A buyer who builds trust with their suppliers will find they can do much more together. The key is to adopt Trusted Partner mindset. This follows the earlier blog which focused on why and how those selling should seek this status with their clients. It’s a two way street.

Here is a short paper for law and accountant firms setting out why and how to become a Trusted Partner to your most important clients.

As a young TV reporter I sold my professional services, just like you may do. Editors had choice, just like your clients. So how did they decide who to choose? That’s what this article considers.

This is the first chapter of our book ‘Choose Trust’, to be published by Economist Books. It sets out how distrust reduces your effectiveness as a leader, salesperson, teammate or buyer - but why this is so common in the workplace.

A powerful story turns you from a seller to a buyer. That’s because you have choice in who you work with - and being much clearer about your strengths means you win business as someone exchanging value, not selling a service.

A Russian doll tells you everything you need to know about how to achieve strategic clarity. I used it in a workshop with a global HR leadership team - and it changed the conversation completely. Here’s why.

Ismail Amla leads professional services and strategy for NCR Voyix, a global payments business that is involved in pretty much every high street and commerce platform. His clients are huge, he has big targets to hit - and he shares his secrets with me in my latest podcast.

In 2001 David Maister invented the phrase ‘The Trusted Advisor’. The book he wrote became the aspiration for most professional service firms. This article asks whether this is the right ambition.

Storytelling is a core leadership and sales skill. But individual stories are just evidence of a bigger strategic narrative, and this is fundamental, not a tactic. As a guest on a new podcast, I set out my thinking about this.

Greg Craig has taken Skanska UK to the top of the profitability tree by focusing on the right clients, doing the right work at the right price. It’s a clear statement of how a strategic narrative can drive performance, and he explains his. philosophy in this podcast.

Building high value, high trust relationships with the biggest clients is what Rich Postance has done throughout his career. In this podcast interview with us he tells us how to do it. It’s a masterclass in big account leadership form one of the most senior people in Accenture UK.

I was delighted to be David Newman’s guest on his popular Selling Show podcast. In 30 minutes you can hear why and how you must develop a powerful sales story to drive growth.

A new leader in a group that is looking innovate and disrupt. In our latest podcast, Nick Hale, CEO of a Private Equity backed group, explains how he’s used high trust leadership to drive growth through a better customer and employee experience.

‘Be long term selfish’. One of the big ideas from the co-author of ‘The Trusted Advisor’, 22 years after this seminal work was published. Listen to our podcast interview with Charlie Green.

John Neill has led Unipart for 35 years and used high trust relationships to fuel massive growth and expansion. His principles are applied daily and mean customers, colleagues and partners want to work with him and his company. Hear more on this podcast.

If you lead a professional firm it's worth considering how to sharpen your focus in a tightening market. Here's some thinking which sets out how to do this.

If you are a leader, what can you learn from Ancient Rome - and in particular, the magnificent buildings at the centre of the Empire? I think the key is to reflect on how you use symbols to tell the story of yourself and your organisation - and here is a short reflection on this subject filmed at the Colosseum.

If you’re interested in a Strategic Narrative workshop with your leadership or as part of an event, here are some of the key ideas captured in a 3 1/2 minute video. It was shot in 2018 at a Leadership Institute event in Lithuania - the core concepts remain as relevant today as ever.

How do you stand out in a noisy and crowded marketplace? The secret isn't just what you do, it's how and why you do it. In this video in my series on transformational leadership, I set out the 4 questions that will help you write the story that will sharpen your points of difference and get everyone pointing in the same direction.

Leading change effectively requires a clear and well understood change narrative. In this 4 minute video I set out some thoughts on how to develop this.