RWC Blog

What separates a “ho-hum” coach from an “outstanding” coach ? There’s one trait that stands-out more than any other, and that is an “outstanding” coach puts it ALL out there – and leaves nothing in their tank. An “outstanding” coach draws ALL of their knowledge, skills and experience from within themselves and spills this enormous “expertise/ experience reservoir” onto the players who he/ she is coaching. “Outstanding” coaches are people who understand the importance of “passing the baton” onto the…

Yesterday I spent a fair amount of my day supporting my Mum, who was admitted to hospital with a suspected heart condition. Mum is the daughter of a high achieving doctor, so having been raised in a medical family she carries significant medical knowledge within her. This can be both a good and a bad thing.  I watched with some amazement as Mum proceeded to convey her own detailed medical diagnosis to one of New Zealand’s leading cardiologists who was…

I think one of the most frustrating occurrences that I see in businesses still is refusal on the part of the business owner most particularly to consider challenging their own practices/ operations processes/ strategy in order to evolve from their status quo. These businesses very much expose themselves to stagnation and market share erosion. There is no clearer message being passed-on by leaders all around the world (including the education sector – see the section in my first book which…

…”when all is said and done..” After all the reading that you do of other people’s professed ways to achieve success in life, and after all the videos of the same that you watch, the most important part of this knowledge acquisition process is actually taking action to get cracking (going) and get some “runs on the score board” according to what you deem to be the right way forward for you. The “doing” is what matters most ! Yes,…

In mid-large companies in particular, internal stakeholders who are not “at the helm steering the ship” often become frustrated at the lack of forward movement of the company. Sometimes this perception is actually a close reflection of the reality of the actual situation. I have found that there are a few key reasons for a company slowing-down or stagnating on its evolutionary course: The owners are so entwined in the day-to-day running of the business, that they have little-no time…

Over the years I’ve worked with some highly competent and creative marketing agencies, including this one – based in Parnel, Auckland. Its “A-Lister” clientele includes the following brands: Farrimond client brands I’ve been involved in brand design for around 20 years, and have contributed directly to the design and development (and sometimes redevelopment) of a good number of brands. Time after time I see simple mistakes made in brand design, and I’d like to try and help prevent these from…

Over the past few days I’ve been purposely invigorating discussion on the topic of building commercial critical mass by Small Medium Enterprises (SME’s) transitioning their mindset from “we have to go it alone”, to “I think it would be worthwhile talking with like-minded business owners to see what their appetite might be to combine forces”. For those who haven’t read these earlier blogs, here they are: Blog # 1 Blog # 2 Blog # 3   A “parent company” structure…

If anyone were to ask me what I thought the No.1 issue was that is preventing New Zealand from playing in the same league as some of the larger nations around the world (nations that seem to have an endless supply of self-generated capital and world-leading innovations emerging) it boils down to a general lack of willingness (appetite) to – and scope for – change. And I feel that this self-inflicted limitation is commonplace in governance and senior management circles…

When setting a Strategic Plan, the most important Strategic Objective to state is in reference to your company’s market share. For example, “During the ensuing Financial Year XYZ company will be launching a growth strategy that will drive an increase in its market share in relation to the Chinese market from 0.3 % to 0.6 %, to be realised within the next two Financial Years.” Market share is actually a quantifiable KPI. Over the years I have found that (in…

As more people in New Zealand (and in other countries) make the choice to become tertiary qualified, there is evidence of an interesting trend occurring, whereby despite newly qualified high achieving graduates having acquired some of the most up-to-date knowledge in their respective fields, some employers are avoiding employing these people seemingly out of anxiety/ fear that the graduate may have a knowledge base which is deeper and/ or broader than their own. This is an attitude that isn’t peculiar…