Elliott Wood’s Post

Founders, what's stopping you from defining your priorities and efficiently choosing between them? Everything seems urgent. Everyone is asking you for more resources. You see so many new opportunities and they all become a must-have. You feel like you are going to miss out if you don't implement this new feature tomorrow. You are probably lacking clarity and focus in your decision-making process. Here’s a structured approach to help you prioritize effectively: 1. What's the ROI: - Will it get the company closer to its goals? - Start by quantifying the return and debate the impact with your team. 2. Define a rule: - Put a process in place for all decisions to go through. That's non-negotiable. - Don't make it bureaucratic, just systematic. Everyone needs to follow the rule. 3. Call for accountability: - Assign responsibilities to ensure all decisions are implemented and tracked. - Document the decision-making process, your future self will thank you. 4. Seek feedback: - For the really tough ones, reach out to your trusted peers and ask for their external opinion. Want to discuss in more detail? Let's connect.

Time for a quick check in, friends. Are your team experiencing any of the following 👇 ☑️ Missed milestones ☑️ Conflicting priorities ☑️ Lack of ownership ☑️ Low morale ☑️ Siloed working ☑️ Burnout If you’re nodding along to this list, you’re not alone, and I've got you. ☝ These are all symptoms of growing pains. And they are experienced by anyone brave enough to get involved in the brilliant, complex, crazy, nuanced and exciting journey of building and scaling a company 🤪 Want to find out how you can safeguard your brilliant company and provide structure to your culture as you scale? You’re in the right place, as I wrote a blog on exactly this 🤓 Check it out in the comments below and let me know your thoughts ⤵ P.S Placing post-it notes on prickly pears is a dangerous sport. Do not try this at home. ⚠ P.P.S No post-its nor prickly pears were harmed in the making of this content 🧡 #Strategy #CultureDesign #Scaleups ______________________ Like what you read here? 👋 I’m Alicia, co-founder of The Future Kind. Follow me for frameworks, stats and culture hacks that help you design a company culture that is your biggest competitive advantage. Click my name + Follow + 🔔 Excited to have you on this journey with me 🚀

Create, Build, Grow, Change, Improve or Align, if these terms are being used to describe CULTURE in your Tribe then reach out to the Team at CULTURE 2 CASH or Culture2Connect Recruiting to help. Any of those 6 terms will need talent and support to make those words jump into the Actions and Behaviors needed to bring the CULTURE to Life that you the CHIEF wants for your TRIBE. Make 2024 a Prosperous New Year with the help of our Great Coaches

Stuck in the 'we've always done it this way' mentality? It's time to shake things up. In the ever-evolving world of business, change is the only constant. Technology is shifting, markets are transforming, and the customer's behavior is continually adapting. So, what does this mean for companies? It means we must foster a culture that not only accepts change, but thrives on it. A culture that sees every shift as an opportunity to innovate and forge ahead. Remember, even the smallest question like 'why?' can be the catalyst for sustainable innovation and optimisation . Now, look around - is your workspace a breeding ground for innovation? If not, it's time to change the game. Let's stop doing things the same way just because 'we've always done it like that'. Speak up. Be the change. What’s your thoughts on transforming business culture? Ever had to deal with tough stakeholders who struggle to adapt, how did you navigate that? Like this, want to see more! Follow and let even connect.

Limiting Labels – Why Your True Value Shouldn’t Fit Into a Pitch I've never had an elevator pitch, and I suppose what got me thinking about this is - people keep asking me - "what do you do?" 🤔 And when I thought about it there is a lot of things I do that I can’t explain in a 5-word pitch or whatever the latest trend is! And that got me thinking - why do we put so much weight on titles – what do they mean? At the end of the day aren’t they just fancy labels? 🏷️ I might have some fancy sounding title and do very little or I might have a short and sweet title that doesn’t even touch the sides of what I actually do! I suppose what I’m saying is, aren’t titles just inanimate objects; they don’t actually do anything! Shouldn’t the proof be in the pudding 🍮The results we deliver 🎯 And the positive impact we make? 📋 Checklist Time Business Goals: - Is my client’s business operating more efficiently and effectively? ✅ - Does it attract not just MORE clients but the RIGHT clients - those who get and want their product or service? - Is sales easier? 🧲 - Does my client have more time to work ON their business rather than IN it (Daily Grind)? 🚀 - Is their team happy and productive, operating in a learning and development culture where everyone can grow and thrive? 🌱 Personal Goals: - Can my client spend more time on Themselves, - With the people who matter most, - Doing the things they love? 🕰️❤️ Actions speak louder than words, and I know what I do won’t fit in a 5 word-pitch or be fully captured in a fancy title. And I'm ok with that! So, let's not be chained to the buzzword culture. It’s all the LITTLE actions that make a big IMPACT! 💥 Remember, it's not about fitting into a box; it's about making a difference. 🌟 #BUZZWORDCULTURE #LIMITINGLABELS

Limiting Labels – Why Your True Value Shouldn’t Fit Into a Pitch I've never had an elevator pitch, and I suppose what got me thinking about this is - people keep asking - "what do you do?" 🤔 And when I thought about it there is a lot of things, I do that I can’t explain in a 5-word pitch or whatever the latest trend is! And that got me thinking - why do we put so much weight on titles – what do they mean? At the end of the day aren’t they just fancy labels? 🏷️ I might have some fancy sounding title and do very little or I might have a short and sweet title that doesn’t even touch the sides of what I actually do! I suppose what I’m saying is, aren’t titles just inanimate objects; they don’t actually do anything! Shouldn’t the proof be in the pudding 🍮The results we deliver 🎯 And the positive impact we make? 📋 Checklist Time Business Goals: - Is my client’s business operating more efficiently and effectively? ✅ - Does it attract not just MORE clients but the RIGHT clients - those who get and want their product or service? - Is sales easier? 🧲 - Does my client have more time to work ON their business rather than IN it (Daily Grind)? 🚀 - Is their team happy and productive, operating in a learning and development culture where everyone can grow and thrive? 🌱 Personal Goals: - Can my client spend more time on Themselves, - With the people who matter most, - Doing the things they love? 🕰️❤️ Actions speak louder than words – and I know what I do won’t fit in a 5 word-pitch or be fully captured in a fancy title. And I'm ok with that! So, let's not be chained to the buzzword culture. It’s all the LITTLE actions that make a big IMPACT! 💥 Remember, it's not about fitting into a box; it's about making a difference. 🌟 #BUZZWORDCULTURE #LIMITINGLABELS

"You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems” ⚙️ I read this last week in Atomic Habits, and understood the importance of creating systems like never before. 🙌🏻 Setting goals is great, but without a clear system to achieve them, they often end up gathering dust. Systems are NOT about: 🙅🏻♂️ Implementing rigid processes that stifle creativity. 🙅🏻♂️ Dictating every aspect of how tasks should be done. 🙅🏻♂️Ignoring feedback and insights from your team. 🙅🏻♂️ Creating unnecessary bureaucracy that slows down decision-making. 🙅🏻♂️ Assuming that one-size-fits-all solutions will work for every aspect of your business. Systems are ALL about: ✅ Establishing clear guidelines and procedures that provide structure while allowing flexibility for innovation. ✅ Empowering your team to contribute ideas and suggestions for process improvement. ✅ Iterating and refining systems based on feedback and data-driven insights. ✅ Fostering a culture of accountability where team members take ownership of their roles within the system. ✅ Continuously adapting and evolving systems to meet the changing needs of your business and industry. Takeaway: By creating effective systems in your business, you can... 🔺Streamline operations, 🔺Empower your team, 🔺Drive sustainable growth. What systems do you use to optimise your biz? Let me know in the comments! #personalbranding #personalbrand #linkedingrowth #marketingstrategist #coaches #coach #founders #founder #ceo

Most Founders are inherently impatient... The best ones know how to handle the impulse. Don’t get me wrong, impatience can be a blessing. Especially in the early stages of a business’s life, a Founder’s impatience drives the actions that are needed for launch and lift-off. But as a business matures… Long-term thinking and strategy kicks in. The key to sticking to that long-term thinking? Having a vision. A North Star that you’re moving towards. This holds everything together: → Hard decisions become simpler → Culture becomes more vibrant and consistent → Tactical moves become clearer This is a long game, and takes time to win… Those that can maintain a consistent long-term view on culture, values and strategy will win every time.

When I think about the small number of genuinely good ideas I’ve had in my life, they’ve got some things in common. 💡 They were generally sparked by some unexpected crumb of knowledge. 💡 It landed in a space where I allowed myself to think, talk, and process. 💡 And then I’d had some kind of urgent reason to do something about it. Considering how important this has been to the work I do, and to my general quality of life, it’s amazing in retrospect how sloppy I’ve been at some points about making the space to do it! Now that I’m running a business in LookUP that’s aiming to help organisations and individuals to experience this kind of moment more often, I’m more and more obsessed by the formula for making it happen. (And incidentally, more and more frustrated at some of the ‘inspiration’ session I’ve sat through over the years, which didn’t seem to have this focus AT ALL!) Musing on that formula with Caroline Keylock has led us to a really clear set of principles for LookUP experience: ⚡ CURATED INSPIRATION. The inspiration always has to be curated, diverse and fascinating, not generic or off-the-shelf. If that means talking to hundreds of diverse experts, that’s what we’ll do! ⚡ FRAMEWORKS FOR ACTION. There always needs to be a framework for action, drawing on everything we know. And it needs to be immediately applied by working on a real, urgent problem. ⚡ DEEP COLLABORATION. We always need to create the social context to make new thinking stick, through shared language, and time to play, discuss and support each other. Sounds simple. It’s not! But knowing and applying these principles means that our session aren’t just fun, or practical – they are genuinely changing things for the better. If you are thinking about a big upcoming challenge, whether that’s annual planning, culture change, or an opportunity to tell your story differently, these sessions could be for you. Get in touch!

Post #2 re: clarity of Values. Do Values have to be Values? I’m reading “Trillion Dollar Coach” and they tell a story about the founder of Flipboard and how he navigated a difficult decision at his first company (TellMe Networks). Bill Campbell (the trillion dollar coach) suggested clarifying the organizations “First Principles” to use as a filter for the decision. His description sounded a lot like core values. What your organization calls them should be reflective of your culture. Another opportunity to subtly reinforce it. Company Values? Core Values? First Principles? Non-Negotiables? Hills We Die On? Imperatives? Anyone have an example that is particularly unique and impactful?