How to manage businesses through choppy waters

The Maverick Paradox Podcast

In this episode Judith Germain speaks to David Taylor Smith on managing businesses through choppy waters. David also provides an overview of his career, which has spanned public service, the charitable sector, and the business world. He is currently writing a book about the meaning of Britishness and the role of the landscape in shaping national identity.

Key Takeaways

• Understand the market deeply to prioritise and identify opportunities
• Focus on what you can control - productivity, efficiency, customer service
• Maintain pricing discipline - discounting often stems from lack of confidence, not market forces
• Adopt an offensive strategy by actively pursuing competitors' customers
• Leverage digital tools and an agile mindset to experiment quickly and fail fast
• Ensure you have the right organisation structure, people, systems, data and culture to execute

In this conversation David discusses the opportunities and challenges of digital transformation, highlighting the ability to experiment and fail quickly, as well as the need for an agile mindset rather than just following processes.

He outlines three key elements for executive teams to navigate uncertainty: understanding the market, having an effective organisation, and addressing any gaps before facing choppy waters.

David Taylor-Smith served in the British Army and is a former Private Equity CEO and FTSE 100 Board Director. He has run businesses in more than 70 countries. He now chairs two Private Equity businesses and a family owned company. He is a Senior Advisor to a Swiss Bank and a German Industrial Group. He is a charitable trustee and recently walked 3,000 km covering the length of the UK in aid of charity. He is widely regarded as a corporate turnaround and growth specialist.

You can find out more about our guest and today's episode in this Maverick Paradox Magazine article here.

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Judith's book: The Maverick Paradox: The Secret Power Behind Successful Leaders.

Judith's websites:

• The Maverick Paradox Magazine - themaverickparadox.com
• The Maverick Paradox Website - maverickparadox.co.uk

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