If you asked me what I’m most proud of in my career, it wouldn’t be becoming Porsche UK CEO at 32, or BMW CEO five years later, but my world record row across the Atlantic in 35 days, 19 hours and 50 minutes.
Pushing myself to physical extremes has been a part of my life for what seems like forever. I have been climbing mountains since I was 12 years old. I have been to the north pole twice and to the south pole once. I am now training to row across the Pacific in 2024. When it comes to my professional life, going on adventures relieves stress and puts the world back in context.
But it requires a lot of physical training. I’m usually at my desk in my home office by 7 a.m., checking Gmail before I start my 90-minute training session. I use Samsung Health on my Galaxy S Series smartphone to track my progress as I bike down rural Berkshire lanes, drag car tires through the fields behind my house, or hop on the rowing machine at the gym. from my house (which is not as grand as it sounds). Then, after a quick shower and some breakfast, I head back to my desk to start my day.
I have led 15 companies during my career and currently serve as president of five. When I join a board, my job is to create the culture for the team to succeed and build something of real value at scale. Technology is absolutely essential. My Galaxy S Series is the center of the universe known to me. This morning, I have a video call with the executive team at ITS Technology Group, a telecom service provider in Manchester. Over the last five years, the company has grown from a team of 15 to about 200, and we are currently preparing for our third round of funding. This requires you to attend frequent meetings with investors, lawyers and accountants in London, and regularly update the ITS Technology Group team to ensure we are fully aligned. Since lockdown, video conferencing has become the norm and I use Google Meet on my Galaxy S series for video calls.
I have been CEO or Chairman for 30 years and speak on leadership and entrepreneurship at conferences and events around the world. During the conference season, which runs from September to November and again from February to April, I am able to travel almost every week. More recently I have spoken at conferences in Sydney, New York, Barcelona, Marseille and Swindon. Conferences provide an opportunity to meet interesting people and gather new ideas. I like being able to record thoughts as they occur to me as voice memos on my smartphone.
These recordings, along with my experience in leading companies, were combined in my book Inspired Leadership: How You Can Achieve Extraordinary Business Results, which I wrote a few years ago. Business owners constantly asked me for advice, usually after I walked offstage. To them and to others, I would always say: “Ordinary people, well led, can achieve extraordinary things. Your job as a leader is to commit to making your dreams come true, to help everyone in the business discover and value their role in creating change, and to build a culture of continuous innovation at all levels. Acknowledge that you will make mistakes, but don’t worry about them; rather, recognize them as an opportunity to learn. After all, leadership is ultimately about learning.”
During the Covid-19 lockdown, I had time to write another book: Catching Giants: World-Leading Business Lessons From the Small Team With a Big Dream That Took on the World and Won. This book describes the lessons in life and business we learned, sometimes painfully, while breaking the Atlantic rowing record and overcoming seemingly impossible odds. I took all the pictures during the row and recorded my rowing journal on my phone.
It’s fair to say that I see barriers as challenges. During my career, I was the youngest CEO of Porsche, Lamborghini and BMW, leading all three companies to record growth. I’m not naturally a super bright person, but I was the first in my family to go to college and I was so terrified of failing that I worked hard the whole time. I don’t think I’ve ever really stopped. There have been challenges, of course: When I finally left BMW in 2000 to start a new business, my American investors backed out at the last minute. I was left wondering what he had done. I left the best job in the industry to run an American tech business in Europe, only to find myself sitting at a desk with a phone that wasn’t ringing. I could have given up and gone back to work, but I decided I’d rather take the opportunity to do something I’ve always dreamed of and start a new business from scratch. I haven’t looked back since.
While I travel, I use my phone to capture photos, voice memos, and create to-do lists in Google Keep. I use Google Slides to create and share presentations and coordinate ideas with teams at my various companies. The S Pen that comes with my phone is great when I’m on the go when taking notes or editing press releases, sales pitches, and marketing copies sent to me for review. Trying to do all of that on a different, more basic phone would be difficult, if not impossible. The larger screen on my Galaxy S Series smartphone and the S Pen make it so much easier. I use many of the functions of the phone. I like to walk when I’m in a new city or between meetings in London (Google Maps is helpful, while Samsung Health keeps track of my steps) and I really appreciate that Samsung Knox and Android help keep my passwords and data safe. at all times, even when I’m on the go and connected to public Wi-Fi.
After my morning meeting, my son Matt stops by. We run a company together called Smarter Britain, whose goal is to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. Our goal is not to find the next dotcom billionaire; there are already many incubators that are doing it; we are interested in taking a child from a disadvantaged background or fresh out of college and help them start generating an income for themselves. That can be anything from washing windows or offering gardening services to building a tech business. At that age, I wish someone had told me to be more confident in myself. The Smarter Britain platform is being built by a software company in South Africa and our meetings are held on Google Meet with all project documentation in Google Docs. My Galaxy S Series allows me to access information and attend meetings from anywhere in the world.
Many young people want to become entrepreneurs but just don’t know where to start. There was a teenager who used to mow my lawn on the weekends and wanted to start a landscaping business. His dream was to become one of the best gardeners in the UK. During the 10 or so years we’ve worked together, he’s learned how to run a business and lead a team. A few years ago he was named Gardener of the Year by the Association of Professional Landscapers. It’s great to see all that he has accomplished.
After Matt and I have caught up and had lunch today, I’m heading to Peterborough to prepare for a strategy workshop with the Radical Motorsport team tomorrow morning. I have been involved with Radical Motorsport for over a year, first as a board member and now as president. It’s a really interesting business: one of the largest racing manufacturers in the world, employing about 120 people. From time to time I get the opportunity to drive our cars on race tracks. A few weeks ago I was driving a Radical SR10 at 260km/h around the Silverstone F1 circuit, which was a lot of fun. I have always been a fan of cars. During my last two years at Porsche, my company car was a 911 Turbo, which was a luxury. Now I own an Aston Martin Vantage but I’m so busy I never get a chance to enjoy it and instead race around the UK in my seven year old Audi Allroad.
I often have dinner with the management team of the company I visit; tonight it will be with the CEO of Radical, Joseph Anwyll. I try to finish early and I try to be very strict with myself about not working after 10 pm I feel the pressure to be reachable at all times, but I try to set limits, so I leave my phone in my home office or change it to “do not disturb” during the night. There’s also an Android feature, the work profile, which provides a dedicated space where your company can manage work apps and data and keep it separate from personal apps. It keeps personal data private and also allows you to mute certain notifications during work hours to help you focus, while during idle time you can turn off work-related alerts so you can completely disconnect. And that is very useful.
People are amazing and can achieve extraordinary things, but mental resilience is absolutely key. During the Atlantic row we capsized the boat 1,500 miles from the coast. It was quite scary to be swimming surrounded by huge waves, with the boat upside down. There was no support boat and no one to come looking for us. We just had to fight our way back to the boat, get it upright and get going again. It’s the same in the business world: you should always have a plan and commit to executing it. If something goes wrong, you have to work hard to fix it and then get back to fulfilling your vision.
