Julian’s Business Tips

Help from Buckingham Palace I’m writing this the day before the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral. In these days of limelight-seeking celebrity and the hunger for fame and recognition, the understated way he brilliantly supported the longest serving monarch in history is a remarkable achievement. He also did a lot of good in his own right, […]

Julian’s Business Tips: Is your glass half-full or half-empty? This may be the month we finally get to raise a glass with some friends (outside of course), but how full will it be? Are you the optimist who thinks it is half-full, or the pessimist who knows its half-empty? You may think those are the

Julian’s Business Tips: Is Your Business Like My Ankle? As some of you know, I do a bit of running and, earlier this year, I had a problem with a sore ankle. Now I did A level biology, so Dr Google and I decided I had tendonitis and put together a sensible treatment plan. But

Julian’s Business Tips: Your Starter For Ten… Years ago, an old sales manager of mine laughed at me when I told him I wasn’t competitive. Cheek! ‘You,’ he continued, ‘are one of the most competitive people I know – you don’t even enter the competition unless you think you’re going to win it!’ On reflection

Julian’s Business Tips: Delivering Efficiency As I was helping one of my teenagers deliver an award-winning local magazine to Royston residents, one of the householders complimented me on the fact that I had walked around his front garden and down his drive rather than taking the shortcut across the shrub bed – as some other

Julian’s Business Tips: Bountiful Business Harvest I love this time of year as the tractors begin to ‘plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land’, taming the scruffy post-harvest fields into a neatly-combed, autumnal landscape. As a young agricultural student, I cultivated many a field – in fact one of my more

Julian’s Business Tips: Difficulties Or Opportunities? You don’t need me to tell you that lockdown has been difficult for many businesses. But Einstein famously said, ‘In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity’, so here are some opportunities you may like to grasp: 1. Relaxed rules In some cases, the government has eased regulations to help

Julian’s Business Tips: The Secret of Decision-Making? Years ago I was in awe of an old boss who always seemed to make the right business decisions – whereas mine were somewhat erratic at that time. The CEO of international publishing company, Random House, sums up the secret of a decision-maker’s intuition like this: “People often

Julian’s Business Tips: Compassionate Leadership It’s been interesting watching how different leaders have managed the Coronavirus crisis. Managing emergencies is often based around ‘The 3 Cs’: command, control and co-ordination, along with clear structures and guidance. However, this can result in a bossy style of leadership, overly directing those individuals who need to be engaged.