The Informer January 2018

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Member in the Spotlight Nick Robeson of global headhunters Boyden on why the search is always on

New Year’s Resolutions Five productivity tips to maximise the opportunities for your business in 2018

T h e

I n f o r m e r Issue 12

January 2018

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CHANGING MINDS

In a few simple steps you can re-write anyone’s opinion of you

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Meet. Work. Grow.

Billion dollar company.

Est. 2018 This is the age of explosive growth where ideas, technology and burning ambition can turn a start-up in a garage into a global powerhouse. To help plan the meteoric rise of your business, go to theleap.mishcon.com Business | Dispute Resolution | Real Estate | Mishcon Private

It’s business. But it’s personal.

INTRODUCTION

ADAM BLASKEY FOUNDER & CEO The Clubhouse

W e l come This year we have a great line up of members events, starting on Tuesday 23 January when our guest speaker will be Richard Joseph, who alongside his twin brother, Antony, co-founded Joseph Joseph in 2003. What started with a simple aim of creating functional, problem-solving household products, incorporating their passion for design, engineering and invention, has resulted in an award-winning business with offices in London, New York, Paris, Dusseldorf and Tokyo, generating revenues of over £45m per year, selling products

THE CLUBHOUSE PRODUCTIVITY TIP #

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Create a mini crisis Some people thrive under pressure and this often results in accomplishing more than originally thought possible in a given time frame. Block out less time than you think you may need to complete a task or project – this leads to enhanced focus and results in improved productivity.

WINNER Best Business Club

in more than 100 countries. On Thursday 25 January we have a members’ breakfast – the first of a series this year in partnership with Mishcon de Reya, one of London’s top law firms which provides cross-border and multi-jurisdictional advice to help solve the many complex issues that both businesses and individuals face. We are delighted to be partnering with Mishcon de Reya and hope that this new relationship will help us to further deliver our aim at The Clubhouse which is simply to make our members and their businesses more successful.

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Happy New Year! I hope you had a great Christmas and found some time to take stock of 2017 and recharge ready for the year ahead.

Last year was certainly a very busy year for both The Clubhouse team and our members, so to ensure that 2018 gets off to the best start we have some great features for you in The Informer this month.

Turn to page seven where you can find our five New Year’s resolutions and on page four we have some great tips for when things don’t go to plan and how it’s possible to reverse a bad first impression.

WINNER Best Meeting Room

DESIGN & ART DIRECTION

Christian Gilliham_christian@cgcreate.co.uk_07951 722265

To partner with The Clubhouse or promote your business in The Informer please email adam@theclubhouselondon.com Copyright. The Clubhouse London Ltd

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FIRST IMPRESSIONS

A GREAT COMEBACK

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Can you reverse a bad first impression?

Yes, as long as you follow a few simple steps

any of us have read about the importance of positive body language, the correct pressure of a handshake or how much eye contact we should make when we meet someone for the first time. But often, that initial encounter doesn’t work out the way we wished. Perhaps we rushed in late after transport problems, maybe the last phone call we took before the meeting was fraught and we arrived feeling stressed, perhaps we just lost focus and didn’t have the calm, professional impact we had planned. Is it game over? An opportunity gone for good?

Not necessarily. It is possible to reverse a disastrous first impression and there are many ways. Renowned TED speaker, consultant and author of Start With Why, Simon Sinek, has this advice: be honest. “Do not try and do this over email as it could be misinterpreted. If you simply pick up the phone, you can say, ‘I think I came across poorly when I met you. I was a little bit excitable, I was nervous and I just wanted to put it out there that I wasn’t particularly proud of how I came across.’ If someone responds to that then that’s a good thing, and if they don’t, well you wouldn’t want to work with them anyway!” The main point is that honesty is the best policy.

Impressions can be fluid, they can evolve over time, so while you may not get a second chance to make a first impression, you can create the opportunity to correct one. A first impression is a beginning, not an ending; it is not a make-or-break moment. Consider the colleagues you’ve met who’ve

taken a while to warm up, or the friend that you didn’t get at first.

If you want someone to get to know you, create situations where they can. For example, volunteer to work on the project with someone who you think doesn’t rate you. By witnessing your skills and talents over a longer period of time, their impression of you may change.

In some cases, you may even have to play the long game. Have patience, Roz Usheroff, a leadership, image and branding specialist, says: “Recognise that changing someone’s perception will take time.

No matter who you are, you will inevitably make a less than positive impression on someone. While some have suggested that it can take months or even years to erase a bad first impression, a Harvard study suggests that it will take eight subsequent positive encounters to change that person’s negative opinion of you. In this context be persistent and patient.”

It’s also worth turning to the other person for advice. Kristi Hedges, a leadership coach, speaker and author of The Power of Presence: Unlock Your Potential to Influence and Engage Others, notes: “If you feel that you didn’t make a positive impression, follow up and ask the other person for advice on where to improve. This also allows you to get in front of the person again and make a new impression.”

Whatever your route, be confident that a first impression is one of multiple touchstones and signifies the beginning of a relationship, not the end. Remember it is fluid and can be influenced so don’t walk away despondent; be imaginative, honest and upfront. ●

❂ Impressions can be fluid, they can evolve over time, so while you may not get a second chance to make a first impression, you can create the opportunity to correct one

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Meet. Work. Grow.

MEMBER STRAPLINE IN THE SPOTLIGHT

NICK ROBESON MANAGING PARTNER Boyden UK

Sta yin g tru e to th e i r roots Tell us about your company and how it started.

Boyden is a global leader in Executive Search and Interim Management with offices in 40 countries around the world. As one of the oldest headhunting brands with a heritage dating back to the 1940s, we are very fortunate to have worked with clients across all sectors delivering their senior executive talent.

What has been your biggest success to date?

A previous recruitment business I started.

We built it from a start up in 2000 to £14m in 2010 handling the 08/09 recession along the way. The team we built around us to achieve this was phenomenal. Great spirit and intensity and we sold it in 2010. The second and most recent is being given the responsibility to act as custodian for Boyden’s brand in the UK. What project are you most excited about right now?

Together with my business partner Lisa Farmer, we took over responsibility for building Boyden’s position in the UK. It’s been an exhilarating first six months building the team and growing the revenues ahead of expectations. The international network has been such a positive influence on our business and, with BREXIT looming, it’s no time to be a single geography, boutique, search firm.

How has being a member of The Clubhouse contributed to the success of your business?

Massively! The environment we work in has changed so dramatically since I began work in 1994. Gone are the days of being tied into expensive rents and onerous break clauses.

The Clubhouse provides us with the flexibility we desire as we grow combined with the level of professionalism and discretion our clients expect from a leading executive search firm.

Where can members find you?

On the eighth floor of The Clubhouse, Bank, normally warming up a cup with hot water before having yet another flat white. Failing that I am out with clients or in an interview room interrogating a long-list candidate. boyden.uk.com

Together with my business partner Lisa Farmer, we took over responsibility for building Boyden’s position in the UK. It’s been an exhilarating first six months building the team and growing the revenues ahead of expectations

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QUICK-FIRE ROUND

Favourite place to go in London?

The Arbitrager gin bar on Throgmorton Street or Temper in Angel Court; in St James’s it’s Ole & Steen for an open sandwich or Aquavit in Carlton Street Who inspires you and why?

Anyone who is capable of being selected to pull on a Lions rugby shirt Best bit of advice you’ve been given?

As a headhunter you find yourself being given advice all the time, normally about why the candidate in front of you is the best for the role you are working on If you were on a desert island, what would you bring?

A rugby ball, Spotify and Skype.

Which super power would you like to have?

Teleportation. Because we are not on this planet for long and there is so much I would love to see and do.

What is the worst business ‘faux-pas’ you’ve committed?

Top button going, bursting a cafetiere when pushing down the plunger (narrowly missing the client) and returning from the bathroom with my fly undone! All in the same meeting, thankfully 20 years ago now!!

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FUTURE EVENTS

The Clubhouse

The Clubhouse

ST JAMES’S

ST JAMES’S

An Evening with Richard Joseph, co-founder of Joseph Joseph

Members’ breakfast with Mischon de Reya

WEDNESDAY 31 JANUARY 6.30 pm - 8.30 pm FREE FOR MEMBERS £25 FOR NON-MEMBERS In 2003 twin brothers and product designers Richard and Antony Joseph joined forces and launched Joseph Joseph. The company started life relatively small with only a few products, including a simple glass chopping board. The functional, hygienic nature of the chopping board shifted the brothers’ focus onto designing everyday products with a core problem-solving approach. The business has grown to become an award-winning international houseware brand, sold in over 100 countries across the globe, with offices in London, New York, Paris, Dusseldorf and Tokyo. Please join us to hear from Richard about the company’s phenomenal journey.

SA V E THE DA TE

Richard Joseph

Adam Rose

THURSDAY 25 JANUARY 8 am - 9.30 am FREE FOR MEMBERS AND THEIR GUESTS Join us for our first members’ breakfast of the year which will be the first in a series to be hosted in partnership with Mishcon de Reya, one of London’s top law firms.

This breakfast focuses on the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) which will have major implications on any business that holds personal data on any customers as enforcement for non-compliance takes effect from 25 May. Adam Rose, a Commercial Partner specialising in data protection, will be telling us everything we need to know. Please join us for what promises to be an informative and essential talk.

HOW TO BOOK: VISIT THECLUBHOUSELONDON.COM OR ASK AT THE FRONT DESK

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Art

Theatre

Review

NATURE MORTE

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY

JAMAVAR

Explore the transience of time and the problem of mortality as the 16th-century tradition of still life meets modern art in Guildhall Art Gallery’s new exhibition Nature Morte. Go beyond the two-dimensional as 100 works of art on the themes of flora, fauna, the domestic object, food and vanitas, invite you to pause and look anew at the human condition.

Featuring work by major international contemporary artists including Michael CraigMartin and Gabriel Orozco, as well as art from London-based artists and the City’s own historic collection.

Enjoy the changes in power and shifting allegiances of dark comedy The Birthday Party at the Harold Pinter Theatre. Watch on as two strangers arrive at a coastal boarding house, upsetting the lives of its inhabitants and turning their festivities into a nightmare.

Zoë Wanamaker leads the cast as the boarding house owner, appearing alongside stage and screen stars Toby Jones, Stephen Mangan and Pearl Mackie. Following critically acclaimed productions of Betrayal and Old Times, Ian Rickson reunites with Sonia Friedman Productions to direct this major revival.

If you like Gymkhana, you’ll love Jamavar.

A stone’s throw from The Clubhouse, Mayfair, this first restaurant from the Indian hotel group The Leela is a wood-paneled fine dining room in Mayfair that echoes India’s colonial past. Beyond the stylish decor is a menu of depth and subtly. For small plates we love the lobster podi idli, the biryani is a main course highlight and the mango rasmali polished it all off perfectly. Warmly spiced food to get through January!

UNTIL 2 APRIL 2018 CITYOFLONDON.GOV.UK

9 JANUARY - 14 APRIL THEBIRTHDAYPARTY.LONDON

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Meet. Work. Grow.

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8 MOUNT STREET, W1K 3NF 020 7499 1800

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PRODUCTIVITY

5 t i p s for a pro du ct i v e 2 0 1 8

1.Question yourself We can spend hours agonising over how to hire successfully, how to pitch and win, how to plan for change, how to budget and how to grow. At The Clubhouse we like to question, why? In 2009, Simon Sinek, motivation speaker, leadership expert and unfailing optimist, introduced this thought process through his book, Start with Why. Sinek starts with a fundamental question: Why are some people and organisations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over? Start with Why shows that the leaders who’ve had the greatest influence in the world all think, act, and communicate the same way – and it’s the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organisations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired.

2.Make meetings mindful Make 2018 the year you develop true clarity of mind, enhanced focus and resilience, which are all vital for modern-day working life and effective collaboration. Daniel Stane, senior consultant and facilitator of The Potential Project, explains: “The essence of meetings with mindfulness is to be fully present with the people we are with, for as long as we are with them.” There are three phases in every meeting. 1. Preparation: Take a break with mindfulness before you start with three full deep breaths. 2. The meeting itself: Be fully present with the people you are with for as long as you are with them. 3. Closing the meeting: Be direct with one another to bring the meeting to an end and be clear on accomplishments and next steps.

Happy New Year

January is the ideal time for reflection and good intentions.

Here are our New Year’s resolutions for the year ahead.

while organising meetings for you. With tasks, projects, conversations and dashboards, apps such as Asana helps a team move and share their work, while Trello keeps track of everything. Try Wunderlist for a simple to-do list and task manager. Slack brings all your communication into one place, Yammer enables connections to people and information from across an organisation or try Workplace

by Facebook to turn ideas into action.

4.Build a resilient team 3.Explore apps Use cutting-edge technology to streamline your working practices and make you and your team more efficient. Consider an AI PA : Amy Ingram, X.ai and Mimetic.ai have names and email addresses to give a personal touch

A team who manages well in times of pressure or change is a team that ensures business continuity, is higher performing and ultimately delivers more

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A team who manages well in times of pressure or change is a team that ensures business continuity, is higher performing and ultimately delivers more. Those teams have a culture of resilience. How? Encourage transparency and ownership among colleagues and suggest they seek each other out for support when they feel overstretched. Provide clarity on goals, priorities and roles, including creating a plan that clearly anchors to the team and keeps them focused. Challenge and be challenged on what and how things can be improved.

5.Stay connected Skype may work for a conference call or WhatsApp for quick questions, but to keep remote workers feeling connected and engaged, make sure they have access to inspirational and flexible meeting and work spaces to boost productivity, satisfy impromptu brainstorms and be around like-minded people. Create clear guidelines of when you expect them to be contactable so they have clear ‘switch off’ times. Instigate regular meet-ups in creative environments for build teams, strengthen relationships and encourage collaboration.

Just a few simple steps can create ripples of change to make you and your business more succesful. ● 7

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