Simon Horwell

Background

About Simon Horwell

I have been involved in SMEs (Small/Medium Enterprises/Businesses) for the last 22 years, helping them grow revenues and manage leadership challenges. The demands on SME leaders are unique, but also embody the the type of complex hurdles that excite me. Being in a position to effect positive organizational outcomes, while also improving people's lives, is a unique privilege of SME leadership. To me, SME leaders perform best when they have a broad skill set enabling a holistic understanding of organizational frameworks, coupled with a sophisticated approach to recruitment. Building an effective executive team should be their first stop on the track to "Operational Excellence". My diverse career path and ongoing commitment to personal development is a reflection of this belief. Having earned a specialized MBA ten years into my career, it has become my philosophy that firms need to be consciously and deliberately developmental by providing pathways, support and the push for open-ended personal growth. Organizations grow as people grow. I believe dynamic agility is an essential ingredient for modern businesses and professionals, and by putting yourself and others into the "stretch zone" you can be constantly learning and growing. This growth, however, must reflect a more comprehensive understanding of capability development than I typically observe. Neglecting cultural and emotional intelligence, for example, undercuts the whole process. But by using a balance of quantitative and qualitative methodologies to create bespoke personal development frameworks, SME leaders can look within to develop star performers rather than always having to hire them. A philosophy befitting a resource limited environment. I have spent much of my career streamlining advanced operational systems, typically reserved for large resource rich firms, and making them manageable, affordable and digestible for the SME environment. Bringing this type of complex, data driven, thinking into the SME world and rendering it usable for entrepreneurs, is game changing in the pursuit of competitive advantage; and I believe the incorporation of technologies coupled with an innovation conducive leadership approach, to be key. While originally from England, I have spent 20+ years living across diverse cultures such as Spain, France, and the US, and am fluent in Spanish. I currently operate from both Los Angeles and Chicago, and am the delighted father to an amazing little girl. I am a huge football (soccer) fan, love sci-fi and fitness, and have advanced training in numerous martial arts.