The dance between pragmatism and distinctive brilliance

In reflecting on this year, I wanted to share a few thoughts on challenges I see with the current culture we’re operating in; the importance of being patient (and realistic) about the time and effort it takes to develop mastery; the satisfaction of embracing your brilliance; and the dance between pragmatically keeping your business going while creating the space for the long-term development of your company’s distinctive brilliance.

It’s a short episode this week so feel free to jump straight in and watch the video here or scroll to the bottom of the page for the audio only version.

If you want the summary here’s the main points, I shared in my reflections:

Current Culture

We live in a very loud, very rushed culture. As business leaders we are bombarded with facades of “success”, wrapped up neatly with promises and guarantees of glitzy results if we simply follow this approach, or adopt that tactic.

The consistent result I see come out of these approaches is companies who have invested time, money and effort into consultants, advisors, and programs only to find themselves no closer to achieving their goals. Not to mention disillusioned and possessing a smaller bank balance!

True mastery takes time, cultivation and commitment to deliberate practice.?

Mastery

There’s no shortcut to mastery. BUT that rushed culture we live in is confusing us when it comes to mastery too because even when we’re told there’s no silver bullet we then get told to “do it anyway”; “push through” ...

I don’t believe the answer is a constant push, grind and hustle. I see leaders who reject the silver bullet approaches rushing full force into bulldozing over every obstacle and missing the lessons in the process.

As uncomfortable, and even unnatural, as learning to wait might feel, I don’t believe that forcing things to a resolution prematurely is the answer.

Brilliance

For years I’ve told business leaders that what they find easiest to do, because it comes naturally to them, is what they should charge the most for because it is where their distinctive brilliance lies.?

This year I stopped fighting that and embraced my own advice! For me that meant:?

• Bringing to the forefront the way I triage a business - think of a boring audit or review but throw in a fun dash of the chaos in the movie A Beautiful Mind!??
• Honouring the distinctive way I think in business models.

These are two of the main elements that differentiate my work from every other consultant. Bringing them front and centre has allowed the businesses we work with to see things they would otherwise have missed. That has only occurred because I have unapologetically embraced the quirks of my mind and operated from my brilliance.

If you stopped trying to be all things to all people. What would be the areas of distinctive brilliance you would embrace???

Strategic Long Game

Taking those insights, what does it mean for how we approach 2025?

For me there are two elements that are sitting with me as I plan for 2025; both focus on ensuring I’m being strategic and taking a long-term view of building a thriving business. I don’t want to be reactive or short-sighted in my decisions.

• PRAGMATIC: There’s no denying that there is an element of running a business, especially in an uncertain market, which requires you to be pragmatic. Even in the pragmatic steps I take to run my business I am informed by the insights I gather from my triage process. This allows me to increase the chance that I will spot and mitigate risks quicker, while also identifying and leveraging opportunities sooner.?
• LONG-TERM: If I want to build a thriving business; not just chase quick, empty hits; I need to create the space and prioritise the long-term development of our distinctive brilliance at Benefit Capital.

My hope for all the extraordinary leaders running small and medium sized businesses is that you will find some space for reflection as the year wraps up. But more than that, I hope you’ll take those insights and let them inform your decisions and priorities in 2025.

The demands and expectations being placed on you are only going to increase. You are going to need to get quiet and really clear on what matters most of 2025 is going to be an even rockier ride!

We’re taking a break until the 6th of January so from the Ben Cap Crew I’d like to say Happy Holidays and we hope to be part of your journey in 2025 as you build a thriving business in this uncertain market.