Author: Dr John Blakey

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Working with the members of my Vistage CEO advisory board always reminds me of the power of the group and this month’s all day meeting was no exception. In the morning, we listened to Jo Haigh, an expert on valuing and selling companies, as she passed on invaluable tips for business leaders preparing for a successful exit.

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‘World peace is none of your business’ – so runs the title of Morrissey’s latest solo album. It’s a title that made me smile and reminded me of Steven Covey’s concept of the circle of concern vs the circle of influence. World peace would be a good example of an issue that,

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Start with the end in mind. This has long been many people’s mantra ever since Stephen Covey first coined the phrase in his mega-seller ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’. Recently, I came across a surprising validation of this approach when listening to the inspirational speaker, Marcus Child, on the topic of ‘Personal Power’.

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‘Trust has become the agenda’. These were the most telling words spoken by Justin King, the outgoing CEO of Sainsbury’s, at a recent leadership event I attended. Justin bemoaned the loss of trust in the UK supermarket sector following the horse meat scandal of 2013. He also chided his CEO colleagues for not identifying the small number of ‘rotten apples’

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According to Nick Craig and Scott Snook in their recent Harvard Business Review (HBR) article ‘From Purpose to Impact’, fewer than 20% of leaders have a strong sense of their individual purpose and even fewer can distill their purpose into a concrete statement. As of Monday, the members of my Vistage advisory board are not guilty of these particular leadership sins.

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When I resigned from my last corporate role as international managing director in Logica in 2004, I thought that I was giving up a career in leadership to pursue a career in coaching. Yet the more that I research leadership I am realising that I gave up a career in heroic leadership to pursue a career in post-heroic leadership.

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Difficult conversations are risky conversations. It is like taking your car off-road. The journey can be bumpy, unexpected hazards appear at short notice and you’re often heading into uncharted territory. If you’re going to boldly enter the zone of uncomfortable debate (ZOUD) then, just as if you were contemplating an off-road jaunt in your car,

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I first came across Simon Sinek’s work when training as a Vistage Chair in San Diego earlier this year. Sinek has a simple yet powerful message which he captures in his book ‘Start with Why’. And the message is this – people do not buy what you do or even how you do it,

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How do we best give challenging feedback to others? What are the little tips and techniques that can make the difference between having our message heard and understood rather than triggering a defensive and hostile reaction? Recently, I learnt a new coaching tip on this topic which surprised me through its simplicity and its impact.

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One of the most common challenges faced by business leaders is to keep a proactive focus on what is important in the long term rather than to be consumed by reactive and urgent daily tasks. Many a courageous goal has been undermined via endless distractions. To counter this risk I find that Steven Covey’s story of the ‘big rocks’

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