How difficult would it be to work with someone you don’t trust? I’ve asked this question at interviews for 25 years and despite the Hollywood portrayal of the uber-successful megalomaniac founder, most early-stage leaders strongly agree that trust is a vital ingredient in their team of choice. Trust underpins enduring…

Leadership. We know the word, we recognise it in action, but do we really understand the mechanics? When it comes to scaling start-ups, founders must understand where they sit on their development curve towards great leadership, if they are to fulfil their leadership potential, develop a high-performance team, attract investment…

Founders – are you investable? How important are founders to start-up success? Many believe the key to growth is a brilliant idea; a fantastic product or game-changing service, but data has shown people to be even more important. According to a study by Idealab founder Bill Gross, ‘timing’ is the…

Manager mode: the mindset that maintains the alliance Aligning company vision and individual vision is the start-up holy grail: a magical blend of purpose, identity, goals and motivation that constitute the perfect recipe for success. But, like with any good recipe, there’s no point in sourcing and mixing the right…

My motivation: why I co-founded The Talent Stack “What am I teaching the world?” is a card that currently leans against my desk lamp. It may sound grand thinking in such a ‘worldly’ context, but it drives me on when building The Talent Stack feels daunting and overwhelming. At the…

How to work out what drives you and take charge of your career What do motivational quotes all have in common? Think of the endless lines about pushing yourself and achieving your dreams. Knocking down boundaries, seizing opportunities and rising to challenges… The answer is they’re all incredibly personal. They…

The Prediction Challenge: how start-ups can improve their chances of hiring success Hiring in start-ups is like a detective solving a case: you want to make a great hire (catch the culprit), but you need to be sure that the candidate (suspect) is the right person. …

Why individual motivation is a vital ingredient to start-up success (and how to nurture it) Highly-motivated people are a key ingredient in any business, but in start-ups, it can be the difference between success and failure. Driven individuals are known to be more productive, engaged and fulfilled than those simply…

How do startups get the best out of their team? By harnessing their motivation Unleashed from the shackles of institutionalised hierarchies, individuals in start-ups operate more freely, fluidly and dynamically, but, crucially, all linked by a common objective: growth. In a world where the pace of change is fast and…