Thoughts For Finance Leaders
Your technical skills can be taken as a given, your differentiation arises from your business and people acumen.
'When we're looking to improve our B2B business, I think a good place to start is to consider and, where necessary, take action in these six areas:
-- Firstly, the clarity and appropriateness of our offer in the context of the markets we serve and the resources, both operational and financial, available to us. We don't want to be stretched too thin or applying our efforts in areas that don't suit us or our configuration well.
-- Secondly, the quality of our customer base, paying particular attention to their ability and willingness to pay for what it is we have to offer. The better the quality of our customer base the stronger our business.
-- Thirdly, the environment we have designed, consciously or otherwise, for our people. A good question to ask and to listen carefully and take positive steps in response to is "are we as a team, are we as an individual, easy to work with and easy to work for?"
-- Fourthly, the business and people acumen of each member of our management team. The more adept our leaders are in these areas the likelier they'll set a positive, collaborative and commercial tone for their respective teams and make good decisions.
-- Fifthly, the confidence, consciousness and capability of our sales professionals to engage on a business level with business leaders and other budget holders. The more of an asset our people are to our customers the likelier we succeed.
-- Sixthly, the confidence, consciousness and capability of our non-sales customer facing professionals in building strong productive relationships both externally and internally. The closer we collaborate the stronger our bonds.'
- Rob Evans, Founder Of Outperformance Highway
Outperformance Highway serves as a hub of online programmes and reflection tools developed based on Rob's extensive real world operational experiences in B2B environments to help you in the areas identified above and that are quick and easy for individuals to enrol in, digest and complete.
'Rob has packaged his experience and research into a well thought out framework'
- Lynn Murphy, Chief Executive Officer at Plugable Technologies
'I would thoroughly recommend Rob's courses. He is a very successful and astute business leader with a wealth of experience to share.'
- Mark Graham, CIO at The Counselling Foundation
'It's all substance and no fluff drawn from his extensive and multifaceted career in the corporate world'
- Yvonne Chin Irving, Executive Director & Communication Consultant at CET
'Not only is Rob incredibly insightful and knowledgeable, he is a genuine person'
- Gary Lomas, Sales Director at Onnec Group
'I am a huge fan of Rob and encourage you to check this out'
- Gahn Lane, Vice President Global Channel Partners And Alliances at Pindrop
'Fantastic Practical Learning Experience'
- Mevin Anenden, Senior Client Manager at Logicalis
'I now have a clearer understanding of the big picture'
- Chris Griffiths, Marketing Director at Travel A La Carte Ltd
'Plenty of food for thought'
- Ian Edwards, Business Manager at The Westgrove Group
'Rich content!'
- Ernesto Schlesinger, Founder Partner at Jequitiba Investimentos
'Great session Rob. The ability to simplify and make sense of our complex and uncertain world is vital for leaders. Thank you.'
- Bob Morton, Past President at World Federation Of People Management Associations (WFPMA)
Ten Ideas For Helping You As A Finance Leader
On this page are Ten Ideas to complement the work you currently do to develop your people, the environment your people operate in, the external relationships that underpin your business success and the contributions you and your department make to your wider organisation. The Ten Ideas are set out in detail further down this page and may be summarised as follows:
Ideas One And Two Help You And Your Team Thought provoking business focused experiences helping you and your team enhance the contributions you make to your colleagues and your wider organisation.
Ideas Three And Four Help You And Your Senior Colleagues Experiences developed for you and your most senior colleagues serving as opportunities to objectively stand back and look at your business and identify steps to move it forward.
Ideas Five And Six Help Department Leaders Experiences geared to provoking thought and sharing ideas to inspire and equip department leaders to adopt an enhanced conscious, curious, commercial, customer and team oriented outlook in their work.
Ideas Seven And Eight Help Sales Professionals Experiences giving sales professionals the confidence, impetus and tools to engage effectively with 'The Business' at prospects, customers and internally.
Ideas Nine And Ten Help Operations, Technical And Other Customer Facing Professionals Experiences enhancing the commercial acumen of operations, technical and other customer facing professionals and giving them the impetus and confidence to consciously deepen relationships with customers.
'The more we invest in the people who work with and for our business, the more invested they become in the success of our business.'
- Rob Evans
My work is available to augment your work in programmes and talks that are thought provoking, easy to fit within busy schedules and focused on execution. The talks and programmes are not meant to replace any of what you already do but to complement your work.
Programmes are mobile enabled, self paced and punchy. There is a short free programme available for you at the top of this page designed to provoke thought, share ideas and give you a flavour for the various programmes referred elsewhere on this page.
Talks are delivered at events, within management meeting discussions, at breakfast sessions or at lunch & learns as required.
The Ten Ideas follow in detail.
Introducing Ideas One And Two
Helping You Lead Your Team's Business Within A Business
You conduct your work in a wider context that shapes the extent to which you are able to make a difference. The more value you add to others, the more valuable you become to your organisation.
Ideas One and Two are geared towards helping you reflect on the big picture in which you and your colleagues operate and helping you to find ways to enhance your contribution to the many and varied stakeholders you work with.
Idea Two: A Talk Inspiring And Guiding Your Team To Proactively Contribute To The Success Of Your 'Business Within A Business'
The talk title is 'How effectively are you developing your business within a business?'
The talk description is: 'Today more than ever before, because of a convergence of global shifts, technological developments and cultural trends, there is a unique opportunity for those of us in finance to have a hugely positive demonstrable impact on the organisations and people we serve. Our organisation must find ways to deliver results and reinvention in parallel, yet our workloads have never been higher. How do you effectively set about delivering what you need to deliver whilst at the same time delivering value beyond what's expected? This talk provides some perspectives.'
During this talk audience members will:
> reflect on the various customers the department exists to serve, how they operate individually and collectively and how colleagues will judge them
>be encouraged to adopt a mindset of curiosity in relation to the business and strive to build strong relationships throughout the wider organisation
> reflect on commercial and operational contributions that are in their control to deliver to their colleagues & wider organisation
Introducing Ideas Three And Four
Providing You And Your Senior Colleagues With An Opportunity For Big Picture Reflection
The environment you consciously or otherwise put in place has a profound impact on the extent to which those who work with and for your organisation are energised and invested in your success. The more energised those around us are, the likelier they will deliver for us.
Most of us know most of what we need to know for our role, whatever our level. None of us knows everything. That's why alternative perspectives are so valuable.
Ideas Three and Four help you view your business through a specific big picture lens. They serve as an opportunity to stand back and reflect objectively on the environment you have in place and its impact on those who work with and for your business.
'Outperformance is never a fluke. When you work operationally with and within a large number of businesses, and evaluate many others commercially, as I have done, you begin to see recurrent patterns. I've also studied sports teams that punch above their weight and its clear to me that successful teams share recurrent ingredients, unsuccessful teams corroborate this too. The recipe for outperformance is unique to each situation yet, in my experience, when we dig deeper we find much commonality.'
- Rob Evans
Idea Four: A Reflective Talk Designed To Spark Ideas
This is a reflective talk for you and for your most senior colleagues. It serves as a moment of pause and reflection on the business today by sharing lessons of experience and provoking thought. It is ideal for setting the scene for a planning process or at a challenging time.
The talk title is 'The answers to four questions tells you the story of your business and will help you shape your next moves.'
The talk description is 'Our work as leader is all consuming and complicated. A holistic view, blending logical and emotional intelligence, is a key underpinning of success. The faster we orientate the quicker we move. The clearer we see the big picture the more effectively we act. This engaging talk or keynote highlights the recurrent ingredients of teams that outperform, provokes thought and shares pragmatic approaches to how we look at and operate our businesses.'
Audience members will:
> reflect on their business today & their decisions on current priorities
> learn pragmatic methods for organised thought & agile decision making
> be inspired to adopt helpful mindsets that augment their current thinking
Introducing Ideas Five And Six
Helping Department Leaders Operate With Enhanced Business, Customer And Team Acumen
Ideas Five and Six are both geared towards provoking thought and sharing ideas to inspire and guide Department Leaders to adopt an enhanced conscious, curious, commercial and customer oriented outlook in their work.
Both the talk and the programme introduce PPMCLeadership™️, a framework Department Leaders may choose to adopt to help them consciously develop the environment they create for their team and to help them identify areas to enhance their contributions to the various teams of which they are a part. The programme also serves as a tool for guided reflection.
Role specific versions of the Department Leader programme exist for Chief Operating Officers, Finance Leaders, Human Resource Leaders, Learning Leaders and IT Leaders.
Idea Six: A Talk Inspiring And Guiding An Audience Of Department Leaders In How To Run Their Function With A Business And Customer Mindset
The talk title is 'Your department is a business, do you run it as such?'
The talk description is: 'Today more than ever before, because of a convergence of global shifts, technological developments and cultural trends, there is a unique opportunity for those of us in leadership positions to have a hugely positive demonstrable impact on the organisations and people we serve. You need to deliver results and reinvention in parallel. That applies to both your business and your team. How do you effectively set about delivering what you need to deliver whilst at the same time delivering value beyond what's expected? This talk provides some perspectives.'
During this talk audience members will:
> reflect on their current operating realities & priorities
> learn a straightforward lens & framework for consciously developing their function
> reflect on the contribution they deliver to their colleagues & wider organisation
Introducing Ideas Seven And Eight
Helping Sales Professionals Engage With 'The Business'
Our success is contingent upon the success of our people. The more confident, commercially capable and emotionally intelligent our people the better placed they are to deliver for us.
Ideas Seven and Eight are both geared towards giving sales professionals confidence, tools and the impetus to engage with prospects and clients on a business level. They each provide an experienced business leader's perspective on what's required to build relationships with and ultimately sell to the business leaders that have the power to allocate and approve budget.
Idea Eight: A Talk Inspiring And Guiding An Audience Of Sales Professionals To Engage Proactively And Effectively With 'The Business' At Prospects And Clients
The talk title is 'They hold the budget and you hold the quota, how do you bridge the two?'
The talk description is 'How do we inspire others’ confidence in us? To sell to ‘the business’ we need to think like a business leader. How consciously do we build credibility and trust? The more confident we feel the more proactively we are able to act. The more we know the more confident we feel. How do we set about knowing what we don’t know? And what does effective relationship building with a business leader look like over time? This talk provides some perspectives.'
During this talk audience members will:
> gain a business leader perspective of what’s required to sell to business leaders
> learn a simple method for consciously building business leader relationships
> reflect on & be given impetus & confidence in their engagement with business leaders
Introducing Ideas Nine And Ten
Enhancing The Business Acumen Of Operations, Technical And Other Customer Facing Professionals
Operations, technical and other non-sales professionals naturally engage with customers on a day to day basis. Many organisations overlook that these individuals are often well placed to deepen relationships with customers and potentially encounter and develop new mutually beneficial business opportunities outside of a typical sales setting.
Ideas Nine and Ten are both geared towards equipping customer facing professionals with straightforward tools for operating with enhanced commercial acumen, more confident conscious customer relationship building and a better understanding of customer environments and business dynamics such that they are more likely to deliver business outcomes and identify and develop commercial opportunities when they arise.
Idea Ten: A Talk That Inspires And Guides An Audience Of Non-Sales Customer Facing Professionals Towards Being More Commercially Oriented
This talk is relevant if it would help to have others, outside of sales that interact with customers, being more alert to possible opportunities.
The talk title is 'Steering your career along the road ahead, how to stand out in the future of work.'
The talk description is 'We don’t know what the future holds. We do have some clues. It’s a time of great challenge. And great opportunity. We need to navigate our career whatever the circumstances. And in our role naturally we engage day to day directly with customers. This puts us in a strong position to deliver tremendous value to our organisation. What do we focus on? What mindsets do we adopt? How do we operate? This talk provides you with a framework to stand the test of the most testing of times.'
During this talk audience members will:
> be inspired to consciously & proactively develop relationships and explore opportunities to find and help win business
> learn tools to help them become more commercial in outlook
> reflect on their contribution to the organisation beyond their direct role responsibilities
'Having knowledge we've acquired, methods we can draw from and encouragement we've received gives us the confidence and impetus to move beyond our comfort zone. When we move beyond our comfort zone we expand not only our possibilities but also those of the organisations we serve, being both our employer and our customers.'
- Rob Evans
Highly Experienced International Business Executive
Real World Operational Focus
Rob's content, insights and methodologies encapsulate the lessons of over three decades of international business experience and related research, observation and reflection.
In a rich and varied international business career Rob has been:
- Operationally engaged with over 150 businesses around the world
- Closely involved in over 50 actual or potential acquisition transactions
- A part of a senior management team that grew a South African domestic business into a dual listed technology group employing over 8,500 people and operating in over 80 countries
- Nominated for the South Africa CFO Of The Year Award when serving as Chief Financial Officer of a $6.5 Bn turnover group
'When I needed career advice at a major career junction, I turned to Rob for help and he quickly jumped on a call with me despite the time zone difference.
I left that call with clarity and focus.
I left that call feeling empowered, supported and super-sensible!
I left that call knowing that I just needed to make my plan and execute it.
This is how Rob helped me get to this point:
-- Firstly, Rob effortlessly sets you at ease. Simply put, he's genuinely a nice guy, and you're going to feel that humility, energy, and warmth permeating every part of the consulting call with this corporate heavyweight as he makes an authentic and kind human connection with you.
-- Secondly, he's going to ask you relevant straightforward questions about the situation that will help him draw a picture of what's happening in your career or organization, and help you be clear on what's happening in your head.
-- Thirdly, expect valuable insights as your mind opens up to opportunities where you had only seen obstacles before, and finally expect him to point you to practical, actionable next steps to move you forward.
It's all substance and no fluff drawn from his extensive and multifaceted career in the corporate world.
What amazes me about Rob is:
-- the ease with which he analyses the situation
-- the accessibility and creativity of the ideas he shares
-- the practical nature of the solutions he puts on the table
This consultancy call was time well spent. As we say in Jamaica "Big up yuhself- Rob!!!" (*** To "big up" someone is to praise or recommend somebody strongly.***)
- Yvonne Chin Irving, Executive Director & Communication Consultant at CET
'I had the pleasure of working with Rob Evans whilst at Logicalis and I can't speak more highly about him. Not only is Rob incredibly insightful and knowledgeable, he is a genuine person and great fun to be around. Love his stuff.'
- Gary Lomas, Sales Director at Onnec Group
'I am a huge fan of Rob and encourage you to check this out, he has great insights #improvedoutcomes'
- Gahn Lane, Vice President Global Channel Partners And Alliances at Pindrop
'Rob has very strong strategic and operational credentials having worked extensively around the world and held a wide range of financial, operational and M&A roles'
- Extract From Corporate Stock Exchange Announcement
'I would thoroughly recommend Rob's courses. He is a very successful and astute business leader with a wealth of experience to share.'
- Mark Graham, CIO at The Counselling Foundation
'Fantastic Practical Learning Experience'
- Mevin Anenden, Senior Client Manager at Logicalis
'All the critical issues we face in building a business are dealt with cleverly and interestingly'
- Chris Griffiths, Marketing Director at Travel A La Carte Ltd
'Rob has packaged his experience and research into a well thought out framework, delivered in an entertaining and easy to consume way'
- Lynn Murphy, Chief Executive Officer at Plugable Technologies
'Plenty of food for thought. It gets you to think of how you are running the business and gives you ways of improving'
- Ian Edwards, Business Manager at The Westgrove Group
'Loving the inspirational videos Rob!'
- Iqbal Singh Bedi, Founder Of Award Winning Intelligens Consulting
'Great Rob! Thanks to share so many content, rich content!'
- Ernesto Schlesinger, Founder Partner at Jequitiba Investimentos
'Rob Evans #Kudos. Thank you for always bringing your best self to work #InspirationalLeader.'
- Faizal Bahemia, Chief Commercial Officer at Innobox and Co-Founder of BGlam
'Liking your new venture very much and am sure will give you lots of great satisfaction helping people achieve even more'
- Subhash Ramatour, Finance Director at Macks Ltd
'Rob Evans Friday moments - genuinely some absolute gems of knowledge and tough questions to ask yourself all backgrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery on the planet'
- Chris Gabriel, Chief Strategy Officer at Sapphire Systems
'I look forward to your Question on a Friday Rob Evans'
- Gary Swale, Chief Engagement Officer at Inspirze Context Technology
'The second day of the 12 International MHRA Conference was opened with the amazing presentations by Rob Evans and Carlamaria Tiburtini.'
- Macedonian Human Resources Association (MHRA)
'Great session Rob. The ability to simplify and make sense of our complex and uncertain world is vital for leaders. Thank you.'
- Bob Morton, Past President at World Federation Of People Management Associations (WFPMA)
'Thanks to Rob Evans for being a fantastic co-panelist.'
- Carlamaria Tiburtini, Senior HRBP at Avio Aero - a GE Aviation Business
'Pleasure working with you!'
- Illya Baranyuk, Intern at MHRA
'Surrounding yourself with the people that will help push challenge and support you is so important - especially when you work on your own. Thanks for a great meeting Rob, I'm truly energised now!'
- Theresa Carnall, Marketing Coach at TBC Marketing
Curriculum For Your Short Free Programme
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Welcome To Outperformance Highway
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A Quick Question
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Learning From What's Come Before
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Our Work Together
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About This Exercise
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We Are That Author
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So Who Delivers The Numbers?
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Choosing To Be All In
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Our Shareholders’ Mindset
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So What Will Our Recipe Be?
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Who Will Build All Those Bridges?
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The First Principle, This Is What We Do
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The Orchestration Of Execution
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Strategies For Influencing Culture
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Rounding Out Our Team
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Your Way Forward
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About this course
- Free
- 16 lessons
- 0.5 hours of video content
'Organisations invest much in up front recruitment and much in ongoing remuneration, yet often organisations don't invest adequately in the development of their people. This is a significant missed opportunity. Development is not only an investment in capability but also in motivation and loyalty.'
- Rob Evans