The buzz? More interims working for SME's

I see that Interim Partners (www.interimpartners.com) are reporting that more interim managers are looking for work in fast growing SME's despite the lower pay rate.  No wonder. The energy you get from a high growth company is electrifying and if you have been working in a major corporate with all the politics, bureaucracy and turgid project delivery, you will welcome the buzz.  

But, be warned ...

Interims from majors can't just think they can get away with operating in the same way they do in larger businesses.  They will need: 

- much greater flexibility and a broader range of skills

- to pick up their own pace to match the environment

- to be much more entrepreneurial, and 

- they need to recognise that they will have to deliver with fewer assets and resources behind them than they are used to drawing on.

So do it as a career choice, not just as a reaction to a job advert.  The entrepreneurial world is different and for many the adjustment is just too great.  For others though, it is the only place to be.

Push, Pull Friction - building a book a piece at a time and watching it grow.

Addiction.  The trouble with writing one book is that you want to write another, just because you have seen more and learnt more.

So here goes.  In this series of occasional blogs I am going give you my views on how to energise people to do things that make an impact in your business; both inside and out.

Each piece will be a short summary of the key issues as I see them so that you can access and use them easily to deliver results that see your business grow.

Each piece will be kept purposefully short so that you can jump in and out; don’t get swamped; and so that you can easily see the key principles.  That way you can apply them as you see fit for your business.

As I set off on this journey, I expect the chapters to be:

Getting it right indoors

Getting Clarity

- why?

- how far, how deep?

- the ways to do it

- hearts and minds

- have they been listening?

- doing it again

Commitment

- why?

- aspirations and dreams

- getting people to believe

- a deep and lasting passion

- what else could I be doing

- cynics, cowboys and idiots

Capability

- what do you really need?

- why haven't you got it now?

- how are you going to get it?

- managers and people, people and managers

- performance leaders

- making it stick

Going out into the world

Pull

- I love you

- who are you?

- making it exciting

- a lasting relationship

- winning more friends

- reducing infidelity

Push

- size 12 boots

- raising awareness

- winning interest

- stimulating desire

- closing the deal

- upping the price

Friction

- hurdles, barriers and idiots

- more idiots

- process, process, process

- perseverance, perseverance, perseverance

But I am sure it will change as we go along.

Why Push, Pull, Friction?  These are the wise words of a 12 year old boy on learning that his sister is about to do Business Studies.  “That stuff is simple” he says,  “it’s just Push, Pull and Friction”.  Perhaps he is right and we just complicate things.