Running the Great Glen Way

Back at home and its time to watch others expend some energy in The Great North Run.

The trail from Inverness to Fort William covered 80 miles but with detours and starting from an earlier point, I calculate that I ran a total of 89 miles in all.

This was harder than road running by some margin. Three factors contributed to this. Firstly I was carrying a 5 kilo rucksack; secondly the trail was a rough track over mountains and along the section south of Ft Augustus it involved wading through a fast flowing river up to my thighs. Finally the elevation was at maximum some 1300 feet band apart from the last two sections along the Caledonian Canal the track was hilly throughout much of its length. At times it was more difficult going downhill rather than climbing.

I reckon it was a run of just under a 19 miles a day for the first 4 days and a half marathon on the last day.

A great adventure and about £2500 already raised for the Motor Neurone Disease Association

Thanks to all who have sponsored and supported the run but thanks are due to Brian Miller and Jean Leahy who are suffering from MND and the way in which they are bearing up – they are real heroes and a great inspiration.

Leslie

The Great Glen Way

On Sunday I’ll be starting out on a solo 80 mile long run along the Great Glen from Inverness to Fort William. Over £1400 has been donated towards the Motor Neurone Disease Association which is the charity that will benefit from the run.

A huge thanks to all those who have donated and to those whom I know that have contracted the disease I can only say how much I admire the resolve displayed in the face of a dreadful illness. You are the real heroes of the day.

Leslie

Raising funds to help those with Motor Neurone Disease

I’ll be running solo and unsupported from Inverness to Fort William from 11th to 15th September in aid of the MND Association, Registered Charity Number 294354

The 80 mile long Great Glen Way is a trail that runs across mountains, through forest tracks and alongside the shores of Loch Ness, Loch Lochy and the path adjacent to the Caledonian Canal.

The objective is to raise funds to support research into a cure for MND and to assist those who have the disease together with their families.

My father died from MND 13 years ago and now my neighbour Brian Miller and my former neighbour Jean Leahy have both been diagnosed as having MND.

I am asking for you to support Brian, Jean and the many others with MND by donating on line at www.justgiving.com/Leslie-Spiers

or by sending a cheque payable to:

Motor Neurone Disease Association,
c/o Clive Underwood
Underwood Barron Chartered Accountants
Monks Brook House
13-17 Hursley Road
Chandlers Ford
Hants
SO53 2FW

Every penny donated will go to the charity. There are no expenses or costs – period.

For further information about the work of the MDNA visit http://www.mndassociation.org/

Thanks in advance for your support.
Leslie
leslie@boardroom-dynamics.co.uk

Become a Non Exec in a small business

More than ever SME’s are seeking out Non Executive Directors as an alternative to other support mechanisms offered by consultants or organisations such as Business Link.

It is not the case that a capable Executive Director can slot immediately into a NED role. It’s rather like saying that a good footballer can walk into a mangers role. The benefits a NED can bring about can be summarised as that of de-risking the company through creating and leading a high performing and instituting good governance at board level.

If you are considering a NED position or looking to appoint such a person, then you should make sure that you attend our Effective NED one-day course on 9 August, lead by myself, at our training facility in Romsey, Hampshire. The email details to enroll are andy@boardroom-dynamics.co.uk and the course fee is £395+VAT

Contact us now and gain some life changing benefits for your career and your company.

Friday Rant – flying without wings

The title of my blog today is taken from a recording by West Life that sits on a short CD on which another title is “You raise me up”. I just happened to see the cover of that CD on a shelf in my office this evening and I was struck that these two titles described, albeit in poetic terms, a couple of companies I have seen in recent days.

In just under a nanosecond it is possible to walk into a business and know that it is different and has a special and unique quality. And where does this ethos, this intangible atmosphere of purpose start? Every time it is as a result of inspired leadership from the founder/CEO/Board and from his/her demands that seem impossible, but through inspired followership are realised and offer unlimited possibilities for everyone in the business.

Witness the opposite, when the majority of the people are turning up for a pay cheque and little else. I look at their despairing faces and frustrations expressed through negative body language – and it could all be so different. If company A can do it why can B, C and D not do it?

Being at work should be a fun thing to do and it is those companies that have created fun as a central element of their values that achieve more than the dour and Victorian work ethic that is alive and well in many of our businesses and despite its adherence to “nose to the grindstone” achieves exactly the opposite of its outdated and mis-placed thinking.

Leslie

Friday Rant on Friday 3 June

The financial crisis in Greece amounts to this. The nation has overspent on its credit card; many of the people refuse to recognise this so they take to the streets in protest at the fact that lenders will not continue to lend unless at usurial rates; the Greek government ask for a second loan to bail out their profligacy and fiscal lunacy.

Up steps the usual array of government and associated worthies who will more than likely say “Here you are, have some more taxpayers cash from those nations that have better managed their finances. There is a good chance you may default, but it’s not my money so hey, go for it. The tooth fairy really does exist after all – and it’s called the European Union (or similar)”

This really is the economics of the madhouse and I trust that not being a member of the Eurozone our chancellor and PM tell the Greeks and others that we are in enough problems here and that the primary fiducary duty of the UK government is towards the UK. In other words “Sorry Stavros, but we will not borrow more on our account to lend it to you – why? – we are over-borrowed as it is.”

Sometimes saying “No” is hard. The Greek government should have started saying just that years ago.

Leslie

The Friday Rant on population and sustainability- 24 hours late

I was chairing and speaking at a conference last week on the theme of leadership to a group of owner/managers of businesses in the sustainability sector. A mix of companies in energy efficiency, carbon monitoring and green logistics were some of the areas of business that were represented.

I was asked by the organisers to get the day off to a high energy start and decided to make my introductory remarks focus on what I described as the base problem relating to sustainability rather than the symptoms that the green movement seems to be addressing. I quoted David Attenborough who said something along the lines of …..there are no environmental problems that would not be easier to solve if there were fewer people living on the planet.

People create pollution and quite simply, the more people, the more pollution. To live as we now do in the developed countries of the world, the UN calculates that we need another two Earths and with a net increase in population of around 10,000 per hour and no increase in resources, we are heading for the buffers at speed.

There are four times the number of people on the planet than was the case one hundred years ago and it does not take a genius to work out that continually adding to our numbers can go on for ever.

Dealing with this issue is a road full of potholes for public figures who rarely raise the matter in Parliament or in other places where open debate takes place. Religion, cultural and sexual taboos, education and poverty all contribute to stiff
ling comment on the matter and those who do are often condemned as being latter-day Malthusians. Get your head out of the sand is what I say to those who are population-growth deniers.

Forget that your god supposedly told you 3000 years ago, via some desert dweller in the Middle East, to spread your seed. You have spread it more than enough and it is now high time to get back to a sustainable population whereby we do not rape our natural resources and leave a legacy of frightening dimensions for our children and their children too.

Leslie

Best Practice Corporate Governance in the SME

We have a public course running on this very important topic on 25th May at our training room in Romsey. We deal with the new 9 Principles from the IOD and provide you with a superb framework for assessing your own company and rating it in terms of its approach to governance.

By enrolling on this unique one day course, you will gain the skills to begin a practical programme that will help to minimise risk in the business; give comfort to stakeholders and punch way above your weight when dealing with banks and lenders.

Call now on 02380 744450 and speak to Andy for details of how to book

Leslie

Today is my rant against politicians spending OPM (other peoples money)

I heard Nick Clegg say something to the effect that he did not come into politics to make cuts and Vince Cable said last night on TV that he would prefer to be Father Christmas handing out cheques to local communities.

This type of thinking is little short of institutional bribery and is an example of the nanny state at its worst leading ultimately to a compliant populus that will never be weaned off the breast of government handouts. Handouts, mark you, not of the politicians own money, but of money demanded from everyone else.

Anyone with more than one atom in their brain can see that we must have taxation of some kind to pay for the common good that only the state or agents of the state can provide. It is when that arrangement gets twisted and misplaced philanthropy takes over that we get nonsense such as Nick and Vince have been spouting.

By implication, if Nick did not come into politics to make cuts, his default position must be that of enlarging the state via greater taxation thereby adding to his own popularity and thus his electability.

The state has grown to a level that in its well-intended spending plans has for many removed the incentives to be self-sufficient. Of course we have a moral duty to support those who need it, but when I see some projects and schemes that are taxpayer-funded I wonder what nutter came up with the idea and what greater nutter approved it.

This Alice Land of more public spending assumes that a state can continue to borrow ever increasing sums to fund revenue expenditure. Wrong – for every borrower there is a lender. Would you lend to someone who was up to their neck in debt and knowing there was little chance of ever being repaid? You might take a punt at a high interest rate but the answer in most cases would be to advise that someone to cut back on their lifestyle or earn a bit more with a part time job. cf Greece for a case study in state profligacy

There is no benign Money Fairy – and the folly of not making cuts, however unpopular that policy may be, would be a failure to recognise reality and to throw a debt mountainon our children and their children too.

Leslie

Lord Sugar and Football Governance

I watched Lord Sugar and his programme about governance in the Premier League. I was not in the least surprised; more dismayed that the rules the rest of us in business need to observe are conveniently suspended for the LA LA Land that is football

This is the blog I penned about a year ago and I thought that it was worth a second read as it could have almost been the brief for the documentary fronted by Lord Sugar…….

“As non executive chairman of 5 companies my task is to question and challenge the executive directors and to ensure, as should they, the long-term success of the business.

The fiasco at Pompey, in the words of the administrator, shows a chaotic governance regime, lack of any meaningful financial control and a vacuum of leadership. As a company moves into difficulties, the duty of care of every director must change away from the success of the company and focus upon creditors. I hope that the board over the last few years have strong evidence that they have done just that in spite of managing to achieve a £60m loss.

(Aston Villa announced a loss this year of about £12m less than Pompey and Manchester United are £700m in debt.)

The Premier League, and indeed the Football League, cannot continue to allow this “Alice in Wonderland” lunacy to continue. The game at its highest levels is out of control and living in fantasy land. I am suggesting to the governing bodies that they need to introduce a version of the Combined Code for all (publicly quoted clubs are bound by this in any event) clubs with strong independent non-execs who do not have shareholdings or any other financial interest in the club.

The gold rush or should I say “silver rush” creates what I can only assume is a mindset not too different from those souls who mined the Klondike in 1899 – silver fever in the case of football where everything else other than trophies came second. Would fans rather have the silver and no club going forward or would they be content with more modest ambitions and a viable club at the heart of their community to visit every other Saturday?

Yes, we all like the heady feelings associated with success but if that success is at any price including administration and eventual liquidation I suggest that is too high a price in anyones estimation.

Whoever is the governing body, please do not fiddle while the clubs burn.”
Leslie