In this introductory episode, I share with you my vision to inspire and enable millions of ambitious leaders of SMEs to scale with purpose, through the ScaleX™ Insider podcast, and hopefully one of those will be you.

Every week, I will be speaking with business leaders, industry experts and authorities on one or more of the 10 Principles of Scaling to support you on your Scaleup journey.

I believe passionately in both business scale up and personal scale up and, most importantly, the wellbeing of you: the aspirational Scaleup leader.

Having spent 25 years in martial arts, and more recently in triathlon and embarking on becoming a Wim Hof Method instructor, I recognise the value of physical and mental wellbeing in underpinning your Scaleup success.

To this, we aim to bring you insights to scaleup success from a host of different perspectives.

I'm really looking forward to sharing the ScaleX™ Insider Podcast with you every week.

You can find us on your favourite podcast apps and platforms including Spotify, Amazon Audible and Apple Podcasts.

About Brendan:

With a background in Finance, my first scaleup leadership role came in the technology sector during the Dot.com boom. The now infamous boom and bust of the dot com bubble led me to engineering and manufacturing joining a small Northern Irish company, then with revenues of £3m and a Team of 15 people. I had the privilege of leading the company as CEO for 12 years and being immersed in Scale Ups for 20 years.

During this time, we scaled the company successfully to lead our industry growing from small to medium to becoming a large company. Establishing offices across 6 continents, from Australia and India through to North and South America, we employed almost 700 people, exporting to more than 100 countries achieving profitable revenue growth of almost £100m.

Our success was acknowledged by Deloitte (becoming a best-managed company for 11 consecutive years), the London Stock Exchange in their Companies to Inspire Europe series, The Sunday Times fast-track awards where we were listed across various categories and I was honoured to receive the overall UK Director of the Year award in 2016 where our success was recognised by the prestigious Institute of Directors.

We became a very successful SME who achieved the elusive status of having Scaled Up but sadly as I came to realise, only 2-4% of SMEs ever achieve scale up. Inspired to change this my business Partner Claire and I co-founded Simple Scaling in 2019.

To find out more, head over to:

https://simplescaling.com/

Our debut episode features Adam Hale, Chair of The Board of Directors for the ScaleUp Institute and author of the online blog Lobster Tales who joined us for a fascinating discussion on:

• The Five Key Areas of focus for a scaling business
• How to discover the Why and the What of your company
• Why talking to customers is critical for success
• The important characteristics of scaleups
• The secrets to staying positive even in challenging times
• How to nurture the next generation of scaleups.

You can listen to this podcast on Apple, Amazon Audible, Spotify and Google. New episodes on Wednesdays. You can also subscribe via the show's RSS feed. Please rate, review, subscribe and share the podcast if you enjoy it and have gained value from listening.

In the meantime, grab a pen, notepad and a cup of tea and make yourself at home for this insightful and engaging chat with Adam.

To find out more head over to:

https://simplescaling.com/

When scaling a business, what does it mean to become a liquid thinker?

In this episode of the ScaleX™ Insider podcast, I'm speaking with international speaker and best-selling author, Damian Hughes.

In our chat, we discuss the fundamentals of great leadership, which behaviours are non-negotiable, and how exceptional cultures are characterised.

Damian shares how he has combined his practical and academic experience in development and change psychology; revealing how he supports leaders to create a high performing team culture in scaling organisations.

His innovative and exciting approach has been praised by Sir Richard Branson and Tiger Woods and he's one of the smartest and most humble people I know.

We cover many insights and topics in this episode including:

• What Damian has learned from working with elite sports professionals
• 5 different types of culture and what defines a high performing culture
• How success leaves clues
• Why not to leave the conversation at values
• What to do when fear and anxiety grips you

To learn more head on over to:

https://simplescaling.com/

Today's episode features Sebastien Tondeur, CEO of MCI Group. In 1997, he joined the family-businexss, MCI based in Geneva, Switzerland. He brought with him his deep conviction into the company mantra: "When People Come Together Magic Happens". Since then the company has grown from 30 > 2,000 employees in more than 60 cities globally - making MCI one of the world's largest groups in the events sector. In this episode we discuss:

• The importance of purpose and sustainability
• Your personal brand as a business leader
• How setting and sharing a vision gets results
• Why it pays to be transparent and how that helps you scale
• How you can increase your recruitment effectiveness
• Sebastien's simple Diamond Model to measure performance

You can listen to this podcast on Apple, Amazon Audible, Spotify and Google. New episodes on Wednesdays. You can also subscribe via the show's RSS feed. Please rate, review, subscribe and share the podcast if you enjoy it and have gained value from listening.

In the meantime, grab a pen, notepad and a cup of tea and make yourself at home for this insightful and engaging chat with Sebastien.

To find out more head over to:

https://simplescaling.com/

Today's episode features Enda McNulty, best-selling author of Commit! and Founder and CEO of McNulty Performance which specialises in organisational performance, culture and wellbeing. Its vision is to inspire their clients to achieve their full potential whether that is in business, sport or in life.

Enda has worked with some of the world's biggest companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Digicel and Intel.

In this episode we discuss:

• The importance of culture and surrounding yourself with the right people
• The key to be agile and getting things done
• The ability to bounce back and develop resilience
• How mastering the power of the mind and believing in yourself is essential for success
• How success leaves clues

You can listen to this podcast on Apple, Amazon Audible, Spotify and Google. New episodes on Wednesdays. You can also subscribe via the show's RSS feed. Please rate, review, subscribe and share the podcast if you enjoy it and have gained value from listening.

In the meantime, grab a pen, notepad and a cup of tea and make yourself at home for this insightful and engaging chat with Enda.

To find out more head over to:

https://simplescaling.com/

In this episode, I'm speaking with Michael Gelb. Michael is the world's leading authority on the application of genius thinking to personal and organizational development. Michael is a pioneer in the fields of creative thinking, innovative leadership and executive coaching.

Michael is a Senior Fellow at The Center for Humanistic Management and a member of the Leading People and Organizations Advisory Board at the Fordham University Gabelli School of Business. He was also awarded a Batten Fellowship in Innovation from the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business, and co-directed the acclaimed Leading Innovation Seminar there for more than 10 years. In 1999, Michael was honored as "Brain of the Year" by the Brain Trust Charity – other recipients include Steven Hawking, Garry Kasparov and Edward De Bono.

He is the author of 17 books including, How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci, Discover Your Genius, Innovate Like Edison, and The Art of Connection: 7 Relationship Building Skills Every Leader Needs Now.

Michael's books have been translated into 25 languages and have sold more than one million copies. Recent releases include The Healing Organization: Awakening the Conscience of Business to Help Save the World, co-authored with Prof. Raj Sisodia, and Mastering the Art of Public Speaking: 8 Secrets to Transform Fear and Supercharge Your Career.

Key points we talk about include:

• 7 principles to help you model Leonardo's creativity and learning skills, so you can think creatively, sharpen your mind, expand your self-expression, liberate your intelligence, and fulfil your true potential.
• Powerful questions to improve the quality of your personal and professional life.
• Why your brain is better than you think and an approach to using your whole brain to see the bigger picture
• The importance of a growth mindset
• Why people want false security and why we fear failure
• The importance of a coach who understands the power of a higher purpose and who can develop your growth mindset
• How you can make life more beautiful for you and others
• The power of journaling
• The mindset of the leader

Key Takeaway

"Learning from experience of course means learning from mistakes and it's another reason that businesses don't scale. The more you scale, the easier it is to have a public fail. For Da Vinci there's no such thing as failure, there's just feedback."

Contact Michael

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-gelb/

Website: https://michaelgelb.com/home

Webinar

How To Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Supercharge Your Creativity!
Reignite Your Passion! Create Your Dream Life! - www.geniusmastery.com

Buy the book:

How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day

Amazon.co.uk: https://amzn.to/3qa4yqm

Amazon.com: https://amzn.to/3Jjnhaw

Our Book

Check out our book: Simple Scaling: 10 Proven Principles to 10X Your Business available from the 15 March on Amazon

About the Host

Director and Founder of Simple Scaling, Brendan brings 25 years' experience of scaling businesses. Previously, Brendan spent 16 years as a global business leader with CDE, 12 of those as Group MD, steering the company through the global financial crisis to considerable strategic growth success with offices now in 6 continents employing almost 700 people across the world (from 15) and 25X revenue growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-mcgurgan-11854a13/

https://simplescaling.com/meet-the-team

Contact Simple Scaling:

www.simplescaling.com

Today's episode features David Jenyns, author of the wonderful book Systemology, a proven step-by-step business systemisation framework that even the busiest business owner can deploy. His mission, and motivation for writing this book, is "..to free business owners worldwide from the day-to-day operations of running their business."

In this episode we discuss:

• The 7 steps of the Systemology Model
• How business leaders can free themselves from the day-to-day operations of the business
• How to create time, reduce errors and scale your profits
• How systems allow you to create space
• What systems are required to scale
• How and why you extract knowledge from high performing people
• The importance of having a process and a systems focused culture

You can listen to this podcast on Apple, Amazon Audible, Spotify and Google. New episodes on Wednesdays. You can also subscribe via the show's RSS feed. Please rate, review, subscribe and share the podcast if you enjoy it and have gained value from listening.

In the meantime, grab a pen, notepad and a cup of tea and make yourself at home for this insightful and engaging chat with David.

To find out more head over to:

https://simplescaling.com/

Known by Many Leaders as "The Business Growth Guru" Cameron Herold is a top business consultant, best-selling author, and speaker. He's the mastermind behind hundreds of companies' exponential growth and he's touched thousands of businesses indirectly through his work.

At age 21, he had 14 employees. By 35, he'd helped build his first two $100 million companies. By the age of 42, Cameron had engineered 1-800-GOT-JUNK?'s spectacular growth from $2 Million to $106 Million in revenue in just six years.

His companies landed over 5,200 media placements in those same six years, including coverage on Oprah.

Not simply a theory guy, Cameron teaches what he knows from experience and is passionate about sharing his expertise with today's most dynamic business leaders.

He is a best-selling author and has published five books including The Miracle Morning, Double Double, Meetings Suck, Free PR, and Vivid Vision.

According to Cameron, vision statements don't work and for those business leaders listening today that think they just need to update or review their vision statement, Cameron Herold would recommend that you flush it down the toilet and start again.

Key points we talk about include:

• How to use the vivid vision concept to help make your dreams happen
• The importance of creating a vision to inspire people to get involved
• Why you should focus on the 'Who' and not the 'How' when it comes to executing
• What characterises Elon Musk's brilliance
• How can use vision to great effect

Key Takeaway

"Entrepreneurs need to tell themselves that their role is to share the vision, infuse people with energy and help remove obstacles for people."

Contact Cameron

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameronherold/?originalSubdomain=ca

Website: https://cameronherold.com/

Your Vision Statement Sucks | Cameron Herold | TEDxVancouver - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCgK5M3hY8Y

Invest in Your Leaders Course - https://investinyourleaders.com/

Buy the book:

Vivid Vision: A Remarkable Tool for Aligning Your Business Around a Shared Vision of the Future

Amazon.co.uk: https://amzn.to/3D1tupp

Amazon.com: https://amzn.to/3L2HAcV

Simple Scaling book

Check our Amazon Best-Seller book: Simple Scaling: 10 Proven Principles to 10X Your Business

About the Host

Director and Founder of Simple Scaling, Brendan brings 25 years' experience of scaling businesses. Previously, Brendan spent 16 years as a global business leader with CDE, 12 of those as Group MD, steering the company through the global financial crisis to considerable strategic growth success with offices now in 6 continents employing almost 700 people across the world (from 15) and 25X revenue growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-mcgurgan-11854a13/

https://simplescaling.com/meet-the-team

Contact Simple Scaling:

www.simplescaling.com