Do you need to tame the beast?

Hello!

How's your November been? I feel like my feet haven't touched the ground! I was?at the Eden Project in?Cornwall for the Anthropy conference at the beginning of the month. Since then I've had a string of client workshops to facilitate, and have also been involved in several events. It's been great to make new connections, catch up with old friends and have inspiring conversations!? Two highlights to share:

• I've started a series of fireside chats with business leaders from across Surrey, together with the Surrey Sustainable Business Network ?where I'm a Strategic Advisor. The first fireside chat was last week and we're planning more for the new year. If you want to hear advice from leaders who are leading the way in building a sustainable business then please come along - they're hybrid so you don't need to be in Surrey to attend.
• I've been appointed as Co-Chair for B Local Surrey and am looking forward to working with my other Co-Chairs to build the B Corp movement in this special county.?

Most of the business leaders I work with are feeling overwhelmed. They're struggling to know what steps to take to scale up their impact.

• They're trying to figure out something they've not done before
• They don't know where to start or what steps to take
• Their head is full of ideas but they don't know how to get their thoughts ordered
• They don't know what to prioritise
• And to top it off... they're trying to do all of this on top of their day job!

Sound familiar?One client told me it felt like a beast - and that analogy felt so apt that it's stuck. The method I use to help them is now called the Tame The Beast method.

What do we do?

• First you have to Unleash the Beast - get all those ideas out of your head
• Next, Train the Beast - group the ideas so that similar ones are together
• Finally Tame the Beast - prioritise activities and work out what time / money you need

This is the practical step-by-step approach that Nicky Leach (Founder of The Spiral Hub ) and I take when we start working with a client - to help them move from being overwhelmed to having clarity.

You can find out more about this simple three-step approach in my free Scale Up Your Impact Guide - you will have what you need to tame your own beast and make progress.

In the guide I also share:

• Three common reasons why teams often get overwhelmed and don't make the progress they want
• Three learnings from working with businesses on scaling up their impact?

Lots of the business leaders I speak to feel stuck and overwhelmed - working out why is the first step in making progress.

And so, the question I encourage you to ask this month is:

What's stopping us from?making progress?

Once you know what's holding you back (e.g. you don't know what to do, or you need to influence the rest of the Board) then you can work out what to do about it.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by all the things you could be doing to scale up your impact, then I'd encourage you to block out some time and get all those ideas out of your head.?

Either set up an online whiteboard or use real post it notes to get all those ideas down on 'paper'. Once you've done that then you can start putting some structure around them and prioritising them.

I find that just getting things out of my?head can feel like I've released a whole load of tension - there's no longer the pressure to hold it all in there and not forget it!

It probably hasn't escaped your attention that COP28 is about to get under way in the United Arab Emirates. What you might not know is that there are People Planet Pint events going on in parallel across the whole of the UK. There are also a growing number of People Planet Pastry events too if a-pastry-in-the-daytime is more your vibe than a-pint-in-the-evening.?

Check out the People Planet Pint website and find one near you.

It's a great opportunity to connect informally with other people who care about sustainability, impact and creating change in the world.

As always, let me?know?what you'd like me to include in future editions of the newsletter (comment below or email [email protected] ). What are your biggest challenges or burning questions when it comes to delivering?meaningful?impact through your business?

Otherwise, have a great month and good luck with scaling up your impact!

PS if you enjoyed this newsletter then make sure you're subscribed so you're notified about future editions! I also publish it by email - sign up?here .

PPS don't forget to download your FREE Scale Up Your Impact Guide .