EP233 – Don’t Let Diamonds Go: Unlocking Future Leaders in Your MSP with Julie Hutchison & Ian Luckett
IT Experts Podcast with Ian Luckett
Release Date: 05/19/2025
EP250 – Milestones That Matter After 250 Episodes with Ian Luckett & Stuart Warwick
IT Experts Podcast with Ian Luckett
In this special episode Stuart and I take time to reflect on the milestones that have shaped our partnership, our clients, and the Growth Hub as a whole. We start right at the beginning when we first met. It was late in the Covid period and what started as a one-to-one conversation quickly turned into something much bigger. We realised that our values aligned, that our different personalities and skills would complement each other, and that together we could help more people, change more lives, and have a greater impact. That first milestone of recognising the power of working together has...
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EP249 - From License Costs to Lasting Value - Mastering M365 & Copilot ROI with Phil Hames and Ian Luckett
IT Experts Podcast with Ian Luckett
Phil explained that Microsoft has made Copilot a central part of its roadmap. This means MSPs cannot afford to sit back and wait. If you are not leading your clients into Copilot, someone else will. That could mean losing accounts that you have worked hard to win. Phil shared how his own business moved from experimenting with ChatGPT into fully embedding Copilot across their development and operations. By doing so, they cut development cycles down to a fraction of the time. What used to take ten days is now done in a single day. That sort of productivity gain is not about gimmicks, it is...
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EP248 – Why You Must NEVER Use AI In Your MSP! with Jamie Claret & Ian Luckett
IT Experts Podcast with Ian Luckett
We began by talking about the misconception that AI is a silver bullet that can be dropped into any MSP and instantly transform it. Jamie explained that AI on its own is like a brain in a jar, full of potential but not connected to anything. Automation on the other hand is like the hands, the part that does the work. When you combine the two, you get intelligent automation and that is where the real business value sits. The challenge for MSPs is not to get caught up in the marketing hype but to understand what AI really is and how it can be applied in practical ways to drive efficiency and...
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EP247 – The Do’s and Don'ts of MSP Marketing with Neil Shaw and Ian Luckett
IT Experts Podcast with Ian Luckett
Neil is not someone who talks theory without having walked the walk. With over 30 years in the IT industry, including seven and a half years running a highly successful MSP in the East Midlands, Neil has experienced the highs, the challenges, and the pivotal moments that make all the difference when scaling a business. His MSP grew to around 300 clients, a 35-strong team, and was turning over close to £5 million by the time he exited earlier this year. Now through MSP Clarity, Neil helps other MSP owners gain the direction and focus they need to grow and scale effectively. We dig...
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EP247 – The Do’s and Don'ts of MSP Marketing with Neil Shaw and Ian Luckett
IT Experts Podcast with Ian Luckett
Neil is not someone who talks theory without having walked the walk. With over 30 years in the IT industry, including seven and a half years running a highly successful MSP in the East Midlands, Neil has experienced the highs, the challenges, and the pivotal moments that make all the difference when scaling a business. His MSP grew to around 300 clients, a 35-strong team, and was turning over close to £5 million by the time he exited earlier this year. Now through MSP Clarity, Neil helps other MSP owners gain the direction and focus they need to grow and scale effectively. We dig...
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EP247 – The Do’s and Don'ts of MSP Marketing with Neil Shaw and Ian Luckett
IT Experts Podcast with Ian Luckett
Neil is not someone who talks theory without having walked the walk. With over 30 years in the IT industry, including seven and a half years running a highly successful MSP in the East Midlands, Neil has experienced the highs, the challenges, and the pivotal moments that make all the difference when scaling a business. His MSP grew to around 300 clients, a 35-strong team, and was turning over close to £5 million by the time he exited earlier this year. Now through MSP Clarity, Neil helps other MSP owners gain the direction and focus they need to grow and scale effectively. We dig...
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EP246 – Why Slowing Down is the Fastest Way to Scale – Success Stories with Mark Stevens & Ian Luckett
IT Experts Podcast with Ian Luckett
From the outset, we explored the pressures and mental blocks that many MSP owners face when trying to scale their business. Mark spoke openly about the fears that hold MSP leaders back, especially those “little voices” in our heads that tell us to stick with what we know. These ingrained habits often stem from childhood or past experiences and can sneak into the way we lead, even if they no longer serve us. Mark shared a great story about how, despite knowing it made little sense, he still puts his teacup away upside down because that’s the way his nan did it. This idea of unconscious...
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EP245 – Why You Don’t Need to Hire a Swiss Army Knife When Recruiting in Your MSP with Helen Sanders & Ian Luckett
IT Experts Podcast with Ian Luckett
Helen Sanders brings over 25 years’ experience in recruitment, working closely with MSPs and tech businesses both in the UK and the US. Helen has built her reputation on helping owner-managed businesses move from frantic, last-minute hires to building confident, structured recruitment processes that allow owners to grow their teams with purpose and clarity. Her passion is helping business owners become great at hiring and creating environments where both owners and new recruits enjoy the process and stay for the long term. One of the biggest problems we see in the MSP world is the...
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EP244 – How Changing Your Behaviour Can Get You More Sales with Graham Stead & Ian Luckett
IT Experts Podcast with Ian Luckett
Graham Stead knows a thing or two about MSPs. He ran his own for over 20 years before selling it in 2016, and since then he’s been leading sales and marketing teams and helping other MSP owners make better decisions, build stronger habits and get more sales. It was great to hear his story and experience, but more importantly, we unpacked the very specific actions MSPs can take to improve their sales performance by changing what they do every day. One of the first standout moments in our conversation was when I asked Graham the number one thing MSPs need to do to get more sales....
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EP243 – From Manager to Leader - Time to Upgrade Your Thinking with Ali Stewart and Ian Luckett
IT Experts Podcast with Ian Luckett
Ali Stewart has worked with hundreds of businesses, including many MSPs, guiding individuals and teams to make leadership a way of life, not a job title. She explains that leadership is not something you do now and again. It is a consistent, ongoing commitment to developing people and helping them unlock their potential. This is especially important for MSPs, where many business owners are technical by background and find themselves needing to evolve into leaders as the business grows. You start as a doer, then become a manager, and before long, the success of your MSP depends on your ability...
info_outlineThis one’s inspired by a comment we heard recently at one of our events: “Don’t let the diamonds in your business go.” It struck a chord. And it got us talking about what it really takes to stop losing your best people and start building a leadership team who can genuinely help you grow – not just fix tickets or manage a few tasks. If you’re an MSP owner stuck in the day-to-day firefight, unsure how to build the team around you, this one’s for you.
Julie shares the mindset shift business owners need to make to move from doing everything themselves to letting go with confidence. As we’ve seen with dozens of MSPs we work with, the problem isn’t always about having the wrong people – it’s not knowing what to look for. Just because someone’s a brilliant tech doesn’t mean they’re going to be a great leader. And just because someone’s quiet doesn’t mean they’re not sitting on massive potential.
So in this conversation, we break down how to identify the early signs of leadership. Are they stepping up, taking responsibility, asking the right questions? Are they front-seat passengers helping you drive the business forward, or are they stuck in the boot, just along for the ride? (Yes, there’s a car analogy. Possibly too many. But it works.) The real skill here is learning to spot the behaviours of a leader – not just waiting until they’ve got the title.
Julie explains how our Future Leaders Programme came about and why it's critical for growing MSPs to invest in their rising stars before they’re ready. Because if you wait until you “need” a leader, it’s already too late. They’ve either left… or burnt out. The good news is, the capability can be trained – but the values, the mindset, the hunger to take the reins – those are the signs we’re looking for.
We also talk through how to create the space for your leaders to grow. Giving them small projects, secondments, or specific responsibilities lets you test their ability to step up – without committing them to a role they’re not quite ready for. And it gives them a chance to see themselves differently too. Leadership doesn’t always mean direct reports or fancy titles. It’s about how they show up, how they influence others, and how they behave when nobody’s looking.
And this is key: if you’re building your MSP around your own decision-making, you’re the bottleneck. You can’t scale if you’re the only one driving the car. You need thinkers, not just doers. People who understand your vision and care enough to carry it forward – even when you’re not in the room. Which is exactly what we’re developing through our Future Leaders Programme.
As we wrap up, we summarise the three key actions you can take right now as an MSP business owner. First, ask yourself: is the elastic band of communication in your team starting to stretch too far? Are you losing grip on who’s doing what, and why? That’s your cue. Second, start to look at your people differently. Who’s trying to drive? Who’s giving you energy? Who wants to help take your MSP where it’s going? And third, be brave enough to invest in the people you believe in. Because if you don’t grow them – someone else will.
Massive thanks again to Julie for bringing clarity, humour, and a grounded approach to what can be a tricky conversation. There’s no silver bullet here, but there is a system – and we’ve seen it work. It’s time to stop flying solo. Build your team, find your future leaders, and start creating a business that works without you having to do everything.
Ready to see how it works? Learn more about the Future Leaders Programme and how we help MSPs build confident, capable leadership teams by visiting www.themspgrowthhub.com.
And when you’re ready to take the next step in growing your MSP, come and take the Scale with Confidence MSP Mastery Quiz. In just three minutes, you’ll get a 360-degree scan of your MSP and identify the one or two tactics that could help you find more time, engage & align your people and generate more leads.
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Until next time, look after yourself and I’ll catch up with you soon!