• It’s not important to be liked but it is important to be likeable.

 

• Email is good but talking is better.

 

• Why can’t an employer leave an employee the way an employee can leave an employer? Why is one a sacking and the other a resignation? It would be so much easier if an employer could resign from an employee.

 

• Data wants to be accurate.

 

• Find out what people are good at and get them to do more of it. Find out what they’re bad at and get them to do less of it.

 

• Pay your bills on time. If you can’t pay your bills you shouldn’t be in business.

 

• We are who we pretend to be so we must be careful about who we pretend to be.

 

• Money doesn’t talk. People talk. Money doesn’t care.

 

• Sometimes your decisions will be right and sometimes they’ll be wrong. Don’t avoid making them because they might be wrong.

 

• Don’t hire the best people, hire the right people. The right people are not always the best and the best people are not always right.

 

• Don’t avoid confrontation. Some things need to be confronted. Avoid people who avoid confrontation.

 

• If you want to compete with hour competitor’s price, expect to also compete with their business model.

 

• Nice guys don’t always finish last.

 

• Detail is everything.

 

• If you want people to follow your vision, you better make sure that it’s a vision worth following.

 

• Do the things you avoid doing.

 

• You don’t need a unique selling proposition, you need a unique buying proposition.

 

• Language and grammar aren’t important to a lot of people. But for the people it’s important to, it’s important.

 

• A tender doesn’t have to be good, it must win. One doesn’t necessarily follow the other.

 

• It’s easy to be horrible; being nice to people is hard and takes thought and effort. You’re not a more effective manager because you’re horrible to people.

 

• Respect must be earned; it isn’t yours by right.

 

• People who have relocated for no particular reason are likely to relocate again for no particular reason.

 

• People don’t need your help, they need your management. Don’t confuse ‘helping’ with managing. Managers deserve to be paid more, helpers get paid less.

 

• You don’t have to be in early but you should never be late. Don’t treat your job as unimportant, respect your team.

 

• Responsibility is worth paying for.

 

• It’s easy to be loyal; just don’t leave. Don’t confuse loyalty with someone who just hasn’t left yet.

 

• Good ideas are just that – good ideas. Without implementation, they’re just intellectual narcissism.

 

• The world is full of clever people. A business needs effective people. Not all clever people are effective and not all effective people are clever.

 

• Not everyone wants, deserves or needs promotion. Value your loyal people as much as your high fliers.

 

• Don’t pay yourself more than your business can afford. But if your business can’t afford to pay you after a year, re-think your strategy.

 

• Cut the costs that can be cut.

 

• Fix the roof when the sun is shining.

 

• Make changes before they’re forced on you.

 

• Don’t have long good-byes.

 

• People who join for money will leave for money.

 

• Choose your IT well and wisely – think about what you’ll need in 3 -5 years, not 6 months.

 

• Get a grip on your debts or they’ll get a grip on you. Never let a debt get to be more than 2 months old.

 

• Don’t let anyone become indispensable, including yourself.

 

• Which is best – a yes man or an honest man? Choose wisely.

 

• Imagined slights are the hardest to forgive.

 

• Work smart, work wisely, work well – above all, work hard.

 

• If you ask someone to do something, there is a real risk that they will do it – so be careful about what you ask them to do.

 

• Don’t lose sight of the goal while changing the means of achieving it.

 

• Don’t gamble more than you can afford to lose.

 

• When recruiting people, be aware of your gut instinct.

If your gut says yes, check the evidence that says you shouldn’t; if your gut says no, ignore the evidence that says you should.

 

• People won’t improve if they don’t have an opportunity to practice. Don’t expect them to win the match if you haven’t let them practice.

 

• Winning is not always the best outcome; losing is not always the worst outcome.

 

• Don’t have an Executive Chairman and an Executive Managing Director. If you appoint an MD, measure his results, don’t measure his methods.

 

• Just because your competitors are doing something doesn’t mean it’s right. Just because they’re not doing something doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

 

• Time you spend planning is never wasted – as long as you implement the plans you’ve made.

 

• Money doesn’t motivate. But the lack of money demotivates.

 

• Don’t abouse your power by making jokes about your subordinates.

 

• Harness the pwer of gossip to spread positive messages. If you don’t the power of gossip will spread negative messages.

 

• Doing more work is not the same as doing better work. Don’t reward inputs, reward outputs.

 

• Provide a good service and make a few bob. Not necessarily in that order.

 

• Just because your competitors are bidding for a contract doesn’t mean that you should. Just because they’re not doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t.

 

• What someone has done is a better measure of their performance than what they say will do. Look for the evidence.

 

• Don’t over-estimate loyalty. But don’t under-estimate it either.

 

• Beware of people who earn too much; they may not want to leave.

 

• When asking questions of applicants, think whether your questions are designed to show how smart they are, or how smart you are. Don’t be a show-off.

 

• If you come to work late don’t regale your staff with stories about how bad the traffic was – unless you let them make the same excuse.

 

• Don’t expect your staff to feel sorry for you because you’re down to your last million.

 

• Individually, your managers may not be as effective as you. But collectively, they should be more effective.

 

• Teams are built – they’re not found or inherited or automatic. And if they’re not nurtured and reinforced they can fall apart.

 

• A company has many different teams. The strongest one may not be the one that you put together.

 

• Your company’s history is important. But it’s present is more important. And its future is more important still.

 

• Not liking the solution won’t make the problem go away.

 

• Don’t depend on luck; it’s not reliable.

 

• A team of managers is not the same as a management team.

 

• My line. My sand.

 

• Make decisions quickly and review slowly. Not the other way around.

 

• Don’t major in minor things.

 

• Don’t expect others to respond to the written word just because you do.

 

• Do what you say you’ll do. Don’t do what you said you wouldn’t.

 

• Look for the good in others and let them know when you’ve found it.

 

• Sometimes what I say is what I want to say but is not what I should say and sometimes what I say is what I should say but is not what I want to say. And sometimes I don’t say what I should say even though I want to.