“We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.” John Dryden, 1631-1700 I’m really excited to welcome guest writer Salma El-Shurafa from The Pathway Project. Salma is an Executive Coach, based out of Dubai – I love her message and her writing style, so am delighted to feature her. by Salma El-Shurafa John Dryden...

Loyal readers will recognise the Shirlaws ‘Layers of Context‘ framework (below) and know the value of setting a 1 Word Context as part of your strategic planning. So when I sat down with my Board (aka my beautiful wife) at the beginning of 2016, the top agenda item was “What is my primary context right...

Reviewing my Strategy for 2016 and beyond, it became immediately apparent. I lacked a clear Vision for myself and my family. Here’s what I did about that. The fabulous Millie from I Am Lovable has been encouraging me for many years now to create a Vision Board. As an exercise, it never felt relevant to...

Whether you’re a startup or reviewing your decades-old organisation, examining the combination of Vision, Strategy, Structures, Systems (not to mention People & Processes) need not be overwhelming. At the beginning of 2016, I ran my own business through this annual strategy day agenda. What became clear … was how confused I was, and the negative impact...

Great Partnerships and Joint Ventures help business owners achieve their dreams faster. Yet most do not succeed, having failed to answer to these key questions. Maybe you are forming a partnership for a new startup? Perhaps you are bringing in an equity partner to your business for the first time? Or you have identified that a significant...

I’m 32 1/2 years old. My next birthday will be 33, and I will enter what some people refer to as ‘the Jesus year‘. For a whole combination of random thoughts intersecting, it occurred to me that I’m already working towards a nifty plan for the time period roughly associated with that year. Basically, I’m...