From the Desk of Caspar
The foundations for making anything happen as a leader starts with what you give permission to influence you.
Who you spend time, what you scroll through, read and watch.
Nothing has a greater impact than your environment around you.
Take a moment to notice what you are allowing into your world.
Why not find a quiet 10 minutes.
Get a pen and paper.
Scribble down who and what you allow to influence you.
Then think if it’s helping you move towards where you want to go.
Who or what can you “dial up” and spend more time with.
Who or what can you “dial down” and spend less time with you,
Your influences are choices that you make.
Have an awesome week everyone.
In the spotlight
It’s been a glorious few weeks in England with summer definitely on the way. Columbus, my son and I have been busy with gardening.
Tip: don’t forget to switch off your devices, get outside and enjoy time with family and friends.
Three things I learnt that changed everything
It was a reasonably rare occurrence. Rare that we’d all headed away for the half term week with my wife and the children. It wasn’t anything grand. A week staying with my Dad at his home. I’d wrestled myself away from the business. Everything was set to be ok without me for those 4 working days.
It was then that I had the phone call.
It was the Tuesday morning after bank holiday Monday. One of my clients was set up to renew their annual contract with us. It was worth 22k to the business and was a chunk of the sales pipeline for that month. The boss of our client contact had pulled up our contract and was questioning the value.
Did they really need to use our services? What value was it adding? These were not questions we wanted when we’d put so much work in and from someone who didn’t know anything about the deal was now asking. We’d have to start again with the “boss" from scratch. My week away with the family now in tatters. We’d have to go through the whole pitch process again with the boss and take them through what we’d done, what we’d achieved and what we were going to do.
That day “on the beach with the kids” was now taken up with calls with my team, presentations and data back and forth getting us ready and lining up the call with the “boss”.
The following day I had the call.
My wife and the kids were at home and playing. I decamped to the nearby town and found a coffee shop. With my headphones on and trying to blank out the noise of the teenagers meeting there, I made the call. I *think* it went well. The “boss” didn’t really give me a clear answer. She had to go and discuss with the team. They’d get back to me next week. There was not much else I could do. Get back to the family and try to get back in the swing of the half term. All the time with the deal at the back of my mind.
Would the deal get signed off?
If it didn’t cash flow would be tight. We’d have to cut our already thin salary to make sure we could pay the rest of the team. The life of the entrepreneur. My life. As it was.
It wasn’t until later after more painful experiences like like that I learnt my lesson. It was to build the business that didn’t rely on me.
One where we had a strong product, a strong pipeline of prospects and a brilliant team of people.
I thought that business was meant to be hard. The type of thing you see on Dragons Den. The type of thing you see Gary Vee talking about and hustling.
That was the blueprint I had.
If you’ve got that blueprint too, here’s the three things that I started to do differently that changed everything:
Truly put family first. Work out what you want to do as a family together and make that the burning focus in our lives. Rather than work.
Be Brave. Surrounded myself with people way better than me, learn voraciously and try lots of different things to find out what worked best.
Realise it wasn’t about me. It was about we and building a rock star team all around me.
That was it.
That was the blueprint that shifted it all.
What blueprint are you working to in your business and life?
Happy half term week everyone.
P.S. We did close that 22k deal the week after we got back
The #1 International Best Seller
I’m delighted to share that Where The Magic Happens is now an International #1 Amazon Best Seller in a variety of categories and has been attracting a slew of 5 star Amazon Reviews (29 at the last count).
My favourite quotes from the reviews…
“a fabulous book for any manager in business as it gives a really refreshing perspective on defining purpose, and team work, and developing and living values, and tips on developing strategy and overcoming adversity”
“This book arrived on Saturday am - and it took up all my free time until I finished it on Monday evening. At first glance, you think it's going to be a heart-warming tale about a family coping with all matter of adventure and adversity sailing round the world. And for those, looking for that, you won't be disappointed.
But it also cuts far deeper. The lessons shared are relatable to business and family - and will inspire and compel you to make changes. I'm an avid reader of business books, and yet, this story has compelled me in a very short time to take more action than many I read”
“I expected this book to be a journal about the voyage but it was so much more - inspirational and thought provoking, and made me sit up and really think about purpose and the art of the possible . It proves that if you dream a little bit then show real grit and determination you can do just about anything . Highly recommended”
Be a Better Leader
Thrive
Want to make more things happen in your life?
Be the leader. Anyone can be a leader. it's a mindset. Not a title.
Here's my two pennies on why the best businesses and leaders act like families:
Thought for the Day
"Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to methose have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language."
- Henry James
Upcoming Events
June 5th - Live on Steve Wright BBC Radio 2
June 6th - Keynote - Guildford, UK
June 13-14th - Keynote - Boston, MA
June 16th - Keynote in Southampton, UK
June 21st - Leadership Masterclass in London, UK
June 27th - After Dinner Speaker London
June 30th - Guest Speaker, Plymouth
July 12-13th - Keynote Speaker, Malta
July 14-17th - NSA Convention, Dallas
August - The next sailing adventure…
“I was recently introduced to Caspar through a mutual friend and was intrigued and inspired by his story and thinking around leadership.
Caspar was an obvious choice to deliver a key note speech at the Node4 Annual Sales Kick Off and I am really pleased to say that Caspar certainly delivered beyond my high expectations.
Caspar has a very natural style, and the way he distils key leadership principles from both his professional and round the world sailing experiences, makes it very easy to translate into practical leadership tools that are applicable in any situation.
I would certainly recommend Caspar and would certainly use Caspar again for key notes speeches.”