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BUILD A BUSINESS TO LAST FOR GENERATIONS
Strategy, Finance and Leadership Training from Charles Kingsmill
Not all organisations train for the future...
Only one in seven organisations have built a strong pipeline of future leaders.
'Global Leadership Forecast 2018', DDI / TCB / EY
But then, not all organisations HAVE a future...
Organisations are dying younger. Big companies used to have a lifespan of 90 years, it’s now down to 14.
'Activate Agility' 2018, McKinsey
I train three topics crucial to long-term success:
1How can we chart a path to success?
3How can we inspire our employees?
My clients range from SMEs to global companies and magic circle firms:
What do my clients say?
"I found working with Charles Kingsmill invaluable."
CEO of Brainjuicer and Entrepreneur of the Year
"Charles's commercial insights add real value to our development initiatives."
HR director, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
"I got so much value from working with him that I have no hesitation in recommending him."
Global Engagement Director, M&M Mars
"Charles is quite simply the best business coach I have ever had the pleasure to work with."
Managing Director, Insitas
"Thank you Charles. We all had, without exception, a wonderful experience."
Director, Sporting Equals
"Charles’s approach leads to fresh insights, high-quality action plans and real commercial impact."
Director of Marketing, T-Mobile UK
"He is thoroughly professional, yet easy to work with, and I would recommend him to any team wanting to make a real difference."
VP of Finance, Mars Europe
"The training was excellent, and we have been getting great feedback from many of our colleagues."
Head of Compliance, SK Sovereign Wealth Fund
I train current and future leaders to build long-term value for their organisations under the headings of strategy, finance and leadership.
Learn more about my services, or contact me.
What needs to be done?
With so many companies 'dying young', it is important to ask how we can improve the resilience and longevity of organisations. Here are some of the ideas I've absorbed after many years in business. Some of them go against the received thinking of the past, but they are at last becoming mainstream.
We need to change our views on profit
Milton Friedman was wrong. If we're trying to build for the long-term, then the purpose of business should not be to focus on profit above all else. And it certainly shouldn't be to profit from causing problems elsewhere.
The purpose of business should be to find profitable solutions to the world's problems.
Profit is a just reward, not the goal.
We need to change our views on creating value
Businesses that focus on cost minimisation fail to get the best results from their employees and suppliers.
Enlightened businesses seek to create value for all stakeholders, not just the providers of capital.
By finding mutual benefits with suppliers, employees, customers and others, we can build fruitful long-term relationships.
We need to understand what strategy really is
Ambition is not a strategy. Setting targets is not a strategy. Exhorting people to try harder is not a strategy.
A strategy is a hypothesis about how to solve a challenge.
In organisations this means choosing the right challenge, figuring out how to solve it, and then co-ordinating effort. It calls for hard choices and sacrifice. This has to be thought through and articulated at a senior level.
We need to commit to a sense of purpose
Visions and missions are fine. Sometimes they fire people up, sometimes they don't.
But purpose is powerful. It requires us to identify and pursue a just cause - the beneficial impact we want to have on our customers or the wider world.
Armed with purpose, we can make better choices and attract stakeholders to get behind something genuinely motivating.
Copyright © 2023 Charles Kingsmill