11 Self-Managing Teams, Reflective Leadership & Why Relationships Beat Ads Alastair Robertson
In this episode of What One Thing, hosts Phil Davenport and Hayley Baxter interview Alastair Robertson (Supportive Solutions & CB Training). Alastair shares how he scaled to 34 people by prioritising self-sufficient contractors, using a simple outcome-focused review after every project, and building pipeline through relationships rather than advertising.
We cover:
- Contractor-led delivery models and expectation setting
- Turning mistakes into marginal gains (the Dyson approach)
- Resilience and emotional intelligence for leaders
- Relationship-first selling for B2B/B2C training services
- Alastair’s one thing: invest in relationships with clients, prospects and your team
Ideal listeners: Owner-managers and directors of 5–50 person firms aiming to grow without adding managerial complexity.
Call to action: If this helped, please follow the show and share it with a business owner who’d benefit.
Alastair Robertson
Managing Director, Supportive Solutions Ltd & CB-Training by Supportive Solutions
www.supportivesolutions.co.uk | www.cb-training.com
Connect with Phil & Hayley
https://corbar.uk/
https://affirmit.co.uk/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayley-baxter-/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-davenport-affirmit/
Time-Stamped Topics
00:00 Intro & context
00:28 Alastair’s background
00:47 Team structure (employees + contractors)
01:21 Ownership, acquisition & merger
02:35 Why work for yourself; neurodiversity
04:34 Hands-off management and standards
09:21 Learning from mistakes; Dyson example
11:15 Reflective practice: outcome-focused reviews
13:58 Resilience & EQ
17:31 Practical tools: reading, marginal gains, avoiding cognitive dissonance
25:36 Winning clients via relationships
29:07 What One Thing: relationships first
33:54 What’s next & ideal client
38:21 How to connect
39:06 Host reflections