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Learning to Do Things Better

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Written by

Robert Lloyd Griffiths

Director

IoD Wales

 


Don’t be dumb. No, I’m not being rude. That’s the title of the new book due to be published shortly by business guru Robert Towle of Virginia.

Robert joined members of the IoD last week for our regular webinar. He offered his thoughts and advice on how we can all learn to do things better in 2021. Chartered Director and founder of business consultancy SUCCEED, Steve Magowan also spoke about his six step strategy for planning for success in 2021. Both Robert and Steve spoke from the heart and offered some really useful practical tips on improving performance and managing growth.

It was a great session that reinforced my deep-rooted belief that better directors equal better business, better business results in a better economy and a better economy means a better society for all. Pleasingly, the publication of the 2020 Fast Growth 50 list by Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE shows just what the directors of our fastest growing indigenous firms in Wales are capable of achieving; driving better businesses for a better economy.

The recent pandemic means that many of us are learning to do things better and be better directors. In fact, there is definite scope for optimism as we look forward to 2021 with the hope that the recently approved vaccine will mean that life may start to return to normal next year.

However, there are still challenges ahead which is why we’ve got to learn to do things better. Life has changed and we have to fight harder than ever before to bounce back and rebuild our economy. Improving performance will mean increased growth, profitability and productivity.

Better directors will embrace this challenge and invest in their businesses as shown by those listed in this year’s Fast Growth 50. I agree with others that it is a timely reminder of the talent, perseverance and hard work of those Welsh entrepreneurs creating wealth and employment in all parts of Wales.

Along with our own Director of the Year Awards, the Fast Growth 50 has become firmly established as the award that entrepreneurial business leaders in Wales aspire to. Professor Dylan Jones-Evans says that 652 firms that have appeared on the 22 lists since 1999, creating over 44,000 jobs and generating an estimated £25 billion of additional turnover into the Welsh economy, much of which is spent in their local area. That’s a huge achievement.

Like other businesses across Wales, the majority of those featured on the 2020 list have been hit hard by Covid-19 and yet they have survived, recovered and, more importantly have started growing again. They have made significant changes to the way they operate over the last few months, becoming more flexible in their approach and pivoting business models to adapt to the new normal.

There are just three weeks left of 2020. We should all be using this time wisely to prepare for the new year so that we can continue to adapt and hit the ground running in January. We’ve got to use this natural timeline to plan for a better way of living and working with a strategy and tactics that will help make 2021 a better year for all because in the words of the Chinese strategist, writer and philosopher Sun Tzu, strategy without tactics is the slowest route to recovery. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.

Of course things will get in the way but 2020 has shown us that we are resilient and we can deal with the unexpected. As a director and business leader, you need to be clear on what you’re aiming for and this means learning to do things better.  Start by focussing on what you can control and influence then have confidence and believe in your abilities. There are better times ahead for us all.

Business News Wales