Nicholas Fraser Articles

A Positive approach to the Credit Crunch - Click To Read Article
Another month and yet again my latest article looks at dealing with the credit crunch. As I have engaged with Managing Directors over the past few weeks I have encountered a range of attitudes to the market. So what attitude should you take? Well as you will see when you read this article I do not recommend being either Optimistic or Pessimistic but Positive. In fact I mention 4 attributes - 3 P’s and a Q.

Communication, Respect and Trust - Click To Read Article
As a sales and marketing professional I suppose I am more sensitive than others to the at times generalised perception/portrayal of sales and marketing professionals as bounders and vagabonds. I know our society has changed but there is still this awful underlying sense that only certain professions and activities have any value. This was brought to a head recently on a message board where a contributor made the following statement Fundamentally a damn good marketing consultant is a first class highly convincing liar.

Are you Mad to be a Director? - Click To Read Article
You don’t have to be mad to work here, but it helps! We all know this phrase from office notice boards and the like but there is an element of truth in it for Director/Owners of SME’s. For the disturbing reality is that they are driven mad by the schizophrenic nature of their role.

Mentoring for Fun! - Click To Read Article
“Being an MD is a serious business” Now whoever said that should be first against the wall when the revolution comes! “Business should be fun”

Mentoring is Good For You - Click To Read Article
SME businesses have gaps in their critical skills. They run on sparse resources (people, time and finance) all focused on lots of operational details and red tape. In addition this focus is skewed by personal passions or backgrounds. What they need is a mentor!

Mentoring to hear what you say, to know what you think! - Click To Read Article
I recently read in a book a quotation variously attributed to E M Forster and others “How can I know what I think, until I hear what I say?” Managing Director’s endeavour to direct their staff and their company to move forward and would do well to read this quotation and think hard on it. How can others do what they want when they do not understand what the MD thinks or knows? And how can they know that if the MD doesn’t that have that clarity.

Mentoring to give you space - Click To Read Article
I mentioned in a previous article the quotation variously attributed to E M Forster and others “How can I know what I think, until I hear what I say?” I would add a further phrase to this “… and understand what I feel?”

The Vacuum Effect! - Click To Read Article
The Vacuum Effect! It is interesting how similar situations appear as you go through life. I suppose when something happens once you become more aware of when it happens again. Anyway this month I had a couple of instances of what I will call “The Vacuum Effect”. This is where in companies or organisations you have a key employee leaving with a consequential effect on the rest of the business.

People, People, People - Click To Read Article
I was reminded this month as to just how important people are to an organisation and especially those who lead it! They inspire and excite rather than sap or depress They simplify the message and empower their team to deliver. They make the difference between success and failure. It is my privilege as a Business Mentor to to meet such individuals.

Mentoring to remove the barriers to your success - Click To Read Article
Mentoring to remove the barriers to your success “As a result of the one hour I spent with Nicholas, I’ve achieved more in the last 3 weeks than I did in the previous 3 months! Thank goodness for his perception, honesty, clarity of thought and encouragement”. Looks a great testimonial but there is more to this than meets the eye and at one stage I was quite questioning of my approach.

Building Windmills - Click To Read Article
One can look at 2009 with doom and gloom; and just try and survive. Or one can look for the opportunities. I suspect that the coldness of the recession/depression may find out most so called shelters however safe they seem. On that note I went to a presentation before Christmas and heard a rather inspiring Chinese proverb. And no it was not that old saw that we should live in interesting times (if I hear that again I will scream, scream, scream until I am sick). Some boring times would be quite nice at the moment thank you! Anyway the quote was “When the wind blows there are those who build shelters and those who build windmills”

Are you drowning or swimming? - Click To Read Article
Are you drowning or swimming. In business things keep you afloat and other things drag you under To assist you in assessing your state I would suggest using the concept of a balanced scorecard. Here you list out all the attributes that affect your business both positively and negatively and then score them out of 10 (or more if they are important and less if they not) even to negative scores if they are really dragging you down. I set out a framework for you to use and customise below. I hope it helps

Management and Mentoring with Unconditional Positive Regard - Click To Read Article
This article is the first of a series of three covering the core conditions model developed by Carl Rogers and its application to Management and Mentoring. These core conditions were developed for use in Person Centred Counselling Psychotherapy and from my experience have great relevance to Management in general and my Mentoring practice in particular. Carl Rogers’ view was that everyone should be judged positively no matter what (and I mean no matter who they are or what they have done). Rogers described it as “Unconditional Positive Regard” or UPR for short. The Rogerian view is that everyone is born with a positive approach but held back by externally imposed “Conditions of Worth”.

Passionate but not Persuasive - Click To Read Article
There are times when we have an idea be it business or otherwise which we are passionate about. But I would issue caution when relying on that passion to persuade others. Sometimes you can be passionate but not persuasive...

Mentoring Management Commandments - Click To Read Article
My experience as a business mentor has shown that no matter what the SME business, the owner/MD has the same issues. These are usually ? Lack of a plan ? Lack of trust of their team ? Working too hard at doing the job ? Not planning or directing the business In response I developed the following commandments for MD’s to have on their walls; I share them with you.

Mentoring to buy and sell businesses - Click To Read Article
Buying or selling a business is an emotional activity. No matter how hard Managing Directors and their advisers try, the closer the deal gets the more emotional things become I have in my career bought and sold a number of businesses. The most important thing to do whether you are looking to sell or buy is to become detached and a good way to achieve that is to use a mentor like myself to enable that to happen. Detachment comes from precise and careful planning and most importantly from clarifying clearly what the objectives are for the disposal or acquisition.

Ethics and Business - Why Bother? - Click To Read Article
I have embarked on a difficult journey in developing skills in Counselling with the University of Hertfordshire. Part of that is a commitment to an ethical framework set out by the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists. I consequently considered that I need to make a similar commitment to my Mentoring clients (or prospective clients). I have separately adapted/abbreviated the BACP framework Now in business many people describe themselves as ethical and portray themselves to their customers and partners in that way. Rarely do they actually set down in writing the ethical framework of how they will do business.

Management and Mentoring with Empathy - Click To Read Article
This article is the second of a series of three covering the core conditions model developed by Carl Rogers and its application to Management and Mentoring. These core conditions were developed for use in Person Centred Counselling Psychotherapy and from my experience have great relevance to Management in general and my Mentoring practice in particular. The first article dealt with Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR) where I as a Mentor approach the client or a Manager approaches their team member with a totally positive view and look to assist to remove the externally put barriers to growth that are in the way of the team member or client in achieving their objectives. But there is more to the requirement than just approaching the client in a positive frame. One has to understand their position, truly. This is where Empathy comes in.

Management and Mentoring with Congruence - Click To Read Article
This article is the third of a series of three covering the core conditions model developed by Carl Rogers and its application to Management and Mentoring. These core conditions were developed for use in Person Centred Counselling Psychotherapy and from my experience have great relevance to Management in general and my Mentoring practice in particular. The first two articles dealt with two of the core conditions in Roger’s model, namely Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR) and Empathy.The third condition is however slightly more complex. In direct terms the word Congruence implies “Harmony” and in other definitions it is called “being Genuine”. However neither of these is fully descriptive of the concept being discussed here.

What’s the worst word in Business? FAILURE! - Click To Read Article
What’s the worst word in Business? FAILURE! No one likes failure or those who have failed. Business is supposed to be about success, making profits, achieving objectives, going places and hopefully having fun! But being in business also means taking risks and making judgements that can and sometimes do go wrong. And hitting that brick wall of failure, sometimes when you least expect it; can be very painful both financially and personally.

Customers and Competition; Love them or Hate them? - Click To Read Article
Love them; Hate them; Customers or Competition that is? Well the obvious answer would seem to be that we should always love our customers and hate our competition. But is that right? We know the phrase that the customer is always right but there are times when businesses, their owners and managers need to challenge that ethos. The key objective of any business should be to deliver value to the shareholders however that is measured.

Pride is a good thing! - Click To Read Article
Pride is a good thing! Pride seems have a bad press doesn’t it? “Pride- the never failing vice of fools” Alexander Pope “Pride goeth before destruction and an haughty spirit before a fall” Proverbs Although it is known as a Vice, it can be a virtue especially in business. Being proud of the quality of service or product you deliver is not something to be ashamed of, quite the opposite.

Poker – a Metaphor for Business - Click To Read Article
Poker – a Metaphor for Business One of my sins (if you can call it that) is to play online poker. Not a great stakes player I hasten to add; I tend to play in tournaments with $5 to $10 entry fees. Actually I am quite good at that level and have made a small profit from my forays. But interestingly enough Poker has something to say about business that is worth repeating.

Questions not Answers - Click To Read Article
Questions not Answers I have said in previous articles that one of my processes is asking BDQ’s - Bloody Difficult Questions. I think I might have also said that the questions are only difficult if you do not know the answers. But there is a real key here to what it is I do and how I can facilitate change and action.

Surviving the downturn and coming out of it stronger - Click To Read Article
Surviving the downturn and coming out of it stronger I discussed in another about being trapped in your business and ways you can approach that issue. This was in response to my bell weather phone calls to businesses in June where some businesses were expressing concerns about business prospects. I am sure there are no doubters now with the various news stories or “Recession Porn” as I heard Tom Vose of National Australian Bank call it “We know it’s awful and it makes us feel bad but we cannot help reading it!”

Trapped by your business? - Click To Read Article
As with all my articles they come out of real experience and my on going conversations with MD’s and Directors. I have been quite active in the business acquisition marketplace recently on behalf of a client. The word “trapped” has come up a number of times in my travels.

You can lead a horse to water…. But a pencil needs to be led! - Click To Read Article
So say the immortal words of Stan Laurel (and that’s another fine mess you have gotten me into Stanley!). But what might you ask does this have to do with management and mentoring? Well in my three and half years in mentoring practice and 35 years in business, one thing I have learnt, and rather painfully too is that you can lead Directors, management, staff or businesses as a whole to the water but you certainly cannot make them drink.

Do you have to be lucky to be successful? - Click To Read Article
Do you have to be lucky to be successful? I take time to think about my articles and an idea for one came up a couple of months ago and coincidentally whilst thinking on the topic, an associate sent me something on the same lines as my thought process.

So what do you know – or what do you think you know? - Click To Read Article
One of my roles is to challenge current thinking. Businesses are formed and develop over time and certain ideas and concepts become embedded in the organisation. Mentors like myself challenge those ideas to ensure that the business remains fresh.

Arctic Lessons in Leadership - Click To Read Article
Arctic Lessons in Leadership “Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success” No, this is not a request for people to assist the Government in managing the economy! But the famous advertisement placed by Ernest Shackleton in 1907 to accompany him on an arctic expedition.

Knowing When to Sell? - Click To Read Article
One of my roles as a Mentor is to ask the BDQ – Bloody Difficult Question. And the real lulu of a question at the moment is “What the heck are you doing this for?” Surviving is hard enough but it is very painful working with clients and seeing them struggling on to keep the business running no matter what. The pain they are feeling is visible and so there are times when I as the Business Mentor have to call as it is.

Mentoring and Walking - Taking a Different Route - Click To Read Article
I am a very keen walker especially around the beautiful Hertfordshire countryside. Now one can get in a rut in walking as in business of always going the same way. I consider this principle in my latest article and find amazing value in taking a different route. I describe how I went for a walk with one of my clients near his home to great benefit to both parties. Read on and perhaps we can go for a walk too!

Understanding the market - Click To Read Article
As some of you know I have built SM Mentors predominantly on the telephone. That is I call and discuss business issues with owners of Small to Medium enterprises (£500K - £25Mn) on a three month cycle to be ready to help when they need it. As part of this I continuously get asked how other businesses are faring. This month I have taken a more disciplined view and recorded the comments to get a bellwether of what is going on. The answer in one word is mixed.


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