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The CEO Files, new bi-weekly blog talking all things MID Group

I’ve always loved writing blogs as it allows me to express all the information that’s going on in my head. It’s great to keep you all updated about what’s going on with myself and around the business. So, I’ve decided to start a bi-weekly blog series, The CEO Files, which I hope you’ll all enjoy reading and engage with us across our social media platforms.

Q3 update

For the first CEO Files blog, I want to share with you some personal highlights I’ve had from the last quarter. As you’ve all probably heard, we recently announced the formation of MID Group, which MID Comms and our new brand, My Ideal Destination will fall under. It’s a very exciting time for the MID brand and I am proud to be at the helm steering the ship.

Fellowship status from Institute of Directors

Many of you will know that I have three important words that I carry with me, on both my work and personal life, “Pride”, “Passion” and “Persistence”. I believe these words have been instrumental in getting me to the point I am at today, gaining my fellowship status from the Institute of Directors (IID). This was a big achievement both personally and professionally for me and it proves that hard work and determination pays off. I hope my achievement can inspire everyone in the MID Family to always strive for more.

Kellogg’s KED Talks – Being bold and brave

Sometimes you are offered opportunities you just can’t turn down. Last month I was given the chance to sit alongside Roger Stephenson OBE and Martin Sterling at the Kellogg’s KED Talks to discuss the topic of being bold and brave.

It’s fantastic to pass on what I’ve learnt in my career journey to those who are at the beginning of theirs. It’s important to be bold and brave. Don’t be afraid to fail, failing is just part of the journey to success. If you don’t fail, then you’re not trying anything new or innovative. This comes back to those important three words pride, passion and persistence.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the first instalment of The CEO Files and are ready for the next one. We’re heading into Q4 now and I’ll have lots of exciting updates for you coming in the near future.

Any good business should have a set of core values that it operates against – one of ours is that we always drive for results

When we think and talk about this core value, I really try and look for 5 key rules and principles in people, to tell me does a person or team really drive for results. Do they do it? Can they do it? Do they want to do it?

Advice on how best to drive for results

I have put my top 5 points below, for you to have a read through to see if they help yourself, your team or your business drive for results.

Let’s dive straight in and provoke some thought and reflection for you…

1.It is important to understand firstly what the result or end goal is that you want and think about a time scale of how long this will take to achieve.

2.Skills gaps. Are there any skill gaps in the person or team? If there is how do you fill them? Where can you fill them? Do they need filling? Have you got the right people doing the right roles? It’s so important to make sure you have the right people surrounding you. They say you are an average of the 5 people you spend the most time with so choose these 5 very carefully and wisely.

3.Do you or the team have the right mindset? Can you create positive energy when needed? Mindset and motivation have played a huge part in my career. Make yourself impossible to ignore, with great tenacity and a strong work ethic. Are you fuelling positive energy? Can you do it with a smile on your face? After all, a smile is infectious and spreads positivity across your team.

4.Attitude & motivation. You need to motivate yourself before you can motivate others. Don’t wait to be motivated. You will fail whilst driving for results. However, failure isn’t always a bad thing. Make sure you learn from it, reflect on what you can do differently and be resilient in everything you do.

Can you keep up that drive for results? Don’t beat yourself up, give yourself a break from time to time and focus on progress, not perfection. Perfection is unattainable. Nothing is ever perfect, and anything can always be better. We always need to keep working hard and maintain high standards.

5.Remember driving for results, whatever they may be, is down to you, not anyone else. It’s up to you.

I call this the man in the mirror moment. The man in the mirror will always and should always be your biggest competitor. If you are better today than yesterday, then you are growing and delivering. Spend all your time and energy doing things that contribute to the goal, don’t get too distracted keep focus and constantly drive for results.

So, I hope this helps and remember this is only my opinion. My advice might not work for all of you. But, as I said at the start I hope there’s something in every blog I do that may resonate with you and make a difference, however big or small.

Until next time, keep driving for those results…

DS

The power of culture – do you know the impact of a good culture?

For those who know me, you will know I love nothing more than taking a break mid-year with the family to really switch off and take time to reflect. And on my yearly break away I always think about the power of culture.

This year we have embarked on a full family holiday, with myself, my Wife Jody, my two sons, 14-year-old Brad and 7-month-old Max. To make this an even bigger family getaway my wife has joined us up with 15 of her family members.

Anyway, the reason why this is important is that her sister has a two-year-old little boy, and what I saw in day one of the break and I reflected on, was the power of culture. It was unbelievable when I had that WOW moment, which most of us will and have walked past so many times.

As we embarked on the pool to have some fun it was fair to say the hotel in Bulgaria was very international, with people coming from Russia, France, Germany, and many other, great nations.

Children are diamonds

Children are diamonds when they are small, so pure and innocent, with no preconceived judgments about the world, people, race, religion, gender, or any other programmed beliefs.

I know this because my wife’s two-year-old nephew, jumped out of the pool and walked over to another little boy, who did not speak any English, and started to play football. The two boys played with each other for ages, neither understanding the other, but both knew how to smile and be friendly.

They respected each other as they passed the ball between them and did not have any idea they may be different in culture, religion, gender or morals and belief system. Children are so pure and perfect, it is the world, the environment, our parents, our nations and situations that programme us.

The power of culture when done right

Later in the afternoon I reflected on the two children playing and couldn’t help but think, if we all adjusted our belief system a little, and as people no matter what nation we come from, we offered a kinder and more respectful approach, maybe we would have a better place to live.

It also shows me how powerful culture can be as I am sure all people believe they are respectful, kind, and considerate, but what we have is different beliefs programmed and conditioned into us, as I said at the start of this blog.

I am proud to be British and have a British culture, morals and belief system. Even when we have so many challenges going on in our great nation, we must not forget our culture and how great we are as a nation and a nation of leaders, as leaders we must set the example for our future generations to follow.

Seeing arrogance, and rudeness in other people doesn’t make me adjust my value system or my morals. I will always do what I believe to be the right thing and act in a manner that does not go against my beliefs.

If I change then I have been influenced, and I become a follower, not a leader. Even Ghandi had something to say on culture, and he clearly saw its need to be created and the importance of it, so we must be on the right path.

How can we influence future generations?

I love the powerful infographic above from www.oasdom.com. It made me start to think about the culture in the workplace along with the importance and power of it. If you get it right, you can get people to adopt it, live it and breath it.

This will not just affect people at work, but can also have an impact on their out of work life if done right. This culture system could start to live and breathe in your team’s homes. If the culture and value system you build is right, then this is how you can influence a change in the world. As small as it may be, it’s a change. If we all made a change to one person, one business, one environment at a time then surely, we could bring about a better tomorrow.

When your culture and company values spread to others’ homes, this could then be passed on and part instilled in our children. Children then grow up with a much better and happier culture, and value system, which may make a difference to how they develop, and act with others. After all, remember from the start its us, as parents, that influence and programme our children.

I hope this blog has made you stop and think a little bit more about your response and your ability to make an impact. It is our responsibility as leaders in business, at home as parents, to set the right culture, and possess the right values. Culture does not make people, people make culture.

Good luck, I hope this has helped or made you think, and please feel free to follow me on twitter @DannyMIDSimpson and let me know your thoughts.

Stay tuned and if you enjoyed this and watch out for my next blog…

DS