I SUPPOSE my father was my first major influence.
I was lucky, his motto is ‘work hard, then work a bit harder and you’ll get there!’ It worked for him.
When we talk about it now I realise it’s a little more complicated but, if you mix some common sense, determination and add a bit of hard work, you’ll usually get where you want to go or somewhere even better than you imagined.
School played a big part too. I played many sports and remember being focused on crossing the line to score that winning try, reaching the finishing tape first, serving an ace for the match.
I still meet up with friends from school and last time the conversation got round to ‘how did you get where you are today?’
Set yourself a goal
Somebody said to me ‘you always knew where you were heading.’ I realised they were right.
For as long as I can remember I have had an idea or set myself a goal and focused on making it happen.
The early training on the sports field carried into other aspects of life – know what you want, focus on getting it.
At college, when the time to find a job came around, my tutor, a wonderful, wise man, told me if I wanted to make money and enjoy a challenge, I should join a growth sector. I chose oil!
Would I heed his advice if I had another chance? Probably.
Esso gave me a lot of valuable early experience and responsibility but the frustrations of working in a huge lumbering organisation (in those days anyway) got to me – it was time for a change.
“Give me more contact with the bottom line,” I cried. So off I went to start up a consultancy, for a firm of accountants, specialising in small to medium-sized businesses. It worked – in fact it worked rather well.
The ingredients were a novel idea, a terrific team and hard work.
Picture success
The most important thing I learned from those years was that there is a way of making most things happen.
You have to picture success, aim high and be determined! And it’s a lot easier if your team is of like mind.
After a few moves in the world of consulting I wanted to move to a business with a more tangible product.
I’d done a fair bit of work for this business called Apple Booking Company.
My famous advice to them was stop selling and sort out the administration. Then the Gulf War started and there was plenty of time to sort out the administration.
It was several years and two business plans later that ABC’s owners, Gerry Pack and Anthony Williams, suggested I joined the company as marketing director. That’s when I got into travel.
Travel offers opportunities
My first impression of the travel industry was wow! For a market of this size, it is dynamic and full of opportunities. That hasn’t changed.
My role in our business is to drive it forward. Every day I picture myself in a field littered with opportunities. The skill is to pick the best ones.
Gerry Pack is a great mentor. He believes you should move quickly, keep trying things and when you find something that works, go for it with all you’ve got.
I rate very highly the team at what is now called ABC Holiday Extras. We have a good mix of skills and increasingly recognise each other’s strengths and play to them.
The team is a constant reminder that the key to success (for me anyway) is people.
And would I have been able to do what I’ve done without the unstinting support of a wonderful family? No.
But then I am not a great believer in the word no, so I should say yes but the path and the end result would be very different.
Look to the future
Talk about coming up fast, the technical revolution is here.
If you miss IT, you miss out! I spend an increasing amount of time considering IT issues. I expect massive changes ahead. Exactly what they’ll be seems to change by the day.
So, as many wise people have said: be flexible, don’t fight change – embrace it.
1984: Esso Petroleum, strategic planning executive.
1988:Baker Tilly, management consultant.
1992:Smith and Williamson, management consultant.
1994: joined ABC Holiday Extras as marketing director, introduced change of name from Apple Booking Company to ABC Holiday Extras in 1995. Increased areas of responsibility to include travel Insurance and call centre.
1998: ABC Holiday Extras, managing director As MD of ABC Holiday Extras I have responsibilities to three main groups. Our own staff number is 150. I have to manage, meet and exceed their career expectations. We work with about 150 business partners (suppliers) for whom we must provide the appropriate yield and also 7,500 business-to-business customers (our distributors) to whom we must offer the best option for the provision of holiday extras. My role is to identify where ABC wants to be and how it is going to get there.
My Top Tips
Enjoy what you do.
Be focused.
Keep looking for opportunities.
Deliver what your customer needs, not what you want.
Never pass on a problem without offering a solution.
Make things happen – deliver, deliver, deliver.
Don’t take yourself too seriously. So listen.
It’s a lot easier if you believe in yourself.