"Meet the Business Advisor Behind Multi-Million Pound Growth" | Leaders In Strategy Podcast

6 Apr 2026 · 37 min · 13 chapters

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In short

Jeanette Linfoot, an award-winning business advisor and podcast host, discusses how to drive multi-million-pound business growth through clear strategy, risk/opportunity planning, leadership development, and aligning board-to-frontline execution. She explains her “Rise Academy” and other programs, plus practical leadership guidance (know your numbers, define your “why,” map processes from the customer lens, and use a “helicopter” approach—hover for strategy, land for crises).

Guests

Jeanette Linfoot. Multiple business owner/entrepreneur/investor/advisor; 30+ years’ experience. Former CEO of Saga’s travel division; managing director at TUI for emerging markets (China, India, Brazil, South America). Runs Brave Bold and Brilliant (global clients including Accor Hotels, Virgin Atlantic, Nationwide Building Society).

Key claims

Most training is disconnected from business strategy; growth requires connecting leadership, team dynamics, and business objectives. Risk/opportunity should be quantified alongside P&L/EBITDA/revenue.

Notable examples

Travel industry low margins (~5% EBITDA) and crisis decision-making (9/11, ash cloud, COVID, hurricanes, repatriation).

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

Introducing Jeanette Linfoot

0:45 to 4:00

Mike introduces guest Jeanette Linfoot, highlighting her achievements.

“A key aspect to being a successful business leader is having the right people around you to support, inspire, challenge and equip you to face the challenges ahead.”

Jeanette's Podcast Journey

4:00 to 8:10

Jeanette discusses her podcast's success and experiences over six years.

“And so I think it's really important that you do something you enjoy, then it doesn't feel like work.”

Business Mantras and Mindsets

8:10 to 12:25

Mike and Jeanette share personal mantras and insights on work and life.

Challenges in Business Consulting

12:25 to 14:00

Jeanette talks about the transition from corporate life to consulting.

Motivations Behind Business Decisions

14:00 to 15:00

Explore the personal motivations behind business choices and the challenges faced.

What Sets Brave Bold and Brilliant Apart

15:01 to 17:40

Learn how this consultancy integrates leadership, team dynamics, and business strategy.

Rise Academy: Comprehensive Leadership Development

17:41 to 19:19

Discover the unique aspects of the Rise Academy and its practical approach.

“But as you say, there's very rarely a common theme or link.”

Tailored Programs for Business Needs

21:04 to 24:29

Discuss various tailored programs available for different business stages and needs.

“And then we're able to then say, okay, these are our observations, right?”

The Importance of Stress Testing Business Processes

24:30 to 26:39

Understand the value of stress testing processes for resilience in business.

Top Tips for Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs

26:40 to 28:02

Gain insights into essential strategies and tips for effective business leadership.

“Now, things never, there's never a straight path.”
Show all 13 chapters

Strategic Drivers for Business Growth

28:02 to 30:09

Explore key strategies for small business leaders to foster growth.

“And when you need to land in your business and get involved, roll your sleeves up a little bit.”

The Importance of Knowing Your Numbers

30:10 to 32:44

Understand why business leaders must be familiar with their financials.

“that they need your support and guidance.”

Decisive Leadership in Crisis Situations

32:45 to 34:58

Learn how effective leadership is crucial during crises in business.

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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00Jeannette Linfoot:Understanding where you are now and where you want to be is great. Now, there's never a straight path. No plan ever works out. So we know that. But actually, if you have a strategic plan and a roadmap, be really clear on what are the strategic drivers for growth and profitability in your business. I'm Mike Harris and I help businesses to successfully grow their turnover and profit. In the last year alone, I have helped dozens of businesses at least double in size. And I work with small, medium and large businesses, including startups and multinationals.

0:41Hello and welcome to All You Leaders in Strategy. I'm Mike Harris and welcome back to another episode. A key aspect to being a successful business leader is having the right people around you to support, inspire, challenge and equip you to face the challenges ahead. So today I'm delighted to be joined by a very special guest, business advisor, award winning podcast host, the brave, the bold and the brilliant Jeanette Linfoot. Hello Jeanette, thank you for joining us.

1:13Jeannette Linfoot:Hi Mike, thank you for having me on. It's a real pleasure to be here. and what a fabulous introduction i love it well you deserve it and well done on your um your award for the podcast yes podcast of the decade for brave bold brilliance very exciting and they're super proud yeah so um we were saying just before we came on air that you've been running your podcast now for six six years so um make episode 600 coming up soon i think you said that's right that's right yes we started in uh 2020 july 2020 so yeah it's been a really interesting journey a real privilege actually to speak to so many cool people so yeah we love it we love our podcast brilliant and we'll put um in the link we'll put details for the podcast we'll also put it onto the video so um others who want to see more of Jeanette can go over there and see that fantastic podcast i've i've actually watched a few episodes in preparation for today and and um I can genuinely say it was really interesting and really good.

2:15And you say some brilliant guests, so I can definitely recommend it. We like to start these podcasts with what I call a podcast pitch, which is kind of like an elevator pitch and gives you an opportunity just to tell the viewers and listeners about yourself, your background and a little bit about your company, the brave, the bold and the brilliant.

2:37Jeannette Linfoot:Yeah. Oh, well, thank you for the opportunity, Mike. So I'm Jeanette Linfoot and I'm a multiple business owner, entrepreneur, investor, advisor, and we work with businesses to really help them step up and be the best version of themselves. So we do two things primarily. We do business strategy and leadership development. OK, so that's really what's the name of our podcast, Brave Bob, and it is also the proud brand of our business, actually, as well now. And we're global. We have incredible clients, you know, Accor Hotels, Virgin Atlantic, Nationwide Building Society, fabulous, fabulous clients.

3:15Jeannette Linfoot:And we're here really, as I say, to help leaders, teams and businesses be the best version of themselves and go for growth. My background is I've been in business 30 years plus, actually now showing my age. And I was in the corporate world for a very long time. So I was in the travel industry. I was the CEO of the travel division for a company called Saga. So ran all of the travel businesses. And then I was at TUI for many years as managing director of the emerging markets. So I used to run the businesses in China, India, Brazil, South America, etc. So where I am today with our business portfolio is very much coming from a lived experience of having ran very large global teams myself.

4:00Jeannette Linfoot:so you know I know how tough it can be but I built my career from the bottom up like we often do Manchester girl born and bred and then sort of made my way up from being on a graduate scheme at Thompson holidays back in the day to becoming a CEO so yeah that's kind of my background really but very happy to be here Mike. Good we like to have an icebreaker and the reason we do that is partly to get you and I into into the right frame of mind for the podcast but also I'm always conscious that our viewers and listeners are doing other things at the time they're listening they might be walking the dog or or going for a run and it's to try to get them a little bit back into the zone before we get into the the topic of business and business strategy etc so today's ice break and we again we had a chat just before we came on so we're going to go with one that's quite popular which is what proverb or mantra do you live your life by and why so the mantra that i live my life by is you only have one life to make it count yeah and maybe this comes with a little bit of age mike a little bit of experience uh but what i would say is I I think very often we get stuck or we sweat the small things but actually are you living your best life do you know what you really want and are you living a life that's joyful that is you know that you love what you do you love the people you're around because if not then you're wasting you're wasting an opportunity so you know live every life as if it's you're going to be your last day sort of sort of mantra and maybe not as extreme as that but yeah you only have one life so make it count yeah well i'm going to go with one that's similar actually i'm going to i'm going to kind of feed off that one so one of my mantras in life is um the the fact is we spend a lot of time at work we're really focused on it um so we we need to enjoy it at the same time there's no point doing what we're doing and putting all the hours in if we're not enjoying it.

6:09And so I think it's really important that you do something you enjoy, then it doesn't feel like work. It feels almost like a hobby. And to me, the big thing that makes the difference between enjoying and not enjoying work was something I had a boss said to me once. Well, he actually said it quite a few times. And that was, people say there's two certainties in life, death and taxes. But actually, there's three certainties in life, death, taxes, and problems in businesses. So if you accept there's always going to be problems coming up, there's no point getting wound up over it. There's no point looking for somebody to blame because it's going to happen.

6:50So put all your energy in focusing on the solution and don't worry about it. Because if you're worrying, you're looking at the problem. And if you focus on the solution, it actually becomes more interesting, more fun, and you can work it through. So a good bit of advice that I got was you can enjoy work more if you're focusing on solutions rather than focusing on problems. And he must have told me that when I was in my 20s. And here I am a lot older than that now. And I still think back to those discussions I had with Terry and the way he put it. But I just felt it was brilliant advice. And it ties, it's not exactly the same as yours, but it's a kind of a similar thing about enjoy what you're doing as opposed and and find a way to enjoy what you're doing rather than ending up getting stressed and and worrying about things so yeah no that's great

7:38Jeannette Linfoot:advice and i think so often we you know people focus on what they're going to lose and not what they're going to gain and it's you know that that's the same in business and in life actually you know so if you're coming from a position of scarcity rather than a position of a sort of an open growth mindset it's going to drive your behaviors and your sort of you know your your how you feel about things and your mental approach to life i think and you probably find this with with um what you do with your big clients around um business planning strategy etc but it never ceases to amaze me that i i have clients that fall into one of two camps so if i'm doing a a um sort of risk and opportunities with them i get one set of clients that i have hundreds of risks and no opportunities and they're the pessimists or hundreds of opportunities and no risks they're the optimists it's very rare i find businesses that actually have a reasonable balance between the two and i always find that's a really good way of finding out about the business you're going to be working with to actually understand the mindset um yeah and and i would suggest that most of them are more the risk long list than the opportunities but there are some that very optimistic and and have big opportunity lists so so you're all right your risk and opportunity should be a bit like a balance sheet it should be balanced but you really should have your opportunity number being higher than your risk number um so actually you know because because and then what i do with risk and opportunity schedules because i've always had them running alongside the pnl right even in my corporate life is a lot associating a low middle high in terms of the likelihood of that happening and quantifying the potential impact and on EBITDA and revenue absolutely yeah and then when so yes when it then something becomes a high then it should be moving on to your forecast yeah and then it's about you know the mitigation if it's a risk or the actions to make it happen if it's an opportunity so um and i do i mean we're digressing but i also find with risks and opportunities quite often the same it's a risk and an opportunity can effectively be the same thing it's a it's it's the flip side of the same coin you know you you can look at um scarcity of resource and say that's a risk but if actually you go about it and get that resource and get them into the business it becomes an opportunity because other people haven't got that resource so you know quite often it's as i say it's the flip side of the same the same coin depending how you look at it i think so yeah absolutely agree with that mike yeah good so coming into sort of the interview proper then, what motivated you to become a business consultant and advisor in the first place?

10:20Jeannette Linfoot:Well, I think I'd reached, I mean, I always loved my corporate career. So that's the first thing I would say. I was never one of these people that, you know, sack your boss, you know, become your own boss or any of that. So I love my corporate career. And I was probably got to about, I was about 48 at the time back then. so that was last week then no i wish mine i wish it was a while ago it's a while ago um and you know i'd really loved the corporate roles and as i say i'd i've worked for some incredible businesses and created some amazing teams but i was at a stage of life where i really wanted more control over my own destiny if you like and my own schedule so it was the right time for me to step out and essentially set up my own business portfolio and also at that time with my husband is 10 years older than me and we were also thinking about well what does the next phase of our life look like so he's not so you know I'm not saying this coming from a point of ill health or anything like that but we said well we've probably got 20 good years left together where we're going to be fit enough to want to put on a backpack and go around South America or do you know the travel and things that we want to do so we really sat down and scoped out what our life together wanted to look like and that also influenced then the way that I set the businesses up so it was really around freedom choice flexibility multiple streams of income wanting to do really great work with clients that I've got a passion for that I know I can add value but life by design on our terms and that really was the catalyst and honestly i've never looked back it's been a fabulous and fabulous journey the last five years and was it successful have you did you know what you're doing does that deliver all the things that you hoped it would yes yes definitely but you know it's it's not without its challenges you know mike i mean you know yourself when you jump out if you've been in the corporate world you have a lot of support a lot of structure you have big budgets you have your teams and then when you do set out on your own it's really you with your reputation and your phone and your connections so and also you're investing your own money right if you're investing and we have a real estate business we're investing in assets we also invest in the growth of brave bob brilliant our business so you know you have got all of those decisions are on your shoulders and it feels different when it's your own money rather than spending you know a corporate budget shall we say and the biggest problem i had is i i used to have big teams i mean i work construction projects and and not as direct reports but as teams i would have thousands of people and all of a sudden you've got no team you are the team and it's very different when you you know whereas before i'd be looking at who i got who's best to deal with that now i you know of course i know people and and i've got um people i can reach out to but it's not the same all you've got is yourself and so which in itself is good because it means that you're um i find this anyway it means you're learning new things all the time and you're putting your hand to new things all the time which i think is great so well yeah exactly and you know what i would say is starting a business is different to scaling you know we're in scale up now you know we're past we're past the starting stage and we've built a global brand that's trademarked you know all over Europe, US, Australia you know so actually we are building a scale business and that is different that requires different focus, different resources you know we need a bigger team you know capability etc and a different level of investment and appetite for risk as well so you know it's a great journey but it really was around designing our life that incorporates our professional aspects as well as our personal personal life so no it's not been easy but we're definitely we've definitely uh done the right thing and it's been successful you sound like you've been far more successful than me though because um there was lots of good business reasons i did what i did and um and from a point of view of setting up a business to go and work with people and help them that's all worked great but one of my main motivations was when i worked for my previous business i spent my whole time driving up and down the m40 from birmingham to london and back again uh and so one of the reasons for selling up my own business was not to be spending all my time on the m40 and to be able to work from home and that just hasn't worked i'll still spend all my time on the m4 in fact today i've just spent four hours driving up the m40 from london to be able to do this filming here today so um so in that respect it's been an absolute failure but i love everything else about it so yeah we have to do what we have to do don't we my weekly my weekly commute used to be to beijing or delhi you know 12 hour flight eight hour time difference you know so it's just different you do what you need to do don't you to serve your clients so um what do you think makes brave bold and brilliant different and maybe better than other similar consultancies that are out there well in all honesty you know the the big difference between us and there are some fantastic fantastic organizations you know and there's a there's a lot of different approaches you can take to actually you know developing yourself as a leader and also your business strategy but I think the big difference for us is that we bring together those three elements of leading yourself leading your team leading the business so that that's the first thing because if you look at most consultants they'll focus on this on the business strategy most l &d or personal development are focusing on leadership and maybe a bit of team performance but no one no one i believe actually brings the whole thing together which is what is needed to be successful in business so that's one thing secondly we deal with facts and things that work it's not theory this is a lived experience of running very large global profitable businesses but i also know what it's like to buy a business sell a business um you know to grow a business from scratch to deal with smaller businesses mid-size so we bring a lived experience so we know exactly what it's like to sit in your seat and that is different but also what i would say you know we bring in psychometric profiling so we really understand the individuals that are involved whether it's at board level or if it's a more sort of you know junior leadership levels because that's so important so we actually bring all of that together and also the other thing that we do which is different I've tended to find in organizations that I've either ran myself or I have advised they'll have a lot of focus at the executive level and maybe the senior leaders and then down here there's a bunch of courses a bunch of training courses but it's not curated it doesn't hang together with a common language and a common framework and as brave are brilliant we connect the ceo and the board right the way through the organization to those future leaders and those managers that are actually dealing with the clients face-to-face or day-to-day and that is super powerful that's super powerful so it's a it's a very different approach that we take mike and we're very proud of what we do and i absolutely absolutely agree that um quite often there's a total disconnect they're doing training and development to to the to the board middle management um to to um staff all the way through to the apprentices that are coming in.

18:00But as you say, there's very rarely a common theme or link. And the other thing that really surprises me is very rarely do they actually link all of that back to what the business strategy and what the business plan is going to be either. So all these things are disconnected. All great stuff in their own right, but they're missing a trick because they're not coordinating it and focusing it to an overall sort of destination really.

18:26Jeannette Linfoot:Yeah, absolutely. And what we do with our Rise Academy, which is the ultimate leadership development programme, it's a fully online digital platform, 12 modules, deeply immersive. You know, every topic has a video of me, you know, 45 minutes, an hour, as if I'm in the room with you, a workbook. We provide a business toolkit. And in the business toolkit, there is over 150 assets, guides, templates, case studies, everything that you need that you can take and implement straight away so we don't just go on a we don't go to training course that's not it this is a leadership development program that you can actually put into practice and and really impact and get concrete results straight away and then we give lifetime access to that as well so that you can come back and revisit as many times as you want throughout your entire career so that is very unique yeah and i don't do it for the business and strategy side but i i have a um use the same phrase i use it toolkit so for the project management and the bid management um although i don't have it online it is in-person training and presentation and then they have like an aftercare afterwards where i'm on a retainer for a period of time to to help them actually implement and use it but yeah a similar sort of thing so that toolkit approach um definitely works so and and i'm sure sure your clients love it because as you say if it's there for them to keep referring back to in the future this episode is sponsored by strategist consulting expert business and leadership consultancy for everyday businesses and professionals what if the key to your business's next growth phase isn't a mystery but a proven process is your business at the ceiling with profits flat daily chaos and scaling app feeling like a risk elite?

20:18You're not alone and you don't have to solve it alone. Strategist Consulting is your partner for structured transformative growth. Led by Mike Harris, a proven strategist and project manager with expertise in scaling businesses, bid management and delivering results, we provide clarity through our core service, the Business Review Workshop. this isn't just advice it's a deep dive analysis that delivers a clear actionable roadmap we identify your bottlenecks uncover hidden opportunities and give you the precise steps to move from stuck to strategic execution visit www.strategisconsulting.co.uk now and transform your business trajectory um it kind of brings me on to one thing i want to talk about so you've got a number of programs you've just talked about the rise academy but you've got others like the align 360 leadership masterminds and business mentoring do you want to just talk through a couple more of them as we're on this subject around some of the the programs that you have

21:22Jeannette Linfoot:yeah no that's really kind of you mike to give us the opportunity to do that so yes so you know when we work with an organization often they they they're looking for some guidance and support in terms of what is going to be appropriate for them where they are and as you and I know you know a business will go through different levels of maturity okay so what you need when you're scaling is different from what you need when you're starting is what you're doing is different when you're at a more mature level so with our Align 360 for example we would go into a business we would interview the key stakeholders we would then create a clear diagnostic in terms of what's working well in the business, what is the ideal scenario for them, and what actually are we seeing with some of the common themes that are coming out from those conversations.

22:08Jeannette Linfoot:And then we're able to then say, okay, these are our observations, right? These are the common themes, the common trends. Therefore, our recommendation to you is that the Executive Edge Program is going to be what you need right now. Or maybe it's our leadership masterminds, where we're going to work with your team for six months, which is very much around implementation, accountability, group business mentoring together every single month. Or it could be that there are certain executives, certain leaders in the business that really would benefit from one-to-one business mentoring. So that allows us to really create a tailored approach to the organization.

22:50Jeannette Linfoot:And with our executive edge programme, you know, that is where we are. It's in person. It's deeply immersive. It's with the board at the most senior level. And it's a position of great trust, actually, because the conversations that happen in those rooms has to be very open and transparent within those walls. Absolutely. But it doesn't go outside. So we're there to have conversations about investment choices. is maybe we have a dysfunctional board and we need to really look at what's going on yeah how can we help you know so or sometimes they're too nice i mean i've been in there and and they're not having the discussions they should be having because they're too polite and too nice to each other absolutely absolutely and and that allows us to really play that neutral role you know to be able to ask the challenging questions to maybe probe a little bit where where it might be uncomfortable for them to do so themselves but to create the right environment for for those conversations to happen and ultimately to be walking away with a clear plan that's going to impact the business results you know so we connect the team dynamics the leadership styles and profiles with what are the business objectives the strategy and have we got a match or have we got a gap that we might need to then address what happens when we're when we're under pressure you know how do we respond as a team so we bring a lot a lot into this into this mike so yeah executive edge leadership masterminds rise academy and business mentoring one-to-one so and and we do a lot of free stuff as well let me say yeah mike you know we put a lot of content out in terms of the podcast youtube if you go on our website there's a whole resource hub a learning hub where you can access a lot of stuff for free so we really try to help anyone even if they don't have any budget yeah yeah good and and i think um you you're saying about um sort of joining the dots up and making it work i mean i find stress testing you know they quite often have the right processes procedures thought process but nobody's actually coming and tested at what point is that going to break because it normally does at some point and and maybe it's not as resilient as they think it is to start with and it's only when a bit of tension comes in and and they're better they do that in a um controlled environment than doing it when the business is really under pressure and it's it's uncontrolled so um yeah i agree i i always believe you know change before you have to yeah um and and be on the front foot and you know even if it doesn't matter if you're a sole entrepreneur, if you're a small business, if you're a huge corporate, the principles are the same.

25:35Jeannette Linfoot:You know, so to your point, Mike, I would recommend if anyone's listening to this thinking, oh, I'm not quite sure my processes are where they need to be, what's happening with my customer journey, for example, you know, just very simply map out your existing processes, draw it out on a flip chart, and then have a look and say, where are the crunch points? Where are we getting maybe a little bit stuck and where can we automate where can we bring ai in and where might we have a capability gap and actually when i put myself in the customer's shoes is it as seamless an experience and then and then you map your new processes and then that's really simple but it just takes a little bit of headspace to be able to do that and you don't have to have big budgets to do that you can literally do that you know just writing it out but what you just said there as well i mean the number of businesses i go into and i say that sounds great but how is the customer seeing this look at this through the eyes of the customer you're looking at this through the eyes of the business and there's nothing wrong in that but it might not be the same as the customer seeing it so always looking it through their lens their eyes yeah what advice would you give to business leaders and entrepreneurs based on what you do as a business what sort of a i suppose what's your top top five tips that you might give to a to a business leader or an entrepreneur yeah so i think the first that comes back to that point really the first is why do you exist yeah you know what what what's your why because if you're not clear on that then nothing else will really follow you'll waste a lot of time and energy so i think that's the first thing and then And, you know, being understanding where you are now and where you want to be is great.

27:22Jeannette Linfoot:Now, things never, there's never a straight path. No plan ever works out. So we know that. But actually, if you have a strategic plan and a roadmap, what are the, be really clear on what are the strategic drivers for growth and profitability in your business? You know, is it the product? Is it the service? Is it tech? is it you know is it the capability human capital what what are the big um drivers that will really help move you forward and when you get clear on that then you can obviously start to build a clear plan ownership accountability etc so i think that's the first thing clear on your why where you're heading and then what are the strategic drivers for growth um and spending some proper headspace on this because we're so busy doing that often we're not actually spending our time on the right things and so i think that time for reflection and creating the space is is really helpful you've got to know your numbers guys if you're a small business owner an entrepreneur and you don't know your numbers not good you've got it you what gets measured gets done and it doesn't have to be overly complicated but be a very simple dashboard one of the key indicators of your of your performance your financial strength if you're a small business owner cash liquidity yeah critical you know most businesses i mean we know that 30 percent of startup businesses fail within 12 months and within three years 50 percent of businesses have failed startup businesses and it's normally related to these topics that we're talking about now all right so so i think that's the thing and then i would really look at your the team you know as a business leader if you're a small business the temptation is to do everything yourself and you they're only 24 hours in the day so you need to build capability in your business even in a small way it might be that you hire an admin person if you're a small business get rid of all of that kind of work if you can and then you grow but you really need to hire talented people that are great at what they do so that you can work on your business and not in your business and as a business leader Mike I always use the analogy you've got to be like a helicopter right you're always adjusting so you've got to hover above looking at the horizon looking what's observing what's going on making the big strategic choices maybe dealing with your investors, maybe working on a new product initiative, big things.

30:01Jeannette Linfoot:But then you have to know when to land. And when you need to land in your business and get involved, roll your sleeves up a little bit. It might be because of a particular issue, a problem, something's happened that they need your support and guidance. It might be a great opportunity has come out of the blue and it needs some attention. And then as a leader, you need to take off again and empower your team. so you're always making this adjustment um and i think those are just a few of the pieces of advice i would give i mean just picking up on a couple of those i mean your comment about knowing the numbers i mean it i i it amazes me how often i go in and and i'm it's the business owner or the ceo whoever who i'm having the first chat with and i say just take us through the numbers and they have to call in the fd and i go i don't need to know the detail just high level what are the numbers and they still can't take me through it.

30:56And it's one of the first things I say to them, you've got to own the numbers. You've got to know where, you know, don't need to know every detail of it. And absolutely, it's the FD's job to have that knowledge. But you can't not know it at all. You know, you've got to have that. So, yeah, I agree with that. And then the helicopter one is absolutely true as well. I mean, the comparison I use is, there's a good reason why most sports teams are not successful when they have a player manager and it's because they're on the pitch and they're trying to manage and play at the same time the most successful managers are those who are off the pitch either in the dugout or or even better in the stands and can actually see the whole game at the same time they're not just dealing with that bit in the middle um yeah which is a very similar thing and i think too many people think they are particularly on smaller businesses they are the player manager um and they're therefore doing that and okay they may have to do that from time to time but they've also got to find a way of coming back and taking that that broader view of what's going on um because they'll never they'll never see it otherwise so um not not the same analogy but the same principle of what you've with the helicopter i think it's absolutely right um but with a better love is this idea that you land when you need to roll up your sleeves do it and then very quickly you've got to get back up into the sky again i think i think that's right yeah excellent yeah no one when no one wants to

32:27Jeannette Linfoot:be micromanaged you're going to piss your team off if you're doing that and that's actually very often that a sense of control right i'm trying to control the business actually that's probably linked to your own mindset you know there's probably something going on there or you haven't actually built the business in the right way in order to trust but what i have found and and um i say this to quite a few people and um it's a i i absolutely agree people don't want to be micromanaged except for in one instance and that's when there's a crisis it's amazing how people they need and they want and they ask for you to get involved and do a lot more day-to-day direction and management in that crisis environment and then once you're out of crisis they want you off again to leave but they almost need somebody to be in there to help them to to overcome the issue deal with the problem um and so i think there is the odd occasion and i've learned this by experience only from people coming to me and i'm thinking well why do you want me to do that and you just realize they need somebody in there to to help kind of control and manage what's going on um yeah i mean i think in crisis situations you're absolutely right mike but you know you should any business should have standard procedures that kick in and levels of authority of decision making you know what one of the things of being in the travel industry which is a global industry i mean you know travel and tourism accounts for over 10 percent of global gdp we're a huge huge sector but let me tell you the margins in a travel business are very low very low if you're making five percent EBITDA as a percent of your revenue you're probably doing okay which doesn't leave much room for maneuver and don't forget travel global businesses so you know I've had to deal with 9-11, ash cloud, covid, multiple deaths in a destination, hurricanes, repatriation you name it and when those things happen you have to have decisive decision making and you have to have you know to your point ultimately the boss will have to make the call on some of those things and if you're being interviewed on the bbc or whatever and you've just you know someone has died or something has happened a terrorist attack you've got to be you've got to be on it so i i do agree with you um and those times that you know people need decisive decision but the point is that's five percent of the world and so therefore the 95 you don't need it you know exactly it's getting that balance so um yes now for ongoing support join our new patreon community subscribe for exclusive content from the leaders in strategy podcast downloadable resources like our annual business plan checklist and access to a full business course as a member you'll get discounted rates on one-to-one workshops, the chance to have your business questions answered and featured in special monthly podcast episodes.

35:23Let's strategize and let's execute. Join our Patreon now and become a leader in strategy yourself. Well, thank you for joining us today. It's been really good. I've learned a lot, so I'm sure everybody else has. I've scribbled a few things down that I'm gonna bring into what I do as a consultant. So, you know, plagiarism, I know, but I'm going to do it anyway. So, yeah, it's been absolutely brilliant. Hopefully you'll come back and join us on a future show and we'll pick up a couple of other topics as well. And thank you all for watching. I hope you've enjoyed it and you'll come back and join me again for a future episode when we'll have another fantastic guest like Jeanette looking at how do we grow the business and providing best business advice.

36:10Thank you very much.

From the publisher

Jeannette Linfoot on the Leaders In Strategy Podcast | Scaling, Leadership & SuccessWhat does it really take to lead, scale, and succeed at the highest level?

In this powerful clip from the Leaders In Strategy Podcast, Jeannette Linfoot shares her insights on business growth, leadership, and what separates high performers from the rest.If you're serious about scaling your business and elevating your leadership, this is one to watch.

💡 What You’ll Learn:

The mindset required to scale successfully

Key leadership principles from top-level executives

How to navigate growth and complexity in business

What separates good leaders from exceptional ones

🎙️ About the Podcast: The Leaders In Strategy Podcast brings together high-level leaders, founders, and strategists to share real-world insights on scaling businesses, leadership, and long-term success.

👩‍💼 About Jeannette Linfoot: Jeannette Linfoot is a globally recognised entrepreneur, investor, and business leader with over 30 years of experience building and scaling successful companies across multiple industries.

🚀 About Brave Bold Brilliant: Brave Bold Brilliant is a platform designed to help ambitious individuals scale faster, lead better, and unlock their full potential. Through expert-led mentoring, powerful conversations, and actionable strategies, we help you achieve more.

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