A former TV star teacher turned leadership coach has outlined how business leaders can transform their fortunes – in 100 days.
Drew Povey, the founder of the Drew Povey Consultancy, works with elite athletes and business leaders, helping them to improve their productivity.
And he has urged leaders to undertake something transformational in the 100 days between now and the end of the year, rather than just coast through another quarter.
“You can do a hell of a lot in 100 days,” says Drew, who previously starred in Channel Four show Educating Greater Manchester. “It’s definitely enough time to shift the needle if people use these ideas.
“They’re not gimmicks; these are game changes for people that want to lead, rather than just manage.
“Because leading is going somewhere and managing is just maintaining the status quo.
“It’s 100 days until the end of the year so use your time wisely and get ready to start 2026 on the right note, having made a real difference already.”
Here Drew outlines his top ten tips on how business leaders can transform their fortunes over the next 100 days.
For more free advice visit www.drewpovey.com
- Go from busy to bold
Don’t be passive, be proactive. If you want to make a difference in 100 days you need to stop just reacting to other people’s actions but grab hold of opportunities and start directing ideas.
Very often in business it’s the tail wagging the dog. We need to get the dog wagging the tail and that means getting rid of that low value work you’ve been doing which is a time sponge.
The diaries of managers are often filled to the brim with meetings but where’s the space to be creative and make a difference if you’re always talking through a slide deck or circling back?
Be ruthless with your diary, because the more space we have to think, the better we do.
- Ask more, tell less.
When you go to the doctor they’ll ask you lots of questions. Why? Because they are taught early on that the information they’ll need to form a diagnosis comes from the information a patient provides.
It’s the same in business. A statement made is a question lost. We should be building curiosity as part of the culture and that means fostering an open environment where people are free to ask and to challenge. A good leader will bring that culture in themselves. Leaders might think they’ve got to have the answers to everything but in reality the best leaders help people generate their own answers.
The best answers will often come from those on the front line, because they’re the ones doing the job.
- Own your energy
Leaders set the weather. If the boss comes in in a bad mood, that’s the mood for the whole office set for the day. You’re not going to get the best from a team without setting that intention.
That starts from the morning and having the right rituals in place. Whether it’s starting the day by training or meditation or setting your own intentions for the day, you need to set in place the routine which will put you in the right mood and change the mindset of the rooms you walk into.
- Upgrade the team, not the tech
I always believe in a people first agenda, and putting people first leads to better performance and better profit.
Invest in your team – not just in their salaries but in their mindset, their resilience and make sure they’ve got the skills to do a great job. Changing your own mindset will raise your game but changing it across the board will raise the game for everyone else.
- One big move
Ask yourself, what’s the one big, bold step that you’ve been putting off? It might be a restructure. It might be hitting a new market because you’re diversifying or making a change to a product or a process.
Making small adjustments is important as a rule, just as a sailor will do to keep to his route. But you’ve got 100 days – now is the time to make that one big move.
- Give feedback that fuels
The message that sends fear through your team is a note in their diary for ‘a quick chat’. Don’t do that. Make feedback normal, not formal, so you’re constantly communicating in a positive way to reach your targets together.
Over this next 100 days, build a feedback culture that is frequent, fast, and focused on growth, not judgment.
We often think feedback should be based on judgement, but it should be about getting better. You don’t want your team to fear talking to you.
- Simplify to amplify
Occam’s razor advises us to solve a problem by selecting the simplest explanation from a set of plausible ones. It’s great advice for businesses because clarity will always beat complexity.
So simplify your priorities, your team’s priorities, your message, your meetings – simplify the lot.
- Refocus the scoreboard
What gets measured gets managed but are we tracking what really matters, or what is just easy to count? Because it’s very easy when you create a scorecard – or a KPI – to pick something where the data is easily available. But does it matter? Think about what outcomes will lead to the biggest improvements and measure those instead.
- Lead the learning
If you, as a leader, have an attitude of constantly wanting to learn and grow that will filter down to your team. You’re making growth contagious and growing your team by knowledge and resilience, not by adding numbers or buying tech. Read something new, join a different group, invite a new speaker in: be that catalyst by leading by example.
- Make it personal
Performance is built in the micro, not the macro. Identify one habit that you yourself can improve in this 100 day period and make yourself accountable. Because the hardest person you’ll ever lead is yourself and leadership always starts from within.
