Balance the Board Conference 2025: Belief is Your Superpower: Jeannette Linfoot's Framework for Brave Bold Brilliant Growth

0:01Are you being brave or are you in your comfort zone? Are you taking care of yourself and your energy? Do you genuinely love what you do with passion?

0:13Jeannette Linfoot:so did you know that 70 of scale-ups actually don't succeed so as holly said we've got big ambitions everyone here in this room wants to scale up grow both their leadership their teams and the businesses that you're responsible for so scaling up is not easy but we want to make that step change don't we so we're going to cover in the next 10 minutes um from myself how we can scale up with confidence and with grace and with impact but before i do that i just want to say a massive thank you to holly for having me back again the third time it's a joy to be here so and also to put this on it's not an easy thing to do so i think we should give everyone a round of applause that's been involved in this in particular vicky and then of course all of you right you're busy people you've taken time out of your diaries to be here so i think you should give yourselves a round of applause as well well done for being here okay so we are talking about scaling up and in my experience of being in business it isn't always easy you know i've gone from the corporate world where i was the ceo of the travel division at Saga, the Managing Director of the Emerging Markets at TUI, taking those businesses international and then I've jumped out as an entrepreneur with a portfolio of my own businesses today.

1:43Jeannette Linfoot:And from my experience, what has got you to one position won't necessarily get you to the next stage. So it's really important as leaders that we recognise that and we equip ourselves with the tools that are going to help us scale up and make that difference. So I just want to get a sense who's in the room. Can you show me your hand if you're in a corporate organisation, maybe running a department, a division, you might be the CEO. Okay, got a few hands there. Great, thank you. And show me your hand if you are an entrepreneur, maybe a founder of a business that you're growing. Great, okay. So we've got a good mix.

2:20Jeannette Linfoot:We've got a good mix. But you're all here to grow, which is the great thing. So when we're looking at our scale up, it's always about three things, isn't it? Leading yourself, leading your teams and leading the business. And those three elements are the basic foundations of any organisation, which I'm sure is very familiar with. So when it comes to leading yourself, it's a lonely place, isn't it? Sometimes running a business. Anyone ever feel alone? I've felt alone lots of times in my career. Anyone else feeling a little bit like it's tough out there? Okay, so we've got to put ourselves in the best shape possible, haven't we?

3:01Jeannette Linfoot:So important. So it's always an inside job and it starts with us. And then when we're leading our teams, creating a winning team that wins together or not at all. You know, having an environment of psychological safety, making sure that we have a common why. we all understand why we're here and what we're trying to achieve and of course you know making sure that energy is good that everyone is heard so that's when we're leading a team how do we get to high performance and then of course the business you know the business growth and scale up as we said it's not easy 70 of businesses even if they have an amazing product and a great ambition do not scale up in the right way, do not succeed.

3:48Jeannette Linfoot:So having a maximum impact, grabbing opportunities. So those are the three foundations really that we're talking about even before we scale up. Now, has anyone seen this quote from the wonderful Stephen Arcovy, no longer with us unfortunately, but strength lies in differences, not similarities. Okay, we're all here because we're passionate about building diverse, equitable, can't even say it, put my teeth in. I've had new teeth, by the way. I've had veneers done. So I've looked after myself. I've got different teeth than last year, Holly. I'm showing them off.

4:30But I did it for me. I did it for me because I wanted to feel good about my teeth. Anyway, I'm oversharing. But you get the gist.

4:38Jeannette Linfoot:But this is so important to us all, isn't it? That's why we're all here. And we want to scale up in the right way. Now, there's a formula for success. And it's this belief plus purpose plus action equals results. So sometimes we overcomplicate things. I know I've done it when in the businesses I've ran, I've overcomplicated things. But I really want to lean into that word belief. Because sometimes it's hard, we don't always have that confidence and self-belief. So I've created this belief framework over the 30 plus years I've been in business. I know I don't look old enough, but anyway, there we go.

5:17Jeannette Linfoot:But belief is your superpower. It really is. If you can give yourself a gift to yourself, believe in yourself. Because when you're scaling up, it's hard. You're going to get things wrong. It's not always going to work. The numbers might not come in. So you've got to really, really double down on believing in yourself. So this belief framework, it's helped me over the years, both on my entrepreneurial journey, but also from working class girl in Stretford, growing up in Manchester to becoming a CEO of a FTSE 250 business. what's that from sale ria is from sale and i'm a stretford girl if any of you know manchester sale is posh stretford is quite common okay you know we're gonna but you know it's all about you know making sure that we're we're really believing ourselves so Let me take you through this belief framework.

6:20Jeannette Linfoot:Super simple. But when you're scaling up, just lean into this a little bit and ask yourself. So each letter stands for something. You can see them up there. And I'm going to go through them in turn. B, brave. E, energy. L, love. I, influences. E, execution. And F, failure. Failure. So I'm going to go through these very quickly to just put a bit more colour to them. So bravery, you know, when you're scaling up, it does take bravery to do it, right? And really digging deep sometimes. And then, of course, our energy. How is your energy? Is it high? Are you walking out in the morning, coming to greet your teams with a big smile on your face?

7:09Jeannette Linfoot:Or are you walking into the boardroom like this? different, huh? So, but we've got to look after ourselves. We have to put our own oxygen mask on first. And, you know, I had a complete crash earlier this year. I got really sick. I had a blocked bile duct, liver not working, rushed into hospital, gallbladder whipped out 10 days in hospital. Thankfully, nothing overly serious, but it made me stop. It made me stop and reassess because I hadn't been taking care of myself as much as I should. So my energy wasn't great. I'm through the other side. It's all good, but it was a bit of a shock. So check in with yourselves that you've got the right care and attention around yourself and the energy you bring.

8:02love how many people love what they do I love what I do look at that an array of hands some people not so sure and that's all right we have a choice don't we if we're not loving what

8:15Jeannette Linfoot:we do we have a choice do we stay or do we move on but when you love what you do it's easier isn't it to scale it's easier to make those tough decisions so just ask yourself are you really loving what you do or do you need to make a change? And then the influencers, who's in your life, privately, personally, professionally, we can't always choose, can we? Sometimes people professionally, we can't just boot them out of the boardroom, we have to navigate through those relationships. But I think someone said, it was Jim Rowan, we're the average of the five people we spend the most time with. So choose wisely.

8:57Jeannette Linfoot:Choose wisely. Who's in your life? And then the execution. Got to take the action, haven't we, when we're scaling up. Really important. And then the F, failure. If you're not failing, you're in your comfort zone. Got to fail your way to greatness, fail your way to brilliance. So if you're getting stuck, just remember this simple belief framework and check in with yourselves. Are you being brave enough? Have you got the right energy? Are you loving what you do? Have you got the right influences in your life? Are you executing with a razor-like focus on delivering results? Remember, 1 % better every day.

9:41Jeannette Linfoot:You will be 37 times better by the end of the year. So it's not always about the big things. It's often about the small little things. So here is your superpower checklist. Okay. Some questions for you to ask yourself. Are you being brave or are you in your comfort zone? Are you taking care of yourself and your energy? Do you genuinely love what you do with passion? Are you with the right people that influence you in the right way? Are you procrastinating or are you executing? and are you failing enough and learning from it so the great news is um i'm passionate about business i pour my heart and soul into it what you see is what you get with me as you can see over sharing on the teeth um but you know i think scaling up is not always easy and you know the business that i have that i've created with my team you know we have these four programs executive Edge, deeply immersive in person with the boardroom.

10:46Jeannette Linfoot:Our Leadership Mastermind Programme, six months supporting you and your team. Our Rise Academy, which we're launching next week, which is for our junior and middle managers. And then one-to-one mentoring. So we are here to help you scale up. If you want to come and have a chat with me later about any of this, then that's brilliant. But just remember, it is by being brave and bold that you're going to unlock your brilliant. Have an amazing conference, everyone. I really hope you've enjoyed this episode of Brave Bold Brilliant. Remember, check out our new website, www.brave-bold-brilliant.com. You're going to find loads of resources on there that's going to help you with your leadership journey and with the businesses that you're trying to scale up and grow.

11:33So take care, everyone. And remember, there are no limits to your growth, but it is by being brave and bold that you're going to unlock your brilliance.

11:44Thank you.