Tofauti, CEO Tools and The Trusted Team
There is no ‘I’ in ‘Team’, but there is a ‘me’ if you look really hard. Seriously though, by working as a team, we can all achieve so much more. So, this week’s Friday Footnotes has the theme of teamwork. After all, we all achieve a lot more when working well in a team.
TRIBEathlon Podcast
Episode 37: Crista Cullen won Gold and Bronze medals in three Olympic appearances, with a total of 197 international caps and 3 as a World All-Star.
Having grown up in rural Kenya, Crista spent her teenage years boarding at Oakham School and over the next decade she progressed through the ranks of elite hockey, that included the incredible London 2012 Olympics and scoring the crucial goal in the final of Rio 2016 to win gold. She now spends her time helping the corporate world and growing her own charity Tofauti, which helps support African wildlife and communities.
In this fascinating interview, Sid and I got the opportunity to chat to Crista about the power of the team, finding a sense of belonging through sport, and creating a purpose beyond sport.
What I’ve Been Watching
As a fanatical scuba diver, I love the sea and the life within it; I kept fish for most of my youth, and that progressed into diving as I travelled more. Nearly every dive has something special to offer (except, for me, the murky dark UK waters I have experienced), and coral is such a key part of it.
In 2016 29% of The Great Barrier Reef’s coral died. If this was a one-off event, it might be ok, but these bleaching events as a result of the sea warming are happening increasingly often. Chasing Coral is a brilliant documentary about this alarming pattern and how, if it continues, there could be barely any coral left in just 30 years’ time, as well as the importance of the coral to the rest of the ocean life. You can watch it on YouTube or here and I encourage as many people to do so as possible. It is only through awareness and working together will we see change.
Podcast I’ve Been Listening To
I’ve been lucky enough to see Sir Clive Woodward talk a couple of times and both were absolutely inspiring and insightful. The impact he has made on British sport cannot be underestimated; not only did he win the Rugby World Cup with England, but that win acted as a springboard for many other sporting successes for a great but under achieving nation.
In his brilliant interview on Don’t Tell me the Score he talks about creating a strong team through TCUP (Thinking Correctly Under Pressure), 3D Thinking (Discover, Distil, Do) and identifying the “rocks” and the “sponges”. Really worth a listen, whether it is for sport or for business.
What I’ve Been Reading
CEO Tools 2.0 by Jim Canfield is a revamped updated version of the original CEO Tools book by Kraig Kramers. Whilst it isn’t woven around as impactful a story as some similar books, like my old favourite The E-Myth Revisited, I think it actually contains even more good advice. I have taken to doing several things differently in the business since reading it and seeing Jim speak.
A really useful weapon in any entrepreneur’s armoury, and something Jim talks about consistently, is the importance of the team in building any business. Another great book for a business owner to sharpen the axe and to build a better team!
Quotes on Teamwork I love
"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." – Isaac Newton
"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." – Michael Jordan
"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results." – Andrew Carnegie
"None of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful." – Mother Teresa
Finance Theme I’ve Been Considering
It is quite common for people to have an Accountant, a Solicitor and a Financial Planner, as they all perform very different roles. Whilst those roles are different, they do however overlap. Historically, the client gets stuck in the middle of these different advice fields and wouldn’t know quite which way to go when getting advice from different experts.
It’s much better that a client’s professional advisers pool their expertise and identify a solution that works best for the client in one cohesive approach. That is why we like to work with other professional firms in what we call ‘The Trusted Team Approach’. We work closely with many firms of accountants and solicitors, and by doing so we can provide a better service to the client.
If you have an accountant or solicitor that is helping you that we don’t know yet, you should always introduce us and allow us to communicate directly. That way we can save you a lot of time, effort and worry. So please do introduce us and help us build you your own Trusted Team.
If you want to see a video about The Trusted Team Approach, there is one here.
