1. What have you found most challenging as a leader of a small or medium enterprise?

Building the right team.

2. How did you become a leader of an SME? Can you please briefly tell the story?

I have always been passionate about having the freedom to do the things I enjoy most. Starting a business has always been part of what I wanted to do. Over the years I have founded a number of businesses and more recently I have been building businesses that focus on the development of the businesses of others.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

It works well for me to start my day at 5am.
I like to clear my 'in-tray' by 8am.
With CoVid taking a break from Zoom at lunch time has become more important but most of my day involves talking to others by phone or Zoom.
Occasionally, I have evening meetings but I usually try to be finished by 5pm and then keep all electronic devices out of reach until the following morning.
I probably spend at least 30% of my time on business development and try to keep at least 20% time open to opportunities and pro bono activity.

4. What's the most recent significant leadership lesson you've learned?

It is not enough just to work harder and smarter - thinking differently and believing differently matters much more: love, hope and faith are the real game changers.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

I am constantly exploring a range of different books and thinkers so it is difficult to name a single book.
However, I am been very impacted by the life of Cadbury, a Victorian chocolate maker who realised that business could do so much more than just make profit. His range of interests was extraordinary - teaching, social housing, marketing, overseas development, campaigning for the vote to name a few.

6. How do you build leadership capacity in an SME?

I believe you need to empower others with more and more responsibility but never forget that you still have a responsibility to manage and lead.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader of an SME so far?

For many years, I desperately wanted a team. One day, I looked around me and saw there was already a team but I hadn't realised that there were 10 people working with me in a variety of other ways. Now, I needed to treat them as a team and encourage them to work with one another without always involving me.