A.  Growing any business almost always takes leaders into unfamiliar territory. There are always unforeseen challenges that a business degree can't prepare you for - and perhaps it's good that there are, because without these challenges you'd have many more competitors.

Business challenges demand fast learning curves because growth capital is usually in short supply. The clock is always ticking. Growing a business separates those who do the right thing at the right time from those who don't. With the right kind of assistance you can vastly reduce the time taken to go through each learning curve and reduce financial, energy and emotional costs with significantly less wastage.

A.  Selecting the right advisor is easy if you keep two things in mind. First, good advisors will come with a track record of success and second, they will be a great investment.

To explain. Why would a mountain climber select a guide to take them to the top of a mountain when that guide has never been to the top before and survived? Why would anyone in business take advice from anyone who has not personally built a successful business themselves?

The right advisor will be a great investment and they will know the value of their advice. Remember it's about you 'doing the right things at the right time' and 'learning fast'. Good advisors bring 'what, why, who, how and when' knowledge, experience, tools and insight. I found out early on that experienced business leaders, those who are future focused and goal oriented, won't bother taking advice from advisors below a certain fee level. There's a very good reason for this. Think about it.

Always ask to talk to advisors' existing clients before making a decision and ask the question: In terms of reaching your big business goals, has this advisor been a good investment?"

A.  I understand why you ask this question, however I've seen many different personality types succeed in business. I think character qualities are a better place to look. Here's a take on the subject that might cause you to think a little differently.
In my experience success in business has got more to do with being in love. Let me ask you which of the following you think is most likely to succeed?

1. The person who loves most the money that a successful business brings?
2. The person who loves most the kudos that comes from being a successful business person?
3. The person who loves most the invention or idea that they have built a business around?
4. The person who loves learning about and building a strong, sustainable business?

A. A good question. I find that most businesses develop an early bias that unless corrected early on can lead to lots of unnecessary challenges and even business failure.

Any business leader will implant their bias on their business. Two examples of this: A 'team builder' leader may focus on building their ideal team too early at the time when they should be winning clients. Or a sales oriented leader may focus on too many sales too early without developing the capability to deliver on the promises they've just made - and so on. Remember it's about doing the right things at the right time and learning fast. Many leaders will argue that they don't have a bias - and are then surprised when some "unforeseen" set-back occurs.

A.  If I was working with you I'd start by looking carefully at your recruitment process - particularly the window of time starting from the moment you decide that you need a new employee through to about two weeks after the new recruit has joined your organization.

I haven't got the space here to write more about my reasons for this, but what the leader takes responsibility for over this critical window of time determines the qualities of the person recruited and the quality of their on-going performance. This window has nothing to do with whether you engage recruitment firms or not. It's worth getting to the bottom of this. A good team that continually earns your respect is both very valuable and achievable.

A.  We can keep a room full of people learning about a subject for up to three hours at a time - as can many experts. A different kind of challenge is having people leave that room absolutely determined to significantly improve something about your organisation. First of all - for both our sakes, we would both need to know that we have something to say that your audience will find rich, relevant and timely.
We are probably more suited to in-house workshops or smallish groups of business leaders than we are speaking to a hall of people.