Let’s face it. We live in the age of ‘me’. There’s not a single good example of how ‘me’ made more of an impact than ‘we’ in civilisation. Now don’t get me wrong, I am in no way diminishing the role of inspirational leaders but I’m pretty sure every inspirational leader would say that it was the team that ultimately delivered. It’s that sense of selflessness that made them inspirational in the first place.
In a sense, this piece will talk about great teams and inspirational leadership, as both are intrinsically linked. The fact that I am posting this on LinkedIn - the world’s greatest business platform for the celebration of ‘I’ - is something I will address separately. In my defence, as part of this article, I aim to give credit to some of the great teams and leaders I have been fortunate enough to work with.
Ok. To the matter in hand. Back in 1994 I joined a fledgling organisation running out of an inordinately large, glass-fronted, building in Guildford next to Colgate Palmolive. This company was called CableTel and within 6 years would become Virgin Media. At the time CableTel was run by a tight, predominantly American, Management Team that had spotted an opportunity to launch triple play services in the UK market. Within a month of working with them, I realised this team had one singular ambition - to take the fight to BT and Sky. That sounded like fun - the David in me thought those two Goliaths had had it their way for too long. At the helm of the Management Team was a young, approachable and insanely smart ex-Harvard grad called J. Barclay Knapp. Barclay had a list of 10 rules. Unfortunately, I have lost the list, but I do remember one rule and it was this; ‘Deliver the bad news - the good news can wait’. Barclay was the kind of CEO who, at 8.30pm at night would come out of his office, sit down next to you, order a couple of pizzas and start proof reading the latest marketing collateral with you. I thought JBK was ‘the’ man - I absolutely put him on a pedestal.
In those early days I doubt there were more than 30 people in the company. Outside of the Management Team most of us were in our mid to late 20s. We were marketing juniors, PA’s, network designers etc. Our jobs were to do pretty much whatever was needed. We worked long hours and we had a LOT of fun. Frankly, we didn’t even know what we weren’t necessarily capable of.
On one occasion, I guess around June time, I was invited to a board meeting - as were my two pals, Sarah and Wendy, who were PAs to the Director of Marketing and the CEO respectively. We were giving a progress update on uniforms for the network installers and the livery design for the network installer’s vans. After a while the agenda moved on to the director’s holiday schedules. It became clear that pretty much the whole Management Team would be on holiday at the same time. One by one, the directors offered to change their dates. What happened next is something that I will never forget. Barclay stepped in and said, ‘Folks, there’s no need to change your holiday plans. If any of you think that this company will stop just because you are not here, then you need to have a rethink. Besides, Sarah, Wendy and Jim can run things.’ I was 25. I never felt so empowered and euphoric in my life. Over the course of 6 years I worked with some truly outstanding people and the experience changed my life.
CableTel was full of great teams and young leaders. It was the kind of place where no matter how young you were or what your background was, if you showed ability you were given as much rope as you needed (to hang yourself with). I saw a PA go on to run major construction projects, I saw a Glaswegian call centre agent go on to become Operations Director - both were not even 30. At 27 I had a £1.5M budget and was running Direct Marketing in the consumer team - working for another inspirational manager - John Aarons. John didn’t run the marketing team, John ran the marketing FAMILY. John was kind, hugely experienced, passionate and trusting. When John announced he was moving on to be Brand Director at Cable & Wireless the team was devastated. We would’ve run off a cliff for John Aarons. That was the kind of loyalty that leaders at CableTel inspired.
I think CableTel’s rocketship ride to success is an interesting case study. Think about it - within 6 years this company was a household name across many parts of the UK and was a serious threat to the two encumbents. Yes, ultimately there were bumps - Chapter 11 was a low point - but ultimately Virgin Media is what it is now because of CableTel.
Beyond great teamwork and inspirational leadership though, what was at the essence of CableTel’s success? It is my firm belief that the company’s leadership understood that EVERYONE would benefit by working towards the vision. In short, gold-plated careers were built on the success of teamwork. At CableTel, political skulduggery was replaced by selfless investment in teams. The hiring mantra at CableTel was to ‘employ people that were smarter than you’. I’d say that was robustly delivered - one of my former colleagues is now CEO Google Fibre and another Deputy CEO of the Prince’s Trust.
Eventually I moved on and, to my acute shock, I became aware that not all companies were like my alma mater. I confess, for a few years, I struggled to come to terms with the fact that some companies thrived on ‘I’ much more than ‘we’. I will also confess that I found it hard to accept this alternative reality. For a few years I railed against the idea that a career could be built more on political guile than value contributed. My years in business have not dented my profound belief in teams and inspiring leadership, however, I recognise that political prowess can be a positive force - especially when used to smooth the way so a team can perform. I remain fairly damning about those who exclusively use political skill to further a career.
There are 3 important reasons why great teams and inspiring leaders are critical to organisational success. Firstly, all companies move. Ideally, companies move in unison towards a single focus point which, for convenience, we shall term the ‘vision’. Visions, by their nature, can be rather abstract and must be clearly communicated and in a way that provides meaning and motivation. Inspirational leaders must take this singular vision and explain how their teams should contribute to its attainment. They must bring the vision to life in a way that has meaning and purpose. Inspirational leaders must engender a sense of loyalty and resilience to carry a team through those tough moments. Finally, a great team, unified by inspirational leadership, will work collectively to deliver on key milestones. It will pick up its team-mates during times of difficulty, knowing that they would not hesitate to do the same.
What is the enduring lesson that I learnt from my time at CableTel? In many ways it is this: leaders who inspire loyalty and passion can build teams that will walk over hot coals for them and, ultimately, the company. Teams like this really can move mountains.
Some of the CableTel Dream Team:
Barclay Knapp, Marv Steigman, John Aarons, Dinni Jain, Tom & Alfredo Della Rocco, Ian Jeffers, Alan Hindley, George Krieg, Robert MacKenzie, Terry Ryan, Wendy Fry, Sarah Binder, Caroline Rothwell, Hamid Heidary, Tony Ross, Greg Melly, Tara (nee’ Markwick) Paonessa, Steve Wagner, Miguel Milano, Christina Dinsmore Weguelin, John Edwards, Simon Hunt, AP and many many others…