With 35% of UK small businesses having reported growth in the last quarter and a further 68% considering new projects to secure future growth, we looked to unleash growth in the creative learning space that is Business Leaders Group.
Every problem is a gift. Without problems we would not grow!
Setting the scene with Stig Albertsen’s search for the North Star, your guiding light to direct your business. He goes on to say the “strategy process is broken”, “it has become a series of events, like a five must wins list”. But strategy in its simplest form is just a form of direction. It is the individuals’ and the businesses capability to change (try our change success diagnostic here), that sets the true strategic direction.
Tony Robbins’ iconic quote resonates with a key 2025 workplace skill, complex problem solving. This pulls together our ability to gather insights, ask better questions and make informed decisions. From our group, leadership capacity played a pivotal role here. Truly understanding your team, letting go (trusting others) and collectively deciding what 2025 is going to look like.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going
A recent survey revealed 84% of leaders said economic uncertainties heavily impacted the growth challenge. For small businesses this was across three distinct areas. Customers, what do we need to be to our clients? for employees, can we remain the employer of choice? and supply chain, can we build in resilience and strengthen cyber security?
Sustainability, improving productivity and investing in strategic capabilities are carried forward as 2025 trends, AI remains on everybody’s lips potentially being deployed to meet the demand for consistent customer experiences. The courage to be a contrarian (and therefore sometimes get it wrong) feeds a never-ending thirst for better and can be a game changer in achieving change success, big or small.
The 2025 leader must go beyond traditional measures and thinking. From profit to the impact of the possible, from a mindset of competition to the architect of co-creation, replace command with collaboration, relinquish control to celebrate coaching and re-frame our appearance with genuine authenticity.
What got us here, what will take us there?
Do we have the courage to talk about those things that really matter up and down the organisation, be bold enough to shape the conversation the business needs? The art of strategy is about rapidly changing perspectives, integrating information into a cohesive narrative, but for many this is unnatural. Often the wrong people are involved in making decisions, it can feel like every route leads nowhere.
Leaders can get stuck in the here and now unable to connect short and medium-term decision with longer term consequences. Enter the decision matrix, this brings structure to the process, it is something tangible, it avoids the politics and explores the rationale behind the criteria (Watch Dafferns’ decision making video here).
So what marketing actions will take us there in 2025? Dafferns attendees Brian Jukes and David Halkett see the power of multi-channel personalisation playing a key part in delivering a positive customer experience. A need to educate and entertain with great content, people want to go to a thought leader and the importance of looking at everything through an ESG lens to meet evolving customer expectations.
Group take-aways included: address those difficult conversations, hold to positive accountability, and revitalise team culture. Number one takeaway: make those golden moments more consistent!
Simon Cossey is Dafferns’ Business Development Consultant and part of our Strategic Advisory team.
Exit Route Planning 
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Strategic business advisory 
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