Your business, your future.

Happy New Year, welcome back to work, though for many of us January has been a bit of a non-starter thus far as the snow has kept us off the roads.  Thank goodness for the internet, mobile phones and coffee!

Have you got a 'can-do' attitude?  Having spent some time with a group of Managers in an SME business recently there was something nagging at me, something didn't feel right.

Then it struck me; the lack of a 'can-do' attitude.  There's been a great deal of 'we can't because' or 'that won't work because'.  Now it may be nearly the end of the year and people have run out of steam a little in 2009, however, if we lose our 'can-do' then we'll perpetually be heading backwards.

...to Christmas. That's the message from the CEO of a client of mine who perpetually counts down the weeks and reminds his staff of the 'sense of urgency' needed to meet deadlines.

With a March year-end he is aware of the need to agree new sales by the end of the calendar year so that the projects can be commenced, completed and invoiced by the financial year end when the accountant's will tell him how he has done.

If you are of a certain age and happened to be into punk in the 80's you'll recognise this track from Ian Dury and the Blockheads. Well, buses come in threes, accidents come in threes (according to my mum anyway) and then there's good news. Does good news come in threes?

According to the last couple of accountants I spoke with; yes and emphatically. The doom & gloom is over, hurray at last. Opportunities abound and it's time to win your share.

Another wet July, the likelihood of another wet August, so what do we all want to do? Exactly, escape to the sun soaked med or other exotic locations. The number of out of office messages indicating this mass exodus is, as you would expect, seasonally high.

The question posed recently was "Do I have to give staff the days they request or can I ask them to change plans to meet deadlines and fit in with other staff members?"

Just recently I had the pleasure of spending the day coaching a group of Client Managers in an already successful practice.

The focus for the day was on assertiveness and communication. As you can imagine, the initial thoughts most delegates had was that they knew how to communicate and were assertive enough to deal with staff, client and Director matters appropriately.

By way of introduction, I am Peter Gill, a founding Director of Boreas Partnership (UK) Ltd. I worked for several years as Sales Director at LexisNexis and subsequently at CCH and Croner, two business units within Wolters Kluwer (UK) Ltd. Taking this knowledge and experience, I established the consultancy to provide support to businesses seeking to change, grow and develop.

I work with firms of all sizes that recognise that they must adapt and change to meet client needs, remain ahead of the competition and to attract and retain the best staff.