Dr. Sabrina interviews Sir Steven Wilkinson founder of Good and Prosper, and co-founder of the Small Giants Community. Sir Steven believes there is a role that is hidden on our organizational charts, and taking a 4 Week Vacation is the first step to revealing that role. Sir Steven applies his love of poetry and literature to helping entrepreneurs become curious about the story their balance sheet is telling. He has developed a system for calculating the share price of a small business, which in turn becomes a tool the owner can use to drive the value of the business. Sir Steven concludes the interview revealing the startling distinction of small businesses outperforming their industry peers. 

Sir Steven Wilkinson is the VIP Speaker at the 2020 Breakthroughs on the Bayou 4 Week Vacation™ Legacy Retreat. On today’s episode, he gives a preview of what he will be teaching Retreat participants. Tune in now, to find out more about becoming an investor in your own business.

Sir Steven Wilkinson started early to deal with corporate finance issues: he comes from a middle-class English entrepreneurial family. Through the IPO of the family business in the 60s, his investment training with Merrill Lynch and the years of work in one of the most prestigious asset managers in Germany, he has extensive knowledge of the world of high finance – both theoretically sound, as well as practically tested – appropriated. But that is only one side of the coin: due to his humanistic image of mankind and his strong value orientation, he made his interest in a good corporate governance (“servant leadership”) his second passion many years ago. 

Steven Wilkinson co-founded the network of Small Giants companies as the only European. He has been involved with the Ashoka organization for the successful development of social enterprises for more than 15 years and gives his knowledge e.g. through lectures and blog articles. He is the moderator of the podcasts “Good & Prosper” and founder of the Internet publishing house of the same name, which prepares and makes accessible knowledge about Servant Leadership for entrepreneurs. His very rare combination of insider knowledge from the world of high finance and the passion for value-oriented corporate management of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), coupled with a decided ability to communicate complex knowledge easily and entertainingly, gives his students and clients a new perspective on the development of your company and thus contributes to a better culture in the company and a more self-determined life and prosperity for the entrepreneur itself.

Show Highlights:

  • Sir Steven talks about the two podcast interviews that have inspired him lately. One was the Profit by Design interview with John Bates and the other was Oprah, with Elizabeth Gilbert.
  • There are very few people who know precisely what their passion is, and telling people that they have to have one when they don’t is forcing them into a sense of inadequacy.
  • How Elizabeth Gilbert has reframed her entire message around passion to one of curiosity. This resonated very deeply with Sir Steven.
  • Sir Stephen explains his view of passion.
  • How curiosity, as a mindset, helps business owners.
  • Nurturing curiosity is really so important for our development.
  • Sir Stephens curiosity is about how to help business owners fall in love with their balance sheets.
  • Individual financial accounts are the manifestation of habits, according to Jack Stack, author of The Great Game of Business. These habits become the character traits of the businesses.
  • Money is just energy, so the way we deal with is unique to everyone.
  • Sir Steven’s experiences led him to develop what he is most curious about now.
  • Sir Steven reframes finances to make them make sense in each individual’s context.
  • Sir Steven talks about the magic that happens when he teaches people how to calculate a share price for their business.
  • What Warren Buffet has to say about the value of a business.
  • The discipline of focusing on your strategically managing your balance sheet.
  • What the intrinsic value of a business means. 
  • Making the first step to becoming an investor in your own business.
  • Why you have to transition out of your doing role, in order to sell your business.
  • Sir Steven unpacks his chart, which shows us that some small businesses out-perform their industry peers by factors of seven to ten.
  • Sir Stephen explains why small business owners really need a four-week vacation.