Podcast

April 17th, 2025

The Apple Cart: S2, E5: How Accepting Expert Help Makes You a Stronger Leader

In this episode of the Apple Cart, I’m joined by Rod McMillan to talk about how every small business owner can become a stronger leader for their team members.

Rod is a professional Non-Exec Director, investor, business development and performance improvement specialist. He is experienced in helping business owners and leaders with strategy, people, organisation structure, finance and commercial problem resolution.

Rod believes that business success is always about strategy, finance and people. He’s an active supporter of Hope for Children and a qualified analyst using The Predictive Index for psychometric personality profiling and cognitive testing.

Listen to the Interview

Why You Should Ask for Help with Your Business

An unfortunate phenomenon is that business owners wait too long to ask for help. As Rod says: “Sometimes they’re special, or what they do is special. But most problems are common, yet people don’t realise that what they’re experiencing isn’t unique.

“Say you’ve raised money – everyone thinks you’re brilliant. You’ve got a strategy and you’ve got a good team. And at that point, you don’t think you need help. You’ve had a great idea and started a business with a clear plan. But it often doesn’t work like that.

“That original idea metamorphoses into something you thought would be easier, and things you thought would be difficult are easy. There are always factors beyond your control, and when they impact your business, you need to ask for help.”

How Working with a Business Mentor can Make You a Stronger Leader

Rod explains that he was promoted to a very senior position at a young age. “I thought I knew everything. But I was really struggling with the leadership aspect. And then I was approached by someone from a much bigger company who offered to help.

“I wasn’t keen at first. But he was gently persuasive, and I told him I needed help with recruitment. He stepped in as my advisor, for free, and sent me his personnel manager. And while I’m ashamed we ribbed Howard quite a lot for that role, he made such a big difference to the company.

“Howard got us to do a personality assessment test, and showed me how to work with the results data. And I was able to get the business back on track. What I learned then has enabled me to act as an advisor for so many other companies.”

stronger leader

Why You Need in-Person Office Experience to be a Stronger Leader

Post-pandemic, we’re all used to working from home, and maybe never going into an office at all. And for some young managers, that’s all they’ve ever known. But there are clear benefits to going into your place of work, if you can.

“Informal chitchat is invaluable. When you casually mention a problem over the coffee machine, someone will be able to help you fix it. Because people need to interact with each other.

Being able to focus and really get your head down and get stuff done at home is great. But you can also very quickly feel isolated. Online meetings are great, but there’s no replacement for being face-to-face with people.

“And if you’re trying to learn in a business, you learn so much subliminally, you don’t know you’re learning it. You need to be in the same room with people. You learn all the time, even if it’s by having lunch with a more experienced colleague.”

How to be More Creative with Your Approach to Business

There are so many ways to market your business these days, and lots of opportunities to be creative. But it’s important not to push yourself to do things if you’re really not comfortable.

“And if you want to be a stronger leader, you need to be able to help other people and teach them to get the results they want. So your creative marketing needs to fit with your preferences, and your team’s too.

“Because ultimately, people cannot exist outside their natural personality profile for too long without putting themselves under pressure. So there always needs to be a balance.”

Rod adds: “You need to be careful not to put yourself in a situation where the demands of what you do make you do things that you don’t like doing. You can be creative without being uncomfortable.”

Timestamps

  • 03:00 – 05:45: Why you should ask for help with your business before it’s too late
  • 09:11 – 11:42: How Rod’s experiences with a business mentor inspired him to do the same
  • 19:30 – 22:30: How mentors and business owners in need of help find each other
  • 28:35 – 31:15: Why business owners should attend conferences
  • 31:55 – 35:13: Why you need in-person office experience to be a better leader
  • 36:00 – 42:25: How to be more creative with your approach to business

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