Coach Colin and The Alternative Board

11/09/2026

11/09/2026

I enjoyed creating this baby shower gift so much! 🍃 🍊

I started incorporating new techniques in my work and watercolors are definitely a fun challenge. I am obsessed with the fruit and greenery theme !

10/09/2026

What a privilege to have Luciaan film my Key Note address at BNI last week.

If you want to check out the whole 10 minutes, check it here: https://youtu.be/l5qm5IqGuXc?si=wRfP5GEyCtCxLVZZ

But do yourself a favour and do a 121 with Luciaan Godfrey

YouTube Channel - https://youtube.com/?si=AppvRw90pe7PTeHw

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/luciaan-godfrey-037584165?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios

07/09/2026

When you make decisions this week for your business, reflect on your motivation towards the choices.

Does the decision make you feel good?
Look good?

Or does it DO good?

Good decisions come from mindset of growth towards long term sustainability. If your worry is about how others will perceive you, that's ego talking.

It could be a hundred little decisions, or one big one, check your mindset, are you leaning into growth? Does the decision come from a good place with one eye on your vision?

Your nudge of the week, reflect on your mindset.

~Coach

04/09/2026

Another bumper BNI meeting this morning, chuffed to have the extremely generous Lyn Hobson joining today and giving EVERYONE in the room a sample of her awesome organic firelighters.

03/09/2026

What if your problem employee isn’t actually the problem?

Imagine going to a doctor because your knee hurts.

The doctor takes one look at you and says:

“Right. Off you go to Surgery.”

No questions. A cursory examination. And an off-the-shelf diagnosis.

You’d probably find another doctor... Yet we often do exactly this with employees.

Someone is underperforming, so we jump straight to the treatment:

More training.

More supervision.

A performance discussion.

A warning.

Maybe even replacing them.

But have we actually diagnosed the problem? One of the tools we use in HI-MAP is PAVE: Passion, Aptitude, Vision and Empathy.

It forces us to look beyond “Is this person performing?” and ask better questions about the work we’ve given them.

✅ Are they doing work they have some passion and energy for?

✅ Does it play to their natural strengths and aptitude?

✅ Can they see why their work matters and where it is going?

✅ Does the work fit the way they naturally contribute to other people?

Sometimes you don’t have a bad employee. You have a perfectly capable person spending too much of their time doing the wrong work.

And no amount of coaching, motivation or performance management will completely fix a poor fit.

Before you treat the performance problem, diagnose the work.

The goal isn’t simply to have the right people on the bus. It’s to have the right people doing the right work.

OK, now audit yourself against PAVE...



If you want a team who works proactively, have coffee with me Colin Carmody.



I guide Overwhelmed and Frustrated Business Owners and their Management Team from Chaos to Clarity & Control using the Business Builders Blueprint™



Improve Your Business - Change Your Life.

02/09/2026

If you're importing goods, this must be on your radar.

Vessels calling at Durban Gateway Terminal (DGT) faced average anchorage times of 80 hours during July as congestion intensified at the Port of Dur…

02/09/2026

I've had the misfortune of seeing partnerships that fail.

In a business partnership there is a sure way to guarantee the failure of your business that transcends market influences:

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀;

1️⃣ They have no common Goals, so they pull in different directions

2️⃣ Their priorities are different, so focus flits from one shiny ineffective thing to the next.

3️⃣ Their values differ, becoming more apparent with every decision, and contempt builds.

4️⃣ There's no clear accountabilities, so resentment grows when things aren't done.

5️⃣ Verbal agreements get forgotten when the pressure is turned up.

6️⃣ When input and output is unequal, fairness becomes the burning question when the outcome is remuneration.

I've also seen partnerships flourish, and for the ones that do the answer seems obvious;

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘃𝗲.

That’s why at The Alternative Board I use the Partnership Charter and the Business Builders Blueprint™ to clarify expectations between partners.

Have coffee with me Colin Carmody if you're in a Business Partnership.

I guide Overwhelmed and Frustrated Business Owners and their Management Team from Chaos to Clarity & Control using the Business Builders Blueprint™

Improve Your Business - Change Your Life.

26/08/2026

When you look at a rickety chair, there's a moment when your gut tells you - don't sit on it…. you've seen this YouTube video before.

A good chair has 4 legs and a backrest, that's 5 potential points of failure. So how do you know to TRUST it for sure?

Most of us would pick it up, give it a shake to listen for a loose screw, or perhaps lean on it with partial weight. I'd rattle it back and forth to test evenness.

Now I'm not advocating for you to pick up your employee and shake them (no matter how strong the temptation), but we must build a business that allows us to sleep at night, trusting that work will get done.

This is primarily a management system problem, not a trust problem.

Owners often say:

“𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺.”

But when I investigate, one of five things is usually missing:

Clarity → Capability → Capacity → Accountability → Consequence

𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄:

✅ 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆: What exactly am I responsible for? What does “done properly” look like? By when?

✅ 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Do I actually know how to do it? Have I been trained? Do I understand the standard?

✅ 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆: Do I have the time, tools, information and authority required?

✅ 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Will somebody notice whether I did it? Is there a measure, meeting, KPI, checklist or review?

✅ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: What happens when I consistently deliver? And what happens when I consistently don't?

When those five things exist, you don't need to keep asking yourself, “Can I trust Sarah in accounts?”

You will have evidence.

Sarah either has a track record of delivering or she doesn't.

𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺. Without the system, you're bloopers reel waiting to happen on a rickety chair.

If you want a business that runs by itself, have coffee with me Colin Carmody.

I guide Overwhelmed and Frustrated Business Owners and their Management Team from Chaos to Clarity & Control using the Business Builders Blueprint™



Improve Your Business - Change Your Life.

11/08/2026

𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀.

They struggle because nobody has agreed on how the decision will be made.

One person feels the leader must decide.

Another thinks the decision must be unanimous.

Someone else is just happy to go with the majority (as long as they don’t have to do any work).

The result is often a long meeting, unclear authority and frustration when the final decision does not match expectations. There is a danger here of Group Think and a risk of valid voices not being heard.

After I facilitated a recent team tough conversation about structuring a department, one of the take aways was:

“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮, 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩.”

The lesson here is, not every decision needs the same rule.

Some decisions need speed.

Some need input from all, but final decision rests with the accountable person.

Some need broad commitment.

Before discussing the options, agree on the decision rule.

That one step can save time, reduce conflict and make accountability much clearer.

If you want an Aligned Team that makes better decisions, let’s have coffee. That’s an easy decision - unless you want lots of options, then we’ll go to Seattle.