Episode #441 - Scaling with Values and Vision – Creating a High-Performance Culture - with Steve Rawlingson from Samuel Knight Group

In this special episode of ScaleUp Radio, we’re joined by Steve Rawlingson, a returning guest and the founder of Samuel Knight Group. With a remarkable scale-up journey under his belt, Steve shares insights on building a scalable team, maintaining a high-performance culture, and staying focused on strategic goals. Samuel Knight Group, a global recruitment company specialising in the renewable energy sector, has achieved impressive milestones, including £35 million in sales in 2023 and the potential to reach £1 billion+ within five years. From hiring strategies to leadership approaches, Steve’s experience offers invaluable lessons for scale-up leaders navigating rapid growth and complex challenges. Key Discussion Points Scaling with a Focus on Values and Mindset: The importance of hiring for values and a growth mindset over skills. Lessons learned from early hiring mistakes, with only 2 of the first 20 hires remaining long-term. Psychometric testing as a tool to align candidates with the mission of achieving zero carbon emissions by 2050. Creating and Sustaining a High-Performance Culture: Transitioning from a management to a leadership-driven organisation, leading by example. The move towards a 100% employee ownership model by 2026 to align mission and accountability. Building a self-managing culture where every team member understands their role and contributions. Strategic Focus and Execution: Avoiding distractions by sticking to core market sectors and focusing on environmental impact metrics, such as megawatts of power created. Utilising regular planning rhythms like 90-day plans and clear KPIs to maintain alignment and drive growth. The significance of peer support networks like Smart Boards and the Smart90 program for effective planning and execution. Overcoming Challenges with a Growth Mindset: Viewing obstacles as opportunities and embracing change. Steve compares the scale-up journey to climbing a mountain: persistence and belief in your mission are critical to achieving the next level. Make sure you don’t miss any future episodes by subscribing to ScaleUp Radio wherever you like to listen to your podcasts. For now, continue listening for the full story from Steve. Scaling up your business isn't easy, and can be a little daunting. Let ScaleUp Radio make it a little easier for you. With guests who have been where you are now, and can offer their thoughts and advice on several aspects of business. ScaleUp Radio is the business podcast you've been waiting for. If you would like to be a guest on ScaleUp Radio, please click here: https://bizsmarts.co.uk/scaleupradio/kevin You can get in touch with Kevin & Granger here: kevin@biz-smart.co.uk grangerf@biz-smart.co.uk   Kevin's Latest Book Is Available! Drawing on BizSmart’s own research and experiences of working with hundreds of owner-managers, Kevin Brent explores the key reasons why most organisations do not scale and how the challenges change as they reach different milestones on the ScaleUp Journey. He then details a practical step by step guide to successfully navigate between the milestones in the form of ESUS - a proven system for entrepreneurs to scale up. More on the Book HERE - https://www.esusgroup.co.uk/   Steve Can be found here: linkedin.com/in/stevenrawlingson https://www.samuel-knight.com/ info@samuel-knight.com