1. Leave your big company mentality behind you and adapt to the dynamic but shrinking new world.

2. People are not particularly interested in your past, unless it can help them.

3. Big company executives are preoccupied with turnover and profit. Small companies are much more preoccupied with the most important issue, namely, cash. As someone once said, "turnover is for vanity, profit is for sanity, but only cash is reality".

4. In looking at companies I try to assess the style and focus of the Chief Executive and the company’s ability to generate sufficient cash to sustain growth and build a future. It is no good having a Ferrari if you cannot afford to put petrol in the tank.

5. If you start your own company or launch a new brand, invariably it will take you twice as long and cost you twice as much as originally budgeted. So have you the cash to sustain you until your company/brand takes off?

6. There have been 10 recessions of one sort or another since the Second World War. Of course recessions cause pain but equally they are often necessary to bring economies and societies into balance. Since the turn of this century we have seen too much avaricious behaviour from too many fast deals and excesses, especially in the financial world. Hopefully the current recession will lead to real sustainable brand building, bringing real value back into perspective and shallowness will be replaced by that much abused word “respect”.

7. Whilst it is important to embrace and absorb the requirements of corporate governance, recognise what you are good at. I was, for a short time, chairman of the Audit Committee in one of the companies I am associated with. This was clearly inappropriate and as soon as I was able to I found a qualified accountant and experienced businessperson to join the Board, who took over the position. I sleep more easily.

8. Boards need balance both in terms of execs and non-execs. At one stage on one Board I felt uncomfortable with 3 City type non-execs and me the International branded person. This clearly did not work as well as it should. Non-execs should bring different backgrounds and experiences. I am pleased to say that particular situation was satisfactorily resolved.

9. Whilst a non-exec is not actually a player, he or she is equally not a spectator for besides legal responsibilities, a good non-exec should be "creatively engaged" and should also use shoe leather to view the operations and meet a variety of people in the company. Purely pitching up for meetings having read the papers the night before is not acceptable.

10. It is important as a non-exec to trust one's instincts and also to be prepared to stand out. I don't think a non-exec needs to be totally independent but more important, he or she needs to be an independent thinker prepared to stress their views on all relevant subjects. A good non-exec can/should also be a mentor to the Board and the Chairman as appropriate. It is a delicate but important role and often the benefit is passing on the learnings from one's own mistakes.

11. The CEO needs to be encouraged to adapt to tomorrow's world whilst protecting the core brand/business proposition. A successful past in today's frenetic world is no guarantee to the future. There simply is no place to hide AND we haven't seen the full impact of the China and India phenomena.

12. Creative obsolescence for your brand offerings is to be encouraged. If you don’t, someone else will.

Buddhist saying: "If you want to know your past, look into your present conditions. If you want to know your future, look into your present actions."