In 1970, when I began my full-time work as a 16-year old school leaver, I was mentally conditioned by my parents and teachers for the possibility that the company I joined (The Friends Provident & Century Group) could become my employer for life. That after 49 years of diligent endeavour, I would retire in September
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One of the more common mistakes I’m coming across in independent dentistry is the internal or external appointment of a person with the title “marketing manager”, followed by the abandonment and isolation of that person by the rest of the team when it comes to spotting and collecting marketing collateral. “Now that “Mary” has the
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Another hugely enjoyable Practice Plan workshop with Sheila Scott yesterday in Maidstone. It’s the second time we have delivered “Top Hats, Toast and Moments of Truth” and another steep learning curve on how best to grab and maintain the attention of our audience. I feel for the audience at a full day gig – imagine
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You know how I’ve been rattling on about The Daily Huddle in the last week? Last weekend, Annie and I stayed at York and Albany, Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant/townhouse hotel in London’s Regents Park area. After Sunday breakfast and a walk around Camden, we returned to notice The Daily Huddle taking place at the back of
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Many years ago I stumbled across a superb 6-minute video on the Four Seasons Hotels web site, in which founder Isadore Sharp talks about their core values as an organisation, described as The Four Pillars on which the organisation is built: To operate medium-sized hotels of exceptional quality – to be the best; To make
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In the October issue of Wired UK, there is a fascinating interview with Debbie Wosskow, CEO of Love Home Swap, launched in 2011. Debbie is a serial entrepreneur and now runs Allbright, a female-focused investment fund. Here are some extracts on what it takes to be successful in business: “Coming
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Based on my personal experiences over the last few days, its seems possible that the hotel and catering industry may have woken up to the realisation that good people can be more important in the user-experience than fancy architecture, fixtures, fittings and menus: Friday morning – a working breakfast at the Doubletree Hilton close to
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To begin with, you can download (free of charge) here an updated version of my suggested organisational structure for a £10m private micro-corporate. 02183 CB Org Structure A4 FINAL Before you think “I’m never going to achieve £10m in sales, so this is not for me” – pause – download anyway – and reflect on
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Upton Sinclair was an American writer and political activist who, in the mid 1930’s, wrote a series of allegorical novels that exposed poor working conditions in various USA work environments between the World Wars. He first coined the term “white collar worker” to describe those who were involved in professional, managerial or administrative work. He compared
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It’s really hard to swallow isn’t it? When a member of your team hands in their resignation and tells you that they are moving to another practice in the area for a few more pounds/dollars per hour? 20 years ago I was running a dental workshop in my home town of Manchester, attended by a
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