Sunday, November 15, 2026
You find out a deal went cold weeks after it actually died. SPIN Selling's four questions show you which leads are real before you spend your best pitch on the wrong one.
Last updated 15 November 2026. Published by Simple-Growth (Motherbase Limited). Market: New Zealand.
This is a story about an owner who wants to finally let go of the big stuff — but who can't quite bring themselves to hand it to the team, because half of them drain the energy out of the room and the other half just haven't earned that kind of trust yet. You tell yourself it's a hiring problem. Sometimes it is. More often, it's that nobody on the team has ever actually seen you admit you don't have it all figured out — so why would they risk admitting it either?
Patrick Lencioni's work on team dysfunction starts in one deliberately uncomfortable place: before a team can disagree productively, commit properly or hold each other accountable, somebody has to go first and admit a weakness, a mistake or a thing they genuinely don't know. Without that, meetings stay polite, real problems stay unsaid, and the owner ends up carrying every hard call alone — not because the team can't help, but because nobody's ever shown them it's safe to try.
Vulnerability-based trust isn't a soft add-on to a performance culture — Lencioni frames it as the foundation underneath everything else a team is supposed to do well.
Kevin's own line to every client sets the tone he's asking owners to set with their teams: across nine companies founded or co-founded, some have been genuine successes and some have been genuine failures, and his job isn't just to help a business grow — it's to help the owner avoid the mistakes he's already made. That's not a credentials statement. It's the same move he's asking owners to make with their own people: go first, name what actually went wrong, and let that be the thing that earns trust, instead of a track record with all the rough edges quietly sanded off.
"Talking with Kevin the first time was so valuable and we were learning so much. Within an hour Kevin had us thinking about our business and our goals in a totally different way. In fact we were supposed to be catching a flight but we decided it was more important that we continued the meeting with Kevin."
Angus & Cameron
Flatpack Co
Admitting you don't have it figured out feels like it undermines your authority, when in most teams it's actually the thing that finally gives someone else permission to step up. This isn't for you if your team already challenges you openly and you trust them with the decisions that actually matter — some owners have built exactly that, and it's usually because they went first. It's for the owner still performing certainty in every meeting, while quietly deciding everything important alone after everyone's gone home.
You don't have to trust the whole team with everything tomorrow. You just have to be the first one in the room who's honest about what you don't know — and watch what that actually earns you.
A concept from Patrick Lencioni's work on team dynamics, describing the trust that forms when team members are willing to admit weaknesses, mistakes and gaps openly — the foundation underneath healthy conflict, real commitment and genuine accountability on a team.
Start small and start with yourself — name one real, specific gap in a regular team meeting and ask for help with it. The first instance usually feels exposing; it's also almost always the one that gives everyone else permission to do the same.
Rarely, when it's specific and followed by action. What erodes confidence is a team quietly sensing something's wrong while the owner insists everything's fine — the gap between the performance and the reality is what actually costs trust.
If you're still carrying every hard call alone, that's the trust worth building first.
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
Spark and the Icehouse run free AI workshops, the AI Advisory Pilot co-funds up to $15,000, and paid programmes start at $5,995 + GST a person. Here is who each suits, and five questions to choose your first step.
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
11,100 NZ businesses employ 20 to 49 people. If decisions still queue at your door, here is what breaks at this size, which fix to make first, and a 90-day plan to build a management layer.
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
68% of US owners delayed or avoided a major business decision in the past year, with financial stress the stated cause. A four-move exercise turns the risk list into a plan.
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
43% of US owners have hidden business stress from a partner or family member. Carrying it alone doesn't protect them — it just means you're carrying it alone.
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
You've got a team now, and somehow every decision still lands on your desk. Here's the real reason delegation doesn't stick, and the one habit that forces it to.
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
Costs keep rising and your prices haven't moved in a year, because you're scared everyone will walk. Here's why the fear is about value, not price, and what to fix first.
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
Every slow week ends the same way: a discount, a last-minute post, anything for today's sale. Here's why that cycle keeps repeating, and the simple split that finally breaks it.
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
You take on almost any customer who'll pay, so your marketing, pricing and team get pulled in three directions at once. A simple market-sizing exercise shows SME owners the one slice worth aiming at this year.
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
Making It Happen is a self-paced productivity and implementation masterclass for owners. Here is what is in it, what it costs, who it suits and who should skip it.
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
Acquisition.com's free Scaling Course Bundle teaches offers, leads and money models. A coach works on your numbers. A plain guide to who each suits, and what to check first.
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
The November 2026 WoF changes mean fewer automatic visits for many cars. Here is how NZ workshop and aftermarket owners find the real constraint, protect margin and keep customers coming back.
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
62.9% of US small business owners have less than three months of cash on hand if revenue slows. The Constraint Audit shows which problem to fix first before chasing more sales makes it worse.
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
The government will co-fund up to 50% of an AI roadmap and its rollout, to $15,000, for NZ businesses with under 50 staff. Here is what it covers, what it does not, and the order to do things in.
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
43,068 NZ businesses employ six to nineteen people. If every decision still lands on your desk, here is how to tell whether you need a hire, a system or a coach, and a 90-day plan to step back.
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
78% of US seasonal businesses face a 3-month cash gap every year. A bike park's 11 revenue streams show SME owners how to smooth theirs.