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Friendship After 60: Cherish the People Who Matter

Hello and welcome to this week’s Weekend Conversation.

As you know, my idea when I originally created Ropho was to create a space for people over sixty to discuss different subjects — from business, through navigating health, to enjoying travel — and, if we can help in a small way, to enjoy one of the most exciting chapters of our lives.

Last week was all about enjoyment and appreciating those special days, like my fantastic day at Lord’s. However, that doesn’t mean we avoid talking about the difficult subjects we often face at our time of life.

In fact, this weekend highlights exactly why we should appreciate all the good days, weeks and months in our lives — at whatever age we are.

Friendship and the difficult days

Back in February, one of Sharon’s best friends, Jan, was diagnosed with dementia. Shortly afterwards, she and her husband moved from their beautiful East Coast bungalow into a warden-controlled retirement home.

Her decline, unfortunately, has been so rapid that in July she had to move into a specialist care home on the East Coast. Although we live 90 miles away, we try to visit her as much as we can.

We travelled down on Friday to spend two days with her.

Yesterday’s visit was particularly difficult for Sharon, as Jan was having a tough day — confused, frustrated and struggling.

As I was about to press publish on my planned piece about our recent trip to York and our upcoming overseas travel, I stopped.

I decided to postpone the wonders of York and its great hospitality until next week.

Ropho is about real life. We need to talk about the events that profoundly impact us, and how we navigate them when the time arises.

I want to talk about friendship — why we must cherish our friends and acknowledge the time we share.

When we lose people, or watch them fade through illness, the most overwhelming emotion is often the regret that we didn’t tell them enough while we had the chance — just how special they were to us.

When I advise business owners getting wrapped up in their daily stresses, I always remind them of one thing:

Laughter and fun are the most important things in life – far more important than any job or business target.

During this difficult weekend for Sharon, I reminded her of why she loves Jan so much.

Whether life was full of sunshine or experiencing a bit of turbulence, Jan was always a constant: happy, smiling, supportive and brilliant fun.

That’s the reflection we should hold onto.

The message today is simple: keep smiling, keep being that friend, and recognise those around us who give us so much.

Time Management for Small Business Owners: The 6-Hour Rule

And then there was the aftershave…

Which brings me to another subject from our visit.

Twice in the space of a week, my aftershave was commented on — once at the cricket, and once on Friday by Jan, who has always maintained that you can tell a lot about a person by the perfume or cologne they wear.

Over the years, aftershave has become a bit of a small obsession of mine.

I have to say, it started with my granddad’s bottle of Old Spice.

The one I wore on Friday was Truefitt & Hill Apsley Aftershave Balm, which was actually a present from my son.

It prompted me to look at my dressing table and pick out three options that I particularly enjoy at my age.

Each is subtly different, and I wanted to share the average UK prices to show that fragrance is deeply personal — and you don’t always have to spend a small fortune.

Although I have a £400 reminder of that sitting in a bottle on my dresser that I never actually wear!

Three fragrances currently on my dressing table

As we get older, our skin changes too. Mature skin tends to lose moisture and become drier, so aftershave balms can be a particularly comfortable option after shaving. Rich, nourishing balms can help soothe the skin while leaving a more understated scent.

Here are the three currently sitting on my dressing table:

Truefitt & Hill Apsley Aftershave Balm – around £52

A sophisticated blend of smoky woods, pepper and light citrus. Rich in aloe vera and restorative oils, this non-oily formula soothes after shaving while providing a refined, masculine aroma that suits a mature presence.

Dior Homme After Shave Balm – around £49

Available from retailers such as John Lewis, this lightweight, non-greasy balm leaves a subtle trail of elegant cedar and warm woody notes. For me, it feels comforting, luxurious and understated enough for everyday wear.

Acqua di Parma Colonia Eau de Cologne – around £88

A classic, citrus-forward Italian cologne with more than a century of heritage. It has that clean, effortless and timeless elegance that never seems to go out of style.

And that’s the thing about fragrance.

It’s not necessarily about age, price or even what is considered fashionable. Sometimes you find a particular scent that simply feels like you.

And sometimes, of course, a fragrance becomes connected to a person or a moment in your life.

Next week, I’ve promised Sharon we’ll include her three go-to perfumes.

In the meantime, we’d love to hear from you:

Is there a special perfume or cologne that instantly reminds you of someone special in your life?

Let us know in the comments below.

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September 5, 2026
If I Die Before Ropho Makes Any Money, Who Gets My Pension?

Sometimes the simplest questions make you stop and think.
This week’s midweek conversation started with a question from Sharon about my pension.
It made me think rather differently about taking tax-free cash, funding Ropho and, perhaps most importantly, what happens to the money if I’m not here to use it.
Sometimes the best financial conversations start at the kitchen table — or in my case, probably in front of this laptop.
What would you do?

Our midweek conversations alternate between health and fitness and personal finance.

This week’s conversation started, as some of the more interesting ones do, with Sharon.

I’ve talked before about changing direction with my working life. I’m winding down the consultancy over the next six months and putting much more of my time and energy into Ropho.

What started as a bit of a hobby is becoming something I want to turn into a viable business.

Sharon isn’t convinced I always think these things through quite as thoroughly as I think I do.

She started asking questions.

How are you going to fund the change when the consultancy income eventually disappears?

Fair question.

I told her I would probably take a lump sum from my pension and that I’m also building products through Ropho that, hopefully, will eventually generate an income.

Then came the question I hadn’t really thought about.

“And what happens if you die before Ropho makes any money?”

I laughed.

Then she added:

“Who gets your pension?”

It was one of those very simple questions that suddenly makes you stop and think.

And that’s how this week’s personal finance conversation came about.

What happens to your pension if you die?

I’ve always thought of my pension primarily as something that would provide an income for me in later life.

But a pension is also an asset.

And depending on the type of pension you have, what happens to it when you die can be complicated.

There are different rules depending on the type of pension, your age when you die, how much you’ve already taken and who your beneficiaries are.

There are also changes coming in April 2027 that make the subject even more interesting.

From 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and pension death benefits are due to come into the scope of Inheritance Tax. There are exemptions and specific rules, so this isn’t as simple as saying every pension will suddenly be taxed.

So Sharon’s question was actually rather more important than I initially thought.

It also made me look at another question.

Should I really be taking a large chunk of my pension out to help fund the next stage of my working life?

The attraction of the 25%

One of the big attractions of a pension is the ability to take part of it as tax-free cash.

Under the current rules, you can usually take up to 25% of your pension as a tax-free lump sum.

For most people, the standard maximum tax-free amount across their pensions is £268,275 in the 2026/27 tax year. There can be exceptions for people with certain protected allowances.

So, for example, if you had a pension worth £200,000, you could normally take £50,000 as tax-free cash.

That sounds very attractive.

And if you’re approaching retirement with a mortgage to clear, a business to start, children to help or simply things you want to do while you’re fit and healthy enough to enjoy them, I can understand why taking some of that money is tempting.

But there is an important distinction.

Tax-free doesn’t necessarily mean financially free.

Once money leaves your pension, it is no longer sitting inside that pension and potentially benefiting from investment growth.

And if you spend it, it’s obviously no longer available to provide an income later.

That’s where the decisions become more complicated.

Five things I’m thinking about

1. What could that money have become?

The first thing is investment growth.

Take £50,000 out of a pension and you have £50,000 in your hands.

But leave it invested for another ten years and, depending on investment performance, it could potentially become considerably more.

Of course, investments can fall as well as rise, and nobody knows what future returns will be.

But taking money out means giving up the opportunity for that money to continue working inside your pension.

That’s something I need to consider carefully.

2. Tax-free cash isn’t the same as a tax-free pension

This is an easy one to misunderstand.

You can normally take up to 25% as tax-free cash, but the remaining pension withdrawals are generally taxable as income.

And taking a large taxable withdrawal in one go can potentially push you into a higher tax band.

Sometimes taking less money and spreading withdrawals over different tax years can produce a very different tax bill.

The tax treatment will depend on your individual circumstances and other income, so this isn’t something I’d make a decision about based on a simple online calculation.

3. You need to understand the MPAA

This is one I hadn’t appreciated properly before doing the research.

If you flexibly access taxable income from a defined contribution pension, you can trigger the Money Purchase Annual Allowance, or MPAA.

For 2026/27, that allowance is £10,000.

Importantly, simply taking your pension commencement lump sum — the tax-free cash — does not by itself trigger the MPAA.

But accessing taxable income flexibly can.

That’s potentially important if you’re still working and continuing to pay into a pension.

Another reason not to simply take money out without understanding exactly what you’re doing.

4. Taking money out can change what happens to it later

Money inside a pension and money sitting in your bank account aren’t necessarily treated in the same way.

Once you’ve withdrawn a large lump sum, it becomes part of your wider financial assets.

That can have implications depending on your circumstances, including means-tested support and potentially future care costs.

And with the planned changes to Inheritance Tax treatment of unused pension funds from April 2027, the question of whether to leave money inside a pension or withdraw it becomes even more interesting.

This isn’t an argument for leaving everything in your pension.

It’s an argument for understanding the consequences before you move it.

5. Don’t forget what the money was supposed to do

Perhaps the biggest trap of all is simply spending it because it’s there.

A pension is supposed to help fund the rest of your life.

And none of us knows how long that life will be.

At 64, I certainly don’t want to spend the next twenty years looking backwards thinking that I should have kept more money invested.

But I also don’t want to spend the next twenty years being afraid to use money I’ve spent decades saving.

And therein lies the problem.

So what am I going to do?

This is where Sharon’s original question comes back.

I’m considering using some of my pension to help fund the next stage of my working life.

I don’t see that as raiding my retirement fund to pay for a hobby.

I’m making a conscious decision to invest some of my own money into something I believe could become a business.

But I also need to be honest with myself.

Ropho might succeed.

It might take longer than I expect.

It might never produce the income I hope it will.

And that’s why taking money from a pension isn’t a decision I should make simply because the money is available.

I need to look at the whole picture.

How much income will I need?

What other income will I have?

How much can I afford to take?

What happens to the money if I don’t take it?

And, perhaps most importantly after my conversation with Sharon:

What happens to it if I’m not here to use it?

That last question probably deserves more thought than I’ve given it.

Want to know more?

Pension rules can be complicated and everyone’s circumstances are different. I’ve done the research for this conversation, but I’m certainly not suggesting that what is right for me will be right for anyone else.

If this conversation has made you think about your own pension, there are some useful places to start.

GOV.UK has the official information on pension tax, including the current Lump Sum Allowance.

MoneyHelper provides free, impartial guidance on taking your pension and the different options available.

Pension Wise, provided through MoneyHelper, offers free, impartial guidance for eligible people aged 50 and over with UK-based defined contribution pensions.

And if you decide you need personal financial advice, MoneyHelper recommends using a financial adviser regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

These aren’t recommendations of particular financial products or advisers. They’re simply useful starting points if, like me, you’ve started asking questions.

And what would you do?

This isn’t financial advice.

I’m sharing my own thought process because I suspect I’m not the only person in their 60s who is looking at their pension slightly differently from the way they did ten or twenty years ago.

Maybe you’re thinking about taking your tax-free cash.

Maybe you’ve already taken it.

Maybe you’ve left your pension untouched because you don’t need the money yet.

Or perhaps, like me, you’re thinking about using some of it to fund something you want to do while you still have the energy and enthusiasm to do it.

What would you do in my situation?

And if you’ve already made this decision yourself, I’d genuinely like to hear what influenced you.

As always, the conversation is often more useful than the answer.

And Sharon’s original question has left me with another one to think about:

What actually happens to your pension when you die?

I suspect that’s another Wednesday conversation.

Owning the Morning After 60: The Truth About Daily Intent

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September 2, 2026
Time Management for Small Business Owners: The 6-Hour Rule
🟦 Business After 60 Conversation

Following last week’s conversation on leadership fatigue, clarity, and “When was the last time you cleared your windscreen?”, it became clear how easily daily operational fog takes over.

When you are operating with low clarity and high fatigue, managing your time feels almost impossible.

This is particularly critical if you are running a business in your 60s. At this stage of life, time is no longer just about output—it’s about leverage, energy management, and protecting your quality of life.

You have decades of experience, but you shouldn’t be burning the candle at both ends or working the same reactive hours you did in your 30s.

Managing your energy is just as important as managing your bottom line, ensuring your business works for you rather than consuming your time.

That is why I am revisiting a core topic: Struggling with time management—where six hours a week can change your personal and professional life completely.

It breaks down into a simple, non-negotiable balance:
- 3 protected hours for your business to target key goals, clear operational clutter, and regain strategic momentum.
- 3 protected hours for yourself to recharge physical energy, clear your mind, and maintain the stamina required to lead effectively.
Below is the updated guide on how to put this 6-hour framework into practice.

Time Management for Small Business Owners – What 40 Years Taught Me (And Why 6 Hours a Week Is Enough)

Time management is one of my favourite subjects, yet it is one of those concepts we all think we understand—until we actually audit where our hours go.

For small business owners and mature entrepreneurs, real change does not require a drastic lifestyle overhaul.

A simple, disciplined approach—protecting three focused hours for business development and three dedicated hours for your own physical and mental well-being each week—can significantly improve productivity, reduce stress, and restore clarity.

My own wake-up moment came years ago while working in sales management for control and automation systems at a German engineering firm.

I was seconded into a six-month time and motion study analysing sales engineers, middle managers, and busy professionals across three subsidiaries.

What we discovered back then remains true today, even in our era of apps, CRMs, and AI:

Most people do not have a time problem; they have a focus and energy problem.

What the Data Showed Us About Productivity

Back then, we tracked how professionals actually spent their days: how they planned, how they routed appointments, and how much time was spent reacting versus being proactive.

Despite all of today’s modern digital tools, one truth remains:

The day will automatically fill with reactive noise unless you deliberately take control of it.

The 6-Hour “Business & Personal Fitness” Framework

To break out of constant firefighting and leadership fatigue, split your focus into two equal, protected pillars: 3 hours for the business, and 3 hours for yourself.

Pillar 1: 3 Hours for the Business (Stepping Off the Treadmill)

Spread across three 1-hour sessions each week, this is non-negotiable proactive time for business development and growth.
- No emails.
- No firefighting.
- No “just quickly answering this first.”
Use this time exclusively to build long-term value, rather than just maintain daily ops:
- Following up warm leads and high-value prospects.
- Reconnecting with existing clients and past contacts.
- Chasing outstanding quotes with genuine engagement.
- Asking lost prospects: “What would we need to change to win your business in the future?” (The answer is rarely just about price—it usually reveals where value was missed).
Pillar 2: 3 Hours for Yourself (Rebuilding Energy & Clarity)

Just as your business needs targeted attention, your body and mind require dedicated maintenance—especially for business leaders over 60. Split into three 1-hour sessions:
- Brisk countryside walks or uninterrupted outdoor movement.
- Structured resistance work or light strength exercise.
- Pure downtime away from all screens and operational demands.
A tired, distracted business owner makes poor strategic decisions. No business system can fix low personal energy.

Why 3 + 3 Works for Sustainable Business Growth

You don’t build fitness from one heroic workout, nor do you transform a business in one burst of motivation. Consistency trumps intensity every time.
- 3 hours of business focus keeps revenue opportunities from slipping through the cracks, builds trust before price is discussed, and creates predictable momentum.
- 3 hours of personal focus sharpens cognitive clarity, reduces leadership fatigue, and restores the stamina needed to lead effectively.
A Simple Daily Framework: The Four D’s of Time Management

When operational tasks start piling up during the rest of your week, run them through this time-tested decision filter:
- Do: If it is urgent and critical, handle it immediately.
- Delegate: If someone else can do it (or if it can be automated with tools), hand it off.
- Defer: If it matters but isn’t pressing, schedule a firm slot in your calendar.
- Delete: If it does not align with your core goals, eliminate it entirely.
Tools, CRMs, and planners don’t fix time management. Decisions do.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is time management different for business owners in their 60s?

In your 60s, energy management becomes as vital as time management. Priorities shift toward sustainable growth, protecting health, and achieving lifestyle freedom rather than working 60-hour operational weeks.

Why separate business development time and personal health time so strictly?

Business growth and personal vitality are interdependent. If you focus solely on the business while neglecting your health and clarity, burnout sets in. If you focus solely on well-being without driving the business, stress accumulates from lack of progress.

Is 3 hours a week really enough time for business development?

Yes, provided those 3 hours are completely uninterrupted. Three hours of deep, proactive outreach and strategy accomplish far more than 20 hours of distracted, reactive work.

How do small business owners stop firefighting from interrupting protected time?

Treat these hours like an unmovable appointment with your most important client. Block them in your calendar, turn off notifications, and step away from your inbox.

Final Thought

If you do one thing this week to clear your windscreen, let it be this:

👉 Block out six individual 1-hour slots in your calendar—three for your business, and three for yourself.

Small, consistent actions—taken deliberately—always yield the biggest return.

Ropho – Practical business thinking for people who value experience over noise.

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September 1, 2026
Friday at Lord’s — and Feeling Truly Blessed

Life After 60: Sometimes You Just Realise How Lucky You Are to Be Alive

Without wishing to sound over dramatic, there are some days when you realise we are truly blessed to be alive.

Friday was one of those days.

I woke up with a real sense of excitement. It’s not every day you are invited to an all-expenses-paid day out at the Home of Cricket.

The invitation was explained as a thank you for the help I had given over the years to a client who is now passing the baton of his family business to his children.

There was something rather fitting about that.

It coincides with my own recent feeling of change and redirection — and at 64, realising that the future can still be incredibly exciting.

As I poked my head out of the bedroom window, the weather wasn’t quite as bright and sunny as most mornings of this magnificent summer have been.

In fact, the sun struggled to show much of a presence all day as summer begins to threaten to fade away.

But none of that mattered.

Breakfast eaten, dressed for the day ahead, I boarded the train and the anticipation started to build.

There is something truly majestic about Lord’s Cricket Ground nestled in St John’s Wood.

I’ve always loved the contrast between the historic buildings and the wonderfully unusual structure of the Media Centre. Somehow, the opposites seem to belong together.

Then there is the buzz of the crowd arriving.

It’s one of those places where, even if the cricket stops for a break in play, you can simply sit and people-watch.

Thousands of people from completely different walks of life come together — the true cricket lovers, the members, the tourists and, like me, those enjoying a little corporate entertainment.

There are traditions too, some of which carry much more weight and drama as they perhaps do at other venues, but they are part of what makes Lord’s so special.

And the cricket certainly didn’t disappoint.

There were some fantastic spells of bowling from England, including a very fast spell from Jofra Archer.

Elegant yet ferocious, he gave the Pakistani batsmen a pretty good idea of what it feels like to face genuine pace.

Once again, I was reminded that live sport is a wonderful thing. No matter how good the television coverage is, it simply cannot produce quite the same feeling as being there.

And you cannot escape the past when you visit somewhere like Lord’s.

History is everywhere.

Portraits of long-gone heroes look down from the walls, while more recent heroes, such as Stuart Broad, remind you that the history of sport is constantly being written.

More Than Just Cricket

But this day was about so much more than cricket.

The conversations ranged far beyond sporting heroes and past performances.

We talked about our children — how they can exasperate you one minute and make you incredibly proud the next.

We talked about holidays, those already taken and those still to come.

And perhaps most importantly, we talked about life.

All of us are now of a certain age. We have lived through good times and difficult times. We have made mistakes, taken wrong turns and, at times, displayed downright stupidity.

But that’s life.

And perhaps there is something wonderful about reaching this stage where you can look back at everything you have experienced and still be excited about what lies ahead.

A New Chapter

We are all looking forward to a different yet rewarding part of our lives, where new heroes will appear and new memories will be made.

Maybe we are heroes to some of our grandchildren.

Maybe we can guide them, encourage them and help them become heroes in their own lives.

And perhaps that is one of the great privileges of getting older — realising that our story isn’t finished.

It is simply changing.

Yes, there will be challenges. There will probably be more mistakes and perhaps even a little more downright stupidity.

But there is also so much to look forward to.

At 64, with my own life taking a new direction, Friday at Lord’s reminded me of something very simple.

Life is precious.

And sometimes you just have to stop, look around and appreciate it.

It is truly fantastic to be alive.

So, as we head into the Bank Holiday weekend, perhaps a simple question:

What is it that makes you glad to be alive?

You might also enjoy:

Living Well After 60: The Little Things That Change
A conversation about the small things that make life better.

A Confession: Why I Love Being a Grandparent
Why some of life’s greatest rewards come with getting older.

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August 29, 2026
Owning the Morning After 60: The Truth About Daily Intent
🟩 Health & Fitness After 60 Conversation

This conversation was going to be about something quite simple:

How often we overlook the importance of sleep and early morning movement in setting ourselves up for the day.

Then, as it often does nowadays, a memory of a conversation I used to have regularly with a prospective client popped into my head.

When you are younger, advice often lands as a surface-level instruction.

It takes a few decades of living, working, and building to realise that the sharpest insights rarely mean what you initially thought they did.

Back in the late 1980s, I was working as a sales manager for a German industrial automation firm. It was a fascinating era in UK business.

British culture was head-over-heels for American enterprise—we were eagerly embracing everything from corporate strategy to Colonel Sanders.

At the same time, people were still a touch sceptical of German companies, even while respecting the gold-standard quality built by brands like BMW and Mercedes.

During that period, I crossed paths with an American executive—a remarkably wise leader whose family had taken over a British business. Out of all the advice he shared, one phrase stuck with me:

“Most successful people own the morning.”

What Does It Mean to Own the Morning?

At the time, I took it literally.

I figured it was standard corporate speak for setting the alarm for an ungodly hour, pulling yourself out of bed by sheer willpower, and starting work before everyone else finishes their dreams.

When you’re young, it’s easy to waste whole days without thinking twice, or conversely, assume that every morning has to be a race to the desk or workbench.

Now, looking back from my sixties, I realise I completely missed the point.

Owning the morning isn’t a badge of honour for sleep deprivation, nor is it strictly reserved for Monday through Friday.

Does Owning the Morning Apply at Weekends and on Holiday?

Absolutely. But it doesn’t mean jumping out of bed at dawn on a Sunday to work. It means waking up with intention.

Even if your plan for the day is to do absolutely nothing, you should own that choice—making “doing nothing” a deliberate act of rest rather than a day that just slid away from you.

It comes down to three fundamental truths:
- 1. You cannot own the morning if you wake up exhausted. True morning ownership starts the night before. If you wake up tired, irritable, and dragging yourself through the day, the morning is owning you.
- 2. Movement and fuelling set the baseline. Getting the body moving—even just a solid walk or some stretching—can completely change your mindset, clarity, and energy.
- 3. Every day needs one thing that matters. Owning the day doesn’t mean tackling a 20-item to-do list before noon. It means identifying the single most important focus for that day.
That third point takes on a different meaning depending on where life has you at any given moment.

Case in point: as I write this, I’ve been told to take things easy for a couple of days.

A younger version of me might have felt sidelined or frustrated by that.

But taking it easy doesn’t mean the day is lost or meaningless. Today, my intentional goal isn’t physical output or powering through a massive task list.

It might just mean sitting down to draft this piece, messaging an old friend, or picking up the phone to catch up with someone I haven’t spoken to in a while.

Perhaps that’s one of the things I’ve learned about getting older. You can’t control everything that happens in a day, but you can become better at deciding what you want from it.

And perhaps that’s what “owning the morning” really means. Not squeezing more out of every day, but getting more days right than wrong.

A little help with owning your week

One of the reasons I’ve been thinking about this is that I’ve recently been putting together a Weekly Lifestyle Balance Planner for Ropho.

It’s deliberately not a rigid timetable or another productivity tool. It’s a simple framework for thinking about the week ahead — your health and movement, relationships, hobbies and curiosity, work or projects, and perhaps most importantly, rest, reset and enjoyment.

Because sometimes owning the week isn’t about doing more. It’s about making sure the things that matter actually get some space.

The planner is available now, drop your email, I will send you a free copy.

How do you approach your mornings these days? Whether it’s a workday, a weekend, or a day spent taking it easy—are you setting the intention, or is the morning running you?

How to take your Walking to the next level after 60

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August 26, 2026
When Was the Last Time You Cleared the Windscreen?

🟦 Business After 60 Conversation

One of the least discussed problems facing experienced business owners isn’t cash flow, staffing or productivity. It’s leadership fatigue.

After years of making decisions, solving problems and carrying responsibility, even very capable leaders can reach a point where the business starts to look more complicated than it really is.

The symptoms are familiar: more meetings, more spreadsheets, more KPIs and more analysis.

But sometimes the problem isn’t a lack of information.

It’s a lack of clarity.

Sometimes stepping away from the business is the best way to regain perspective and make better decisions.

Let me ask you something straightforward.

When you first started or took charge of your business, how did you make decisions?

If you’re anything like me, you made them fast.

You looked at the situation, trusted your gut and moved forward with conviction.

You didn’t always get it right, but you moved.

You had clarity about where you were going and what needed to be done.

Now fast-forward to where you are today.

When a problem crops up — cash flow, productivity, staff, sales — what’s the immediate reaction?

Is it to trust that original instinct?

Or is it to call another meeting, ask for another spreadsheet, demand three more KPIs and start digging through layers of data?

Over the last few years, I’ve sat down with dozens of exceptional, experienced business leaders.

People who have built great companies through experience, grit and talent.

And do you know what I’ve noticed, often over a good meal or a round of golf?

Sometimes You Don’t Need Another Answer

More often than not, they already know the answer to their biggest problem.

They don’t need another spreadsheet.

They don’t necessarily need another KPI.

They certainly don’t need another 50-page report telling them what they already know.

They’re tired.

And I think that’s something we don’t talk about enough.

When you spend years fighting daily fires, the windscreen gets dirty.

Everything starts looking like a crisis.

Every metric becomes critical.

Every problem demands your attention.

And that sharp, decisive edge you once relied on gets buried beneath the operational noise.

You haven’t necessarily lost your ability to lead.

You’ve just lost the space to hear yourself think.

So let’s take a breath and drop the guard for five minutes.

Ask yourself:

If you could only fix ONE operational headache in your business this month, which one would actually move the needle?

Are you genuinely stuck on the solution, or are you simply too exhausted from running the daily machine to execute it?

What’s the one report or meeting in your weekly calendar that adds almost no value, but you keep doing out of habit?

When was the last time you took yourself completely out of the building for a day — no laptop, no dashboards — just to think?

Management thinking often tells us that when a business is struggling, we need more control, more data and more tracking.

My experience tells me that sometimes we need something much simpler.

Distance.

Simplicity.

Perspective.

I’ve spent a lot of my working life helping business owners identify problems and work out what needs to change.

But there’s something I’ve learned along the way.

Even the best business mind in the world can’t solve a problem for someone who isn’t ready to listen.

And perhaps that’s true for all of us.

Sometimes the hardest thing isn’t finding the answer.

It’s clearing enough space to see the answer we already have.

And perhaps I should be honest here.

I haven’t been immune to this myself.

After many years of helping business owners identify problems, find solutions and push for change, I think I’ve experienced a little leadership fatigue of my own.

Not because I’ve stopped enjoying business. Quite the opposite.

I’ve simply become increasingly aware that I want to spend my energy differently.

Sometimes clearing the windscreen isn’t about finding a better route.

It’s about deciding which road you actually want to be on.

So…

How does your windscreen look right now?

Are you making decisions with the clarity and conviction you once had?

Or has the noise of running the business started to obscure the road ahead?

I’d genuinely love to hear your thoughts.

How to Hire a Great B2B Salesperson: Find the Raw Material

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August 24, 2026

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