often, taking action is expensive. But inaction can cost a fortune."
—Pete Matthew
Whether you're leading a team or leading an organisation, taking action is always better than inaction. Start somewhere—start anywhere. Onwards.
(You can even start on a Friday!)
Picture Perfect
Look up from your desk. What do you see?
I see the corner of this picture frame.
A constant reminder—ever present.
We're all work in progress.
Some more than others.
The greater your ambition.
The more work you've got to put in.
Avoid mediocrity.
Make Excellence your mission.
How to start taking notes
Here’s our latest Tuesday Tutorial. And it was inspired by a former colleague. So thank you Stuart—for reaching out and inspiring me to pull this together.
Inspire, be inspired!
Do something—make it amazing!
A variation on a theme. And one that’s resonating with me, right now.
Overthinking things can lead to perfection paralysis. You’re unable to move forward for fear of doing anything. You want things to be amazing—then you’ll do things. (Or so you tell yourself).
However, good leaders will always do something today—then make it amazing!
Talking Rhubarb
In this week’s The Sunday Scholar, we learn to improvise in the kitchen, visit a Yorkshire triangle and stop ourselves from talking “rhubarb”.
The Sunday Scholar is a weekly podcast—and email newsletter. It takes a lighter look at leadership. You can download to your podcast player, or subscribe to newsletter via website.
Excellence framed
What does Excellence look like to you?
Pictured here is our first A3 poster—framed. And we think it’s Excellent.
The poster has been lithographic printed in four colours—this provides a richer tone of black.
The typeface is Helvetica Now ExtraBold with reduced leading (that’s the height between each line), and reduced tracking (that’s the distance between each letter).
You’ll also note the design has been rotated by 12 degrees. :-)
Perfect for any office or work environment, this poster is now available to purchase from Twelve Scholars.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
I’ve just picked up our latest posters from picture framing. As always, Chris Orme in Bury has done an ‘excellent’ job. His quality, care and attention to detail is second to none.
Let the bubble popping commence!