SI Partners’ Paul Allen was joined by a number of guest speakers at our talk on Realising Value: Strategies for Agency Growth, co-hosted withy Entourage BD. Paul, along with Joy Nazzari, Founder of DN&CO, Tim Bourne, founder of Exposure and Nik Govier, ex Co-founder of Unity to discuss effective strategies of driving growth in agencies.
Topics covered included:
- The importance of building a leadership team around you
- How to establish clear areas of responsibility spread amongst a leadership team which ensures everyone is playing to their strengths
- Stories from the guest panel describing their own experiences of how they have created more freedom for themselves
Paul began the morning by discussing the various aspects of what it takes to build a world class leadership structure. One such aspect was the importance of ensuring that employees are appropriately rewarded. Paul stated that “the best cultures we see in agencies is when success is celebrated”. This may seem like an obvious tactic but is one that is often overlooked in the fast paced environment of agencies, often resulting in a lack of motivation amongst employees.
Paul also stressed the significance of “driving accountability but with a safety net for failure”. In other words, leaders should encourage employees to take on responsibility but should have contingency plans in place for the inevitable mistakes. This should encourage employees to take risks where necessary without the overarching fear of the consequences of failure. This point was reinforced by Tim ...... , who stated that in his own agency “we encourage people to share failure as all the learnings come from that”.
Paul’s talk on world class leadership was followed up by a discussion from the panel, made up of Joy, Tim and Nik, who shared their own experiences of breaking through the growth ceiling in their agencies. A common theme amongst the panel members was the shared belief of the importance of having a leader in place who will formulate, communicate and embed the company strategy. This will mould the culture of the company and keep values in place that will keep employees focused on a common goal.
It is critical that leaders are equipped with the necessary skillset to overcome the challenges they are faced with, in order to drive long term growth. SI Partners advises leaders on strategies tailored to help them meet their strategic goals.
Paul Allen, Partner at SI Partners specialises in delivering business improvement and leadership for our clients. If you would like to discuss the growth plans of your agency, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Paul here.
