13 May

If you really want to succeed, choose your tribe carefully

It’s nearly 9 years since we set up the original Growth Springboard Group, a bi-monthly full day session for leaders who wanted to carry on with their learning journey and be held accountable, after the completion of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Businesses Programme.

We deliberately kept each Growth Springboard Group small – no more than 6 Managing Directors from non-competing industries, all of whom have a thirst for learning: about themselves; their businesses; their people; their industries and each other. Who would have thoughts that after nearly 50 days in each other’s company, they would all sign up for another year, having built deep and meaningful relationships that I believe will last a lifetime.

There have been incredible highs for each member of the group: delivering global expansion, mergers or acquisitions; the building of better boards; delivering accelerated growth and profitability. However, none of those successes have come without their challenges and failures too: the stresses of Covid and Brexit, alongside the impact of seismic political, economic, social and environmental shifts which we know have floored many and closed businesses.

However, we have focused on what can be controlled or influenced and watched each member of the group succeed. But it’s often the personal challenges that hit them the hardest; health, heartbreak and loss being three of the biggest walls that we (myself included) have all had to overcome.

Whilst the leaders in this group may have only known each other at a superficial level in the beginning, the depths of their relationships are now immeasurable. I have been so proud to provide the framework for a group that gives genuine support and constructive challenge and has enabled every one of them to get back up again when they’ve been knocked down: finding the confidence and resilience to carry on. And so it was absolutely fantastic to share a night of celebration of business successes and firm friendships this week as we look forward to the next year of working together.

So I want to say thank-you for allowing me to be part of your stories, and a huge congratulations to (from the front): Matt Hubbard (Reels in Motion); Michael Howard (Urban Bubble); Rob Henderson (JDA Architects); Sam Perona (Perona Consultancy); Punk Takier (Luxome) and Rob Lomax (LRL Roofing).

I am immensely proud of your achievements over the past 8 years. You are an unstoppable force for good. You are not only the change that your industries have been waiting for, you are the kind of authentic leaders that have gone above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that you ALL succeed. I have loved working alongside and witnessing your growth journeys. I genuinely believe, the best is yet to come.

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If you want to find out more about joining a Springboard Group, run by Morgan James Consulting please contact Lily Newman on 0776 4583030 or email Rachel@morganjamesconsulting.co.uk to arrange a no obligation chat about how she can help you to build a stronger business

Lily Newman
Lily is a behavioural strategist and leadership consultant with 20+ years’ experience of building better businesses and stronger teams. An ex-BBC journalist with a first-class honours degree in Communications (majoring in psychology and corporate communications) Lily has worked with a wide range of company leaders and household names, helping them to understand, communicate with and influence their staff, stakeholders and audiences more effectively. A Behavioural and brand development specialist, she also works with companies to help them develop ‘value building behaviours’ within their workforces, ensuring that brand values get off the paper and into the culture of their businesses.