The Book That Changed My Life (And My Mates' Lives): Atomic Habits

The Book That Changed My Life (And My Mates' Lives): Atomic Habits

by Daniel Richards in My Bookshelf

Some books offer a good read. A rare few offer a blueprint for a better life. James Clear's "Atomic Habits" is one of those rare books. I've read a lot of business books, but this one resonated so deeply with me that I didn't just highlight a few passages—I bought copies for my five closest mates so they could experience its power firsthand.

As a leader, you know that big results don't come from massive leaps, but from small, consistent actions. This book is a masterclass in that principle. It's a reminder that the key to unlocking your full potential—in your business, your health, and your personal life—is to focus on the tiny, everyday habits that compound into extraordinary outcomes.

Why Your Habits Matter More Than You Think

Most of us feel like we're burning the candle at both ends, working harder but not seeing the progress we want. We blame our lack of willpower, but James Clear reveals the truth: your system is the problem, not your discipline. Your daily habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. Just as your business metrics grow with small, consistent actions, your personal and professional growth is a direct result of the small habits you repeat every day.

My Favourite Takeaway: The Power of Habit Stacking

If you're looking for one actionable idea to implement today, it's Habit Stacking. This simple yet powerful concept is a game-changer for a busy leader. Instead of trying to force a new habit into your day, you connect it to a habit you already have.

The formula is: "After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT]."

For example, a busy founder could use this to:

  • Improve clarity: "After I turn on my computer in the morning, I will write down the three most important tasks for the day."
  • Build a fitness routine: "After I finish my last meeting of the day, I will immediately change into my gym clothes."
  • Improve mental health: "After I brush my teeth at night, I will spend two minutes writing in a gratitude journal."

This simple practice removes the need for willpower and makes it almost effortless to build new, positive routines that serve you.

A massive shout out to James Clear for writing one of the most insightful and actionable books on habits I've ever read. If you’re a leader looking for a path to better performance and a more fulfilling life, stop working harder and start building a better system. This book is your blueprint.

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On the Bookshelf: Good to Great by Jim Collins

On the Bookshelf: Good to Great by Jim Collins

Jim Collins's Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't is one of those rare business books that shifts your perspective on what truly drives long-term, sustained high performance. Based on rigorous research, this book offers a timeless framework for organisational excellence. The central premise is simple but profound: Good is the enemy of great. Many companies fail to make the leap to greatness not because they are failing, but because they are content with being merely good. Collins and his team reverse-engineered the transformation process, revealing a powerful sequence of concepts rooted in disciplined people, thought, and action. First Who... Then What: The Ultimate People Audit The concept of "First Who... Then What"—getting the right people on the bus before figuring out where to drive it—is, in my experience, the most impactful and often the hardest step in the book. When I started leading teams at a large corporation like Coca-Cola, this principle resonated deeply, and it aligns perfectly with my work as a high-performance coach. You are only as good as the people you surround yourself with, and that goes for both business and personal life. The difficulty lies in the rigor. It requires auditing who you have around you and honestly challenging whether they are the absolute right fit and whether they truly deserve a seat on your bus. While this can involve tough conversations, focusing on getting the right people on board is the single greatest predictor of execution success. If you get the "who" right, the problems of motivation and management largely disappear. Confronting the Brutal Facts: No Head in the Sand It continually blows my mind how many business leaders operate with their head in the sand, refusing to confront the brutal facts and hoping problems will just go away. As I learned when building my own brand, D-STILL, everything within your business provides feedback—whether positive or negative. These are data points and facts that you must take action on. Jim Collins's Stockdale Paradox is a survival mindset: maintain unwavering faith that you will prevail, but have the discipline to face your current reality head-on. Addressing the brutal facts can be challenging, but trust me: life doesn't get easier by avoiding them. Jim does a great job explaining the incredible upside—clarity, faster decision-making, and self-evident solutions—if you take a proactive, truth-seeking approach. The Hedgehog Concept: Cut-Through Clarity The Hedgehog Concept was a massive help in my own journey. I now refer to this as achieving cut-through clarity on what's important. As leaders, we are bombarded with conflicting priorities, and we desperately need to provide focus on what’s genuinely going to move the needle. The Hedgehog Concept forces this focus at the intersection of three circles: What you can be the absolute best in the world at. (Be honest about your capability, not just your desire.) What drives your economic engine. What you are deeply passionate about. Getting crystal clear on these three areas is the strategic bedrock for disciplined action. The Flywheel Effect: The Power of 1% Stacking The Flywheel is a concept lots of businesses refer to, but few truly execute. I like to think of this as 1% stacked day after day. There is no single "big bang" moment; greatness is the result of persistent, consistent application of effort. Focusing on what actually matters (guided by the Hedgehog Concept) creates this powerful Flywheel Effect. The key to building momentum is staying consistent, stacking habits, and tracking key metrics (much like the lead measures we discussed in 4DX). Discipline and consistency are the fuel for the flywheel. Level 5 Leadership: The Ultimate Goal Ultimately, the goal of this entire framework is to breed Level 5 Leadership. I've had the pleasure of working for a number of Level 5 leaders and alongside amazing Level 5 colleagues who have inspired me. Their unique blend of personal humility and ferocious professional will is the foundation upon which enduring organisational success is built. Overall, Good to Great was a game-changer for me and the way I lead people and companies. The value that Jim Collins has provided in this book is amazing, and I’d like to thank him for impacting my life and so many other leaders around the world. It’s a mandatory read for anyone committed to high-performance leadership. Interested in my coaching? Book your FREE 30 minute discovery call. 

4DX Model

My Take on The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX): A Small Business Owner's Guide to Scaling

I've just finished reading The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling, and I believe this book is a game-changer for small business owners. Scaling a business isn't just about growth; it's about building a system that can handle growth. The 4DX framework provides a practical, powerful blueprint for any small business owner ready to transition from a reactive "hustle culture" to a proactive, goal-driven organisation. Discipline 1: Focus on Your Wildly Important Goal (WIG) As a small business owner, you're constantly pulled in a thousand directions. The authors call this the "whirlwind," and it's the biggest threat to your growth. The first discipline of 4DX forces you to identify your one or two Wildly Important Goals (WIGs). This is not about having a long list of priorities; it's about having a singular, critical focus for a specific period. For a small business, this might be a goal like "increase our average customer order by 25% by Q4." By focusing on a WIG, you ensure that everyone's effort is aligned on what truly matters for scaling. Discipline 2: Act on the Lead Measures This is where 4DX provides an incredibly valuable tool for a small business. We often get caught up in lag measures—the final results like sales revenue or profit—which are historical and can’t be influenced in the moment. The key is to identify and act on lead measures. These are the day-to-day, controllable activities that will lead to your WIG. For a goal of "increase average order value by 25%," a lead measure might be "offer a product bundle to 10 customers per day." This shifts the focus from hoping for a result to consistently performing the specific actions that create the result. This simple shift empowers your small team and makes success a predictable outcome, not just a hope. Discipline 3: Keep a Compelling Scoreboard A small team needs to know if they're winning. The third discipline is all about creating a compelling scoreboard. It needs to be simple, visible, and updated frequently so everyone knows where things stand. This isn’t a complex data dashboard for the CEO; it’s a simple visual for the team. A scoreboard turns the WIG into a game the team wants to win. It fosters transparency, motivates everyone, and creates a sense of shared ownership. For a small business, this is crucial for building a cohesive and motivated team culture. Discipline 4: Create a Cadence of Accountability The final discipline ties it all together with a Cadence of Accountability. This is a short, weekly WIG meeting—15-20 minutes, no longer—where the team reviews the scoreboard and commits to specific lead measures for the week. This isn't a long-winded update; it's a quick, forward-looking session where commitments are made and kept. This weekly rhythm ensures the WIG stays a top priority and that your team is consistently taking steps towards it, no matter how busy the whirlwind gets. Final Thoughts on Scaling The 4 Disciplines of Execution provides a brilliant and practical framework for small business owners who are serious about scaling. It helps you stop working in the chaos and start working on the business with a clear, repeatable system. This isn't just a book about goal setting; it's a book about building a high-performance engine for your business. For any small business leader looking to bridge the gap between their vision and daily reality, this book is an essential read.

The Performance Culture

The Performance Culture by Khalil Smith

I really enjoyed reading Khalil Smith’s The Performance Culture and his elegant Awareness, Behaviours, Community, and Systems (ABCS) model. As a high-performance coach, I'm always looking for frameworks that simplify complex organisational dynamics, and Smith delivers. Awareness: The Foundation of Impact I'm completely aligned with Smith on the critical importance of gaining full awareness of the current state before any meaningful impact can be made within a business. This isn't just about surface-level understanding; it's about digging deep into potential unconscious behaviours and belief systems that often dictate organisational reality. As a leader, this level of self-awareness is paramount. Understanding your blind spots enables you to see the landscape clearer, make better decisions, and ultimately, lead your business and people more effectively. It’s about building a solid, honest foundation from which all other improvements can grow. Behaviours: Simplifying the Ideal Khalil’s use of the Venn diagram model to identify "ideal behaviours" is particularly insightful. By focusing on three main cycles – Be Specific, Make It Shareable, and Use Plain Language – the overlapping section truly reveals those core, impactful behaviours. I really appreciate Smith's pragmatic approach. So often, businesses overcomplicate their core values, aiming for something "sexy" or aspirational to outsiders. The reality? These often fail to resonate internally and have little real impact. Smith's method ensures that behaviours are simple, clear, and actionable, making them much more likely to be adopted and lived by the team within the organisation. This focus on simplicity is a game-changer for genuine internal alignment. Community: The Power of Buy-In The next crucial piece in Smith's model is Community, and more specifically, how to secure buy-in and support from all levels of leadership and their teams. Khalil emphasises identifying your key stakeholders internally, and I couldn’t agree more. In my experience, the success of any culture change initiative hinges on the engagement and buy-in you secure from influential leaders. It's vital to remember that the most influential leaders aren’t always those at the top of the organisational chart. Often, informal leaders, team veterans, or highly respected individual contributors can wield significant influence. Identifying and engaging these individuals early is crucial for fostering genuine community and ensuring widespread adoption. Systems: Embedding High Performance Once you’ve cultivated a thriving community with clear awareness and demonstrated the desired behaviours, Smith wisely highlights the importance of systemising these behaviours. He provides excellent examples in his book, illustrating what it looks like when high-performance behaviours are seamlessly integrated into the daily operations and processes of a business. This systemic embedding ensures that the desired culture isn't just a fleeting initiative but becomes ingrained in the organisational DNA. It's about making the desired way of working the easiest and most natural way to work, reinforcing positive habits through infrastructure and process. Final Thoughts and Your Unique Business Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Performance Culture. Khalil Smith has done a fantastic job simplifying a very complex and often challenging aspect of business transformation. My biggest takeaway, and something I consistently emphasise with my clients, is the importance of the awareness stage. Every business is unique, with its own history, dynamics, and unwritten rules. Taking the time to genuinely understand your business – its strengths, its challenges, and its people – in this initial phase is non-negotiable. You will be amazed by what you can uncover and how foundational that understanding is for all subsequent steps. Thank you, Khalil, for sharing such a practical and impactful book with the world. I highly recommend it to any leader or organisation looking to genuinely elevate their performance culture.

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