Saturday, November 14, 2026
A 2026 UK survey of 500 senior leaders at firms with 50+ staff found 55% have no long-term strategy of five years or more that they review regularly. The One Sentence Test turns vision into a decision filter you can use this week.
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.
Thursday, November 05, 2026
You're doing the books, the invoicing and the tax, and strategy always loses the fight for your time. Here's the one-hour weekly habit that gets it back, no forty-page plan required.
Thursday, November 05, 2026
Most owners do not lack ideas. They lack a weekly rhythm that turns a plan into action. A five-question check, who Making It Happen ($297) suits, who should skip it, and the real next step. Checked 5 November 2026.
Thursday, November 05, 2026
Vistage puts you in a group of 12 to 16 owners with a Chair. Simple-Growth is one owner-run coach who finds your constraint first. Here is who each suits, what is public on cost, and six questions to ask. Checked 5 November 2026.
Wednesday, November 04, 2026
Rocket Lab began in New Zealand and is now headquartered in Long Beach, California. Three source-linked lessons in outside thinking for US business owners, plus a five-question blind-spot test.
Wednesday, November 04, 2026
Only 39.7% of small businesses actually grew revenue last year, Federal Reserve data shows. If growth feels like the fix for your cash, team or time problems, the numbers say otherwise.
Wednesday, November 04, 2026
Revenue's up but your own pay still isn't? Mike Michalowicz's Profit First method flips the order so growth finally reaches your pocket.
Wednesday, November 04, 2026
Checking your banking app at 2am over an invoice that's two weeks late? You're not alone — and the fix needs a witness, not just a spreadsheet.
Wednesday, November 04, 2026
Finding out how last month went three weeks too late? One OKR, checked weekly, beats a dashboard nobody opens.
Wednesday, November 04, 2026
Riding a feast-or-famine sales cycle with no idea who to chase? The CLV/CAC method turns a quiet month into a plan, not a panic.
Wednesday, November 04, 2026
Doing every bit of marketing yourself with no plan? Learn Donald Miller's StoryBrand method for making your customer the hero, not your business.
Wednesday, November 04, 2026
The business stops the moment you do? You haven't built a business — you've built a demanding job. Here's Goldratt's method for finding your one real constraint.
Wednesday, November 04, 2026
Gallup found that 40% of US owner-employers hold a business plan, and owners with an informal plan reported more revenue growth than owners with none. Here is what that does and does not prove, and six moves to build your own. Checked 4 November 2026.
Wednesday, November 04, 2026
ActionCOACH offers a coaching network, the ABoS platform and two free weeks. Simple-Growth is one owner-run coach who finds your constraint first. Here is who each suits, what is public on cost, and six questions to ask. Checked 4 November 2026.
Tuesday, November 03, 2026
Cosmetic and skin clinics rarely stall for lack of attention. Here is how NZ owners can find the real constraint, market within the rules and turn first treatments into long-term clients.
Tuesday, November 03, 2026
AI tools are making every small business sound the same. Here is the 3-step Distinctive Brand Assets method for standing out even when a machine wrote the first draft.