According to The Times, Lord Simon Wolfson, boss of Next, is the longest serving and highly successful CEO in the FTSE 100, having clocked 14.1% compound annual EPS growth over the last 20 years – hence his rules for creating the right company culture on how to run a business are well worth considering
Take decisions and make things happen:
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- Do not take minutes at meetings – only record action points
- No actions probably mean a wasted meeting
- All that matters is what happens as a result
- Judge people by the things they make happen
Managing change is part of everyone’s work:
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- There is no ‘business as usual’
- Business constantly changes
Invest for a return on shareholders’ money:
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- All our activities work towards that goal
- Do not make ‘strategic’ investments
Keep things simple:
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- Speak plain English
- Business jargon is so unhelpful – it makes simple things sound complicated
- Then everyone can understand, contribute and be more effective
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Be open, honest, considerate with others:
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- Teams that get on well together are more likely to achieve their aims
- Employees are not competing with others internal – they are on your side
Be demanding but never nasty:
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- Whatever you do, you may need to give people uncomfortable feedback
- At the same time, try to be considerate and polite