From Chaos to Clarity

0:02Demystify the situation and absolutely focus on, you know, that clarity that you're looking for. Because if you're constantly confused, it's not because the world is chaotic. It's because your strategy is not clear.

0:20From chaos to clarity, that is what we are talking about today. So it's all about the blueprint of world class CEOs. Now, most businesses, they don't fail because of bad ideas. They fail because of bad decisions. So if you're leading a business right now, you know exactly what I mean. You know, the inbox is full. The team needs direction. Cash flow needs managing. Opportunities are everywhere, especially if you're an entrepreneur. and everyone wants an answer now. But here's the truth. World-class CEOs are not calmer because their businesses are simpler. They're actually calmer because they have a decision-making blueprint.

1:07And today I'm going to give you that blueprint. But before we get into this, grab a pen and paper. You might want to make some notes because we're going to cover quite a lot here. And what I would say to you is if you are watching this live on social media, but we're not connected let's get connected you'll find me Jeanette Linfoot two n's and two t's in Jeanette everywhere Facebook LinkedIn TikTok Instagram etc and you'll also find our business pages Brave Bold Brilliant so please let's get connected on social media also if you are actually a massive fan of YouTube our podcast on YouTube subscribe to Brave Bold Brilliant because you're going to get notified when we go live, when we actually have a new episode.

1:52And the same goes for iTunes and Spotify, if that's where you listen to your podcast. And then the last final thing I will say to you is check out www.brave-bold-brilliant.com because on there, we have so many resources that are available to you. It's going to help you with your career, your business journey. So regardless where you are, if you're an entrepreneur, if you're actually leading a huge corporate organization, or you've got a big team, there is something there, everyone, to help you with your business and your professional journey. So let's get into this. How do we go from chaos to clarity when we are leading a business, leading the team, and of course, leading yourself?

2:36So let's start, first of all, with the first section that we want to go through. And this is all about why decision making is the CEO's real job. Now let's get something straight. As a CEO or an MD or a leader of a team, your job isn't doing. It's not about firefighting. It isn't about reacting. Your real job is decision making, especially under uncertainty. And that's really where the focus should be. And the reality is the higher you go in business, the fewer certainties you have. You don't always have all the data. You don't have endless time and you certainly don't have all the guarantees in the world, but you still have to decide.

3:17And to make a decision is so important because procrastination actually can really cause uncertainty in the business and with your teams. And in all honesty, the difference between average leaders and world class CEOs. What is it? Well, the best don't wait for clarity. They actually create it. They fill the gaps and they still make a decision even when they don't have every single piece of information available. So then segment number two that I want to take you through. And we've broken this into little sections for you so that it's more easy to digest. And this really is about separating your emotion from evidence.

4:05Because business can be messy. Life is messy, right? But when chaos hits, most leaders often react emotionally. But what if this fails? Because that isn't always going to serve you. You know, what will people think? You know, what if we lose money? What if I look stupid? You know, these are often the things running through our minds. And no matter what level you are in an organisation, we all have those little gremlins, that inner voice. But here's the thing. World class CEOs, they pause. They ask questions like these. Is this a feeling or is this a fact? And here's the practical framework. You know, what do we know?

4:53What are we actually assuming? What are we afraid of? And those real simple questions, you'll be amazed how much clarity appears when you separate those three things. Because emotion is information, but it's not instruction. And that is a real cut down moment right there. So there's a lot in this, isn't there? I did say there was a lot. But, you know, in my 30 plus years in business, it has been the times when I have been under pressure. Maybe there's been a challenge in the market. A competitor has maybe come into our space and started really aggressively attacking us. It has often been where I've actually gone into a new territory, opened a new market like China or India.

5:38And it can feel very overwhelming. But taking that moment to just pause, even when we're in a very difficult situation where our natural reaction is to jump in, it has always served me really well in my own professional life.

5:56Jeannette:But before we continue, I want to speak directly to those of you who are listening and thinking, I know I'm capable of more, but I need structure. I need some help. Because here's what I've actually learned after, gosh, more than three decades in business. You know, ambition without clarity creates frustration. And motivation without structure, it really does fade very, very fast. So that's exactly why we created Rise Academy. And Rise Academy is not theory. It isn't fluffy motivation, although you will be motivated. And it certainly isn't another online course that you never finish. It's actually a fully structured growth environment for ambitious entrepreneurs, leaders and founders who absolutely are ready to do all of these things.

6:52Jeannette:Sharpen their strategy, elevate their leadership, increase revenue with intention and build businesses that actually support the life that they want. And inside Rise Academy, we focus on the foundations most people skip. Leading yourself, leading your teams and leading the business. It's about clarity, standards, decision making, commercial intelligence and execution. Because scaling, it really isn't about doing more. It's actually about doing the right things and doing the things right consistently. So if you're serious about stepping up into your next level of your leadership, your business life, you know, and not just consuming content, but actually implementing it, then Rise Academy was absolutely built for you.

7:41Jeannette:So you can find all the details on our website. Go to www.brave-bold-brilliant.com. And now let's get back to the show.

7:54and even as a you know as a business owner myself and with the clients that we advise today just taking that time to pause and reflect not get dragged along by the chaos is really what is going to separate out those leaders that can really make an impact in a nice calm way and bring their team with them bring their clients with them on the journey versus those that struggle and actually flounder around in that chaos that can just end in a downward spiral if we're not careful. So then we've got to really move into this third part, which I'm going to cover now, which is really about making fewer but better decisions.

8:39This is where quality, not quantity, makes the difference. So if average leaders, what I see with the years I've been in business, is that average leaders tend to make hundreds of small decisions. They're not necessarily delegating out the decision-making to their team. They're very much controlling, and therefore, you know, their teams are always looking to them to provide the answers. But elite CEOs, they design systems so that they don't have to. You know, because decision fatigue is real. I mean, you might be watching this now and thinking, oh my god that's me i'm just bombarded every day it feels like it's everyone's coming to me for a decision or a perspective but the best leaders delegate they delegate in particular operational decisions so the big strategic decisions they're able to focus on but actually the day-to-day decisions and this is also about you working on the business not in the business and it takes time, it takes discipline and it's all about creating principles instead of policies.

9:54Okay, so empower teams with guardrails. If your team knows where they're empowered to just make decisions, crack on, then they can move faster with confidence and also that means allowing your team to fail at certain times, which can be very uncomfortable. But that's the only way we learn. That's the way I've learned over the years. I've made loads of, you know, failures and things that haven't gone well, but I've learned from it. And that's what's allowed me to step up my own professional kind of career journey, if you like. But here's the thing, if everything needs your approval, you know, you don't have a leadership problem, you've actually got a trust or a structure problem.

10:38So ask yourself this question, are all the decisions coming up the line to you? Or have you actually effectively delegated to your team? Are you trusting your team to make those choices so that you can focus on the right things for your business? So the next step is really about speed over perfection. And here's something that might surprise you. World-class CEOs are rarely 100 % certain. They're often certain to maybe 60, 70%, but they still decide because speed compounds. It's very expensive. And in all honesty, if you're waiting for perfect clarity, it often costs more than making a bold move and adjusting.

11:24Much better to make a decision and then you'll know very quickly whether that decision was the right decision. And if it wasn't the right decision, then you can make a different decision. But if you're stuck in procrastination, indecision, your teams get frozen, the world is moving past you, your competitors may be acting really in an agile way. And then of course, you miss the opportunity or catastrophe happens. And certainly in my career in the travel industry, You know, travel is a global industry. It accounts for over 10 % of global GDP, gross domestic products. So all of the earnings in the world, you know, 10%, more than 10 % comes from travel and tourism, travel, leisure, hospitality.

12:12So, you know, in this world, actually, there are disasters. Ash cloud, 9-11, COVID, hurricane. We have deaths in a destination can happen. You know, unfortunately, that's the reality. We might have a terrorist attack that has to be dealt with, financial crashes. I mean, you name it. A global industry is affected by global shocks. So in those particular situations where you are in a crisis, you have to make decisions. And indecision, as I say, is very expensive. So this is something that I've had to really gain my confidence in over the years as well. And it isn't easy. But if you're waiting for that perfect clarity, it's going to cost you more than actually moving forward and then adjusting.

13:03So, you know, the key question actually becomes, is this decision reversible? And if it is reversible, then move. If it's not, maybe slow down, take a pause, stress test it. Now, the length of time that you take will depend on the situation, because if you're in a life and death situation, you might only be able to pause for a couple of minutes. But if it's something else, which is maybe a new product launch or something like that, but it needs to be right. Then, you know, you might have the opportunity to slow down and stress test it. And that alone is going to change how you operate, because it's going to give you the confidence to make those decisions.

13:46Because if most things are reversible and probably 80 to 90 percent of things are reversible in reality, then actually you're going to have you're going to feel less stressed about it. All right. So then really the next stage I wanted to talk to you about, the next step is around decide from identity, not pressure. And that's the part that most people miss. So, you know, average leaders decide from from fear, potentially might be from ego. We all have egos, but how big is your ego? It could be from urgency, external noise. We get a lot of external noise coming in, don't we? But the difference between average CEOs and world-class CEOs is they decide from identity.

14:29They ask, who are we? What do we stand for? What's the game we are actually playing? Why do we exist? Because clarity doesn't always come from more information. It comes from alignment. You know, and I would always say, you know, what's your why? There's a great book, actually, by Simon Sinek, if you haven't read it, called Start With Why. And, you know, this works both actually from a business point of view, but also from a personal perspective as well. You know, why am I doing this? Why do we exist? Why are we here? Because when you're clear on that and you know how your values are aligned with that as well, it will help keep you true.

15:08So when you need to make those important choices, bring it back to your why, bring it back to that alignment. And then that's going to really help you see the wood for the trees, demystify the situation and absolutely focus on that clarity that you're looking for. Because if you're constantly confused, it's not because the world is chaotic. It's because your strategy is not clear. So when your identity is clear, when your strategy is clear, decisions get faster and confidence then follows. And what I will say is with confidence, it compounds. If you're a confident leader, that instills confidence in your team.

15:54If your team are confident, they're going to make better decisions for, you know, all of the stakeholders, whether that's internal, whether it's external, whether that's for your clients, your customers. So it really does make a difference. But as we get more confident, we get the results that gives us more confidence. So and so it goes on. We get into a positive upward spiral rather than a negative downward spiral. OK, let's just now share with you the five question CEO decision filter. So this is a practical blueprint. So as I say, write this down. It's going to really help you. And this also applies if you're not a CEO, maybe you're leading a team, maybe you're heading up a particular department.

16:38This still absolutely works for you in terms of a practical blueprint for you as a leader, as leader, a business leader of a team. So before you make you're making any major decision, ask these questions. Does this align with our long term vision? Does this actually move revenue, reputation or resilience? Are we being proactive or reactive? What's the real cost of not deciding? And then if this works, does it compound? I've just spoken to you about the power of compound growth. And if it passes those five tests, move. If it fails two or more, then you need to pause. OK, so this is how you go from chaos to clarity, not by eliminating complexity, but by building a filter that actually cuts through it.

17:33So, you know, for you, your next move, let's look at this. Here's the reality. Your business will never be less chaotic than it is right now. You know, as you grow, complexity increases, have a bigger team, bigger risk, bigger stakes. Right. And that's the thing about when we're successful. If you're an ambitious leader and you're ambitious for your team, for your business that you're in, for what you want to achieve in this world. You know, as Tony Robbins says, if you want better results, raise your standards. It's as simple as that, because when we get to a certain level, then actually, you know, if we're ambitious and we want to be the best we possibly can be, we're going to raise our standards again.

18:14And so it goes on. So, you know, this is normal. This is this is part of growth. So the question isn't how to remove chaos. It's how to lead through it with integrity, being true to yourself as well through this process. Because at the end of the day, people do business with those that they know, like and trust. All right. And people join brands that they have an affinity to, but they leave bosses where they don't have a good relationship. So as a CEO, as a business leader, as a leader of a team, it's really about these elements. And world-class CEOs, they're not fearless. You still feel the fear.

18:55The key is to take action anyway, despite that. So, you know, CEOs that are really great and leaders that are really great, they're structured. They don't wait for that clarity, that perfect moment. They actually build it. so I know there was a lot in here but I'm hoping it's very very useful for you it's certainly been great for me to process this in my mind again as we're speaking you know so here's my challenge or here's your challenge what decision have you been avoiding and what would a world-class CEO version of you do about it this week and that's where your next level lives so remember being a leader is about making those choices.

19:40It's about providing that clarity. It's about acknowledging that we're human beings and we don't always have all the answers. And we might be scared, we might be fearful, but we make the move anyway, because we're true to our purpose. We know why we exist and we know what mark we want to leave in the world for ourselves, for our teams, for our clients, for our investors, for our business. So moving from chaos to clarity, actually, when you break it down, is very achievable. You've got to start, make a start. And then over time, this will become your natural leadership approach. So I hope this has been helpful.

20:23We absolutely love the community that we have at Brave Bold Brilliant. We're here to help. We're here to support each other. So join the community. Head to the website www.brave-bold-brilliant.com. Join the community because then you're going to actually become part of this bigger ecosystem. Make sure you subscribe to Brave Bold Brilliant on YouTube, on iTunes, Spotify, if you like to listen to audio. And of course, if you have any challenges, any questions that you need, drop us a message. Put a comment in the post below. Send us an email. We are here to help. And remember, it is by being brave and bold that you are absolutely going to unlock your brilliant.

21:11I 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. So 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.