by Guy | 5 Mar, 2026 | BusinessFitness, Structural Authority, Governance & Operating Design
“Between the idea and the reality… Between the motion and the act, falls the Shadow.” – T. S. Eliot, The Hollow Men, 1925 The Strange Familiarity of Stalled Execution Most experienced SME leaders know the feeling. A good discussion, a clear decision, a room full of...
by Guy | 26 Feb, 2026 | BusinessFitness, Scalable Margin, Value & Founder Independence, Structural Authority & Governance
“The greatest part of prudence is the ability to govern one’s self.” – Michel de Montaigne, Essays, c. 1580 Endurance as a Leadership Norm In established SMEs, endurance is rarely questioned, even when it gradually evolves into founder dependency. Leaders carry...
by Guy | 19 Feb, 2026 | Business Growth / Scaling, BusinessFitness, Owner Dependency / Time & Scale
“We are shaped by our past, but not bound by it.” – Hannah Arendt, lecture notes and essays (1950s) The Habit No One Questions In most established SMEs, the leader does not cling to decisions out of ego or control. They tend to retain them because it feels safer,...
by Guy | 12 Feb, 2026 | Business Growth / Scaling, BusinessFitness, Strategic Leadership
“Every organisation is perfectly designed to get the results it gets.” – W. Edwards Deming, lecture and writings, 1980s The Ritual of Rewriting There is a moment, often at the start of a week or month, when the “to do” list is reopened. Items are reordered. A few...
by Guy | 5 Feb, 2026 | BusinessFitness, Leadership Pressure & Decisions, Owner Dependency, Time & Scale
“The great difficulty in life is to know when to persist and when to let go.” – Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness, 1930 When everything still passes through you – even when it no longer needs to There comes a point that many leaders of growing SMEs...
by Guy | 29 Jan, 2026 | BusinessFitness, Strategic Leadership
“The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” — William James, lecture on philosophy and psychology, c. 1890s When leadership attention becomes thin The start of a year often brings renewed seriousness rather than renewed clarity. Leaders...
