These are ideas that if well implemented cause existing players in an industry to sit up and take note, wondering if the game they are playing and winning might have reached its sell by date.

The game changing idea behind Firstdirect was the thought that telephone banking could be used to so differentiate a bank based on the quality of its customer experience that you could create a whole new bank , one that would take premium customers from the competition. Until Firstdirect banks had been thinking of telephone banking as a low cost channel to bolt on to their existing operations and best suited to less well off customers.

Far from sitting up and taking notice other banks dismissed Firstdirect out of hand – “that will never work ” they all said.Later they changed their tune.

According to Jim Utterback at MIT this is a very common initial reaction from incumbents to a game changing idea introduced by an outsider to an industry. Incumbents dismiss it for a while before waking up to its disruptive potential- often too late . Nokia and Sony were both sleep walking it seems to me as Apple hit them with a whole series of game changers. IBM , as late as 1986 thought the total world market for PCs would not exceed 50,000. Microsoft’s game changing idea of putting a PC on every desk and in every home all but destroyed IBM- until they came up with a game changer of their own (services not hardware).

These days I’m always on the look out for people with game changing ideas. They are prime candidates for my mentoring programme. You see a game changing idea has to be matched with a leader who is ready , willing and able to be accountable for making it happen. Helping leaders implement game changing ideas in a way that transforms industries and changes the world – now that’s my idea of a good time and is the game changer I’m working on!

If you were following me as @mikeatgarlik you are now apparently automatically following @iconicshift.

The change in name reflects the fact that with Garlik sold to Experian I’m no longer chairman there and instead am focusing on my IconicShift mentoring programme.

IconicShift is based on the business architecture I used to create Firstdirect, the Mercury consumer business and Egg and which I have since applied to Garlik. The whole architecture is designed to enable any business, however small to make a shift towards iconic status – that is to been seen by those who know you as a symbol of excellence to which others aspire. The financial benefits come from increased customer loyalty , an ability to premium price and a faster rate of growth.

I’ve set myself a challenge over the next 10 years of mentoring 100 leaders who go on to change the world,and
currently I’m working intensively with 23 leaders in 16 businesses – all with transformational , game changing ideas and I haven’t had so much fun at work for years!

I will have some vacancies on the programme next year so if you are interested do get in touch. In the meantime I can highly recommend the following event .

In two hours I’m going to give an overview of the entire IconicShift architecture and give you the opportunity to undertake some exercises to explore for yourself how these tools and principles would work for you and your business. You will be invited you to choose one or more tools to implement in your business after the workshop. Any one of these tools can make a real difference to any business whatever its current size or status.

More on the architecture at Iconicthinking.com.

Follow @iconicshift

The answer is easy.

Create a great pitch.

Why?

Well all successful businesses have to build a network early in their lives:
• supporters who encourage them, advise them, advocate them to others, and maybe
lend them money or make investments in them (Often this is just family and friends in the
very early days)
• loyal customers who like them and recommend them (Facebook fans for example)
• suppliers who understand them and do their best work on their behalf
• partners who can help them distribute their products and expand

You never stop building this network , however big the business grows. As the business gets bigger you have new things to add to your network though:
• quality employees who get what the business is about
• supporters in the conventional and digital media
• professional investors and banks

My approach to doing this in all businesses I have been involved in has been to pitch the business to everybody I know and everybody I meet. All the time, continuously, at every opportunity. You never know where such a pitch can lead eg:
• “that’s great I’d love to get together to find out more”
• “when can I sign up”
• “I’m going to introduce you to someone you should make that pitch to”

Of course you don’t always get such a helpful response, but if you have a great product , and you pitch it well often enough, you will get enough good responses to build the network you need. Sometimes all you get is great feedback and often that’s the most valuable thing of all.

The problem with all this is that the world is full of pitches. Just this week I’ve listened to 10 (I’ve made a few as well!). Of the 10 , 3 were in meetings where I was expecting to be pitched to, 3 were unsolicited phone calls from people I knew and 4 came through the email from people I didn’t know. We all suffer from pitch fatigue and yours has to stand out to be heard.

You have to demonstrate your product meets a real customer need, and it does that better than the competition.
You have to deliver the pitch with clarity and conviction. It has to be quick to avoid boring the listener (I aim at 90 seconds) and your enthusiasm has to shine through.

This is not easy , but it can be done. I’ve been developing pitches like that for myself for 25 years and I’ve helped a lot of people develop their own pitches in recent times. It’s very rewarding to do that.

Developing a great pitch is a creative act. In developing the pitch you discover what makes your product great, what’s different about it (so it beats the competition) , why you are enthusiastic about it and why you have what it takes to deliver it. Developing a great pitch changes everything – it’s truly a transformational process.

This is a picture of the Garlik team , taken on 23rd December 2011 , after an all night negotiating session finally clinched a deal to sell the company to global data giant Experian. It was a deal that worked for everyone and it reminded me  that of all the glittering prizes that come with business success there is none more satisfying than an unpredictable result achieved by  a team which worked brilliantly together.

In fact I would suggest anybody looking for glittering prizes from business needs to be able to put such a team together – almost all worthwhile results come from teamwork.

Individual business owners should not despair at this point, you can create a virtual team of  suppliers, distribution partners, JV partners, investors, informal supporters, mentors and even key customers as well as anyone you might employ or partner with. You will find a virtual team coalesces around you almost effortlessly if you can excite people by what you are up to and if they see you can be relied on to do what you say and to get results even when the going gets tough.

Exciting people by what you are up to is what my Perfect Pitch workshop is all about.

Becoming relied on to do what you say and get results even when the going gets tough is the subject of another workshop – The High Performance Coaching Master Class.

It’s everything I’ve learned about leadership and getting results packaged up into a four hour workshop which is designed to give you an immediate and lasting  boost to your capability to get results with resilience and speed.

I run this workshop every three months or so and I have a few tickets left for  24^th February from 1pm to 5pm at The Hubworking Centre ,5 Wormwood Street, London EC2M1RQ -near to Liverpool St Station. I used to run these events in the corporate world at £500pp . The small business rate is £200 plus VAT.

Participants leave the Master Class with:

- a few simple insights , which will make a huge difference to their performance going forward

-a workbook with a number of processes designed to deal with the stickiest and most difficult of issues

-a 3 month plan to get breakthrough results

You can get tickets here.

I really enjoyed presenting the last one on November 22^nd.  I had 40 participants and in four hours of presentation, interaction and practical demonstration  I gave them everything I know about how to get great business results with speed and resilience. As I told them: “ it has taken me 35 years to make things this simple without losing any power”.

Participants leave the Master Class with:

- a few simple insights , which will make a huge difference to their performance going forward

-a workbook with a number of processes designed to deal with the stickiest and most difficult of issues

-a 3 month plan to get breakthrough results

Tickets are available below for 24th February .There is a big discount if you book before the end of 2011.

see some reactions from participants

And here’s what other participants had to say:

“Very powerful stuff!
Your last slide gave me goose bumps and made me really excited about somehow being involved in what you are about to do.”

“Woke up this morning feeling like a loaded gun! The best thing that I got from last was the idea of focus and attention in business being very similar to that required in sports”

“Thank you for one of the most important evenings I have ever spent – SO much material – and oh, SO simple,  BUT ….. delivered and shared from that place of deep and extensive professional experience…..I was just hungry for more!”

“Incredible session. The biggest thing I got from the day was MASSIVE clarity! Really looking forward to taking action”

“Mega session thank you Mike, you’re advice is always amazingly insightful. I’m inspired. Thank you.”

“Really enjoyed Mike’s coaching last night, gave me crystal clear strategies to break through the potential car crash that is looming at our board meeting next month!”

“Excellent session, clear and usable tools = back in my ‘purposeful’ zone”

“Thank You  for the coaching session on Tuesday, particularly for sharing my favourite type of tools; simple and powerful when applied”

“I didn’t quite realise on the night how much impact the process had on me. It wasn’t until the next day that I began to feel the effect! “

“I really enjoyed your real life examples from EGG and Garlik .
They gave me practical insight into some current issues that I’m facing and clarified next steps.”

It’s a four hour workshop which I run for MBA students at world class business schools (for free) and in large companies at £500 per person ex VAT. I’ve now decided to run a series of workshops aimed at business owners, entrepreneurs, and ambitious employees of organisations of all sizes. I’m pricing these (for the moment) at £150 pp ex VAT. It’s possible I’ve underpriced this I suppose but I’m keen to make it accessible.

I’m collecting names of people who may be interested in getting priority booking for future workshops.

Please email me at mike@findyourlightbulb.com if you are interested.

About the Master Class…

When I talk about high performance I mean the speed and resilience with which a leader drives a business forward to meet its goals and fulfil its mission.
The Master Class is based on everything I’ve learned about leadership and about what works and what doesn’t in coaching. It’s taken all of my years of business experience to create high performance coaching insights which are simple and memorable enough to be usable every working minute while not losing any power.

Think of the workshop like a high performance driving course- it’s designed to help you drive your business at high speed, with safety and resilience built in. If you have read my book you will know that this requires maintaining a balance on the edge of reason: having the discipline to confront all of the issues facing you right now, however grim (very rational) while never doubting for one moment that eventually you will succeed in whatever challenge you have set yourself (somewhat irrational).

Participants in the workshop:
• Learn a simple but powerful technique for detecting their current state of balance , even in the middle of dealing with a difficult issue or in the heat of an important meeting
• Learn what knocks them off balance and how their reactions to that are often dysfunctional
• Learn how to rapidly get back in balance and take powerful actions which regain speed and momentum
• Learn how to build in resilience and safety using the smart risks principle
• Leave the workshop competent in applying the approach in their own business

Staring in this video are a number of small businesses well on the way to becoming iconic :
The doctor who is redefining the experience of women who feel helpless as they grow older.
The Executive Coach who is transforming how leaders in financial services organisations employ their strengths
The graphic designer who creates a visual experience for people to be known and seen for who they really are.
The movement specialist who leaves her clients feeling brand new
The Personal Trainer who transforms London business men from being in a mess to being amazing.
The letting agent who creates fantasy rental homes for high end tenants.
The Martial Arts inspired fitness trainer who leaves people feeling drop dead gorgeous
And although she’s not on the video A woman plumber who is on a mission to change the perception of women across the world – starting with an all woman plumbing company called Stopcocks!

I’m often asked if the techniques and tools I used to create Firstdirect, Mercury and Egg can really be applied to small businesses. Can business owners who work alone or maybe with one other person really cause something new and different to happen, really become a symbol of excellence to which others aspire, really become the stand out brand for their segment?

The answer is yes – on the video are a few small business owners at a Becoming Iconic Workshop which I run. Note the difference in the experience they are delivering in the way they describe their businesses at the beginning of the workshop and at the end. They are so much more alive! As they start to implement designs which deliver this experience to all of their customers just watch their businesses go into orbit and watch their own enjoyment of doing business soar as well.

The theme of the conference is Inventing the Future and it is focusing on the role of the entrepreneur in creating wealth and societal value. Looks like a good line up with interesting speakers and good panels. I think there are some tickets still available.

My topic is high performance leadership – a skill crucial to any entrepreneur . I’m running some workshops at LBS on this topic for their MBA students (past and present) which is how I got to be invited to speak at their flagship conference. The speech will be filmed and over the next few months I’ll be sending out little snippets from it (with some advice on how to use them) to people who have subscibed to my mailing list

“Ex Googlers suggest that when Facebook began to gain traction among web users it was dismissed inside the Googleplex. It was considered frivolous ,a distraction and worst of all not a nobel pursuit”. A classic “that will never work” reaction from an incumbent to a new idea. People who have worked with me or heard me speak will know “that will never work” is almost the universal response to a powerful new idea in its early days, particularly from experts.

The words Google are said to have used about Facebook are almost identical to those used by Telcos about the Internet in the 1990s and  by IBM about the PC in the 80s.