The Essential Scholar: What’s Included
Here’s sneak peak into The Essential Scholar.
A short introduction to your online Learning Platform, your Leadership Playbook and your Leadership Compass.
Deadlines with Consequence
It’s that time of year when deadlines get talked about.
Production targets. Sales results. Financial Year End. And also Christmas! Deadlines are good. Short deadlines are better. Short deadlines with clear cut consequences are best.
Our latest Tuesday Tutorial is now available.
You can watch more episodes via the website or YouTube. (Don’t forget to like and subscribe—many thanks!).
Visual Deadlines
Deadlines are good—they help you achieve MORE and FASTER than you would normally.
And visualising that deadline helps you focus. Far more than just writing it down. Or agreeing to a date.
Here’s a simple hack I’ve used for many years—use Super-Sticky Post-it® notes. They never fall off. And you can always recycle the dates for another project.
Here’s one I started this week. Can you guess the deadline?
Transferable Skills
What are your transferable skills?
If you work in the kitchens of a busy hotel or restaurant, you probably rate high in prioritisation and multitasking. If you work as a driving instructor, it’s likely you’d score high on communication and patience. And if you have a passion for woodwork, it’s likely you are attentive to detail.
My background in world class manufacturing taught me many skills that can be applied to different sectors. Think troubleshooting, visual management and decision making. These have served me well with every business I’ve worked with.
(Not to mention the quality standards, safety standards and environmental awareness).
It’s worth considering what additional skills you could offer your current employer. And also what transferrable skills you could deploy outside work.
As with everything—practice makes better.
A Letter to Santa
As a leader, what do you really want for Christmas? What do you want from your team? And what’s at the top of your Christmas wish list?
In this week’s The Sunday Scholar, we explore the art of writing letters to Santa. We discover what happens when you post a letter to the North Pole, how you can inspire a new generation, and what Jeff Bezos puts in his letters. Who knew!
THE SUNDAY SCHOLAR is our weekly newsletter—reimagined as a podcast. It takes a lighter look at leadership. Full of ideas, insights and inspiration. Something to be expected. Something to look forward to.
Epistolary
Epistolary relates to the writing of letters. It derives from the word epistle, which means a letter that is very long and also very formal.
There’s a few well-known examples of epistolary novels told through letters include Bridget Jones' Diary, by Helen Fielding, and The Color Purple, by Alice Walker.
And did you know? Jeff Bezos modelled his Amazon letters (1997 to 2017) on Warren Buffett’s letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders.
Motivation Hack
Want to feel more motivated?
Change who you compare yourself to. Rather than comparing yourself to peers, friends and online influencers. Start by comparing yourself with future you. Yes, imagine yourself 10 years from now.
What skills and behaviours is ‘future you’ known for? Make it so.
A new definition of ‘learning’
How would you best describe the word, learning?
The dictionary describes it as ‘the acquisition of knowledge or skills through study, experience, or being taught.’ Which is great… but so what?
An alternative—and better, IMHO—definition is ‘Same condition. Different result.’ This new meaning implies that you’ll actually do something different as a result of your learning. Therefore, you’ve actually learned something. And can demonstrate it!
Coaching and Support
Here’s a summary of the additional coaching and support services we provide.
Aristotle has the answer
“We are what we repeatedly do.”
As a leader, being consistent is key. And compound consistency is where you continually do the little things well—and build on it. Repetition is also how you build your reputation—by showing up regularly.
But just like compound interest, it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time. And then one day, the rewards start outweighing the effort.
It turns out that small things, when done repeatedly, can create a culture committed to Excellence.
Ambiguity is the enemy
Our latest Tuesday Tutorial has landed. It’s all about effective communication. And why we all need to avoid ambiguity.
Another piece in the jigsaw
How can a new leader accelerate their leadership skills?
This question that has somewhat vexed us recently. Acknowledging that no two leaders are the same. How to offer a bespoke coaching solution that’s consistent and reinforces best practice. But I think we’ve cracked it.
Buy the Leadership Development Programme first—add coaching separately.
This works on so many levels. First, it answers the affordability question. You buy the course today, then pay for coaching and support only when you need it.
Second, it allows leaders to experience coaching in different formats.
Personal coaching
Team workshops
Project meetings
Consultancy
Third, and depending on your experience, we’ve created two sizes for each of the above. A small package. And a bigger package.
So whether you require a one-off or more extensive support, we’ve got you covered. However, somethings don’t scale. And that’s time. So expect limited availability. First come, first served.
A walk in the park
It’s the coldest day of the year (so far). An opportunity to clear your thoughts and reconnect with nature—and your driving mission. Yes, a short walk in the park always does the trick.
12 Quotes from Charlie
As promised, here’s a short tribute to the late Charlie Munger (1924-2023).
I’ve included 12 quotes taken from the book, The Tao of Charlie Munger. In total, there were 138 quotes to choose from within this 200-page hardback edition. And so I whittled it down from a long list… to a short list… and then the final 12.
I’ve included a selection of quotes that cover investing, business, banking, philosophy, life, education, the pursuit of happiness—and cabbages! (Who knew!)
Really enjoyed pulling this film together. Although the editing, clipping, and thumbnail took longer than planned. Yup, that’s the perfectionism kicking in!
One of the biggest takeaways from studying the life of Charlie Munger, was his love of books. He was an avid reader.
Music Insights
Have you checked your Apple Music app today?
I just noticed a new feature. It's called 'Replay your year in music'. It's the highlights of my most listened to music of the year. And it's awesome!
Top insights:
1,299 total artists
2,768 total songs
253 total albums
Top 3 genres: Dance, Electronic, Classical. (Yup!)
Top 5 artists: Yotto, Above & Beyond, CRi, Lang Lang, Franky Wah.
25,000 minutes reached by July 26th
1,000 artists reached by Sept 27th
2,500 songs reached by October 18th
This got me thinking...
What insights do have about your customers and colleagues?
How can you summarise these insights?
And what can you both learn?
Measuring performance is an essential skill for any leader.
And measuring the right metrics, at the right time, will lead to Excellence.
The Tao of Charlie Munger
Inspired by the passing of Charlie Munger. I shall record a book review this week. And The Tao of Charlie Munger is a beautiful book that summarises some of his finest quotes. It’s a compilation of his views on life, business and the pursuit of wealth.
What’s your favourite Charlie Munger quote?
99 and out
RIP Charlie Munger. (1924–2023)
A longtime lieutenant of Warren Buffett. A sage of simple advice. I shall miss Charlie Munger’s wit and wisdom. Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholder meetings will never be the same again.
Tuesday Tutorials Are Back!
After too many months off—our weekly lessons in modern leadership are back. And the most recent upload wasn’t what I expected.
My body took a dive last week. A combination of poor diet, not enough exercise, working late into the night, poor quality sleep… and the parents arriving with less than 24 hours notice!
Normally, I’m able to deal with all these factors. But my body thought otherwise. And BANG… two coldsores overnight.
This was my body telling me to look after myself. I was gutted. (And obviously stressed).
I decided to postpone any video tutorials—and podcasts—until my body had recovered. But then I thought, we not record a ‘Tuesday Tutorial’ all about the importance of avoiding setbacks.
And so, this week’s tutorial is all about how to ‘Switch Off and Relax’.
I believe this is an essential skill for any leader—at any level. Not just for themselves. But also to look out for colleagues, friends and family.
I’m happy to reply to any DMs regarding this vitally important subject.
In an over-communicated, ever-switched on world, we all need to learn how to switch off and take good care of ourselves.
Inspire, be inspired!
Lessons in Polaroid Leadership
Have you ever heard of Edwin Land?
I hadn’t. Until recently. And then his name has appeared everywhere.
Edwin Land (1909–91) was the founder of Polaroid. He pioneered many aspects of photography that we take for granted today. He was also a personal hero and favourite of Steve Jobs.
A true visionary and way ahead of his time. He imagined a device very similar to the iPhone—decades before Apple made that historic launch.
As it happens, I’m currently consuming the back catalogue of ‘Founders’ podcast… including 4 back-to-back episodes of Land… and many more episodes that reference his influence.
The streamline of Polaroid in its heyday was ‘Live for the moment.’ Something we can all aspire to today.
Video statistics
And relax… all tutorials (plus bonus videos) have now been recorded, edited and uploaded. Lots of emotions. A big sense of relief—and achievement. A job well done
A quick recap on what we’ve just achieved:
108 videos complete
4 introduction videos
7 key themes (essential skills)
84 tutorial lessons
8 bonus leadership guides
5 project guides
15½ hours of content
8½ minutes per video
Every video has been top and tailed with a short intro and outro.
Every audio track has been digitally enhanced using Adobe Audition. (I’m thankful those podcasting skills have been used).
And that’s everything now complete. To at least ‘satisfactory’ in my book.
(To be honest, many of the tutorial lessons are really good—in fact, I’d almost say they’re Excellent!)
Time for an evening off.