It will be no surprise that a successful board is one that is ‘run well’.

However, especially for SMEs and family-owned businesses just beginning with, or perhaps yet to evolve to the point of having a formal board, the grasp of what the nuts and bolts of ‘running a board’ may be a little loose.

The concept behind this edition of Changeosity Insights is a little… different to our usual articles. And ‘different’ is exactly what it’s about!

In what follows, we share a quick introduction to four conceptual models that, in our experience, are really powerful mechanisms for helping founders and leaders shift to thinking differently in various stages of their business journey.

Did you make any New-Year Resolutions for 2023?

Or does the anecdotal evidence and, perhaps, personal experience of just how many resolutions don’t ‘stick’ leave you disinclined to join in the enthusiastic cacophony of family, friends, and colleagues declaring their resolutions during the festive season?

Risk is a concept which we, as humans, have an interesting relationship with.

If you pause to contemplate it, a great many value and character judgements made in relation to individuals and circumstances where this small, four-letter word is applied, will no doubt come to mind.

For a growing family-owned business or SME experiencing challenges and pain points, strategy should be viewed as the starting point for evolution and transformation.

Many entrepreneurs begin with a vision and a plan, and this can carry a new business in its initial stages. However, tactics and ‘a plan’ are not the same as strategy.

The experience of leading a team where conflict, fracturing or some other kind of dysfunction arises or persists, despite the best efforts of a leader to resolve or neutralise the impacts would, understandably, prompt frustration.

Such an experience is also likely to give rise to questions such as ‘What’s going on?’ and ‘Why does this keep happening?.’

Understandably, company founders and entrepreneurs are more likely to excited by and passionate about discussing their product and vision than the dry and, perhaps, enervating aspects of business which are grouped under the title ‘Governance’.

Understandably, company founders and entrepreneurs are more likely to excited by and passionate about discussing their product and vision than the dry and, perhaps, enervating aspects of business which are grouped under the title ‘Governance’.

What works? What is creating bottlenecks, disempowerment, and roadblocks to growth? How do you bring about change?

Participants in the CEO Roundtable discussed the ways in which having an effective governance and decision-making approach is key when moving beyond being a stagnant or struggling medium size company. However, one challenge is honestly evaluating and effectively refining the approach taken to decision making.

There are costs and benefits to working from home. The daily routine of getting up and going to the office, can help some overcome bouts of temporary inertia for work. However, the uncertainty of an unstructured day of home-based working, especially if there are children around, can be a stressful challenge.