Practical ideas for running your business better

Strategy and management

Organisational culture: what is it really?

Organisational culture isn’t a poster of values on the wall: it’s what happens when nobody’s watching. A strong culture helps you make better decisions, attract talent and pull in the same direction.

Strategy and management

A plan without action is just a dream

A plan is only useful if it’s carried out. That takes order and knowing how to prioritise, even when you’re under pressure.

Strategy and management

What you need to know before taking on a business partner

A business can survive many mistakes, but hardly ever a partner without integrity. Sharing values matters as much as sharing capital or know-how.

Leadership and teams

The mistakes I made learning to lead

Nobody is born knowing how to lead. Nor was I. These are the mistakes that taught me most, what I changed after making them and the advice I’d give anyone who gets promoted tomorrow.

Leadership and teams

The 5 dysfunctions of a leadership team, in the Spanish SME

Patrick Lencioni explained why leadership teams fail through five dysfunctions arranged as a pyramid. In Spanish SMEs I mostly see two. I’ll tell you which ones, why they appear and what I’d add to the model.

Leadership and teams

Radical candour: demanding without breaking the relationship

Caring about someone and telling them things straight aren’t opposites. They’re the two sides of a good boss. Keeping quiet so as not to hurt is almost always the cruellest option. This is how I prepare for a difficult conversation.

Leadership and teams

Emotional intelligence for managing directors who don’t believe in emotional intelligence

If it sounds soft to you, this article is for you. Emotional intelligence isn’t about hugs: it’s about not deciding in the heat of the moment, reading your team and getting people to want to follow you. And that shows in the results.

Leadership and teams

Ley de la Decisión Fantasma

Cuando una decisión sale mal y nadie recuerda haberla tomado, la ambigüedad reparte el riesgo pero elimina la responsabilidad. Toda decisión relevante debe dejar claro quién decide, por qué y cuándo se revisa.

Leadership and teams

The Law of Incomplete Information

You can do everything right… and still get it wrong

You can follow an instruction to the letter and make the result worse if nobody explained what problem needed solving. If you lead, explain the why; if you’re on the team, ask what problem you’re trying to solve.

Leadership and teams

The Law of Rewarding the Problem

When the reliable person ends up invisible

Whoever causes problems hogs the meetings and the attention; whoever delivers gets on with the job and ends up forgotten. If you only look at someone when they fail, your best people may have to become a problem before you notice them.

Leadership and teams

The Law of Withdrawn Trust

When nobody tells you why they no longer trust you

Losing trust can happen; the problem is withdrawing it without explaining how it was lost or how to win it back. If you lead, explain it; if you’re on the team, don’t try to read minds: ask what’s changed.

Leadership and teams

The Law of the Borrowed Problem

When helping too much creates dependency

If you solve every problem people bring you, you teach them that bringing it to you works better than learning to solve it. Before helping, ask three questions: what have you tried, what options do you see, and what exactly do you need from me?

Leadership and teams

The Law of the Postponed Conflict

Avoiding a conversation today can cost you dearly

A conversation you keep putting off is like a debt: the longer you wait, the more it costs. Speak up early: describe the behaviour, explain the impact and agree what needs to change.

Leadership and teams

The Law of Responsibility without Authority

They demand results, but won’t let you decide

Asking someone for results without giving them the power to decide isn’t delegating: it’s passing the risk on to them. Responsibility and authority must grow together.

Leadership and teams

The Law of Misunderstood Loyalty

Saying “no” can be loyalty too

Keeping quiet so as not to make waves can look like loyalty, but it also means abandoning your professional responsibility. If you disagree, set out the risk, bring data and propose an alternative.

Leadership and teams

The Law of Uncomfortable Talent

When your boss starts to fear you’re better than them

A secure leader sees their team’s talent as a strength; an insecure one sees it as a threat. Measure your success by the people you help grow, not by how many depend on you.

Leadership and teams

The Law of the Orphan Mistake

When success belongs to everyone and the mistake to one person

Rushing to find someone to blame gives a sense of control, but stops you fixing the system. Analyse two levels at once: individual responsibility, and which part of the process allowed the mistake to happen.

Leadership and teams

The Law of the Unprepared Promotion

Being the best at the technical side doesn’t make you a leader

Many companies confuse technical expertise with leadership ability. Promoting someone without giving them the tools doesn’t show trust: it sets them up to fail.

Leadership and teams

The Law of Change without Context

Why do people resist change?

The less you explain a change, the more room you leave for rumours. Explain why it’s needed, what impact it will have and which part of the decision is no longer open to debate.

Leadership and teams

The Law of Late Recognition

Why do they only value you once you’re leaving?

If you only recognise someone’s worth when they hand in their notice, you’re not retaining talent: you’re reacting to the fear of losing it. The best time to keep someone is before they decide to leave.

Leadership and teams

The Law of the Closed Door

When your boss is there, but nobody can talk to them

A boss can keep their door open and still be unapproachable. Calm doesn’t always mean everything’s fine: sometimes it means nobody dares to speak up.

Leadership and teams

The Law of the Punished Messenger

Why do employees stop reporting problems?

When you punish whoever brings bad news, you don’t get rid of the problem: you get rid of the messenger. You can’t demand transparency; you have to make it safe.

Leadership and teams

The Law of the Moving Target

Do they change the rules after you’ve delivered?

If you change the criteria after assessing the work, you’re not raising the bar: you’re making it impossible to reach. Before you start, agree on the outcome, how it will be assessed and who decides.

Leadership and teams

The Law of False Peace

Is a team without conflict a good team?

Silence can look like harmony, but it doesn’t mean commitment. A team that can contradict you in good time saves itself from having to agree with you when it’s too late.

Leadership and teams

The Law of Permanent Rescue

Are you helping your team… or making it dependent?

Every time you rescue someone too soon, you become more necessary and they become less autonomous. A good leader doesn’t remove the difficulties: they teach people how to get through them.

Leadership and teams

The Law of the Refuge Meeting

Why are some meetings pointless?

Talking isn’t deciding. A meeting only adds value if it ends with three clear answers: what’s been decided, who’s responsible and when it will be done.

Leadership and teams

The Law of the Trusted Employee

Can being the trusted employee hold your career back?

The more indispensable you are in your role, the harder it is to picture you in another one. Trust can turn into dependency and hold back your growth.

Leadership and teams

The Law of Invisible Work

Why doesn’t working harder always help you grow?

Effort on its own rarely guarantees recognition. After every important project, share what the problem was, what you did and what result you achieved.

Leadership and teams

The Law of Your Word

When keeping your word really matters

Trust isn’t built on what you promise, but on how you respond when keeping that promise gets difficult. That’s when you find out whether it was worth anything.

Leadership and teams

The Law of False Autonomy

Are they delegating to you… or just making you responsible?

Delegating isn’t having others carry out your decisions, it’s letting them make their own. Before delegating, define the expected outcome, the limits and what they can decide without checking with you.

Leadership and teams

The Law of the First No

Were you made to feel guilty for saying “no”?

The first boundary meets more resistance than the ones that follow because it breaks an expectation. Setting boundaries isn’t refusing to cooperate: it’s managing your priorities in a healthy way.

Leadership and teams

The Law of Being Punished for Being Efficient

Why is it that the better you work… the more work you get?

Organisations learn that when a task reaches certain people, the problem goes away, so they pile every new urgent job onto them. When a new priority comes in, ask which task they’d like you to put back.

Leadership and teams

The Law of Control

Why does a controlling boss get less information?

The more fear you create, the less truth you hear. Leadership isn’t about controlling every detail, but about creating an environment where people feel safe to speak up.

Leadership and teams

The Law of Debate

A team’s worst enemy isn’t conflict

Teams that never argue have usually stopped thinking a long time ago. Leading isn’t avoiding disagreement, but creating an environment where people can disagree respectfully and without fear.

Leadership and teams

The Law of Injustice

Why does one injustice weigh more than ten pats on the back?

The brain gives more weight to losses than to gains. In a team, one decision seen as unfair can outweigh a long list of good calls.

Leadership and teams

Silence is power: make others want to hear what you have to say

The most influential people aren’t always the ones who talk the most. Choosing the right moment to speak gives your words value and earns you respect and influence.

Leadership and teams

The attitude for success

Attitude is what separates those who wait for things to happen from those who make them happen. Without the right attitude, talent and opportunities aren’t enough.

Leadership and teams

How to enjoy your work

If your company has indispensable employees, you have a problem. When everything depends on one person, the business is fragile and that person can neither grow nor switch off.

Leadership and teams

Toxic working environment

Injustices, such as having favourite employees, kill a team’s motivation. In those cases money isn’t what matters: what matters is feeling you’re treated fairly.

Leadership and teams

How to set boundaries at work

Many employees burn out firefighting urgent jobs and surprises nobody planned for. Setting boundaries is also about organising the team’s work better.

Leadership and teams

Common business management mistakes

One of the most expensive mistakes in running a company is having a disengaged team: no ideas, silent and waiting for instructions.

Leadership and teams

How to handle conflict in teams

If you react badly when someone tells you about a problem, you’ll stop hearing about problems until they blow up, and by then they’ll be far bigger than they were at the start.

Leadership and teams

What is a leader’s role?

Too much control kills teams. The leader’s role is to give autonomy and develop people, not to check every step.

Leadership and teams

Effort doesn’t matter: results do

First come method and metrics; then effort and attitude; and last of all, knowledge. Without method, effort goes to waste.

Leadership and teams

Toxic bosses don’t always look toxic

A toxic boss doesn’t always shout or humiliate people: sometimes they seem approachable and get results. Warning signs many companies treat as normal, mistakes in managing people and an awkward question: what if the problem is you?

Leadership and teams

Why aren’t you getting promoted if you’re the best? The trap of being indispensable

Being the person everyone calls can hold your career back, and always relying on your best people is a risk for the company. Three solutions: force people to prioritise, make your contribution visible and stop being indispensable.